The Gospel is Still Enough
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Introduction: The Inheritance
There once was a farmer who spent his entire life building his farm.
He and his wife raised three beautiful children there—two daughters and later on in life a son.
It wasn't a particularly large farm when they started. They hadn't inherited some sprawling operation with everything already in place, they had to work the land…building it over a lifetime.
A little more land here.
Another piece of equipment there.
A barn repaired.
Another pasture cleared.
Fences stretched.
Crops planted.
Animals raised.
Year after year, the farm grew.
And along the way, so did their family.
Their children learned to work there.
They learned what it meant to get up early because something needed fed.
They learned to keep going when the weather didn't cooperate, on those cold snowy mornings when all the water is frozen solid.
They learned responsibility.
They learned to finish a job even when they were tired.
Eventually, the two daughters grew up, married, and began lives of their own.
But the son loved the farm.
He stayed.
He worked alongside his father.
And as the father began getting older, he started thinking about what would happen to everything he and his wife had spent their lives building.
One evening, after a long day's work, the father and his son were sitting together.
And the father said:
“Son, I want you to know something.
Someday this farm is going to be yours, every acre, every barn…each and every piece of equipment will be yours.
Your mother and I have talked about it. We've made the arrangements. When I'm gone, this farm will belong to you.
I want you to carry it on.”
Imagine what that meant to the son.
This wasn't just acreage.
It wasn't just barns and tractors.
This was home.
This was where he had grown up.
This was his father's life's work.
And now his father was entrusting it to him.
The son thanked his father.
And the next morning he got up and went to work.
But slowly, something inside the young man began to change.
At first maybe it was just a thought:
I need to make sure Dad knows I'm worthy of this.
So he started getting to the barn a little earlier.
He often began to stay a little later.
When his father told him to take an afternoon off, he wouldn't.
There was always another fence that could be repaired.
Another piece of equipment that could be maintained.
Another job that needed to be done.
And every time he finished one thing, he saw something else.
Years began to pass.
People talked about what a hard worker that farmer's son was.
And they were right.
Nobody could question his work ethic.
But there was something they couldn't see.
The son wasn't simply working because he loved his father anymore.
Somewhere along the way, he had become afraid.
Afraid that maybe he hadn't done enough.
Afraid that maybe his father would change his mind.
Afraid that maybe the inheritance wasn't really secure.
So he worked harder. And harder. And harder.
One evening, after another long day, his father found him sitting exhausted on the tailgate of the old Chevy.
His father sat down beside him and asked:
“Son, are you ok?”
The son replied:
“Dad, I'm trying…. a tear began to form in the corner of his eye…
I'm trying to take care of everything.
I'm trying to show you that I can do this.
I'm trying to prove that I'm worthy of the farm.
I don't want you to change your mind.”
And the father realized what had happened.
He looked at his son and said:
“Son, I need you to listen to me.
I didn't promise you the farm because you worked harder than everyone else.
I didn't promise it because you fixed enough fences or you worked enough hours.
I promised it to you because you're my son.
The promise was already made.
I never wanted you spending your life trying to earn what I had already promised to give you.
I wanted you beside me…
I wanted us to work this farm together.
You weren't supposed to work for the inheritance.
You were supposed to work knowing the inheritance had been promised.”
Church, I wonder how many of us have done exactly the same thing with God.
We came to Jesus knowing we couldn't save ourselves.
We knew we were sinners.
We knew we needed grace.
We heard the gospel—that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again.
And we believed.
We began with grace.
But somewhere along the way, something changed.
We started thinking:
Maybe I need to prove myself.
So we work.
We serve.
We read.
We pray.
We attend.
We try to live rightly.
And those are good things.
But underneath them can quietly grow a terrible fear:
Have I done enough?
Is God pleased with me?
Am I worthy?
What if I fail?
And before long, we're trying to earn through our performance what we could only ever receive through grace.
That is where Paul finds the Galatians here in Galatians 3 this morning…
turn with me as we read Galatians 3:1-5
1. Remember How You Began
Galatians 3:1–5 “1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”
Paul begins:
“You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”
Paul isn't gently suggesting that they reconsider a minor theological issue.
He is shocked.
“Who has bewitched you?”
What has gotten into you?
How can something that was once so clear suddenly become so confused?
The Galatians had heard Christ crucified proclaimed so vividly that Paul says it was as though Jesus had been publicly portrayed as crucified right before their eyes.
They knew what Jesus had done.
They knew He had died for their sins.
They knew forgiveness had been purchased through His blood.
They knew salvation came through faith.
So Paul asks one question:
“Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?”
Go back to the beginning.
How did this start?
Did you earn the Holy Spirit?
Did God wait until you had cleaned your life up sufficiently?
Did you prove that you were worthy?
Did you follow enough rules?
No.
You heard the gospel.
You believed.
And God gave you His Spirit.
Then Paul asks the question that really exposes their problem:
“After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?”
You began through God's power.
Do you really think you can finish through your own?
You began by depending upon Christ.
Do you think spiritual maturity now comes by depending upon yourself?
And when Paul speaks about the flesh here, don't limit that idea to obvious immorality.
The flesh can be very religious.
The flesh can carry a Bible, attend church, serve.
The flesh can say:
“I can make myself righteous.”
“I can earn God's approval.”
“I can prove myself.”
“I can become spiritual if I just work hard enough.”
The problem isn't that prayer, Scripture, service, obedience, and holiness are bad.
They're not.
The problem is what we are trusting them to accomplish.
Think again about the farmer's son.
The problem wasn't that he worked.
He was supposed to work the farm.
The problem was that the reason he worked had changed.
Instead of working alongside his father because he loved him, he was working to secure his father's acceptance.
And Christians can do exactly the same thing.
Some of us believe we are saved by grace but then live as though we are sanctified by anxiety.
Jesus forgave me…
now I'd better make sure He doesn't regret it.
So we try harder.
And when we succeed, we become proud.
When we fail, we become ashamed.
Either way, our attention has moved away from Christ and onto ourselves.
The gospel does not remove obedience from the Christian life.
It transforms the reason for our obedience.
We do not obey so that God will love us.
We obey because He has loved us in Christ.
We don't serve to earn our place in the family.
We serve because Christ has brought us into the family.
We do not pursue holiness hoping that eventually God might accept us.
We pursue holiness because we have been accepted in Christ and the Holy Spirit is at work within us.
You cannot finish through human strength what God began through the Holy Spirit.
Paul tells the Galatians:
Remember how you began.
Then he goes back much farther.
He takes them to Abraham.
2. Remember What God Has Always Promised
Galatians 3:6–9 “6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Paul writes:
“Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.”
The false teachers wanted to appeal to Abraham.
So Paul essentially says:
“Fine. Let's talk about Abraham.”
When was Abraham counted righteous?
Was it after Abraham perfectly obeyed?
No.
Was it after Abraham had proven himself worthy?
No.
Was it after he accumulated enough religious accomplishments?
No.
“Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”- v. 6
That word counted is important. the NIV says credited…the NKJV…accounted
Righteousness was placed on Abraham's account.
He didn't manufacture it through his performance.
He received it through faith.
God made a promise.
Abraham believed the One who made the promise.
And now think about the inheritance again.
What gave the son confidence that the farm would someday be his?
His work?
No.
His father's promise.
That's Paul's argument.
The inheritance rests upon the promise of God, not the performance of man.
Faith Is Not Another Work
And faith isn't some impressive contribution we make to our salvation.
Faith is not us saying:
“Jesus did 99 percent, and here's my one percent.”
Faith is the open hand receiving what God has promised.
Faith says:
“God, I cannot save myself.”
“I cannot make myself righteous.”
“I cannot undo my sin.”
“I cannot earn Your blessing.”
“So I am trusting You.”
The strength of faith isn't found in how strongly you believe.
The strength of faith is found in the One you believe.
It’s the hand of God grabbing ahold of a sinner and never letting go.
A weak hand can still receive a strong Savior.
Paul continues:
“You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham's sons.”
God's family isn't built through ethnicity.
It isn't built through heritage, human achievement, or religious performance.
God's family is made up of people who trust His promise.
And then Paul says something remarkable:
Scripture proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time:
“All the nations will be blessed through you.”
The gospel wasn't God's emergency plan after everything else failed.
The gospel was always the plan.
Before Moses.
Before the Law.
Before Israel became a nation.
God made a promise.
And ultimately that promise pointed to Jesus Christ.
Which means there aren't two ways of coming to God.
There isn't grace for really bad sinners and achievement for respectable religious people.
There is one way…there has always been ONE WAY. And Jesus proclaimed that message in John 14:6- I am the Way...
The sinner comes through faith.
The religious person comes through faith.
The child comes through faith.
The adult comes through faith.
The person who has never darkened a church door comes through faith.
The person who has sat in church for fifty years comes through faith.
The pastor comes through faith.
We all come empty-handed.
And that can be difficult for religious people because we like our résumés.
How long have I been in church?
How much do I know?
How much have I served?
What ministries have I led?
How respectable is my life?
Those things may tell us something about how we've lived.
But none of them can make us righteous before God.
God has always built His family through promise and faith, not performance and pride.
But then Paul takes the argument one step further.
Because somebody might say:
“But isn't the Law good?”
Yes.
The Law is good.
But the Law cannot give us what we need most.
3. Remember What Christ Has Done
Galatians 3:10–14 “10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
Paul writes:
“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.”
Pay attention to that word:
rely.
The problem isn't simply that the Law exists.
The problem is relying upon our obedience to the Law as the basis of our acceptance before God.
Because if that's the ground upon which you want to stand, then the standard is complete obedience.
Paul quotes Scripture:
“Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.”
Not mostly obedient.
Not better than average.
Not sincere.
Not improving.
Not trying really hard.
Everything.
Every command.
Every day.
Every thought.
Every motive.
Every word.
Every action.
The Law can show us what righteousness looks like.
But it cannot make us righteous.
It can expose the stain.
It cannot wash it away.
It can diagnose the disease.
It cannot provide the cure.
If we want to stand before God on the basis of our record, then our record has to be perfect.
And none of us has that record.
That is why Paul says:
“Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.”
The Law says:
“Do this.”
The gospel announces:
“Christ has done it.”
And then we reach the heart of the passage:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
There is the gospel.
Jesus didn't come merely to show us how to behave better.
He didn't come simply to give us another opportunity to prove ourselves.
He came to redeem us.
We were guilty.
We had failed.
We could not produce the righteousness God required.
So Christ took our place.
Paul says:
“Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
Jesus went to the cross.
The sinless One stood in the place of sinners.
The righteous One received the judgment of the unrighteous.
The blessed Son of God bore the curse that belonged to us.
He did not simply suffer near us.
He suffered for us.
The curse fell upon Him so that the blessing could come upon us.
At the cross:
Christ took our guilt.
We receive His righteousness.
Christ bore our curse.
We receive His blessing.
Christ entered death.
We receive life.
That is why the gospel isn't advice.
Advice tells us what we ought to do.
The gospel announces what Christ has done.
And Paul says Christ did this so that the blessing promised to Abraham could come to the nations and so that we could receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Notice where Paul ends.
He started with the Spirit in verse 2.
And he ends with the Spirit in verse 14.
The Christian life begins with God's work.
And it continues through God's work.
God doesn't forgive you and say:
“Okay. You're on your own now. Don't mess this up.”
The Spirit who gave you life lives within you.
The grace that saved you continues to sustain you.
Jesus took the curse we deserved so that we could receive the blessing we could never earn.
Conclusion: What Are You Trusting?
Now go back to that farm.
The father had made the promise.
The inheritance wasn't uncertain.
But the son spent years exhausting himself because his confidence shifted away from his father's promise and onto his own performance.
And that brings us to perhaps the most important question this passage asks:
What are you trusting in?
Because Scripture gives us another picture that is far more sobering.
Jesus says in Matthew 7 that there will be people who stand before Him and say:
“Lord, Lord…”
And then they begin listing their accomplishments.
“Didn't we prophesy in Your name?”
“Didn't we cast out demons in Your name?”
“Didn't we perform miracles in Your name?”
Notice that phrase:
“In Your name.”
These aren't people saying:
“Jesus had nothing to do with my life.”
They are describing religious activity.
They used Jesus' name.
And yet when they stand before Him, what do they point to?
What they did.
Look at my résumé.
Look at my ministry.
Look at my accomplishments.
Look what I did in Your name.
And Jesus doesn't tell them:
“You should have done more.”
He says:
“I never knew you.”
That is why Paul's warning in Galatians is so serious.
This is not an argument over some insignificant theological detail.
This is about the foundation of our confidence before God.
And later in Galatians 5:4 Paul will warn those who are trying to be justified by the Law that they have been “severed from Christ” and have “fallen from grace.”
You cannot make Jesus one part of the foundation.
Either Christ is sufficient or He isn't.
Either His righteousness is enough or we need to add our own.
And Paul says:
Christ is enough.
So let me ask you three questions.
How Did You Begin?
Not through your strength.
Not through your goodness.
Not through religious performance.
You heard the gospel.
You believed.
You trusted Christ.
How Will You Continue?
The same way.
Trusting Christ.
Depending upon the Holy Spirit.
Living from grace rather than trying to earn grace.
And Where Is Your Confidence Today?
Suppose you stood before Jesus today.
What would you point to?
“I've tried to be a good person.”
“I've attended church.”
“I've served.”
“I've given.”
“I've taught.”
“I've helped people.”
“I've been baptized.”
“I've been in ministry.”
“I've done things in Your name.”
Every one of those answers points back to me.
The gospel gives us another answer.
My confidence isn't in what I've done for Christ.
My confidence is in what Christ has done for me.
Religion holds up the résumé.
The gospel points to the cross.
And there are two groups of people who need to hear that.
To the Believer
Perhaps you truly know Christ.
But somewhere along the way, you've become like the farmer's son.
You started living as though you needed to prove yourself.
Maybe you've become exhausted trying to be good enough.
Trying to keep God pleased.
Trying to make yourself worthy.
Trying to finish in the flesh what God began through His Spirit.
Come back to the promise.
Christ is still enough.
His grace is still sufficient.
His Spirit is still present.
And understand this:
Grace does not mean the son stops working the farm.
Tomorrow morning he still gets up.
There are still animals to feed.
There are still fences to fix.
There is still work to do.
But now everything has changed.
Because he isn't working for the inheritance.
He's working from the inheritance.
He isn't serving to make his father love him.
He's serving because he knows his father loves him.
That's Christian obedience.
We don't obey to earn God's love.
We love because Christ first loved us…
We obey because we have received God's love in Jesus Christ.
To the Person Who Has Never Trusted Christ
Maybe you've spent years around Christianity.
Maybe you're a good person.
Maybe you serve.
Maybe you give.
Maybe you know the language.
Maybe you've even done things “in His name.”
But if your confidence before God is ultimately:
“Look what I have done,”
then you are standing on something that cannot save you.
Your morality cannot save you.
Religion cannot save you.
Church attendance cannot save you.
Ministry cannot save you.
Your résumé cannot save you.
Jesus Christ became a curse for you.
He died in your place.
He rose again.
So stop trying to prove yourself worthy.
Stop trying to earn what you can only receive.
Come empty-handed.
Trust Christ.
Because from beginning to end:
We begin by faith.
We continue by faith.
We finish by faith.
And when we finally stand before Jesus, our confidence will never be:
“Look at everything I did in Your name.”
Our confidence will be:
“My hope is Jesus Christ and what He has done for me.”
Because the gospel was enough when we began.
The gospel is enough today.
And the gospel will be enough when we stand before Him.
From beginning to end, the gospel of Jesus Christ is still enough.
