Grace and Glory

Grace and Glory

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Introduction:

Galatians, The Charter of Freedom Some call it, the rough draft of RomansIt was the Epistle that historians say truly sparked the reformation Luther said that it was his wifeThe just shall live by faithBrought Martin Luther out from under the Papal system, to the Word of God It is powerful, doctrinal and practical

Paul…unto the churches of Galatia

First Century letters were different Instead of looking to the bottom to see who wrote it, the person introduced themselves

Galatia was not a city like the other letters were written to but a Roman province

Most likely, this was written for the churches he founded on his first missionary journey

He went to Antioch of Pisidia and there he made the declaration that he would go to the Jews

He went to Iconium, Lystra and Derbe

The majority of these churches were Gentiles and not Jews

There was no commendation, only condemnation in this letter

Paul was not happy with the Galatian believers Even at Corinth where there was gross immorality going on Paul was kinder The Corinthian had a morality problem that could be corrected, The Galatians had a doctrinal problem that damned men to hellThat error was legalism Judaizers crept in and taught that in order to be truly saved you had to become Jewish first, then you got saved then you had to keep Moses’ law after you were savedMixing in works and faith

Paul was a man consumed by grace

His pre-saved life was completely marked by works

The second half of this chapter begins Paul’s testimony,

He “persecuted the church and laid waste to it”,

He “profited in Jews religion above many of his equals”

In Philippians He says that if you think you can trust in your flesh then I know I can more “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the Law, a Pharisee” You think you were zealous? “Persecuting the church” Righteousness? “blameless”

He sat at the feet of the best teacher of the time, he would have been the one voted most likely to succeed.

When they saw him they said, there’s the next high priest Paul was sincere in his beliefs

We often hear “Pharisee” and automatically think “hypocrite”There are always religious hypocrites,

Paul wasn’t one of them Paul knew the Scriptures

He quotes it in all his epistles

He memorized it

Paul was so sincere, and so convinced that what he was doing was right, it took Jesus Christ Himself to appear to Paul to change Him An act of graceHe knew then, it was not what he could do, but that it was already done

You can see how it consumed him in the first few verses

Grace to you and peace The Greek greeting was “Joy to you!”The Hebrew greeting was “Peace”Paul says “Grace and peace”

We either are or were at war with God

You are now because you have not been saved, or were because you are saved

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

There is no in between on this There is no neutral zone or countriesYou’re on this side or that side God had every right to kill us all and send us to hell

says God is reserving wrath for His enemies Revelation says that there are vials being poured out in judgment on the world, God’s wrath is often seen as being in a cup or vial

We don’t realize what we really deserve

We think we deserve so much

Our court system is full of “deserving people”We say we “deserve” a good life, riches, nice things, among other things The truth is we deserve nothing but hell

We are sinful people

We are rebellious lawbreakers

Satan deceived us like he deceived himself “you can be like God”

In that we rebelled against God

Hell was made for Satan’s rebellion, yet God offers a way out to us in our rebellion

In looking at disasters some ask, how can God let that happen?

The question is, how did God not let that happen to me?

That is found in Jesus Christ (v. 4)

God’s grace, literally, rescued us That’s what delivered in the Greek meansIn Acts the word is used in describing God delivering the Israelites from Egypt and the Angel delivering Peter from the jail

King James Version Chapter 1

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world

We deserved to go to hell but God saw we needed rescuing from this evil world

There are only two religions, Grace and works

All other religions are built on worksThe two do not mix Grace is only found in Jesus Christ

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;That grace is what brings peace

This grace is for God’s glory (v. 5)

It is only by grace we are saved, and only by grace we live

God is merciful and longsuffering, Jesus said that He sends rain on the just and the unjust

We are at the mercy of God

This grace is for His glory We seem to forget we are saved for His glory

( – forgiven for His name’s sake)

God deserves the glory

This is what makes works so horrid: it robs God of His glory

Grace says, “I’ll do it for you” And God did, He paid our sin

The grace found in the Gospel tells God that we are completely incapable, only He can save us

Conclusion: The story of John Newton; has it sunk in? Have you praised Him for His grace? Given Him the glory