The Two Paths

Please open your Bibles to the end of Galatians, .

Read

It’s 1988, the Republican National Convention.

The Republican Presidential Nominee makes a speech.

He promises that he will not raise taxes.

Do you remember how he got his point across?

“Read my lips, no new taxes.”

Read my lips.

He doesn’t want anyone to misinterpret what he says.

He wants to be crystal clear.

“Read my lips ...”

“Don’t be confused.”

Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Galatians and he doesn’t want anyone to be confused.

He doesn’t say “read my lips”, instead he says look at the writing.

“See with what large letters

Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Galatians and he doesn’t want anyone to be confused.

“Read my lips”, he says look at the writing.

“See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.”

Most of the time Paul would use a scribe to do his actual writing.

He would dictate his letter to someone, and that person would write down what he said.

For example, Romans was written by a guy named Tertius.

Paul told Tertius the words of Romans, and Tertius wrote them down and the letter was passed on to the Romans.

Sometimes after the scribe wrote the words, Paul would sign the end of the letter in his trademark big letters.

It was his signature.

That signature verified that these were his words.

They weren’t someone else’s

“I am Paul, and I approve of this letter.”

Paul had an easily identifiable big way of writing.

He used big letters that took up much of the paper.

Kind of like John Hancock’s signature on the Declaration of Independence.

You can’t miss it.

Some think that Paul used scribes as often as he did because he had an eye condition, that made it hard to see.

And when he wrote, he wrote big, because he had a hard time seeing what was on paper.

He didn’t have reading glasses.

But when it came to Galatians, there wasn’t time for a scribe.

The situation was urgent, they were on the path towards legalism.

They were embracing a different gospel.

Paul quickly puts his own words to paper, and he does it himself.

Verse 11 says he has written these letters by himself.

The way he says this isn’t that he’s about to sign anything, like he normally does.

This letter has his own handwriting all over it.

Read my lips.

You can see the urgency in this letter.

He was in such a hurry that he didn’t begin the letter with his normal, kind introduction.

And he doesn’t end the letter with any personal words for the church that is there.

Sometimes he would pass on greetings to specific members of the church.

But there’s no time for that.

He preaches to the very end.

Read my lips.

Don’t be confused.

There are two paths with very different destinations.

What Paul has been explaining to the Galatians is that when it comes to religion, eternity and salvation, when it comes to life, there are only two paths with very different destinations.

There are thousands if not millions of different religions in the world.

It has been said that within Hinduism alone there are about 330 million gods.

But if you were to break down all the religions of the world, they really only come down to 2 options, 2 paths.

There is faith and there is works.

Again, I realize there are millions of different religions, but all of them outside of Christ are generic, counterfeit look a likes.

They are all a copy of the same path … works.

When I would eat cereal I was always a fan of the generic brands.

Instead of Lucky Charms, I’d get Magic Stars.

Instead of Cookie Crisp, I’d get Cooookies.

Instead of Cocoa Pebbles, I’d get Cocoa Dyno-bites.

Different packaging, same thing.

There is a flood of religions in this world, but they are all the same bland substance.

Sure they have different packaging.

Islam has Muhammed.

Mormons have Moroni.

JW’s have Charles Russell.

But they are all the same nutrition-less, bland religion of works righteousness.

There are only two paths.

There is grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone.

And it leads to salvation.

Or there is the path of works righteousness.

Do this.

Do that.

Make yourself good enough.

And it leads to eternal death, Hell.

Go back in your Bibles to .

These are Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

He gives a series of two’s, He gives a series of contrasts to make this point.

Jesus’ examples of the two paths.

There is a narrow gate and a wide gate.

There is an easy way and there is a hard way.

There is a way that leads to life and there is a way that leads to destruction.

There are many and there are few.

Do you see the duplicates?

There are millions of religions in this world, but boil them down, and you’ve only got two options.

That’s life.

That’s religion.

That’s eternity.

Only two paths.

Here’s the thing though about these two paths … they look alike.

We like to think that these two paths are obviously different.

One is angelic and the other is Satanic.

We think of Christianity and some pagan religion where virgins are thrown into volcanos.

It’s actually much more deceptive than that.

It’s not as clear.

In II Corinthians Paul talks about Satan.

How does Satan present himself?

Not as an evil demon in a red jump suit with a pitchfork.

But as an angel of light.

Who were the main opponents of Jesus’ teaching?

It wasn’t the polytheistic Romans.

It was the Jews who offered sacrifices to God in the temple.

The path that is wide and that leads to destruction, loves to masquerade itself as Christian.

Many so called Christians are on this path.

They’ve been told they’re on the narrow path, but in reality, they are walking towards a cliff.

And the Galatians are departing from the path that leads to life.

They have been deceived by something that looks good, it looks similar to what they know.

That’s why Paul is so urgent with His letter.

No time for a scribe.

No time for flowerly introductions.

They are at a fork in a road.

You are at a fork in the road.

Which path are you on?

Which path will you take?

The good news is these paths are marked.

There are things to look for.

Just like if you are on a trail, you begin at a marked trail head.

There is a sign, maybe even a map.

There are signposts along the way, that point you in the right direction.

These two paths have signposts to make sure you aren’t lost.

You just have to learn to read the signposts.

To identify the markings along the way.

First, let’s look at the signposts of the false path.

Look again at verses 12-13, these describe the false path.

The first marker on the false path is that it has pride.

"It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh ...”

False religion is filled with pride.

It denies man’s natural condition.

It is blind to sin.

It carries with it the idea that you have no sin.

And in fact that you are good.

But this is nothing more than a trap.

It reminds me of the old Wiley Coyote cartoons, where there would be a fork in the road with a sign, and he would turn to sign, so that the person on the road, would make a wrong turn and fall off a cliff.

This kind of thinking leads you off a cliff, and sends you plummeting to your death.

Remember, this path looks good.

Most often those who affirm innate goodness of man are those in the church.

Many pastors serve as false teachers.

But really, they are preachers of Satan.

They lie to those in the church, putting up signposts along the way to send them off a cliff.

And what is the lie?

God doesn’t care about sin.

That God doesn’t care about your sin.

He’s not mad at you, he’s mad about you.

He isn’t a judging God.

This is nothing more than pride.

In verse 12 Paul says they are making a good show in the flesh.

The truth is that man is not naturally good.

makes it clear, there is no one who does good, not even one.

This goes all the way to children.

Parents, your big job is to teach your children to do good.

You don’t have to teach them evil, because they do that naturally.

What’s your job?

It’s to teach them good.

says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”

That’s the starting condition.

Why is folly bound up in the heart of a child?

Because according to , our hearts are wicked.

He sinned and we sinned with him.

We start off sinful, and it becomes demonstrated by our willful sin.

It’s interesting because what does pride say?

I may mess up, but I got a good heart.

No, you mess up because you have a bad heart.

This bad heart is so deceptive it even hinders you from coming to Christ.

You cannot come to God unless the Spirit gives you a new heart.

But those on the false path, are so filled with pride, they deny their depravity, their sin, and their need for God’s intervention to give them a new heart.

The first signpost of the false path is pride.

It’s boasting in the flesh.

As you continue walking down the path to destruction, there is the second signpost and that is fear.

The first is pride.

The second is fear.

Look again at , “It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.”

You had the Judaizers, the Jewish so called Christians, who were embarrassed to be with the Gentile Galatians.

They were embarrassed to be with these Gentile believers.

So what did they do?

They told the Galatians to be circumcised.

If you look right, then I’ll hang around you.

But as long as you don’t look right, it’s embarrassing to me.

This is the petty story line of high school dramas.

You don’t look cool enough, wear the right shoes, so I won’t associate with you.

But if you start wearing brand name clothes then I’ll be seen with you in public.

The Judaizers were saying, “Start looking like a Jew, and then we can hang out.”

The Gospel says it’s Christ alone.

But to those on the false path, they reject this idea.

It’s got to be something else.

It can’t be Christ alone.

Those on the false path live in fear.

They have a fear of man.

It says that they forced circumcision on the Galatians so they would not be persecuted for the Cross of Christ.

The Judaizers didn’t want to get in trouble for hanging out with the Galatians, who were Christians.

They were afraid of being rejected by men because of their association to the Cross.

The path to destruction doesn’t know Christ and is therefore ashamed of Christ.

And being ashamed of Christ it then compromises on truths.

It compromises on essentials truths.

You can watch those on the false path consistently compromise:

Because the world is opposed to truth.

And they compromise out of a fear of man.

It’s not a fear of God.

Because if they feared God they wouldn’t compromise.

It’s man.

This is the fear that caused Aaron to tremble at the foot of Sinai and make a calf for the people to worship.

This is the fear that caused Pontius Pilate to tremble at the Jewish mob outside his home calling for the crucifixion of Jesus.

This same fear is found in those who reject:

The authority of Scripture.

Because they’ll look foolish in the world’s eyes.

Reject the roles of gender.

Because the world around them will call them bigoted.

A young earth.

Instead, embracing evolution.

The problem with Christians embracing evolution is theological for sure.

But the greater problem, is it’s a fear of men.

Fearing what others will think, instead of trusting in God’s Word.

This same fear is found in those who reject the resurrection from the dead.

They fear the response of man, and compromise.

The third signpost of the false path is Hypocrisy.

Paul points out that the Judaizers demanded that the Galatians perfectly obey the law, and yet, they didn’t even do it themselves.

Verse 13, “For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.”

Built into the false path is hypocrisy.

The

In , the day is coming, and I believe it is here now, when people will have the appearance of godliness, but will deny its power. He says, “avoid such people.”

Those who are on the false path, look religious, but there’s no obedience.

There’s been no inward change.

Paul commends the Thessalonians, in of their genuine repentance.

They were not hypocrites.

Evidence of their conversion was real and verifiable.

They turned from serving idols to the true and living God.

In God’s Providence this is one of the most identifiable features of those on the false path, they do not obey.

They are hypocrites.

Do you remember what a hypocrite is?

The Greek word for hypocrite is an actor.

This is someone who pretends to be something that he is not.

The dangers of the false path are real.

It’s filled with pride.

Those who are on it are fearful.

It has hypocrites.

And the end of it is deadly.

In , Jesus says He will spit these people out of His mouth.

I’m convinced many people have been seduced by this path.

They are told to become religious, without ever being told of the hope of true Christianity.

They then embark on a journey.

They get on a path, ignoring the signposts.

And the evidence is found in the signposts.

There is pride.

There is fear.

There is hypocrisy, and sin rules and dominates this person’s life.

Blindly, their end is death.

I don’t want any of you on that path.

Just as there are signposts for the false path, there are also signposts of the true path.

And these signposts are clearly seen.

Paul compares himself to the false teachers in Galatia, and in comparison he says of himself in verse 14, “But far be it from me ...”

He knows that he is not on the false path.

We live in a world with millions religions.

And people say how can one religion be right among all of them.

How can there possibly be only one way?

And here is Paul, a lone voice in a sea of plurality, and he says, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of Christ.”

I want you to have this same confidence.

You can be sure that you are on the right path.

You are out hiking, and in the middle of nowhere.

You have no cell phone reception.

You want to make sure you are on the right path.

One ends in life.

One ends in death.

What do you do?

Look for the signs.

The first signpost is the Cross, and boasting completely in it.

Boasting in the cross is a strange thing.

Boasting means to brag about something.

Your team wins the big game, you brag about it.

Your kid gets on honor roll, you put the bumper sticker on your car.

Have you ever thought what a strange thing the cross is?

Think of what the Cross is.

It’s a torture device.

It’s humiliating.

The victim is beaten then stripped naked.

He’s nailed or tied to a cross.

The only way for him to breathe is to push down on his feet, which are nailed to the wood, while at the same time, pulling with his arms which are nailed to a crossbeam.

The cross mocks his every breath, as he inches closer to death.

Eventually, from exhaustion, loss of blood, and often cardiac arrest, his body gives in to the destination of suffocation, where he breathes his last breath and dies.

Perhaps we have forgotten the grossness of the cross.

We’ve turned it into jewelry and decorations for our walls.

But boasting in the Cross is boasting in an execution.

We don’t boast in the device itself, but what happened on that cross.

It was there where Jesus Christ died.

On that Cross, Jesus paid for all the sins of His people.

Past, present and future.

So while all other religions look within and say, “I make myself good,” Christianity turns to Christ and says He makes me good.

It points to the man that has been bruised, battered, bleeding and dying naked on a cross, and says He is my hope.

It’s boasting, its saying there is nothing that I can do it’s all Him.

It is all that offensive dying criminal on the Cross.

It’s removing every ounce of personal pride.

It’s acknowledging there’s nothing in me.

It’s stating that the only reason I am even on this path is because God put me on it.

Do you agree with ?

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

It began with His sovereign choice.

Predestinating you.

Then dying for you.

This signpost is one of surrender.

The second signpost is Freedom.

Where the false path is dominated by fear.

Fear of man.

Fear of being approved.

Fear of sin.

This path offers freedom.

Going on into verse 15, “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

We have been freed from the grip of the world upon us.

There is no reason to worry about the world’s reaction to us, because we have been crucified to the world, we have died to the world, it no longer has any hold on us.

The Judaizers were not freed from the world.

They were afraid of what other Judaizers and what other Jews would think of them, so they forced circumcision on the Galatians.

They were not freed.

Let me put it another way.

Before you were converted you obeyed the world’s rules.

You were bound to it.

But when you become a Christian, Christ pulls you out of that system, and places you within His kingdom.

In His High Priestly prayer, in , Jesus says of the church, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

If you are in Christ, you are no longer a part of the world.

You live in, but as a stranger, a foreigner, as someone who doesn’t fit in.

Since you are not of the world, you have a a new king, a new reason to live.

You no longer strive for the world’s approval, but of Christ’s approval.

He becomes your king.

He is who you live for.

He is who you obey.

You live here, waiting for the day you either die and go to Him, or He returns and takes you to Himself.

There is security on this path that means you don’t even have to fear death.

You know that Christ died for you.

This path will take you to the King.

He will bring you to completion.

There is security here, because you may think that you are unworthy,

Your sin condemns you, but if you are in Christ, He makes you worthy.

says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The rest of the world doesn’t have this security.

No one else can say that.

But because of the work that Christ has done, if you are in Him, you will be brought to completion.

You will be brought to the end.

No fear.

Those who are outside of Christ, have a fearful dread of their death day.

The third signpost is that those who are on this path become New Creations.

How do you know if you are on this path? You have become a new creation.

You see this in verse 15 and 16, “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”

We often say that you must be born again.

Being born again is when the Holy Spirit invades your heart.

He takes out your old heart and gives you a new heart.

Let me be blunt, He gives you a new nature.

Often we talk about having a sin nature.

The sin nature is that uncontrollable desire to sin.

The sin nature is what blinds you to the truth of the Gospel.

The sin nature is what keeps you from believing truth.

The sin nature is why the unregenerate reject God’s Word.

The sin nature is why the unregenerate reject God’s Word.

The sin nature is why the world is opposed to the Cross.

Christians, do not have a sin nature.

I don’t mean you turn over a new leaf and just try to be different.

I mean you literally become a new creation in Christ because you have a new nature.

You are no longer bound to sin.

You no longer have to sin.

Your will has been freed.

The Christian is the only one who has a free will, because he has received a new nature, that is not bound to sin anymore.

If you are in Christ you do not have a sin nature.

What does this mean?

It means that you live differently.

You walk differently.

It begins with repentance.

That means the sins that enslaved you before, no longer enslave you.

You go to war against them.

You no longer let them define you.

That was the old you.

That was your old nature.

But now you have a new nature.

And you live differently.

This is more than repentance.

It’s demonstrating the new life.

It’s walking and living as a person who has been redeemed by Christ.

This person doesn’t fear judgment.

Not because he’s never sinned.

But because He knows that Jesus died for sin.

And therefore, he has peace with God.

And if you can’t say that you are a new creature … you might not be a new creation.

That means you aren’t on the good path.

You are not in Christ.

Many people have been lied to and told they are on the right path, when in reality they are still in rebellion to God.

You need to get on the good path.

You need Christ.

Don’t let today end before knowing for sure which path you are on.

The final signpost is maybe the most disturbing, it’s that this good path is difficult.

I’ve only gone skiing once in my life.

I remember going with a friend in middle school.

We took some lessons early in the morning, and then were set free to roam the slopes.

One of the things they told us was to look at the ratings of the slopes before you went on them.

There was the bunny slope.

It was easy.

But that wasn’t what we wanted.

We wanted the hard slopes.

We wanted the black diamond.

And we went to those black diamond slopes, and I’m probably lucky I didn’t die, because I didn’t know how to stop.

They were hard.

The Christian life is a black diamond route, it’s not easy.

We started by reading Jesus’ words about these paths from .

He said there were two paths.

One was wide and easy, and it lead to destruction.

There was another path.

It is narrow, and it is hard, but it leads to life.

Paul describes his life in verse 17, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”

Ignore superstitious religious myths that say a person who is really Christlike starts to develop marks of the crucifixion on them.

That’s not what Paul is saying here.

Paul has lived a hard life for Christ.

He has suffered.

His body has been bruised and battered.

In , he was stoned then dragged out of the city and left for dead.

By God’s protection, he got up and went on preaching.

Later on in his life he would:

Be beaten

Receive the 39 lashes from the Jews 5 times.

That was the closest thing to the death penalty they could offer.

Shipwrecked 3 times.

Arrested.

Imprisoned.

And eventually beheaded in Rome.

His body had marks on it.

He had scars from being on the good path, it was not easy.

The difficulty doesn’t mean it’s a bad path either.

Remember it leads to life.

It leads to Christ.

And the difficulty is because you are following Him.

tells us to expect trials on this trail.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

You are going to encounter difficulty on this path.

It’s the false path that will be easy.

This hard path can be a lonely path as well.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, it’s clear, they need to separate from who is leading them astray.

Jesus said there is a wide path, and there is a narrow path.

It’s very narrow.

How narrow?

The word for narrow means to squeeze, or compress.

The walls are closing in on you.

You ever go through a turn style?

Maybe at a ballgame or entering a theme park.

How many people can get through a turn style?

Just one.

This narrow path like a turn style.

It means you go through it alone.

You can’t count on others.

You don’t get through because your mom or dad was a Christian.

You don’t get to go through because you go to Southwest Christian Church.

It’s narrow.

You go through it.

The narrowness of it, means you might have to separate from others.

There’s a fork in the road.

There’s a wide path.

Many people are on it.

They are all walking side by side.

The end of it is death.

There is a narrow path.

It looks confining.

It looks claustrophobic.

Room for just one person.

To go down it means to leave the masses that go down that wide path to the left.

This isn’t talked about enough.

It’s difficult.

In Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

That doesn’t mean you develop a hatred and unbridled anger towards your family.

But it means if you are going to be a Christian, you need to separate from others and go down the narrow.

It’s constricting.

There’s room for just one.

Anyone who says that this is an easy path, clearly is not on it with you.

The good path is a hard path.

Hard because it will mean suffering.

It means being hated by the world.

Hard because you will live as an enemy to the system around you.

It means resisting sin.

These are the signposts of the good path.

There are only 2 paths.

You are either on wide one.

Or you are on the narrow one.

Which one are you on?

It matters.

A number of years ago, Amanda and I went to New York City.

We traveled on subways and buses while there.

One day we raced onto the subway, trying to make it on the train in time.

We hopped on, wanting to go uptown.

Instead of going uptown, we went down.

We left Manhattan and went down to Brooklyn.

We didn’t follow the signs and got on the wrong path.

I’ve given you the signs.

Which path are you on?

If you see pride, fear or hypocrisy, then you are on the false path.

We went to Brooklyn, got off the train, circled to the other side of the platform, and began heading in the right direction.

It’s never too late to get off that train, and get on the good path.

You know you are on the right path when you can:

Boast in the Cross.

Know that you are free.

Live victoriously because you have a new nature.

And you find yourself suffering for Christ.

If you can spot these signposts, then you know you are headed in the right direction.

You’re almost home.

Pray