Justified by Faith

Sermon Notes

Galatians 2:11–21 NKJV

11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. 17 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: The Freedom Fighter, Part II (Galatians 2:11–21)

There are five basic Christian doctrines that were being denied by Peter because of his separation from the Gentiles.

The Unity of the church (14)

Justification by faith (15-16)

Freedom from the law (17-18)

The very gospel itself (19-20)

The grace of God (21)

Sermon Outline

Wear it As Long As You Can

George Fox (1624-1691) was the founder of the Quakers, a Christian movement, in seventeenth-century century England.

Two of the great Quaker contributions are their teaching on pacifism (refusal to use violence) and equality (abolishing class distinction). William Penn (1644-1718) grew up in the upper class and had the best education available.

At the age of twenty-three, Penn became a Quaker, and soon after everything began to change. It was common in Penn’s day to wear a sword, which was not intended to harm anyone one but was a sign that the wearer belonged to the upper class. After becoming a Quaker, Penn struggled with whether he should wear the sword. After all, it was a symbol of war as well as class distinction-two two things Quakers stood squarely against.

So Penn went to Fox, his mentor, to seek guidance on the matter. “May I continue to wear the sword?” he asked Fox. I would have expected Fox to say, “No, you must get rid of it. Turn it into a plowshare and never wear anything like it again.” Instead, George Fox offered a response that is a touchstone for me in the area of Christian living. He said, “Wear it as long as you can, William, wear it as long as you can.”

Fox was laying out an important principle in the Christian life. When it comes to our practices and behavior, we need to avoid making rules and laws, and trust the leading of the Spirit. Fox did not say, “Don’t wear it,” nor did he say, “It’s all right to wear it.” He trusted that Penn would make the right decision in time. Had Fox given him a command, he would have robbed Penn of the opportunity to listen to the Holy Spirit, and he would have put in place a rigid standard, which almost always leads to later problems.

Taken from The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love by James Bryan Smith, Copyright (c) 2010 by James Bryan Smith. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com

Legalism will always be knocking on the door of a Christian’s heart trying to entice them to come away from liberty and the be chained to its rules and laws.

“You want to mess up the minds of your children? Here's how - guaranteed! Rear them in a legalistic, tight context of external religion, where performance is more important than reality. Fake your faith. Sneak around and pretend your spirituality . Train your children to do the same. Embrace a long list of do's and don'ts publicly but hypocritically practice them privately... yet never own up to the fact that its hypocrisy. Act one way but live another. And you can count on it - emotional and spiritual damage will occur.” Chuck Swindoll

Legalism always has good intentions but will always be a bitter pill to swallow.

“Without the infinite personal God, all a person can do, as Nietzsche points out, is to make systems. In today's speech we would call them gameplans. A person can erect some sort of structure, some type of limited frame in which he lives, shutting himself up in that frame and not looking beyond it.” Francis August Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture

Five mistakes christians make when they they try to juggle freedom and legalism:

They cause an inbalance in the church. (14)

They tag works to faith. (15-16)

They bound people who are already free. (17-18)

They promote an alternate life to that which Jesus intended for His people to have. (19-20)

They nullify the impact of God’s grace in a believer’s life. (21)