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Our theme for 2021 is “Redeeming the Time”
Last month I began a study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians
Remember that Paul encountered opposition to the gospel.
There were Jewish “missionaries” following Paul around the region and trying to convert Christians, both Jew and Gentile, back to Judaism.
Now the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 took up this matter and decided not to burden the Gentiles with these requirements.
What the Galatians thought was a religious debate was really a supernatural struggle.
Becoming a follower of Christ is not just a matter of following a religion, it is a supernatural transformation.
You are no longer what you used to be.
After coming to Christ, like these Galatian believers, the doubts and the questions start to arise.
What are some of those questions?
Are you crazy?
Have you lost your mind?
You can say, I have had an encounter with Jesus who is the truth and I am no longer deceived.
Well, there must be something wrong with you?
If people really knew about you they wouldn’t accept you.
You can say, “I am adequate, I am competent and my life is meaningful!”
Why?
Because it’s not about me; it’s all about Jesus and what He is doing in and through me.
You need to come back to simple faith in Jesus.
You are not what you used to be.
As we go through this series, I want to confront those other voices.
This week we are in Galatians chapter three and “You are no longer cursed.”
(Optional play video with Dan Ombija’s testimony)
Last week we had pastor Dan from Kenya speak.
He shared part of his testimony that he was the youngest of four sons.
His grandfather had been a witch doctor and had dedicated his family line to the gods.
His father and each of his brothers died.
He was on his deathbed when his grandmother, who had come to Christ, prayed for him and broke the curse.
He came back to life and has dedicated his life to serving Christ!
That is a powerful story of being “no longer cursed!”
We don’t think much about curses in America, but we express the same idea in different language.
Cursing relates to binding utterances with negative and damaging connotations.
It can convey a declaration of, wish for, or realization of judgment from God.
It is associated with binding oaths and can refer to demeaning and harmful speech directed from one person to another.
- Lexham Theological Wordbook
We think of cursing as swearing or saying bad words; but cursing is more about saying damaging words than just bad words.
Curses communicate hopelessness and helplessness.
They are intended to bind and to punish.
It is the enforcement behind an oath - this is what happens if you break your oath.
Cursing is the opposite of blessing.
Blessing brings a supernatural empowerment.
Cursing dis-empowers people.
Have you ever felt like you just can’t succeed no matter how hard you try?
There was an old show called “Hee Haw” where they would sing “If it weren’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all.” That’s what it is like to be cursed!
The whole world is against me!
I mess up everything that I ever try!
I just can’t get a break!
How do we move from cursing to blessing?
Jesus reverses the curses!
But before we get to how Jesus does that, Paul is going to point out a few things that are not helpful.
The curse of performance
Speaking of harsh words - Paul has some harsh words for the Galatians - but it is all in love.
He literally asks them if they are under some kind of spell?
Spells are not just something in books or movies.
There are people who study and practice witchcraft, even people around us.
I had a pastor friend recently who was having difficulty in his church.
They had a treasurer who stole money.
their board was having difficulty making decisions and coming to agreement and he was burning out and talking of quitting the ministry.
One day he was praying through the church and felt like he was wrestling with an evil spirit.
He tried casting it out but it wouldn’t go.
So, he got the janitor to pray with him.
Then he called me and I prayed and had our prayer group pray over him.
That evening he had their prayer meeting go around and anoint and pray around the church.
We also prayed against witchcraft, because he told me he was feeling sluggish and his mind was being attacked with confusion.
After we prayed, things turned around in his church.
He also said that his attitude changed and he felt free from the oppression that he had been under.
Even his wife noticed the difference.
These Galatian believers were acting like they didn’t know or understand anything that Paul had taught them.
They had fallen under the curse of performance or perfectionism.
Perfectionism is when you have already done your best and you still think you could have or should have done better.
The Galatians had Jewish missionaries telling them that they were not good enough because they didn’t keep all of the Jewish laws.
We have voices in our head telling us that we are still failures because we still make mistakes or that we can never live down our past.
Paul reminds us of the simple gospel that Jesus died for our sins - period.
And then he reminds us of how this works:
You didn’t earn salvation.
How did you get saved?
Was it anything that you did?
Sure, you prayed a prayer or you went to the altar or maybe you just cried out to God - but it wasn’t really about what you did.
Whatever you did was in response to what the Holy Spirit was already doing inside of you.
The point is that God saved you and you didn’t save yourself.
Why is that important?
Because if you are saved by your own works or by your own merit, then the accusation that you are not good enough or that you didn’t do enough might actually make sense.
But you are not saved by your own merit and your own merit can not sustain you.
If you are saved by God’s grace, that grace never changes!
There is a difference between justification and sanctification.
Justification means that your sin; past, present and future was forgiven when you committed you life to Christ.
Sanctification means that you confess your sin as often as you become aware of it and repent of it as part of an ongoing process of becoming who God say you already are.
The Kingdom of God is “already but not yet.”
Justification is the “already” and sanctification is the “not yet.”
The problem is that while we are working out the “not yet” we get fooled into thinking that the “already” never happened.
You can make up for what you didn’t earn.
If your salvation is a gift of God given by grace then do you really think you can make it better by your own self-effort?
If justification is by grace through faith, then why would sanctification be any different?
This is not one of those offers where you get something free only so you will have to pay more later!
Your growth and development as a believer is also a work of grace but we so often make it a chore.
Do you feel guilty if you miss your devotions?
Do you pray to get things from God or to be with God?
Do you spend time with God apart from your designated prayer time or reading your devotions?
Is worship, prayer and devotion part of your lifestyle?
So, as soon as I say that people are probably thinking, “I need to do more.”
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