Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Is there anything more frustrating or more discouraging than when someone you love and care for walks away from the faith or walks away from the truth.

It is one of the most discouraging things in the world to see a loved one get caught up in deception.

This is where we find the apostle Paul this morning.

As he writes to the churches in area of Galatia.

These Galatians have begun to walk away from the truth that they had been taught.

They have been deceived and confused and Paul is heart-broken.

What were they confused about?

Sanctification.

Now sanctification is a five dollar word that means the process of becoming more holy or more like Jesus.

Sometimes we use the word progressive sanctification to further show that becoming more holy is a process its a progression.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation we are justified or declared righteous.

In the eyes of God our sins have been pardoned we have been made clean.

However, for as long as we live this life we will still struggle with sin.

We won’t be made truly perfect until we see Jesus face to face.

But while we are still here on earth we go through a process called sanctification.

It’s the process of becoming more and more holy more and more like Jesus.

But the question we will wrestle with this morning and the question that the Galatians got so horribly wrong is this.

How does this happen?

How do we become sanctified?

How do we grow in holiness?

How do we become more like Jesus?

Big Idea: We are sanctified by faith not flesh.

Let’s read our passage this morning.

Big Idea: We are sanctified by faith not flesh.

So let’s try to understand what in the world is going on in these verses.

A couple of things that we need to know first.

One, these churches were filled with people who had converted to Christianity from paganism.

That is why Paul says in verse 1 that it was before their eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

What that phrase means is not that they physically saw Jesus Christ crucified but that through Paul’s preaching the crucification of Christ was so vividly told to them that it was as if they saw it in person.

Paul’s preaching had left such a mark on them it was like they were there as witness of the crucification.

Preaching Christ crucified was Paul’s whole ministry.

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (ESV)

1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

The essence or the core of Paul’s message was not what we can do for Christ but what Christ has done for us.

Paul’s message was the opposite of JFK’s famous words.

“Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”

Paul said ask not what you have done for Christ - ask what Christ has done for you.

But Paul didn’t just preach a dry boring message about Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 (CSB)

5 because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance.

The preaching of Christ crucified came with the power of God not with lofty words of wisdom but with the simple life changing power.

He was publicly crucified for our sins.

This was the core of Paul’s message so much so that it was as if the galatians were witnesses of the crucification themselves.

So Paul is writing to former pagans who have converted to Christianity after hearing what Jesus Christ has done for them on the cross.

But the second thing we need to know about these Galatians is that some Jews have slipped into their midst and have begun preaching a false gospel.

They have affirmed that Jesus died for them and that they must put their faith in Jesus but they were also adding to the gospel.

They added the law to the gospel.

They believed that you must also follow the law especially in regards to circumcision and observing the Sabbath.

One commentator explains it like this.

The contest between Paul and his opponents reverberates in the background of these verses.

There is no evidence that these law-observant teachers denied either the fundamental fact of “Christ crucified” or the manifestation of the Spirit among the Galatians.

So they weren’t arguing about whether or not Christ was crucified or not or whether Christ’s crucifixion was necessary or not.

That was agreed upon.

Their claim was rather that the entry-level gospel proclaimed by Paul was insufficient for the higher spiritual realities offered only through the works of the law.

They would have abhorred Paul’s antithesis between the gift of the Spirit and the works of the law.

For them the granting of the Spirit was merely a preliminary initiation into the Christian faith, one that remained incomplete until it was perfected by receiving the sign of physical incorporation into the people of Israel.

It was the soteriological value attached to circumcision, and not the rite itself, that prompted Paul’s negative reaction to the reforming mission of his opponents.

The “higher life” they were promoting was in reality a step backwards into the negative sphere of human self-justification and rebellion against the grace of God.

Here’s what these false teachers were essentially teaching.

That salvation by belief in Jesus was important even foundational but it was only the first step.

That after understanding and believing in the gospel they must observe the law.

They must be circumcisied and observe the sabbath if they are going to reach a higher level of spirituality.

And you know what that sounds kind of familiar not exactly the same obviously but It looks kind of familiar.

I’ve seen it.

I’ve thought it.

I’ve treated the gospel like the entry way into this new life without realizing that the gospel is the new life.

SO that’s what the Galatians are starting to believe.

They have been persuaded that the gospel is simply the entry way and now to experience this higher life of spirituality they must go back to observing the law.

So with that in mind listen as I read the text again.

Look how Paul compares and contrasts here with three questions.

He says, Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

-and- Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

-and- Does he who supplies miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Notice the contrast between believing or hearing with faith and observing the works of the law and beginning by the spirit vs being perfected by the flesh.

He’s contrasting the two because to believe in the gospel is more than just giving mental agreement to the facts of the gospel (Christ dying and being raised from the dead) but to believe in the gospel means to stop trying to earn salvation by observing the law.

So he asks the simple question.

How were you saved or how did you receive the Spirit?

The obvious answer is they received the Spirit by hearing with faith completely apart from any good works they have done.

Listen to his second question, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

This is a simple but profound question.

Essentially Paul is saying if it took the supernatural work of God to save you why would you think you could make yourself holy on your own.

Why would you think you could perfect yourself by the flesh.

I think as Christians we can all say to one level or another that we want to become more holy we want to become more presentable to a pure and holy God but to trust in our flesh to do something that can only be done by the Spirit is as the commentator said earlier a rebellion against the grace of God.

Listen to his third question, “Does he who supplies miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”

Apparently in these churches miracles are being done in their midst.

Paul’s question is simple.

Are these miracles happening because you are obeying the law or are they a result of faith?

NOw think through the book of acts with me.

Do any of those miracles happen because someone was circumcised or because they observed the sabbath or refused to eat certain meat?

NO.

Every miracle that was ever performed by a disciple of Jesus Christ came because of faith.

So you can see why Paul is being so harsh with them.

The idea of treating the gospel as simply an entry way into salvation or the thought that the miracles that we happening were the result of obedience to the law was abhorrent to Paul.

He calls them foolish.

He asked if they have been bewitched and if their life has been in vain.

Paul is being harsh with them but it’s because he loves them even when he calls them foolish in the greek it’s done in an endearing way.

It could easily be translated like, “Oh you dear idiots of Galatia … surely you cannot be so idiotic?”

To call some one foolish is to call them an idiot.