Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO: You know those things in life that “shouldn’t be” in life, but you just ignore?

You know, that squeaky door, the clothes that are still in the dryer, skinny jeans… Most of us you have a car, so how many of you have something not quite right that you ignore… that clinking sound, that slight pull to the left, the check-engine light… I have a buddy who, no joke, put a piece of tape over his check-engine light because it stressed him out...

Well the truth is, that sometimes we get “off” in our spiritual lives as well, and often we ignore these issues rather than address them.

That was true for the Galatians.

If you remember a few weeks ago, we noted that they had gotten off-track.

They had, deserted Christ and went chasing after the teaching of the Judaizers (1:6).

The Judaizers, you may recall, were a group who taught that you had to earn your salvation by keeping all the traditions and laws.

As we roll into chapter 3, Paul makes an impassioned plea for the Galatians to wake up!

The language in verse 1 tells us a lot.

Now, by calling them ‘foolish,’ Paul is not insulting them like you might be thinking.

To be called foolish, while probably not a compliment, was more to call their attention to their lack of understanding.

The Galatians were evidently not thinking clearly, and someone needed to tell them!

This ties right back to the previous chapter where Paul shared how he confronted Peter when Peter was acting in hypocrisy.

The Galatians were certainly not the first ones or the only ones Paul ever confronted.

And just as he helped restore Peter, Paul hoped to bring the Galatians back on track as well.

In calling them out, Paul again lays out the problem.

The Galatians had been deceived- the word he uses is ‘bewitched’.

This lends us to the idea that they had been ‘taken in’ by the Judaizer; hypnotized by the teachings and were following as if they never heard the truth of the Gospel.

Of course, we know they heard the truth… Paul claims here in v. 1 that he was faithful to preach Jesus clearly.

Did they forget the truth?

I know of people who have heard the gospel, who were excited about Jesus and His Kingdom and the Christian mission.

Yet, at some point they were drawn away… some to liberalism and others to legalism.

The problem with being deceived is that you don’t know you are being deceived!!

Perhaps there was something alluring about the tradition or formality of these Judaizers… even some sort of self-gratification as they began to live as if they deserved a place in God’s kingdom.

They were being led astray, trusting in themselves more than in the grace of God.

So, as we prepare to dive in, let us remember that Paul has already condemned the false teachers and teaching (Ch.

1).

Further, he has primed his audience for this rebuke/ corrective action by sharing his confrontation with Peter.

Now, having verbally shaken the church awake, Paul gives instruction on how to evaluate and correct this error.

We might say, he showed the Galatians how to ‘check themselves and correct themselves before they wrecked themselves’ (yes, i am that hip…) So, if you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to follow along with me using the sermon guide as we learn together.

The message is entitled “Tune-up: Evaluating and Correcting our Christian Walk”

The very first thing Paul calls the Galatians to do, and what you and I need to do as we see our life begin to veer off-track is to

Reflect Upon Your Salvation (2)

READ v. 2

This is a rhetorical question, but let’s unpack it.

Do you recognize what was accomplished when you were converted; when you were saved?

Paul words it to emphasize the reception of the Holy Spirit.

When you were saved, God gifted you with His Holy Spirit, that is the very person of the Holy Spirit indwells in you.

Your body is a temple (1 Cor.

6:19-20), not because it’s worthy to be a temple, but because it is where God’s presence dwells!

In the OT, we see that God’s presence dwelt in the temple or tabernacle before that.

Not because that old building or tent was worthy, but because God was determined to dwell among His people.

Now, listen- the temple was set apart and devoted to God’s purposes, not man’s.

That’s why Jesus went through there with a whip, knocking over tables.. they had perverted that which God had set apart.

When you received the Holy Spirit, you were set apart for His glory.

It’s no wonder why Paul was so passionate here- the Galatians had been deceived and their lives no longer reflected God’s purposes.

Upon your conversion, you received the the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life and also were sealed by Him.

The seal of the Holy Spirit is that which marks your identity in God’s Kingdom.

When you have received the Holy Spirit, you have been set apart from the world to be counted in God’s family.

You were, as Jesus told Nicodemus, BORN AGAIN.

Now, follow with me here- how many of you were born?

How many of you birthed yourself?

(Not possible, right!?!)

That’s what Paul is getting at as he asks, did you receive the Holy Spirit because you earned it or because you trusted in God to endow you with His very presence?

What makes our conversion such a glorious and powerful moment in our lives?

Is it that we achieved a status… earned enough coins to purchase it, or somehow earned enough credit hours to graduate into salvation?

NO!!

The glorious truth of salvation is that:

When was the last time you truly reflected upon God’s grace in your salvation?

ILL - We sing songs about our salvation all the time… we sing about that

Amazing Grace that saved a wretch like me (I am that wretch!)

About the blood of Jesus that washed my sins away (I am that filthy sinner!)

About how Jesus paid it ALL (I am the debtor who cannot possibly pay!)

Do we really take time to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit has come into us?

About the transformation in our lives and about how this came about even as we DESERVED wrath.

In the midst of their error, Paul encouraged the Galatians to reflect upon their conversion and consider the source and power that brings salvation and redemption.

In the following verses, we see Paul’s gives a call to

Discuss: What does it mean that Christians receive the Holy Spirit by faith?

Reflect upon your salvation and discuss how you came to faith in Christ.

Evaluate your Spiritual Growth (3-5)

Again, Paul draws attention to the Galatians’ lack of understanding as he probes.

It’s both a condemnation and expression of pity towards them.

And again, he uses a rhetorical question (READ v 3)

One commentator paraphrased it this way: “Surely you can’t be so idiotic as to think that a man begins his spiritual life in the Spirit and then completes it by reverting to outward observances.”

Curtis Vaughan, Galatians, Founders Study Guide Commentary (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2005), 60.

Let’s think this through: What do you attribute your spiritual growth to?

Disciplines like reading the Bible, prayer, and coming to church?

Serving - like on mission trips, in church ministries, or in the community?

These are great Sunday-School answers, and they are good things.

But you need to hear this:

Our spiritual growth- our sanctification, or becoming more like Jesus only happens through the Holy Spirit working in us.

Jesus gave the command that in order to follow Him, we must die to ourselves (Luke 9:23).

As we learned a couple weeks ago, we are crucified with Christ, and called to live lives that are surrendered to His lordship.

And remember, when we were born again, we were born to a newness of life (Rom.

6:4)

Now, Paul goes on to ask another couple rhetorical questions.

In verse 4, he alludes to the Galatians willingness to suffer for their faith.

We don’t know exactly what kind of suffering they experienced - reproach, affliction, persecution, etc. , but here is what you need to note: they were so convinced of the gospel that they joyfully faced these hardships.

And in their hardships, they experienced God’s mercy.

They saw lives transformed as the church grew.

They saw evidences of the Holy Spirit working in their community and Paul asked them:

Was all of that for nothing?

Did God do these great works because you preached conformity to tradition or because you preached about the power of the cross?

Did God transform lives because people adhered to a legal standard or because God took their heart of stone and made it a heart of flesh?

So, how do we grow spiritually?

By walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit that lives in us.

Paul dives into this concept later in this letter, but let me just emphasize that our walk - even though we might have some good disciplines, our walk must be led by the Holy Spirit if we expect to grow.

I wonder how your spiritual growth is going?

Are you growing?

Or are you stagnate?

Discuss: What kind of spiritual growth have you noticed in your life over the last year?

How do you become sanctified?