February 20, 2022 - Setting the Record Straight
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· *How many of you, in your lives, have ever had to stand up, and SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT…
· In a given situation?
o Maybe something had been said about you…or your family…
o …and you felt you needed to speak up – and SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
· I think we can all think of times in the past when a famous person came out – in order to SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT…
o This happens in the area of Sports
o Movies (actors and actresses)
o Politicians
o Everywhere…
· And even closer-to-home, I think this happens all the time – In our homes – with our kids…
· Constantly setting the record straight – as they grow up and learn about the world…
Today – we’re going to see the Apostle Paul continue to set the record straight – regarding how Faith and the Law fit together!
· Last week Paul acted like a Lawyer….asking Question after question to the Galatian believers…
· Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
· Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
· Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
And the answers to these questions from last week – are ALL answered – BY FAITH
- We saw that…
- BY FAITH:
o The Spirit is received
o We are Empowered by the Holy Spirit
o We are Sealed by the Spirit unto ultimate Glorification
· And in answering these questions – the apostle Paul begins to RESHAPE the Jewish mindset…reshape the GENTILE mindset…
· He begins to SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT…
· And today – he continues…
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
· All throughout biblical history, there have been many conclusions that mankind has drawn – that end up needing REFINED – upon the truth of God’s word…
· The first point that Paul will – SET STRAIGHT today – is the IDEA that…
o All descendants of Abraham are CHILDREN of Abraham
Today – Paul is going to debunk this idea…
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
· NOW – the moment that the original readers would have read this text…
· Their minds would have been BLOWN!
· The implications of this verse – would have been – LIFE CHANGING…to the 1st century Jew / Gentile
· This truth – is the kind of truth that ROCKS people to their core…
· Now we read it and we breeze right by…
· BUT – the 1st century Jewish readers who read this – Could have easily…
Become VERY angry
Why?
Because this WOULDN’T HAVE EVEN BEEN – an OPTION – a Consideration – in the mind of the 1st century Jew…
· Was anyone in here adopted as a child?
· Can you imagine – your parents coming to you later today – and telling you that you were adopted?
I think that’s more in line with how the 1st century Jew would have responded to this verse!
Understand what this verse is ACTUALLY SAYING...
Paul is saying - Just because you are Jewish (ethnically), doesn’t mean you are an offspring of Abraham!
Paul is - SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT!
SLIDE:
Where the Jews believed that physical lineage rendered them sons of Abraham, Paul shows it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham.
And AGAIN - this is where people get OFF track with Jesus - BECAUSE He so OFTEN spoke of SPIRITUAL things - when we as humans - ALWAYS took Him to be speaking in the Physical sense!!
Think about it:
How did the Jews MISS their Messiah?
They were expecting PHYSICAL freedom
They were expecting a PHYSICAL kingdom to be set up
They were hung up on - THE PHYSICAL
They didn’t UNDERSTAND that IN Christ DYING - He brought Spiritual FREEDOM!
When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well...
He said to her - Will you give me a drink?
And she says - you’re a Jew and I’m a Samaritan...
Jesus says - If you knew who I was, you would have asked Me for a drink, and I would have given you LIVING WATER.
Her reply?
Well sir, you don’t have a bucket to draw up the water with, and this well is very deep...
…Where is this living water?
Did she get it?
No - Jesus spoke using PHYSICAL language, yet was speaking - Spiritually
When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, the most Religious man of the time...
Jesus said to him - You must be born again if you want to see the Kingdom of God.
What did Nicodemus reply?
“Uhhhhh, How can a man be born when he is old?
how am I supposed to RE-ENTER my mothers womb?”
Did he get it?
No - Jesus spoke using PHYSICAL language, yet was speaking - Spiritually
When Jesus was washing the apostles feet...
Jesus is about to wash Peter’s feet...
And Peter says - “Jesus, you will NEVER wash my feet”
Jesus says to him - “If i don’t WASH YOU, then you have no share with Me”...
Did Peter get it?
NO - he was hung up on the physical - and what Jesus did had a Spiritual meaning!
When Jesus told the apostles of His coming Death....
Peter took Jesus over in the corner and said - “Nope - this will NEVER happen to you!”
Jesus replied - “Get behind me satan”
What was Peter’s problem…? Jesus tells us....
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Peter didn’t get it...
NO - he was hung up on the physical - and couldn’t GRASP the Spiritual side of it...
At the sermon on the mount...
Jesus said - You’ve heard it said before, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery...
The Jews understood it - PHYSICALLY...
But what did Jesus do?
He defined what Murder meant...
Defined what Adultery meant...
Jesus revealed it WASN’T merely PHYSICAL...
It was a HEART issue...
When Jesus said…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life...
How did the people respond?
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Did they get it?
No - Jesus spoke using PHYSICAL language, yet was speaking - Spiritually
When Jesus said - Whoever comes to Me shall never hunger, whoever believes in Me shall never thirst...
Did the people get it?
No - Jesus spoke using PHYSICAL language, yet was speaking - Spiritually
Jesus was ALWAYS speaking to the Spiritual side of life...
I could go ON and ON and ON - examples of Christ using PHYSICAL language...
YET - speaking to the Spiritual side of Reality!
We - mankind have CONSISTENTLY misunderstood Jesus Christ!
We’re constantly TURNING that which is spiritual - into something - tangible...
Remember the Golden Calf? - Moses goes up on the Mountain to converse with God...
well - he was gone too long!
He comes back down and sees what?
A Golden Calf - something tangible to worship!
This is WHO WE ARE!!!
· And SO – when we as humans think of LINEAGE…
· We think of – BLOODLINES…
· Every Jew on the planet believed he was – OF the LINEAGE of Abraham…
· In our text TODAY - Paul says – THINK AGAIN!
Paul says – I need to set the record straight!
Paul says – In God’s economy – BEING a child of Abraham…depends on – FAITH – and not the flesh!
He’s saying - Yes - even GENTILES - by FAITH - IF they believe - are OFFSPRING of Abraham!
WHICH MEANS - He’s ALSO saying - An ethnic Jew - who DOESN’T believe - is NOT a descendent of Abraham!
Paul here - is SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT!!
NOW - why did this HIT SO HARD with the Jews?
Well - how did the Jews VIEW ABRAHAM?
38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Jesus here is speaking to the Jews - and He says - I speak of what I have seen with my Father....and YOU do what you have heard from YOUR father...
NOW - we know that Jesus is declaring that the Jews father is the devil...
But they’re trying to decipher what He means...
Listen to how they VIEW Abraham....listen to their response...
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
BECAUSE of their physical DESCENDANCY from Abraham - the Jews BELIEVED themselves to be SAFE - with God...
Abraham is where they rested....because through Abraham....and down the line - comes the Law!
They RELIED on their - - JEWISHNESS!!
But look how Jesus responds!
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,
Pretty clear no?
Jesus is saying - Physically....yes - you descended from Abraham...
But you’re not Abraham’s children - in the sense of BEING a part of the Abrahamic Covenant promise!!
YES you might be a part of the physical BLOOD LINE - of Abraham - but you don’t have FAITH!!
THEREFORE - you’re NOT safe with God!
Paul then explains how this has been the plan ALL ALONG with God…
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
· The plan of God – as we can see is that ALL the nations would be blessed – THROUGH Abraham!
· And so this GOSPEL (this good news) was preached to Abraham BY God…
· And then v9 shows us the RESULT of this PLAN…
· “Those of FAITH are blessed along with Abraham – the man of FAITH”
See – the False Teachers would NOT have agreed with this truth!
(The FALSE TEACHERS believed BY THE LAW man is blessed)
· And there’s A MAJOR IRONY playing out here…!
As we just read earlier – the Jewish Nation viewed Abraham – as the Father of their RACE…
· The INTERESTING thing – is this:
· Abraham – is ACTUALLY - a DIRECT REFLECTION of what happens – In God’s eyes – to a Gentile who comes to HAVE FAITH!
· When we look back in history – Just as the 1st century Jews would have done…
· We look back – KNOW that God’s chosen people came from Abraham – and declare Abraham to be – the first - - Jew.
· From OUR perspective – From the 1st century Jews perspective – that would be an appropriate way to look at it…
· BUT – technically – that’s NOT correct!
· Technically – Abraham was not a Jew.
· The term “JEW” comes from the word – Judah
o Which was the name of one of the many tribes of Israel – the tribe of David and of Jesus…
· Judah was also the name of the southern half of the kingdom of Israel when it split into two parts (1 Kings 12), because it was dominated by the large tribe of Judah.
· The first time the word Jew is used in the Bible is during the exile (2 Kings 25:25), and it was probably first used by the Babylonians or Persians to refer to the people among them who had come from the kingdom of Judah.
· By New Testament times, Jew was a common term, and it has remained in usage unto this day.
· BUT - - Obviously, Abraham was never referred to by the word - Jew.
And so - Contrast the term JEW with the term “Gentile” –
Gentile is from the Latin word for – Nation…
· And so if you’re a Gentile – that means you’re from one of the many nations of the world…
When Jew and Gentile are used together – “JEW” refers to a person who is a member of God’s chosen nation…and “Gentile” refers to a person who is – NOT a JEW…
And SO - if we think through it – we realize that Abraham – when called by God – was a Gentile…
· Yes, he was a Hebrew – but listen – All Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews
· God’s chosen Nation of Israel didn’t get fleshed out until when –
o Abraham had many sons, but it was Isaac who was the chosen one – and then ONLY through Jacob (whose name would later be changed to – ISRAEL).
o Jacob’s 12 sons would come to be the basis of the 12 tribes of Israel
o And at THAT time we begin to speak of – Israelites…
· The Jews came from Abraham because he was chosen by God from among the nations to be the origin of a new nation
And so – Abraham – before he was called by God – technically - was a Gentile…
(a man from one of the NATIONS of the world)
· But BY FAITH – He became – the first (Spiritual Jew)…
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
· Abraham HAS ALWAYS been an example of – Gentile Salvation – by Faith…
· YET – the 1st century Jews – WHILE HOLDING tightly to Abraham as their FATHER…
· REJECTED the idea of – Gentile Salvation by FAITH…!
· Ironic – yes indeed.
· But this was God’s PLAN all along…
And Paul then - IN OUR TEXT - goes into EXAMINING the difference between FAITH and the LAW – and the RESULT of each...
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
· First thing we should see here is that Faith brings something with IT…
· AND the Law brings something with IT
SLIDE: Those of Faith: Are Blessed
Those of Faith
Those of Faith
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
· Blessing comes – to those who have FAITH in Jesus Christ!
· Of course every Spiritual blessing comes BY faith…
· But the one BLESSING that this passage focuses on is – RIGHTEOUSNESS…
Righteousness is the PRIZE at stake here – and there are ONLY 2 ways – IN THIS LIFE – to try to attain it!
V11 says – No one is justified before God by the law – BECAUSE – the Righteous (those declared righteous) will LIVE A CERTAIN way!
· ..they’ll LIVE BY THE LAW?
· No – they will LIVE by – FAITH!
By Faith – we attain righteousness!
· And as we CONTINUE to say – Faith brings with it – the Righteousness of Jesus Christ!
Ok- that’s faith....
Well – what does the Law bring with IT?
NOW - the 1st Century Jew would have said - BLESSING comes from RELYING on the LAW!!
But as we’ve seen today - Paul is - SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT!!
SLIDE: Those Who Rely on the Law: Are Cursed
Those Who Rely on the Law
Those Who Rely on the Law
SLIDE:
Where the Jews believed that blessing came from relying on the Law, Paul shows that those who do so are under a curse.
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
· The Law – brings with IT – a CURSE…
· A curse – for those who RELY on the Law… TO ATTAIN RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Those who live their life saying – SEE –
· I give to the poor
· I help the needy
· I go to church
· I pay my taxes
· I cut my neighbor’s lawn
· I do ALL these things – THEREFORE – God will accept me!
· The person who BELIEVES THIS – is the person who is CURSED…according to God.
· They’re trying to ATTAIN righteousness – YET – they’re living BY THE LAW!
But what does verse 11 say in our text??
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
“The righteous shall live BY FAITH”
SLIDE: Cursed vs Blessed
So we have 2 groups here –
· CURSED - Those who rely on the Law and their own works… to attain righteousness
· BLESSED - Those who have faith to rely on Jesus and His works… to acquire His righteousness
· Before we get to the differences – Do you see the similarities?
· Each person is RELYING on WORKS!
· Those relying on their OWN works…are cursed!
· Those relying on Christ’s work – are BLESSED!
o That’s what FAITH IS – right?
o Relying on Christ and His work – NOT my own.
o THAT’s FAITH!!
And as Paul is about to explain – Relying on the Law is NOT FAITH….
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
· He says – “the Law is not OF faith” – the one who DOES them shall LIVE BY THEM
· The one DOING the LAWs is LIVING BY the LAWS…
· But the Righteous….LIVE another way…
· The Righteous live BY FAITH!
And so we can imagine the WEIGHT of this news – on a PEOPLE – who – generation after generation…
· Lived by the law
· Taught their youngsters to – live by the law
· Relying on the law as their ASSURANCE before God…
But with Paul setting the record straight – we see Paul HIGHLIGHT the curse of the Law…
· But of course, Paul then highlights the REMEDY of that curse…
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
· BECAUSE perfect righteousness could only be REVEALED by the Law
· And BECAUSE man is IMPERFECT….
· the Law curses those who RELY ON IT…
BUT
· Because Christ IS perfect…
· HIS PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS – WAS revealed – BY HIS fulfillment of the Law
· Making FAITH IN HIM – the remedy to the curse of the Law
· Let’s read that again…
SLIDE:
Because perfect righteousness could only be revealed by the Law, and because man is imperfect, the Law curses those who rely on it. But because Christ is perfect, His perfect righteousness was revealed by His fulfillment of the Law, making faith in Him the remedy to the curse of the Law.
Today we’ve seen the apostle Paul – Set the Record Straight!
SUMMARY:
SLIDE:
Where the Jews believed that physical lineage rendered them sons of Abraham, Paul shows it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham.
· Today Paul cut the legs out from underneath the notion that Physical Lineage EARNED eternal blessing!
· He just turned 1st century thought on its head!
· And he SET the Record Straight!
· And in doing so – he elevates FAITH as the means of entry into God’s household!
We’ve also seen…
SLIDE:
Where the Jews believed that blessing came from relying on the Law, Paul shows that those who do so are under a curse.
· Those who rely on the law – are under a curse…And that curse being this – they WILL NEVER get to God by way of the Law – by RELYING on the law – by relying on their works…
· BUT THOSE of Faith – those who have faith TO RELY on the work of Jesus – They are BLESSED!
o They are the ones who receive the Righteousness of Christ…and therefore – MAKE IT TO GOD!
And if there was a passage in scripture that best highlights this truth… Let’s close with this…
30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
Righteousness is not a PRIZE to be won…MEANING – we can’t EARN righteousness…
· Righteousness is – DISPLAYED…
· Righteousness is either THERE or it’s NOT…
· And the LAW – reveals whether it’s THERE or NOT
That’s why we can’t PURSUE righteousness BY the LAW…it simply reveals that we ARE NOT righteous!
If you want to spend eternity with Christ….
- Faith ALONE in Christ ALONE…will bring us to God!
- Believe – and Be saved!
Let’s pray!