THE LIFE I NOW LIVE (GALATIANS 2:16-21)

“The Bible is the Word of God: supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible in valor, infinite in scope, regenerative in power, infallible in authority, universal in interest, personal in application, inspired in totality. Read it through, write it down, pray it in, work it out, and then pass it on.”

“THE LIFE I NOW LIVE.”GALATIANS 2:16–21

Now I don’t know about you but I like to plan stuff out. If you take a monthly calendar and write down all the things you need to, all the appointments you, and all the meetings you have scheduled you can see a real snapshot of the life you live now.

Now if Apostle Paul would take out an old calendar and see all the things he did, the appointments and meetings they’d be different.

Maybe he’d see something on their for monday that read Terrorize Timmy today.

and maybe there would be something on the calendar for thursday that would read something like “share in the stoning of stephen today”

These events filled Pauls schedule until he encountered Christ. The living God, on Damascas Road.

Now up to this point in Galatians we have Paul telling us a few things.

Paul is defending his ministry and apostolic authority and gives us a snapshot of his transformation

Paul is warning people of accepting accepting another Gospel even if it were to come from an angel

Paul is warning people of adding to the gospel of Jesus such as the rite of circumcision as a requirement to be saved

Paul confronts Peter for being hypacritical in regards to his relationship with the Jews and Gentiles

This is where we are at now so...

Let’s read Galatians 2:16-21 together

Now there are a few things Paul tells us about experiencing freedom in Christ and the life that He now lives that we can learn from.

I. A Life Justified Without the Deeds of the Law.

“By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (v. 16).

If we have offended in one point, we have broken the law. The law cannot forgive sin, but by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). To be justified in God’s sight is to be free from guilt.

Some of you may know this. I use to be an amatuer wrestler. I’m talking WWE style. My character name was deathrow and I’d come out in a bright orange county jail jumpsuit and my manager who was my “Parol Officer” would escort me to the ring in handcuffs”

Now in a way we are all on deathrow and deserve to be punished. We are all guilty of sin but in Gods grace Jesus took the punishment on the cross that we all deserve and we are declared righteous if we are “IN” Christ.

They call this the doctrine of Justification where we are declared righteous because of Christ’s work on the cross.

When we die we might be asked one question. What makes you worthy of entrance into heaven.

The right answer won’t be because i preached all those years, or I taught Sunday school, or i served on every church committee.

The right answer will be simply “Jesus”. We do all of those things out of thankfulness for what Jesus has done. We don’t do them to earn God’s love or else we make the cross of christ of no effect.

In Rom 8:3 Paul would spell out more fully what he announced here in Gal 2:16, “For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (NASB).

Paul’s point was that no one could find salvation by keeping the law simply because no one can keep the law

II. A Life Imparted Through Faith in Jesus Christ.

“We have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ” (v. 16).

In his widely read and appreciated book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard observes that American evangelicals have too often settled for a Christianity that minimizes the power of repentance and transformation, settling instead for a “ticket to heaven.”

The cheap grace preoccupation with imputed righteousness has caused many to neglect the Holy Spirit’s actual impartation of holiness in the believer, leaving us powerless to bring about true Christian discipleship.

One example of this is found in Romans 4:3

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3).

This was in reference to Gods promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.

This was important for Paul to reference Abraham because according to the Jews Abraham had immense credibility to them.

He was considered “The father of the Jews”. Most religious groups have someone in which they have doctrine and beliefs they were influenced from in a profound way.

You think of the baptists and John Calvin. Think about the the Lutherans and Martin Luther. Also, we the Nazarenes and the influence of John Wesley.

So Paul is using Abraham as an example of righteousness and faith. Faith is simply believing what God says is to be true. It’s trusting God when we cannot see.

Another statement Paul makes about the life he now lives is...

III. A Life Lived Unto God.

“For through the law I died to the law, so I might live unto God” (v. 19).

Now how is it that through the law he died to the law? Now just for illustration lets talk about laws that we may have in our own homes.

Sometimes they can overlap. one rule is to have fun and another rule is be safe. We enforce them. If you break a law then you are going in time-out.

Now what happens when the rules of have fun and be safe collide with each other? Which one of them wins?

Lets say your kid starts running around the house with a fork or a knife? Do you say “That’s okay, they are just having fun!” No!

Because safety is always first or else you won’t be capable of having fun if a knife ends up stuck in someone’s leg. Right?

So whats happening here in our text is a greater law trumps a lesser law.

So what paul is saying is that the law of faith has given him freedom in Christ and has allowed him to truly live for God.

This totally changes everything from how people live for God. Usually what they would do is point to some external more action.

We treat God like this checkoff list. Did i read my bible today? Check.

Did I pray today? Check. and etc..

God is more pleased with what our internal motives are than our outward appearances.

That brings us to Pauls next point of the life he now lives.

IV. A Life Crucified with Christ.

“I am crucified with Christ” (v. 20).

Paul is saying that he is dead to the law. That he is dead to sin. That he is a new creation.

That his righteousness is like a filthy rag to God. That Paul needs to decrease so Christ can increase in Him.

That Pauls desires are now secondary to God’s desires for him. That he should pray not my will but your will be done, Lord”

We are dead to who we use to be.

Being crucified with Christ means that we have a new love. The lusts of the flesh and the love of the things of this world have been crucified Being crucified with Christ means that we have a new commitment. We are dedicated to the service and glory of the Lord, and that dedication destroys selfishness and surpasses ties to family and friends. We have taken up our cross to follow Him

This is where Paul says....

VI. A Life Continued by Faith in the Son of God.

“The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God” (v. 20).

“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (v.21)

When you look at the calendar of your life, Can you say that it’s any different than what it was a 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even one year ago?

There is one appointment that will be on all our calendars. We are all appointed to die once and then judgment.

Will we truly be able to say then that we lived for God and not ourselves? That we choose God’s will over my will?

Will we be able to say that this is the life I now live?