Untitled Sermon (4)

Introduction:

1. There was a King who fell in love with a woman who was poor, deformed, and a prostitute. She lived among a ruined house and was shamed by the rest of the community because of her lifestyle and past. She wasn’t lovely really in any sense to anyone, yet the King wanted her. He requested her hand in marriage. And the wedding day approached and on the day of their wedding the King gave her a “wedding ring of faith” and the very second he did that, they were united as one. She became his queen, he her king, and they were united. He would say this, they had become one, and all that was his was now hers, and all that was hers was now his. He provided her with all good things. He washed her, clothed her in fine clothing, and presented her to everyone as a glorious bride without a spot or a wrinkle.

2. Now this queen was still a fallen queen. She had lived all her life as a prostitute and did not know how to live like a queen. Though the King had set her free from all the condemnations of her past and showered her with all his blessings, so that she could be fearless of punishment and death, because after all her husband was the King. She still had the character of a prostitute. But, through her new marriage and union with the King, her character no longer defined her. She was no longer a prostitute; she was the queen. And the longer she lived with her King, the more her character changed.

3. In this intimacy the groom, the king, took on all of the brides’ transgressions and debts she owed. He took on her past crimes and bared the weight of her past sins. This would be what he said, “I take a share in the sins, death, and Hell of my wife. Nay I make them my own, and I deal with them no otherwise than as if they were mine, and as if I myself have sinned.” It was said that now it was impossible for her sins to destroy her, since her crimes in marriage, in effect were laid upon her husband the King. She now could claim as her own the righteousness and glorious position as the Kings bride. After all he cleaned her, clothed her, and presented her without a blemish. She would say this, “If I have sinned, my King, in whom I believe and love has not sinned; all mine is his, and all his is mine,”

4. This was a parable that Martin Luther wrote in order to explain the Christian doctrine of Justification. This is a parable about sinners, being saved by King Jesus and what he does for us. He justifies us.

5. as it is written, “My beloved is mine, and I am His.”

6. Every one of us have been through a metal detector of some kind, something like at the airport going through TSA. If not that you at least have seen and been through those two standing pillars at stores that you walk through when exiting the store that scans to make sure you didn’t take any unpaid merchandise.

7. What is the purpose of those things? Either to accuse or excuse you from a crime. That’s their whole job. There was an Instagram post about a lady who was traveling in Sonoma County California. She went through the TSA and her bag got flagged. They took it aside and went through it. She had packed enchiladas in some foil, and in the middle of the enchiladas there was an 8.5-inch knife. This is what the post read, “An 8.5 in knife was discovered inside an enchilada at the Sonoma County Airport. While this was a great catch, the passenger’s intent was delicious, not malicious.

8.

#1 Reject Your own Efforts

1. Paul is still in his underlying argument using proof to convince the Galatians that he is an Apostle sent from Jesus. Again, this was because they were trashing his reputation, and Paul doesn’t care about that, but in trashing his reputation they had effectively convinced the Galatian Christians that Jesus Christ is not enough to take care of their sins and offer them salvation. It would be like me telling you to invest in a certain company’s stock, you’ll get a really good return. I’m your friend and you trust me so you do it. And another person comes along, hears about what you did and says “You shouldn’t have done that! That company won’t make it, it’s a bad investment.” You say, “But Noah told me and I trust him, he is credible.” To get you to pull your money from those stocks I need to convince you its bad. What is probably the primary tactic I will use? Trash Noah! He doesn’t know what he is talking about, that company is terrible. And Noah invested in another company last year that tanked, he is stupid, don’t listen to him he just wants your money because he works for that company, he told you to invest in! If they can convince you of my intention, reliability, and mistakes then you will most likely listen to them. Especially if they convince you that my advice was harmful.

2. This is what the Jediazers did to Paul in Galatia. And so Paul is still addressing this, and he supports this fact by telling the story of how he rebuked Peter in front of people. That would be a huge support, I mean he rebuked Peter, the head apostle. And if he did that and Peter repented, that means that Paul really is an Apostle!

3. But Paul shares this story for far more than that. It helped support that he is an apostle, but that is not primarily why he shared it. He did it to prove one thing about the gospel. One of the main truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that Jesus has justified sinners. It’s the doctrine of justification. Let’s set the scene.

a. Peter is in Antioch, now this is a church that Paul had previously started during his first missionary journey. And while Peter was there along with others, there were men who came from James. Now what that means is they told the church that James, the apostle, the half-brother of Jesus who got saved after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to him. They are claiming upon arrival that James had sent them. If this is true, they would welcome them, and they would even listen to them because James as authority as an Apostle. Well, it becomes very clear that James did not send them, they lied. How do we know this, because they begin to teach the same doctrine that the false teachers here in Galatia have been teaching. You have to obey the dietary laws of Moses in order to please God and be right with Him.

b. Now before they showed up, Peter would eat with the Gentiles. Because Peter learned in Acts chapter 10 this was at least a few years ago most likely around 10. That God has declared that all foods are clean. He learned this from a vision that the Lord gave him. In His vision there was a large sheet that came down from heaven filled with all kinds of animals and things, especially those that were forbidden to Jews. And a voice from heaven told Peter, “Get up, kill, and eat.” And peter responded in verse 14, “No Lord! For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.” Then the Lord responded, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.” This happened three times. And Peter learns two things, one main thing and one minor thing.

i. First, the main point of the Lord doing that was to teach Peter that even Gentiles could be saved! Jesus didn’t just come to die for the Jews, but also to die for and save the Gentiles. Because Peter didn’t realize that.

ii. All foods are declared clean in the New Covenant. What God has made clean do not call impure. This can go back to Genesis, everything was good.

c. So Peter knows this now, and believes this. And that is why he is eating with Gentiles. Because the food is not unclean, and because they are his gentile brothers and sisters who have been born again, saved by Jesus Christ! Jesus died for all!

d. And by eating with them Peter was making a statement. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and what they eat is not wrong. Because you do not need to abstain from food God has made in order to be made right with him, because Jesus is all you need!

4. Well here comes the Judaizes. The religious hypocrites. Not the pharisees, new people but basically same theology and heart. And they are eating what was right for Jews to eat. And they say they are sent from James, and its only right to eat this kind of food and not what the gentiles eat! And Paul says that Peter began to fall into that trap. He began to withdraw from the Gentiles and eat what the Jews were eating. And he did this because he was afraid of them. Not that they would hurt him, but afraid of the status he would lose if he didn’t go alone. Listen guys, social pressure is real. So real that even Peter the head Apostle was carried away and begin to sit with the cool kids at the lunch table over the lame gentiles.

a. Now why is this a big deal? Because Peter, whether he knows it or not, is making a statement when he does that. Especially since its crystal clear what the Jewdiazers believe! He is saying to the gentiles you have to abstain from those things otherwise God is not pleased with you! In other words, you can only be justified if you obey the laws of Moses! Meaning you can only be made right and righteous, innocent of sin before God if you obey the dietary laws.

b. Wait a minute! That is the exact opposite of Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But Peter is effectively saying the opposite by His actions! You are justified by what you do, and what you eat, by obeying the laws. So, it is confusing the Gentile believers, and causing great harm to the message of Jesus! And they were so compelling, the social pressure was so powerful, that even Barnabas, and the rest of the Jews that were there started to join in on his hypocrisy!

i. You think you don’t have influence on people!? Listen Peter had powerful status, so when he started going down the wrong path, and confusing the message of the good news of Jesus. People followed him!

1. You may not have 40,000 followers on insta, or have the whole school like you, you may not have that kind of influence. But people are still watching you. Don’t lead them in hypocrisy. You say Noah, “how on earth would I or do I do that!?”

2. You claim to be a Christian, people know you go to Church. And then at school you start talking to your friends about the latest game of thrones episode. You are leading them in hypocrisy.

3. You say church matters, it’s important. But then you’ll skip it any chance you get, you’ll choose a date, months of sports, or just the fact that you had a long day to get out of it. What are you doing? Leading people in hypocrisy.

4. You say Jesus is enough, and His grace is enough to cover your sins! And you see a fellow Christian sin, and rather than encourage them and help them lovingly, reminding them along the way that Jesus paid for their sins, and he loves them, and he isn’t disappointed. He doesn’t want you to sin like that, but your status before Him hasn’t changed. Instead of doing that, you come down on them like a legalist. Why did you watch that movie, you think God is happy with you. He’s not! You better come to church, you better read your bible, or God will punish you! What?? God never punishes his children, he only disciplines in love! You’re leading people astray.

c. But Paul isn’t tricked. He sees the writing on the wall. And the first step to salvation, being justified is rejecting your own works. Reject the idea that you can please God and become righteous by your own works. Don’t do what Peter did.

#2 Receive the Truth

1. Paul steps in and confronts Peter. Now he doesn’t do this in a condescending way, but a loving way. You might think how is confronting someone and embarrassing them in public loving? With someone in a powerful position and status like Peter, he could not be confronted in private. Especially since he committed his sin in public. Peter had the ability to sway many, and he committed these acts before many. So, Paul knows especially since Peter is an Apostle, he has to be confronted and corrected in Public to also make sure that those who have been deceived can see His repentance. Because that’s just as powerful. If this, was you and you starting buying into the hypocrisy of Peter, and then Peter is confronted about his error and corrected. And Peter right there repents and acknowledges his fault. You’d want to repent as well. It benefits everyone.

2. What does Paul say to sway Peter now? In the presence of everyone, probably during a similar circumstance. I picture it like a lunch room scene. Peter is still eating with the Jews, and he gets up to put back his tray and throw away his trash, and that’s when Paul confronts him. And He says with everyone listening, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

a. What did he say? Paul is using a past to present argument against Peter. He starts with the past. “If you, being an Jew, live like Gentiles and not like the Jews.” Peter, if you are a Jew, but you were living like the Gentiles. Which was a good thing, you were not restricting yourself from dietary laws, you were living under grace like the Gentile believers are, even though you are a Jew! You really encouraged the Gentiles. Because they watched you, a Jewish man not observing the common Jewish practices, and they rejoiced when you ate with them at their tables. You showed them that the grace of Jesus really is enough! It’s not about obedience to be saved, it’s about what Jesus has done for you. That is the past argument, now the present.

b. “How is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews!?”

i. Peter, you used to do those things. But now you are living like the Jewish men who came from “James”. You are going back to works righteousness, you are discrediting the gospel. And you are compelling other gentiles to live like those Jews, the Judaizes, how can you do that? It’s not right, its hypocritical. How are you now compelling them to live like the Jews in order to justified.

1. Listen that is the truth! Paul says in verse 14, “When I saw they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel.” They were not living in truth, they were essentially denying it. Paul then had to proclaim the truth, uncover the hypocrisy, and Peter had to receive it.

a. It’s the same way in salvation. You have to receive the truth. You can’t work your way to heaven before God. You can’t. You must receive and understand that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone.

c. We are living in a time that is hostile and objects anything that has to do with truth. You cannot confront or correct anybody; you cannot tell someone they are wrong that becomes hateful and hate speech. Truth is not real, there is no such thing as truth, all truth is relative from person to person. It is directly opposed to scripture. But as Christians, we know that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the father except through Him. And to be saved you have to receive the truth, the truth of Jesus found in the Bible.

d. Paul gives it.

#3 Reason to Jesus

1. Paul confronts Peter, we know that Peter receives it well and responds to it. How? Because in 2nd Peter, he confirms that Paul is an apostle and even says his writings are scripture from God. Peter repented and was continued to be used by God.

2. But it doesn’t leave the legwork of thinking and reasoning to Jesus, back to correct doctrine, back to truth. You realize that being a Christina a Christ follower requires you to use your noggin. You have to think and conclude and reason. Why? Because God is a reasoning God, and you must reason to the truth of Jesus.

a. Paul helps the Galatian Church do that. They heard this letter read and when it got to confronting Peter I’m sure some of them wondered, why is what these Jews (Judaizes) teaching wrong? We’ve have adopted it, so why are we wrong?

i. Paul explains and he starts in verse 15 with a great point. He says “we are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles.” The Jewish people had special privileges that no other nation had. They were God’s chosen people, and they received the word of God through Moses and other authors, they received the Law of God. They had advantages over the Gentiles in terms of knowing God and His law. But Paul says in verse 16 basically, “Even though we are Jews and have those benefits, that doesn’t justify us before God! A man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

1. And so he uses the Jewish people, which we is himself Paul is a Jew! He says, even we as Jews have believed! So you can listen to us because we are God’s chosen people and if we aren’t justified both those benefits, but only through Jesus, then everyone has to be justified through Jesus and not through good works. If God’s chosen people must be saved and forgiven in Christ, so does everyone else. The end of verse 16, by the works of the law no flesh will be justified!

ii. Then Paul addresses a common argument in verse 17. And that argument is, “What if I am a Christian and I sin again. Like Peter did, going back to works righteousness. Does that mean that Jesus made him do it or that Jesus condones sinful behavior?”

1. Never! Paul’s answer is if I sin, or if I struggle with that which I used to struggle with before I got saved, all that proves is that I am still a sinner living in a sinful world. You can’t blame Jesus for that. We are fallen, all it proves is that I still struggle and have a flesh. Just like the queen in the parable, she still acted like a prostitute! But the longer she spent time with the King, the more she began to act like him.

b. What is Paul doing? He is trying to get them to reason back to Jesus. And then he uses a great illustration.

i. Death. If I commit murder, and I and issued the death penalty. And they kill me. When I die, does the law have any control over me or authority over me, or can it condemn me to death again? No. Why? Because I am dead. The law has been satisfied; I paid the ultimate price which is my life. The law no longer has a claim on me anymore, it did, but not anymore since I am dead and no longer under its jurisdiction. It did what it was supposed to do, and now it’s done.

ii. Paul uses that to help them understand that when Christ was crucified, we were crucified with him. I know that’s hard to think about. But Jesus died in our place, effectively dying for us! So, it was as if you and I died there. Because it was our sins upon him. What did that do? It released us from the jurisdiction of the law of God. How? Because our sin was paid. And that truth is two fold.

1. First, I died to the law in Jesus so it has lost its power over me. It cannot condemn me anymore, because it already condemned Jesus to death on my behalf.

2. Second, when Jesus rose from the grave you and I were made alive with Him and in Him. And so now our life that we live, we live in Jesus and Jesus Christ lives in and through me. And the Holy Spirit helps me live this life as I submit to His Word.

3. And How is all this possible, because the end of verse 20 says, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”

Reject Your Own Works

Receive the Truth

Reason to Jesus (Think about it)

#4 Rest in Grace

1. READ verse 21. Paul says, I don’t nullify the grace of God. I don’t cancel the grace of God, remove it or cause it to be ineffective. What Peter did, nullified the grace of God. Not for him because he was a believer, he was saved so you cannot nullify the grace of God in your life by sinning. Once saved always saved. But he did nullify the grace of God for others who may not be saved, or he removed the great effect and benefit of remembering God’s grace for other believers because they were deceived temporarily into thinking their works pleased God and gave them right standing before Him.

a. Paul says I don’t do that. The grace of God only makes sense if it comes through Jesus alone! And then he seals that statement with just a bomb.

i. If righteousness comes through the Law, then Jesus died for nothing. Have you thought about that?

1. Have you really thought about that? If righteousness really does come through obedience of Gods laws, and if you really can make it to heaven by doing good things and being a good person then Jesus died for nothing! If the law could save, why did Jesus endure the cross! Why was He born, why did the Son of God subject Himself to agony and torment? It makes no sense.

2. Students, you who claim to be Christians. You who are anxious. You who are unfulfilled in life. You who just beat yourself up about your sins constantly. You who think that God is mad at you because you did something wrong, who think that God won’t be happy with you until you right the wrong, or cry, or do good things.

3. If that really is the case, then Jesus died for nothing! If he didn’t die to completely satisfy God, and purchase for you a righteousness that cannot be removed, dwindled, or fractured by your sins. If he couldn’t do that then He died for nothing. Because that’s exactly what you need, a grace that isn’t moved, cracked, easily fractured. No because of our sins we need a savior to provide grace that can withstand our sins, and provide a righteousness that causes God to always see us as perfect without spot or blemish. That’s the grace you need and the good news that’s exactly the grace that Jesus provides on the cross.