Can Running Be Resting?

Read (David&Terri)

Galatians 5:7–12 (ESV)

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

Opening Prayer

Running is Believing

Paul has used the illustration of running a race elsewhere, like 1 Corinthians.

When a runner enters a race...

There is a goal line.

The main goal is to cross it.

The Christian life is not a sprint.

It’s a marathon.

A marathon through a mountain.

How you run, and the path you take...

Impacts whether you cross the finish line, at all.

If you take the wrong path you will never make it to the finish line.

It’s critical that one stays on the right path.

Running well, in Paul’s mind, means that they responded to the gospel with trust in its message...

Relying on Christ rather than their own accomplishments.

They were running well.

They responded to the gospel with being in the right race.

Running on the right path, if you will.

Galatians 5:7 (ESV)

7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Why does Paul say “obeying the truth”?

What does he mean “obeying the truth”?

He means the truth of the gospel.

What does the “truth of the gospel” command you to do?

Believe.

Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s exactly what Jesus says in...

John 6:28–29 (ESV)

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, [in you] that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

The simplicity of faith denies all fleshly pride.

The simplicity of it goes against the sinful desire to be a Savior unto our self.

Which is why the gospel is a stumbling block to the natural man.

The work of God in a person...

Is expressed through faith in the finished work of another...

The Savior, Jesus Christ.

And, faith, as stated by Paul in v.6 expresses itself through love.

This false gospel being peddled by the False teachers focuses on the accomplishments of man...

And, so Paul states...

Galatians 5:8 (ESV)

8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

The gospel says, “Rest in Christ.”

God says, “Rest in My Son.”

The Law says, “Do.”

The attractant of the flesh to the Law is “I Can Do.”

Hence, “I” get credit.

Hence, “I” am righteous in self.

Our fallen flesh screams, “I want to be God.”

I want to be my own Judge.

I don’t need a Savior because I’m okay.

Paul says...

It is an utter rejection of truth...

And, an utter rejection of Christ.

And, one of the things we see in people who are trusting in works is zeal.

And, zeal is usually expressed by busyness.

Busyness is an artificial piety.

Don’t get me wrong true Christians can be trusting in Christ...

And be or at least feel busy in ministry.

However...

Be Warned: Don’t Stumble into Believing Zeal Replaces Faith

This is our tendency, I believe.

To somehow convince our self that religious busyness = spirituality.

That’s really at the heart of the false teacher’s message.

Busyness, doing…is what impresses God.

Matthew 7:22–23 (ESV)

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Busyness rather than resting.

And, what typically happens is busyness creates shallowness.

We can only absorb so much at a time.

We can only meditate on a certain amount at a time.

We can only handle so much at a time.

I remember reading about a man who wrote Spurgeon and said...

“I’ve read my Bible through from cover to cover many times and I’ve not once seen the Doctrines of Grace taught, as you espouse.”

Spurgeon’s reply was, “Dear sir, may I recommend that you start by reading the Bible at a slower pace.”

If we are not careful, we will be driven by accomplishments...

And miss the PROMISE.

Which is resting in the finished accomplishment of Jesus...

Which is what God commands...

And, which is the work of God.

Don’t misunderstand.

The Bible says...

James 1:22 (ESV)

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

We must do.

But the priority of doing...

Is believing upon the Son of God.

Resting in the person and finished work of Jesus.

It is to be the motivation of all our doing.

Any doctrine that declares anything other than resting in Christ for all you need to be reconciled to God...

And, in covenant with Christ...

Is another gospel...

And, anti-Christ.

This is exactly...

Paul’s Declaration of the False Gospel

Galatians 5:8 (ESV)

8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

Remember Psalm 2 from last Sunday night...

God’s desire and decreed plan is to bless the Nations through His King-Son.

God would never persuade people to reject the Son.

He pleads with people to kiss the Son.

Submit to the Son.

But, depending upon self.

Resting in anything other than the finished work of the Son...

Is the same as trampling Him underfoot.

And in the end, at the judgment...

God will strike with fury, those who reject His Son.

Any movement towards trusting in anything but Christ is leaven.

And, Paul states...

Galatians 5:9 (ESV)

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Just a Little Leaven…

Paul uses a proverb here that illustrates the penetrating power of evil.

A biblical truth taught by Jesus in the gospels...

And throughout the whole of Scripture.

A permitted glimpse, becomes a repeated glimpse...

Becomes a stare, becomes a pursuit.

Not only a truth for anyone...

But recorded, biblical truth in the life of David.

The evil being allowed here is a taking one’s eyes off of Christ, and putting them on self...

For a hope of goodness in the sight of God.

This is extremely dangerous.

And the common response is...

Oh, a little weight on religious zeal isn’t all bad.

1 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV)

12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

One match used carelessly can burn down an entire forest.

And, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

The foundation of salvation is the perfection of Christ.

The work of salvation is the power of the HS.

And, the goal of salvation is the renown of the King-Son, Jesus.

Colossians 1:15–20 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace [for those in Him] by the blood of his cross.

One of the very reasons I believe Christianity is in the state and condition it is in within America...

Is because the gospel has been replaced by religious zeal...

Religious activity, and Moralism.

What will heal this land is for churches...

And pulpits getting back to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Teaching that Jesus is all you need.

Look at...

Paul’s Declaration of the False Teachers

Galatians 5:10 (ESV)

10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

There were more than one false teacher.

There was a group.

In...

Galatians 1:7 (ESV)

7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Galatians 4:17 (ESV)

17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

And, Paul will continue to use the plural pronoun in the remainder of the epistle...

When speaking of the false teachers.

So, why the singular pronoun here?

It’s not that he is directing this statement at one...

It’s more like Paul is saying this...

There are several disturbers. Be on your guard, therefore, so that if one—any of them at all—of these creators of confusion approaches, you resist him, bearing in mind that, whoever he may be, he will have to pay the penalty.

Resist the message...

Because any other message is doomed to fail in the end.

And, those who propagate and proselytize with anything other than the gospel...

Will stand before God and give an account of...

Not only their own rejection of God’s Son...

Who came to bless the nations...

But, he will also have to give an account as to why he led others away from their only hope, Jesus.

Stay away from them, reject them, reject their message...

Because if you become involved in it...

You too will face the same.

But, Paul says, as for you Galatians...

Galatians 5:10 (ESV)

10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

Paul’s Confidence

Paul’s confidence is not in the Galatians...

It’s not in some innate goodness within them.

His confidence is in the Lord.

And, that is exactly where we must keep our confidence.

So, that there is no boasting in the flesh.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (ESV)

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Our confidence is not in our keeping our self in the covenant with Christ.

Our confidence is in the promise of Christ to keep every one of His sheep in covenant with him.

John 10:28–30 (ESV)

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

Hebrews 13:6 (ESV)

6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

From beginning to end...

It is all the grace of God.

Take Away

So, running the race is resting in Christ.

The race is keeping your eyes fixed upon Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

We run the race...

But our motivation for running is the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

The finished work of Christ on our behalf is the foundation of all we do.

How else can you do anything with joy?

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus!

Closing Prayer