New Creation

Well, good morning, church, and happy Mother's Day. It's good to see you all this morning.

Would you turn with me to Galatians chapter 6, verses 11 through 18. We've come to the end of our series in Galatians today.

Galatians 6:11–18

Galatians 6, verses 11 through 18. Let me pray for us as we come to God's Word.

Galatians 6:11–18

Father, what a thing to sing that all of our wealth is in the cross. Lord, the cross to our human eyes looks like weakness and defeat.

Lord, so many things we'd love to hold up as our trophies of accomplishment and boast.

And yet, truly, Your cross is where real wisdom and real power are found.

So, as we come again to this mighty book of Galatians, as we come again to Your living Word,

help us to see Christ in all of His beauty, the crucified and risen One.

Lord, that we might behold Him, worship Him, become more like Him, and serve Him to the glory of Your name. Amen.

All right, Galatians 6, 11 through 18. Paul writes this,

And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, even upon the Israel of God.

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with Your spirit, brothers. Amen.

All right, well, as Paul brings this letter to a close, he takes up the pen and starts writing with his own hand.

In the first century, most letters were written by dictation. In other words, Paul would speak,

and one of his associates would write it down, and that was the letter that they would send off.

And often at the end of his letters, Paul would take up the pen from his scribe and write a final word.

Often it was sort of a short word of blessing or a short word of greeting.

But here in Galatians, this final writing from Paul is much fuller and much more emphatic.

He says,

Now, some have speculated that maybe Paul had really bad handwriting, or maybe he had bad eyesight,

and that's why he had to write his letters so large.

So, you know, if your penmanship isn't so good, well, perhaps you're in good apostolic company, you know.

But I actually think the real reason Paul is writing with such large letters is because he really wants to drive these final words home.

It's as if he's writing an email, and he kind of comes to the end, and he hits, you know, all caps and just starts typing away.

Don't miss this. This is bold. This is underlined. This is all caps.

See with what large letters I'm writing to you.

And what does, what does Paul want ringing in our ears and in our minds as he draws this passionate letter of Galatians to a close?

Well, no surprise.

It's nothing less than the heart of the gospel itself.

One more time, Paul wants to highlight the wonderful good news of what Jesus has done

so that we might not be taken captive by a false gospel,

by a false gospel that says circumcision or any other human work could possibly justify us before God.

In fact, Paul ends by drawing a contrast,

a contrast between legalism and the gospel,

so that we might spot this deadly legalism before it takes us captive,

and so that we might rejoice and rest in the peace and mercy and grace that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring.

So I wonder, having listened to us teach Galatians for the last three, four, five months,

can you tell the difference?

Can you tell the difference when a message or a community or your own heart, perhaps,

is operating out of one of these two radically different principles?

Can you tell the difference when you're living out of legalism and works righteousness

or when you're living out of the gospel?

Well, Paul's going to help us one last time in these final verses.

First, first thing he emphasizes is that there's a difference in what you boast in.

There's a difference in what you boast in.

A legalistic heart boasts only in the flesh,

whereas a gospel-shaped heart boasts only in the cross of Jesus Christ.

In verses 12 and 13, Paul highlights that the teachers who are troubling the Galatians only, what?

Want to make a good showing in the flesh.

That is, they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

But by contrast, Paul says in verse 14,

far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, a legalistic heart is going to boast in what our human efforts can accomplish.

That's what's going to excite it.

That's what's going to energize it.

And it's all going to be about our ego and our pride.

Look at what I've done.

Look at what I deserve.

But the gospel-shaped heart stands not on a resume,

not on a list of accomplishments,

but it stands before the cross of Jesus Christ.

And before the cross, we realize that our human efforts and our human good works

can never be good enough to reconcile us to a holy God.

After all, if the labors of our hands could reconcile us to God,

if obedience to the law could justify us,

then why did Christ have to die?

Well, the answer that Paul's been saying again and again in this book is clear.

He says, our works could never atone for our sins,

and that's exactly why Jesus came and died in our place.

At the cross, the wrath of God that stood over our sins was fully absorbed by Jesus,

who took our sins upon Himself and paid our penalty of death in full.

So the gospel doesn't say,

God helps those who help themselves.

The gospel says,

God rescues the helpless by His grace alone.

And that's why our boast is not in ourselves or in our righteousness.

Our boast is in the cross of Jesus Christ,

because at the cross, the battle was won,

and the debt was paid.

And at the cross, the final verdict was cast

that declares sinners righteous.

You know, imagine that you're out at sea,

and a storm rises up,

and your little ship's being battered by the waves,

and the sun suddenly goes dark behind the clouds,

and then your boat capsizes,

and you're flung overboard,

and you're floundering in the waves,

trying to keep your head above water,

but the current's pulling you down,

and you know you're lost.

But suddenly, you hear a helicopter overhead,

and a diver plunges down into the water after you,

ties a rope around your waist,

pulls you above the water in the waves,

secures your lift into the helicopter,

and you're brought to safety.

Now, when you get back to land,

what will be your boast?

Wow, I did a pretty good job back there.

My backstroke practically saved my life, right?

Of course not.

Your boast isn't going to be in yourself.

Your boast is going to be in your rescuer.

Friends, that's the message of the Bible.

That's the good news.

The triune God has rescued us through the cross.

We were dead in our sins,

and God made us alive with Christ.

So the cross, not ourselves,

will always be our boast.

That's why we talk so much about the cross at Trinity,

because it is the center of everything.

So we ask ourselves,

is it your boast today?

Or are you still trying to stand on your own righteousness

and your own good works?

Perhaps today is the day

when you finally admit

that before a holy and perfectly good God,

you're actually like a person sinking in the waves.

And with every stroke to save yourself,

you sink simply deeper down.

Friend, call upon Christ.

He's descended into the waters

of death and hell on the cross

to save all who place their faith in Him.

Everyone who calls upon Him will be saved.

He died and rose again on the third day

to atone for all your sins

and to secure a perfect and complete salvation.

And He'll lift you above the storm of sin and judgment

and carry you to safety,

to eternal life in His righteousness.

And for those of us who are Christians,

who have placed our faith in Christ,

isn't it true that we sometimes slip back

into that old form of boasting?

Surely we do.

Pride comes lurking in.

Our old sinful nature wants to steal the glory

that only Christ deserves.

Ah, look at what I've done,

our old self says.

God sure is lucky to have a follower like me.

Brothers and sisters,

let us return to the foot of the cross.

Let our pride be washed away again

by the cleansing waters that flow

from Calvary and the crucified one.

Let's be freed from that self-centeredness

and that selfishness,

not so that we might think very little of ourselves,

but that we might stop thinking about ourselves at all

and focus on God

and His great love for us

and focus on serving and loving those around us.

It was my sin that held Him there,

we sing,

until it was accomplished.

His dying breath has brought me life.

I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,

no gifts,

no power,

no wisdom,

but I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

So that's the first contrast

that Paul wants to drive home in all caps,

the big difference between the gospel and legalism

is what we boast in.

And the second contrast is this.

Paul emphasizes the difference here

between whose opinion matters most to us.

Whose opinion matters most.

You see, in the legalistic,

works, righteousness, heart,

it's human opinion that takes center stage.

But in the gospel-shaped heart,

only God's opinion finally matters.

Again, in verse 12,

Paul's opponents are

those who want to make a good showing in the flesh.

They want other people to notice and applaud.

But listen to what Paul says in verse 14.

He says,

By the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the world has been crucified to me

and I to the world.

What the world thinks,

the world's opinion, Paul says,

has lost all power over me.

Let them applaud.

Let them jeer and mock.

It doesn't matter to me anymore.

Only God's opinion matters now.

After all, what does the cross show us?

What does the cross show us?

It shows us that the fallen world

cannot possibly give us a reliable standard

by which we live our lives.

Why so?

Because when the King of glory

walked among us in the flesh,

the embodiment of perfect wisdom

and love and truth and righteousness,

what did the world do?

The world crucified Him.

That was the world's opinion of Jesus.

Here's the summit of the world's opinion.

Perfect righteousness, truth, glory, love, and justice.

Let's kill Him.

Now, I don't know about you,

but that doesn't seem like a very reliable system

to base your life on, does it?

Right?

You see, when Christ was crucified,

the fallen world was exposed as a sham.

Its spell was broken.

It comes to us in waves and says,

think this way, act this way,

believe this way, value this way,

love this way,

and then Christ was crucified.

And the house of cards came down

and we saw it for what it really was.

No longer does the world's opinion

of what is wise or beautiful or just or true

hold any persuasive power

when we stand before the cross.

For there, before the crucified and risen Jesus,

there is where we behold the fullness of wisdom

and power and truth and love.

And we live only on the basis of His opinion now.

Can you imagine,

can you imagine living a life

that isn't blown and tossed

by the approval or disapproval of the world?

Can you imagine living a life

that isn't thrown around

by the latest fad of thinking,

by the latest, you know,

trend of popular opinion?

Can you imagine being able to rise above the game

of people-pleasing,

of flattery,

of favor-currying,

and peer pressure?

Can you imagine not having to ride

the rollercoaster of elation

when people like and approve of you

or of devastation

when you get disapproval and rejection?

You know, trying to live your life

on the opinion and approval of the world

is like trying to build a house

on a floating dock

in the middle of a storm.

Part of my growing up,

I lived near a small lake

in upstate New York

and you could swim out

to this little, like, floating dock

that was big enough

for maybe, like, four or five kids, right?

And, of course,

we'd always get that thing

really rocking back and forth

and then you'd fall off, you know.

Imagine a little dock like that

in the middle of a storm.

Just rocks back and forth

and back and forth

and, you know,

basing your life

on the opinion of the world

is like trying to build a little house

on a dock like that.

You think you build up a wall here,

you think you secure a door there,

the whole thing rocks again

and it all falls down.

How many of our lives are like that?

But through the cross of Jesus Christ,

you don't have to build your life

on the fleeting opinions of the world.

My hope is built

on nothing less

than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

all other ground is sinking sand.

You see, by the cross of Jesus,

Paul can say, you can say,

the world's been crucified to me

and I to the world.

So, Christian,

do the opinions of the world

take up too much real estate

in your heart?

Are there certain aspects

of following Jesus

that you're afraid

or embarrassed to maybe profess

or believe

because you're worried

of how the world will respond,

what your friends,

your colleagues,

your neighbors will think

if you really followed Christ

in this area of your life?

Are you blown and tossed

by the opinions of the world?

Come, let us reason together,

God once said

through the prophet Isaiah.

Though your sins be like scarlet,

I will make them white as snow.

Friend, consider all

that the triune God has done

to prove to you

His love and faithfulness.

The Father gave His only Son

on the cross

to grant you eternal life.

He's demonstrated

His love for you

in a measure

beyond human comprehension.

And if that's how much

God loves you,

if that's the lengths

God has gone to save you,

then surely here is a God

that you can trust.

All His words are true.

All His ways are good.

His kingdom may run counter

to the cultures of this world,

but His kingdom

is the only place

of lasting and true flourishing.

Surely, this God

would only be giving you

His words and His ways

for your flourishing.

When Christ died on the cross,

God's love was displayed

for you in undeniable glory.

So now,

how could the world

hold anything

that could charm us?

I mean, think about it.

Has the world ever loved you

like Jesus loves you?

I mean, I know how fun it is

to flip through YouTube

and see all those fun videos

of like people telling me

how I can be fit

and happy and wise

and wealthy

and all these things, right?

But no one has loved us

like Christ.

And only His ways are good.

So why would we now look?

Why would we now look

to the world's opinions

to tell us how money

or sex

or power

should really be used?

Why would we look

to the world's opinions

to determine

whether we're living

a full and robust life?

Now, surely,

every culture has echoes

of God's common grace,

and we're grateful

for those echoes.

God has not led Himself

without a witness

in any human culture.

But we should not rest content

merely with those echoes.

Let us press on

to the fountainhead.

From God,

the one from whom

these streams of goodness

and truth

and beauty flow,

let the opinions

of Almighty God,

the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

be the lens

through which we can really know

what is true

and good

and beautiful.

Now, of course,

living

for the opinion of God

rather than for the opinion

of the world,

it won't always be easy

in this life.

It may bring difficulty.

It may even bring conflict.

You see,

Paul realized

that the false teachers

in Galatia

were preaching circumcision

so that they might not

be persecuted

for the cross of Christ.

Now, what does that mean?

Well,

in context,

you see,

in the first century

Roman Empire,

Judaism was a religion

that had legal status

and legal protection

because it was so ancient

and so old.

But many Christians

were persecuted

because Rome

considered Christianity

this sort of new

and dangerous ideology.

They didn't understand

that Christianity

was simply the fulfillment

of the Old Testament.

And given that context,

it would have been

very tempting

for Gentile believers

to want to come back

under the Old Covenant

and get circumcised

because then

they might not have

to face persecution

from the Roman authorities.

So, a big draw

of this false gospel

in the first century

was that it allowed you

to kind of skirt out

of persecution

and ostracization

and all this stuff.

And friends,

it is very much

the same today.

Most false gospels

are shaped

in part,

consciously or unconsciously,

to avoid

tension and conflict

with the world around us.

But notice what Paul says

in verse 17.

From now on,

let no one cause me trouble.

That is,

let no one question

this truth

that I am bringing to you.

For I bear on my body

the marks of Jesus.

What are these marks

of Jesus

that Paul is talking about?

Well, I think pretty obviously

they were the scars

that Paul had acquired

through being persecuted

because he proclaimed

to all that he meant

that the crucified Jesus

was the world's true king.

In 2 Corinthians,

Paul recounts

how he faced

many physical beatings

and hardships

for the sake of the gospel.

The false teachers

wanted the Galatians

to mark their bodies

with circumcision

so they could avoid persecution.

But Paul says,

don't you see?

A willingness

to suffer for Christ,

those are some of the only

true outward marks

of the gospel.

So, brothers and sisters,

don't be afraid

to face hardship

or rejection

for the name of Christ.

Yes, we might be ostracized,

we might be ridiculed

for following Jesus as Lord,

but you need not be afraid.

If we suffer with Him,

what does the Bible say?

We will be raised with Him.

What did Jesus Himself say?

He said,

blessed are you

when others revile you

and persecute

and utter all kinds of evil

against you falsely

on my account.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward

is great in heaven,

for so they persecuted

the prophets

who were before you.

Seek first His kingdom

and His righteousness.

God's opinion

is the only opinion

that matters.

So, the first contrast

is about what we boast in.

Second contrast

is about whose opinion

matters most.

Finally, the third contrast

is about how real change happens.

A legalistic heart

tries to change

from the outside in,

but a gospel-shaped heart

changes from the inside out.

In verse 13,

Paul points out,

he says,

even those who are circumcised

do not themselves

keep the law.

You see,

this was the great irony

of the false teacher's position.

They were saying,

well, you have to get circumcised

and keep the law

to be saved.

But in reality,

even though they were circumcised,

they couldn't keep the law,

they couldn't keep the whole law.

They were just like everybody else,

stuck in the old patterns of life.

Outward circumcision

could never create

an internal change.

So, look at what Paul says

in verse 15.

He says,

for neither circumcision

counts for anything

nor uncircumcision,

but a new creation.

What really counts

isn't external markers,

but internal regeneration.

That's what it means, really,

to be a Christian.

Circumcision could never make you

a redeemed child of God.

And the same thing is true today.

External symbols and signs

don't make you

a Christian,

a child of God.

We're going to celebrate

baptism in just a minute,

but baptism doesn't

cause you

to be a Christian.

We celebrate the Lord's Supper

every month.

The Lord's Supper

doesn't cause you

to be a Christian.

Rather,

these things

are beautiful,

powerful,

signs and seals

of what God does

through faith

from the inside out.

What matters

is a new creation.

Through the Holy Spirit,

by faith in Christ,

have you been made alive

spiritually,

internally?

Has your old heart of stone

been replaced

with a heart of flesh?

Have the eyes of your heart

been opened to see

the gravity of your sin

before a holy God

and the wonder

of God's grace

and forgiveness

freely offered

through Christ

as your substitute

and Savior?

Have you been

born again?

That's what matters.

Not whether you're Jew

or Gentile

or male or female,

college-educated

or self-educated.

Have you been

made a new creation?

Have you been regenerated?

Have you been born again?

Did you know that

nearly every major writer

in the New Testament,

Paul,

John,

Peter,

James,

they all describe

genuine Christianity,

real Christianity,

what it means

to be a Christian

at all

as being

regenerated,

born again,

being a new creation

in Christ.

We sometimes think

that born again

is sort of this label

for weird Christians,

right?

There's like the born again

types over there

than there's us

serious types over here.

The New Testament

knows no such distinction.

Every single writer

practically in the New Testament

says,

real, genuine Christianity

is being made new.

In fact,

this is how Jesus himself

talks about

what he came to do.

He didn't come

to give us more rules.

He didn't come

to give us more examples.

He didn't come

to give us more

ethical principles.

That's not ultimately

why Jesus came.

He came to give us

new hearts.

It's not circumcision

that matters.

It's not your uncircumcision

that matters.

It's a new creation.

And that's where

real change comes from.

Not from outside in,

but from inside out.

Now, you see,

it wasn't just

in first century Galatia,

but it has really been

throughout much

of Christian history

that there have been

those who have said,

you know,

if you really believe

that salvation

is by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone,

if you really believe that

and preach that,

then you know

you're just giving people

no incentive at all

to obey God.

If you preach

that kind of message,

people will just be content

to stay in their

old sinful patterns.

That's how people

will critique

the biblical gospel.

But what this critique

misses,

completely misses,

is that adding

more law

or requiring

more obedience

to be saved

or more requirements

and rituals,

that doesn't make us

holy either.

Only an internal

change of heart

can begin

to bear the fruit

of a holy life.

And this internal

change of heart

doesn't come from us,

from the outside.

It comes as a gift

from God

to all who believe

in Christ.

Real change

only happens

when our loves

begin to be reordered

and reshaped

by God's love

from the inside out.

Pastor Matt

mentioned this writer

a few weeks ago.

A guy named

Thomas Chalmers,

who was a Scottish

pastor many years ago,

he wrote an essay

called The Expulsive

Power of a New

Affection.

Big words.

Preachers in the,

you know,

19th century,

they liked long titles,

you know.

I should have called

this sermon

something cool like that,

but I just call it

some stuff about

the end of Galatians.

The Expulsive Power

of a New Affection.

What does he mean?

He means that when

you have a new affection,

a new love,

that's what has

the expulsive power,

the power to drive out

the old loves.

What makes a greedy

person generous?

What makes a fearful

person confident?

I mean, think about that.

You can tell

a fearful person

stop being afraid

a hundred times over,

and it won't move

their fear one inch.

Right?

But when the fearful

heart catches a glimpse

of Jesus Christ,

the lover of their soul,

standing sovereignly

amidst the storms

of their life,

the one who calmed

the storms and said,

peace be still

to the wind and the waves.

You see,

let the fearful soul

feel the embrace of Christ

in all His power and love.

And then the words,

don't be afraid,

suddenly begin to melt

the cold hands of fear,

and the warm confidence

of being a child of God

begins to rise in the soul.

Whom shall I fear?

says the heart

who sees the God

of heavenly hosts,

the one who commands

the armies of heaven,

that God,

seeing that God

bow low

to take up

our sinful flesh,

bearing away

our sins on the cross,

rising again

in victory

over all the worst

that hell and death

could possibly

throw against us?

Indeed,

whom shall we fear?

That's the expulsive power

of a new affection.

Change comes

not from outside in,

but from inside out.

So here are the contrasts

that Paul puts in bold

at the end of his great letter

to the Galatians.

We boast in the cross,

not in our flesh.

We live for God's opinion,

not the world's.

And we change

from his power

inside out,

not from the outside in.

And what's the result

of all this?

Well, interestingly,

look at verse 16.

And that's for all

who walk by this rule,

peace and mercy

be upon them

and upon the Israel of God.

In fact,

the way that last phrase

should be translated

is,

even upon the Israel of God.

Paul isn't distinguishing

two groups here.

He's saying,

this is the real people of God.

That's what Paul's saying.

The people of God

is no longer defined

by circumcision

or any external marker,

but only by faith

in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And in this community

defined by faith,

what is there?

What reigns?

Peace and mercy.

You see,

where the gospel reigns,

there is peace

and there is mercy.

Peace because we no longer live

under the condemning

voice of the law,

and mercy because

we have been forgiven.

And a community like that,

a community,

a church that lives

in peace and mercy,

will be a community

that extends

peace and mercy.

Friends,

being a people of the gospel

means being a people of peace

and not violence.

Being a people of mercy

and not hatred

and bitterness.

That's a place

where the gospel reigns.

And what makes that possible

is what Paul's been talking about

throughout this entire book.

Grace.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

be with your spirit,

brothers and sisters.

May our church

be a church

of grace.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then our Lord Jesus Christ

will get all the praise

that He deserves.

Let's pray together.

O Lord,

as we come to the end

of this book of Galatians,

Lord,

as it seems,

like Luther said

so many years ago,

we've been just hammering

the gospel into our heads

week after week.

O Lord,

would it descend

from our heads

into our hearts,

and would you give us

a fresh taste

by your spirit

of how sweet

and good

and lovely

is our Savior,

Jesus Christ?

Would we be a church

that lives by His grace,

that lives in peace

and mercy,

that boasts

in the cross?

Would we be a church

where we say,

oh,

the world

is crucified to us

and us to the world?

And out of that place,

Lord,

where we no longer need

the opinions of the world,

would we be equipped

by Your Spirit

to truly love

this world

that You have loved so much

and to go forth

to serve

and to proclaim

Jesus is Lord.

We ask all this

in Your mighty name,

Jesus.

Amen.