Being Justified

Father, we confess that it's often easy for us to see how the Word, Your Word, applies to other people,

but we, and I include myself, we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin.

So, Father, we ask for a mighty work of Your Holy Spirit in our lives as we open Your Word,

that Your Word, Father, would convict our own hearts,

that Your Word would come to the very command center of our lives,

and that You, through Your Word, would do a work of grace deep within us.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, first a bit of a frivolous matter.

My mic keeps going in and out. Is that just because I'm on a position of a stage, or is it just a monitor issue?

It's just a monitor issue? Okay.

If all of a sudden you just can't hear me wave, actually, I'm going to be asking you to wave for a couple of things.

So, here's the thing. My family knows that I have a problem.

And one of my problems is, well, my family knows I have lots of problems.

But one of my many problems is I have problems with names.

So, on Thanksgiving, when we have some of our kids over, I'm likely to say,

Tommy, no, Jesse, no, Joseph, no, Rocky, no, Gordy, and finally get the right name.

And I even threw a dog's name in there.

Okay. So, I have a problem with that.

And I have...

So, in this story that we're going to be looking at,

the two main characters are Peter and Paul.

I am doomed.

I will not make it through this sermon without messing up the names once, at least.

So, what I want you to do is, if I'm saying Peter when I should be saying Paul,

could somebody who's not fallen asleep wave at me?

And I'll know that either there's a wasp in the room, or I've just got the names mixed up.

So, if you could help me, that would be good.

Now, in a more serious matter, in the Willow Creek Church, I've been told,

they've developed this habit that when they talk about something which is a bit controversial,

that might get people mad, they sort of do a little symbol like this over their head.

And they say, you need to just extend...

We need to extend mercy to everybody,

because we're about to talk about something which could get people riled.

And so, just let's give each other a little bit of mercy to try to talk this through a little bit.

And then the conversation will go a lot better.

So, I'm claiming that this morning, because I'm going to ask a question.

And the question is...

Now you're going to see why I need to have a little bit of mercy,

and for people not to get upset too quickly.

Is racism and prejudice...

Are racism and prejudice more important than purity of the gospel?

Or is the purity of the gospel more important than racism and prejudice?

Now that's a...

And you know what?

I know that's a hot political issue right now.

Those of you who watch football, it's going to be a hot issue.

It's been talked about a lot.

And I know that for a lot of people, it's not just a political issue.

It's a very deeply personal issue.

Because I know there are probably people here who have been profoundly victimized by racism.

And I know I'm an all-white guy.

So, that's why I'm asking for a little bit of mercy.

And the reason I'm asking the question is not because I'm interested in commenting on Colin Kaepernick,

where Black Lives Matter.

It's not...

I'm not doing anything political.

It's because the Bible is asking us this question.

We might not have noticed it when Kent was reading the Galatians text.

But we're going to be looking at Galatians 2 if you want to turn your Bibles.

But in fact, the Bible is asking that question to us.

Is discussing...

Is dealing with racism and prejudice a far more pressing issue than dealing with clarity and the purity of the gospel?

Or is the clarity and purity of the gospel a more important issue to deal with than racism and prejudice?

It's not me doing this to be political.

The Bible is asking us this question.

We maybe didn't recognize it, but it's asking us this question.

So, it'd be a great help for me.

First of all, extend me some mercy.

But it'd be a great help if you took your Bibles and turned to Galatians 2.

Galatians 2.

Galatians 2.

And we're going to start reading at the 11th verse.

And actually, you know what we're going to do?

We're going to start reading at verse 9.

Because if we start at verse 9, the shock of verse 11 is far clearer to us.

Okay?

So, those of you who...

So, if you don't know what's happened, is Paul is dealing with a problem in this church.

And as part of him dealing with a problem, he's recounted some things that have gone on in the past.

And one of the things he shared with them is that a little bit earlier, Paul had initiated on his own behalf,

not because he was in trouble, but he had traveled to Jerusalem to meet with Peter, James, and John.

And Cephas, which you're going to see in this text, that's just another name for Peter.

All the way through the text, I'm going to use the word Peter rather than Cephas.

Because for most of us, that's sort of a clearer way to understand it.

And just one other thing.

The word Gentiles doesn't mean much to most of us anymore.

And so, I'm going to substitute the word pagan for Gentiles.

It's another perfectly good word for it.

And it's, you know, or non-Jews, but I'm going to use the word pagan.

So, just the context.

So, Peter...

I mean, here, I've already done it.

Paul has gone to Jerusalem to see Peter and James and John.

And in verse 9, it tells you what happened after they talked.

In verse 9, it says,

And when James and Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars, that's pillars of the church,

perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me.

It's a really good thing.

The right hand of fellowship.

Some of you from...

When I was in a Baptist church growing up, that's how you joined the church.

They extended the right hand of fellowship to you in the front of the church.

And the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles or the pagans,

and they to the circumcised.

Only they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the pagans.

But when they came, that's the people claiming to be from James,

Peter drew back and separated himself.

That's from the church in Antioch, fearing that group, the circumcision party.

And the rest of the Jews who were part of the congregation acted hypocritically along with him,

so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel,

I said to Peter before them all,

If you, though a Jew, live like a pagan and not like a Jew,

how can you force the pagans to live like Jews?

Paul, why don't you tell us what you really think?

It's very blunt.

Now, here, just to sort of get the full,

like part of this is a little bit hard for us to understand,

because in Canada, at this point in time in our history,

you know, you go to, if I go to Starbucks or some other coffee place,

there's liable to be a big table,

and you can just get a place on the table to do some work,

have your coffee, your scone,

and, you know, all and sundry are at the table.

And if I get up to go to another table,

nobody thinks it's because I'm mad at them or prejudiced or racist.

It's just because maybe a better table or better spots open up.

So it's a little bit hard for us to get our minds around this.

And just to get, to put it in an imaginative way,

so we understand,

we need the image before us about what's actually just gone on.

So Paul has been in this church in Antioch for a while.

It's a very, very, very multicultural church.

And many of the people in the congregation are pagans who've become Christians,

and they're also completed Jews.

That is, Jewish people who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah,

and now Christians, they're completed Jews.

And it's a mixed congregation.

And maybe Paul has been away for a couple of weeks on a trip or something like that,

a preaching trip or just a break.

And he comes back,

and they've maybe had a prayer time together,

the whole congregation.

And then after the prayer time,

they're going to have something to eat.

And so Paul goes to the buffet table,

and he gets some hummus,

and he gets some tabbouleh,

and he gets some falafel.

And maybe because it's a big celebration,

he gets some roasted goat,

puts it in his bowl,

goes to sit down on the grass,

just as they usually do in groups of eight or ten,

so they can all sort of joke and talk and have some fun.

And he's just sitting there talking.

He notices that as he sits down,

they're all a little bit nervous.

But he just, or looking at him funny.

But he's just eating away,

having a great time.

And then,

and this is the imaginative part,

all of a sudden he starts to think to himself,

he looks around.

And he's the only white guy

with the African Americans

at this group.

That's not that odd.

But he looks around,

and all the white guys and gals

are by themselves in their own groups.

And all the African Americans

are in their own group.

And there's no mixing.

And so he's eating his hummus,

and he's starting to look at this,

and he's thinking to himself,

what went on while I was gone?

And then he sees Peter

just with the white guys.

And he sees Barnabas

just with the white guys.

So Paul steps up,

stands up.

Need some quiet, everybody?

Conversation stops.

And he looks at Peter,

and he says,

if you, though a Jew,

live like a pagan,

and not like a Jew,

how can you force pagans

to live like Jews

in front of them all?

Big shock.

Dead silence.

Red faces.

Now here's the,

here's the,

this really, really,

really important question for us.

I mean,

maybe,

maybe we've been blessed,

and we have some tourists

visiting as guests this morning

from the States

or from some other country.

But we all live in Canada.

So what would we want

a Canadian Christian to do

if they had the courage of Paul,

and they found that the congregation

was sitting in segregated seats?

And what would we,

as Canadian Christians,

want to do?

What would we want

another Canadian Christian to do?

And you know what we would want?

We would want,

let's say it was me

who had the courage.

You would want me

to be able to tell you

that I got up and said,

what you're doing is racist.

What you're doing is prejudiced.

Don't you know

that that's wrong?

Don't you know

that that has caused

lots of pain and suffering

and will continue

to cause pain and suffering?

And you would want me

to have a diatribe

about racism

and prejudice,

and that's what you would

want me to do

because we are all Canadians

and that is not

what Paul does.

That is not what Paul does.

I mean,

this is a bit of a check

because Paul

is going to say

that the gospel

is more important

than dealing with racism.

Remember,

hopefully you're still

giving me some mercy

and we're going to come back

to this,

by the way,

okay?

I'm not telling you,

I'm just trying to tell you

what's going on

in the Bible,

okay?

That's what I'm trying to do.

Listen to what Paul does

in verse 15,

and by the way,

now we're going to read

verses 15 to 21,

and just here's a thing.

I'm preaching from the ESV,

it's the version

which I prefer,

it's what I usually use.

If some of you use the NIV,

the NIV actually has done

something unbelievably helpful.

It's very subtle,

and those of you who read it

might not notice it,

but what the NIV has done

is they put quote marks

that begin at verse 15

and go all the way

to verse 21.

I know,

grammar geek moment,

I put half of you

to sleep by saying that,

but here's the point.

What you need to understand

is that in verses 15 to 21,

you are getting a summary

of what Paul said to Peter.

If you don't understand

what you need to have

firmly fixed in your mind,

I almost asked some volunteer

to come up here

and stand up here

so that I could sort of

act it out

and occasionally just look

and say,

you know,

read these parts,

looking at that person,

because that's what,

if you don't understand that,

then the text

is going to just confuse you

and you'll try to do

all these weird things

to try to make

the text understood.

Just look at verse 15.

We ourselves are Jews

by birth

and not Gentile sinners.

Well, what on earth

does that mean?

In fact,

what we know

is the majority

of the congregation

weren't Jewish people.

So if he's saying this

to the congregation,

it makes no sense.

And all the other things

in this little bit

of the text,

they're not going to

make any sense.

So what you have

to understand

is verses 15 to 21

is a summary

of what Paul

is calling Peter out about

and how he's explaining

why this is an

unbelievably important issue.

So 15 to 21,

now it makes sense,

right?

I don't know,

you know,

maybe if Ken there is,

sorry Ken,

I'm promoting you to Peter.

So you're Peter,

okay,

and I'm just looking at you.

You're all now

dead silent

and I'm looking right

at Peter

and I say to Peter,

Peter,

you and me

are Jews by birth.

That's what you and I are.

We're not pagans.

You know,

before we became Christians,

we didn't go to the temple

to have sex

with the priestess

as a way of worshipping God.

We knew that was wrong.

We know how to keep kosher.

We know how to do

the sacrifices.

You and me,

we are Jews by birth.

We are not pagans

who are by definition

sinners,

according to us Jews.

Verse 16.

Andrew,

could you put this on?

Could you all read

this verse with me?

This is a very important verse.

And you'll notice,

just before we're going to read it,

you'll notice that basically

he says the same thing

three times,

but in slightly different ways

to get the point home.

And so if you could all

read it with me,

that would be very good.

We know that a person

is not justified

by works of the law,

but through faith

in Jesus Christ.

So we also have believed

in Christ Jesus

in order to be justified

by faith in Christ

and not by works of the law.

Because by works of the law,

no one will be justified.

See, he says the same thing

three times,

slightly different

to bring home

the emphasis

that he wants to bring.

And so what does justified mean?

Justified means

it's something

that's done by God

and declared by God.

That's what it means.

It's God declaring

that he's done something.

is that just me?

I did fade out

all of a sudden, right?

Okay, sorry.

Rhythm, good grief.

There it is again.

Should I move?

Am I in a dead spot?

Maybe.

Okay, we'll sort it out later.

Sorry.

So justified.

I mean, look at that.

Again, it says quite a few times

throughout that text,

we know that a person

is not justified

by works of the law

but through faith

in Jesus Christ.

So we also have believed

in Christ Jesus

in order to be justified

by faith in Christ

and not by works of the law

because by works of the law

no one will be justified.

So what does that word

justified mean?

That word means

it's an image

from the law court.

So it's an image

of someone who has authority,

proper authority

to do something

and then make a declaration.

So it's this idea

of authority,

proper authority,

doing something

and declaring something.

And what they do

is they declare innocence

and or they declare

that something

has been made right.

Now,

at a very, very technical,

the most primary meaning

is this idea

that they've been

declared innocent.

And that's a very, very, very

hard thing

for Canadians

to understand, right?

I've shared this before.

The problem in Canada,

it's not a problem.

Thanks be to God

for Canada.

Let's continue to pray

that this will be

a rule of the law.

But because of the influence

of Christianity

in Canada,

we know that we are

innocent until proven guilty.

Right?

That's a product

of the Christian faith

that human beings

against the state

have an integrity

against the state

so that the state

has to prove

that I am guilty.

I do not have to prove

that I am innocent.

That is one of the benefits

of the gospel.

It's been forgotten

in Canada,

but it's a Christian benefit

of the worldview.

But you know what?

In most of the world,

that is not the case.

In fact,

if you think back,

go back and read

the book of Acts later on,

what you see

in the Roman Empire,

if the state

thinks you're guilty,

you have to prove

you're innocent.

The state has

all the cards,

all the power,

and if the state

determines

that you are guilty,

if the state

determines you're a slave

and then have

absolutely no power,

if the state

determines you're a woman

and have no power,

then you have no power.

It doesn't matter

what the person

from a privileged class

has done to you.

You have no status.

You have no rights.

They can do

what they want.

You are not a citizen.

And even citizens

are fundamentally,

basically,

you have to prove

you're innocent.

And so in Paul's time,

when a judge

with authority

declares

they've done something

and they declare

that in fact,

in a sense,

you are a citizen,

you have rights,

and you were innocent,

it's a big thing.

Think back

to some of the books

in some of the instances

in the book of Acts.

When Paul

is preaching

in Jerusalem

and all of a sudden

a riot breaks out.

So what do the soldiers do?

Do the soldiers

come in

and separate everybody

and get them all

in different rooms

and try to figure out

what went on

because everyone

is innocent

until proven guilty?

No.

They grab Paul

because he seems

to have started it

and they whip him.

Why?

Paul is guilty

until he can prove

he's innocent.

That's the way

it is in most of the world.

And it's been

most of the world

in most of the history.

It's probably

how it works

in places like

North Korea

and Saudi Arabia.

The state

has all the power

and unless

you're a privileged group

you are guilty

until proven innocent.

It's hard for us

to understand.

So a better way

to understand

is the same type

of idea.

It's an authoritative

declaration

combined with

the person

in authority

doing something

to declare

that a person

is made right.

And I've shared

this before

but it's a great analogy.

I'll share it again

a few more times

before you start

to all fall off

in sleep.

And a way to understand

what being made right is

is you imagine

that there's a young mom

and her husband's

off on a business trip

or he's off

I don't know

playing golf

with his buddies

and having a long time

at the 19th hole

or whatever it is

but she's home alone

with the kids.

She comes home

she's just really beat

really bush

rough day

she says

I'm just going to

take these three kids

to the family restaurant

around the corner

buy them a meal

have a bit of a break

and come home

and she goes

to the family restaurant

and she has

the restaurant trip

from hell

the kids are actually

pretty well behaved

but the waiters

are rude to her

the waiters

take a long time

the waiters

ignore her

the waiters

make negative comments

about her kids

the waiters

blame the kids

for all the problems

when they're just

being slow

they bring the wrong food

they don't apologize

it is

the restaurant

trip

from hell

to hell

in hell

and she finally

just throws down

her plastic

pays the bill

and she goes out

and she's fighting tears

she's so mad

so hurt

so embarrassed

so angry

and she's walking

out of the restaurant

and as she walks

out of the restaurant

an older woman

is coming in

and the older woman

notices that this woman

is really distressed

and so the older woman

stops her

and says

dear you know

I'm sorry

you look really upset

and the young woman

she's just taken

by the older woman's

kindness

and she just breaks out

and tells her

what happens

and the older woman

says I own this restaurant

I'm going to make it right

and she makes it right

at cost to herself

what might that mean

I'm going to give you

five gift certificates

for free meals

it's on me

I'm going to bring that

the staff's going to be fired

I'm going to bring all the staff

together

I'm going to bring them back

in the back room

I'm going to tell them

how wrong they were

in treating you

they all need some training

some people are going to be fired

I'm going to make some other changes

she has the authority

and at cost to herself

she makes it right

and that's what the Bible

is saying here

we know that a person

is not made right

with God

by works of the law

but through faith

in Jesus Christ

in other words

God is declaring

and acting

to make it right

and it can only be done

by God

it can't be something

that I can just declare

that I'm going to make it right

I can make it

in fact

that's the whole thing

that works of the law are

works of the law

are our attempt

to make it right

you know

and so

what this text is saying

is that

is that God

God

sees our need

he does what needs

to be done

at cost to himself

he has the proper authority

and he makes it

a declaration

that you George

that you

Ken

that you

Shirley

that you

Louise

I have done

what's needed

to be done

to make you innocent

to give you status

to make it right

I declare

that I have done it

and that is now

your status

it's an official

declaration

and you'll notice

there's this contrast

that what doesn't work

is works of the law

and what Paul

is saying here

is it doesn't matter

how much you meditate

doesn't matter

how much you do yoga

it doesn't matter

how many

prayer flags

and prayer wheels

you set in motion

and it doesn't matter

how rich you are

and it doesn't matter

how perfect

your family is

and it doesn't matter

how good you are

at keeping kosher

and it doesn't matter

whether you make trips

to Mecca

and follow Ramadan

it doesn't matter

whatever your religion is

whatever your spirituality is

whatever your moral code is

whatever your standard

of success is

even if it's the one

that I myself wrote

that all these things

do show

is show

that you cannot

keep them

and none of them

will work

Paul uses

example

works of the law

because God himself

to his people

has given them

a whole range of things

of moral commands

of helping them

to understand

that they have to be

clean in his sight

they have to be

holy in his sight

they have to be

pure in his sight

that

and the whole point

of the law

was that people

couldn't actually

keep it

and in Romans

Romans 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

Paul extends

this to show

that God

what is going to be

shown fair

that if people say

well listen

I didn't understand

that it was wrong

for me to cheat

on my taxes

I didn't understand

that it was wrong

for me to cheat

on my wife

I didn't understand

that I had to have

a concern for the poor

I didn't have

an understanding

that sometimes

I had to turn

the other cheek

it's not fair

if you find me guilty

God

because I have not

done these things

and Romans 2

brilliantly says

that all God

does in those situations

is say

well that's very fine

and what I'm going to do

is I'm going to give you

a summary of your life

and all the moral judgments

you have made

about other people

and about yourself

and then I'm going to have

that as a standards

I'm going to see

how you lived up

to your own moral standards

and you can't even

keep up to your own

moral standards

like if novelists

are to be believed

even sociopaths

can't keep up

to their own standards

they get mad

at themselves

that they didn't

kill the person

right away

I mean it's a terrible thing

but they can't even

keep up to their own

moral standards

sociopaths

everyone will be silent

before God

and so

what does it say again

we know that a person

is not

going to be made

right with God

or declared right

by God

by God

by our moral efforts

but through faith

in Jesus Christ

so we also have believed

in Christ Jesus

in order to be justified

by faith in Christ

and not by works of the law

because by works of the law

no one

will be justified

and faith in Christ

faith just means

it's a type of trust

and giving

and Jesus

the person of Jesus

and what he's done

for us on the cross

that's what we put

our faith and trust in

not on ourselves

and

and

and all

putting our trust

in something

and in some

or in someone

in this case

putting our trust

and our faith in Jesus

and what he's done

for us on the cross

that always involves

both

a positive thing

and a negative thing

it's a little bit

like a marriage vow

right

in the marriage vow

you

give yourself

to the other person

and you forsake

all others

and that's

that's what faith

in Christ is

that we come to that point

to believe

that Jesus

has to have done

all that has to be done

for us to be made right

with God

and we don't have

any trust

in something else

now some of you

are going to say

George

okay you asked

to extend

some mercy

to you

about this

racism thing

I'm still a little bit

troubled by it

I'm a little bit

conflicted now

about it

like what's

are you saying

George

that Christians

should only have

these conversations

about the gospel

and never confront

racism and prejudice

or

like George

I'm a little bit

confused

there seems to be

at least a nuance

or something here

that I don't know

if you've got

it's a very very

valid concern

so let's

let's read

verses 17 to 19

and

now

what we need to do here

we need to remember

as we read it

right

sorry Ken

I'm going to use you

as Peter

and I'm Paul

again

right

we're hearing

the summary

of what Paul

said to Peter

and everybody's

listening in

and what that

means as well

is who are

some of the

people who've

been listening

in

some of the

people who are

listening in

are the people

who caused

the problem

because you know

the people who

caused the problem

what they

what they've

said

to Peter

probably

with their

is that

they maybe

said something

like this

to Peter

Peter

you know

Jesus said

that everything

in the Old

Testament

is God's

word

and you

know

God's

word's

very clear

you've got

to keep

kosher

you've got

to practice

the cleanliness

laws

you've got

to make sure

that you have

nothing that's

even vaguely

contaminated by

idolatry

you've got to

do this

you've got to

do that

you've got to

do this

and Peter

surely

you can't be

talking about

trusting Jesus

in such a way

that now you

trust Jesus

and it means

you're going to

be sinning

all the time

like surely

it's obvious

that you need

to have

not only

faith in

Jesus

but also

keep the

law

you know

just as

some of us

might say

George

surely

yeah yeah

yeah yeah

we understand

that but

surely

you understand

that you've

got to not

only have

faith in

Jesus

but you've

got to

have the

right views

on abortion

you've got

to have the

right views

on politics

you've got

to be

Republican

you've got

to be

Democrat

you have

to be

for Trump

you have

to be

against

Trump

how on earth

can you be

a Christian

and for

Trump

how can

earth

can you be

a Christian

and be

against

Trump

how can

you be

a Christian

and not

in favor

of Black's

Lives Matter

how can

you be

a Christian

and not

do this

how can

you be

a Christian

and not

keep

kosher

and so

Paul is

talking to

Peter

and the

people

who

caused

the

trouble

are

in

the

room

and

those

who

are

just

confused

are

in

the

room

and

Peter

says

in

verse 17

Peter

but if

in

our

endeavor

you

and me

to be

justified

in

Christ

we

too

were

found

to be

sinners

is

Christ

a servant

of sin

certainly

not

what's

he saying

here

he's

referring

to

what

people

say

George

you're

a Christian

and you're

for

Trump

you're

a sinner

how can

that

you're

against

Trump

you're

in

favor

of

black

lives

matter

you're

against

black

lives

can

Jesus

lead

you

into

that

sin

because

you see

in our

mind

you have

to have

the

gospel

plus

this

and

Paul

says

certainly

not

verse

18

and

here's

now

he's

really

going

to

the

law

if

I

rebuild

what

I

tore

down

I

prove

myself

to

be

a

transgressor

for

through

the

law

I

died

to

the

law

so

that

I

might

live

to

God

basically

what

he's

saying

is

listen

if

you

read

the

Old

Testament

he's

going

to

do

this

now

in

chapter

three

and

chapter

four

he's

going

to

give

about

four

or

five

different

examples

of

how

the

Old

Testament

points

to

the

fact

you

can't

keep

the

Old

Testament

the

entire

Old

Testament

is

pointing

to

the

fact

that

only

God

can

make

you

right

with

himself

and

only

God

can

act

to

make

you

right

with

himself

and

once

he's

done

it

that's

what

you

put

your

faith

and

trust

in

if

you

could

put

up

the

next

point

Andrew

the

gospel

plus

anything

means

you

don't

have

a

gospel

at

all

it's

the

gospel

plus

nothing

that's

the

gospel

just

you

know

in

terms

of

this

racism

thing

and

we're

going

to

move

on

to

some

other

really

important

points

here

you

know

one

of

the

things

about

this

letter

and

those

of

you

might

remember

depending

on

Jesus

either

died

and

rose

again

in

the

year

30

or

the

year

33

I

think

most

scholars

say

it

was

one

of

those

two

springs

of

30

or

33

and

this

letter

was

probably

written

in

the

year

48

it

might

very

well

be

the

first

part

of

the

New

Testament

that

was

actually

written

and

if

he

died

in

33

and

this

is

written

in

48

then

15

years

after

the

death

and

resurrection

of

Jesus

it's

very

very

interesting

that

all

the

way

through

the

letter

slavery

is

only

used

as

an

example

of

evil

slavery

is

only

used

as

an

example

of

evil

in

fact

one

of

the

famous

verses

in

Galatians

is

Galatians

Galatians 5:1

5

verse

1

for

freedom

Christ

has set

us

free

stand

firm

therefore

and

do

not

submit

again

to

a

yoke

of

slavery

and

the

other

thing

is

that

this

text

Paul

doesn't

dress

racism

directly

but

he

in

fact

deals

with

racism

at

a

very

very

very

deep

level

because

the

gospel

when

we

understand

that

we

are

made

right

by

something

that

God

has

done

for

us

and

that

he

does

everything

to

make

us

right

with

himself

and

then

after

he's

done

everything

to

make

us

right

with

himself

and

we

put

our

faith

and

trust

in

him

and

he

declares

George

you

are

mine

you

are

mine

despite

the

fact

that

you

have

the

wrong

view

on

Trump

or

the

Andrew

as

the

gospel

comes

alive

to

me

and

I

write

this

down

because

if

you're

writing

this

down

then

you're

writing

this

to

me

as

the

gospel

comes

alive

to

me

racism

and

prejudice

should

die

in

me

like

while

on one

level

it

doesn't

look

like

he's

doing

what

Canadians

want

by

talking

about

the

gospel

in

fact

as

the

gospel

grips

us

in

that

the

hymn

that

Deborah

had

sing

hands

I

bring

I

have

a

master's

degree

I'm

a

Canadian

I've

been

married

a

long

time

nothing

in

my

hands

I

bring

simply

in

the

cross

I

cling

I

just

have

a

couple

of

minutes

I

have

to

wrap

this

up

there's

a

very

common

problem

that

Christians

have

if

you're

here

and

you're

not

a

Christian

you're

trying

to

figure

it

out

you

might

not

know

this

but

it's

a

been

a

profound

moral

failure

in

their

lives

or

financial

failure

or

relational

failure

and

they

no

longer

feel

that

they

are

almost

worthy

or

that

they

can

come

to

church

because

of

their

failure

you see

they

don't

really

believe

I

don't

really

believe

that

I

am

made

right

with

God

because

God

does

everything

to

make

me

right

with

him

I

actually

believe

it

is

connected

to

my

moral

excellence

my

relational

excellence

my

financial

excellence

my

spiritual

excellence

look at

what Paul

says

the Bible

says

in verse

20

I