A Galatians Retroview: 5 Walk-A-Ways

This afternoon, I have the privilege of giving the eulogy at a funeral.

And this man that has died, he has lived a compelling, compelling life for Christ.

He's the father of a sister from our church.

Many of us don't know who this man is.

But I have found myself asking, what am I all about?

And I found myself wanting to ask us as a church, Christ the King Church, what are we all about?

You may answer that question, well, I'm all about the Packers, or I'm about the Bears, or I'm about my family, my kids, my grandkids.

I'm all about my health.

I'm all about my city.

I'm all about my career.

But Christ the King Church, really, what are we all about?

Are we about this old historic building?

Are we about helping people in need?

Is that all we're about?

Are we all about having close, meaningful relationships with one another?

What are we all about?

We're all about the gospel.

And that is the whole point of the entire book of Galatians.

If I were to summarize the book of Galatians in a sentence, it would be this.

The gospel of Jesus Christ alone frees us from slavery to sin in order to live together for God.

That's what Paul's getting at.

That's what God is getting at.

The gospel alone frees us from slavery to sin in order for us to live for God.

And so I know on the title of this sermon, I have Galatians, a retro view, five walkaways.

It's just going to be four walkaways.

So four walkaways from our four plus months of simmering in the book of Galatians.

Let me name you these four walkaways.

First, our first walkaway is our one true gospel.

We've got to be clear on the gospel.

It is God's power unto salvation.

Our second walkaway is being aware of our old gospel enemy, legalism.

Our third walkaway is our new gospel identity, believing what God says about you, not what the world says about you.

And our fourth walkaway from Galatians is our new gospel community.

In Christ Jesus, we have a new social value system.

The summary of Galatians, again, is this.

The gospel alone frees us from slavery to sin in order to live for God.

And so here's the deal.

We as a church moving forward, we must keep in step with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In other words, we must be all about the gospel.

So let's focus in on this first walkaway.

We want to avoid the mistake of which James 1.22 warns us not to forget what we've seen in this book, but to apply it.

So our first walkaway moving forward is being clear on the one true gospel.

If you looked at the beginning and the end of the book of Galatians, you're going to notice something.

In verse 4 of Galatians chapter 1, Paul is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

And he says, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.

That little phrase, who gave himself for our sins, that's a way of summarizing the gospel.

The good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ.

And you notice what the gospel does.

For those who believe, it delivers us from this present evil age,

which is just another way of talking about the world.

Now, if you flip to the back of Galatians, Galatians chapter 6,

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

in verses 11 through 16, particular verses 14 through 15,

we read Paul saying this,

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

by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

Now, I find it very interesting that Paul begins and ends this letter to the Galatians

by talking about the gospel, Christ crucified,

and that it delivers us from this present evil age, the world.

This book, from beginning to end, is all about Christ crucified,

the power of God, and what that does for us,

what God has done for us.

At the heart of the gospel is Christ's substitutionary death for sinners on the cross.

He gave himself up for our sins.

Christ crucified on our behalf.

And all the way through, from beginning to end,

everything in the middle of this book of Galatians,

is all about the gospel.

Now, Billy started the service earlier on.

He read a passage from 1 Corinthians 1,

in which Paul talked about the gospel as God's power in wisdom.

Paul in Romans 1.16 describes the gospel as God's power unto salvation.

And we start picking up on that all the way through Galatians.

So let me just give you a quick tour de force.

In 1.6 and 7, there is only one true gospel that actually saves people from sin.

1.11, we learn that it's not man's gospel,

but this good news of Christ crucified,

this is God's good news to fallen humanity.

This is a message from God.

And 2.5, the truth of this one true gospel,

it must be protected and preserved.

And 2.7, this gospel is entrusted to be proclaimed to the nations,

uncircumcised and circumcised.

2.14, our conduct is either in step with this gospel,

or it's out of step with this gospel.

And 2.15 through 21,

this gospel justifies all who would believe.

This week, I was listening to WNBI,

and I heard Colin Smith,

he is a Scottish preacher serving at the Orchard Church in Arlington Heights.

I can't give you a Scottish accent.

I wish I could,

but here's what he said.

We don't obey in order to come to Christ.

We come to Christ in order to obey.

The gospel declares that a sinner is made right with God

based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Not our works.

And so when we read 2.20,

that the gospel announces that sinners have been co-crucified with Christ

and co-risen with Christ,

we've been united with Christ.

At the heart of that is Christ's death and resurrection.

It's all about the gospel.

And 3.8,

The gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham,

quote,

In you shall all the nations be blessed.

This gospel is a big gospel.

God's plan for the fullness of time realized in Jesus.

And 3.15 through 18,

we learn that God's blessing to all nations promised to Abraham

would come through one of Abraham's offspring,

quote,

Who is Christ?

Gospel.

Christ crucified is God's good news of blessing to all nations.

3.13,

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Redemption is another way of talking about what the cross does.

In 3.26,

we learn that in Christ Jesus,

you are all sons of God by faith.

Adoption is another way of talking about what the cross of Christ has done.

4.4-7,

again,

talks about redemption

and combines it with adoption.

We're justified.

We're redeemed.

We're adopted.

All because of the cross of Jesus Christ.

We can cry out,

Abba, Father,

by the Spirit in us

because of the cross of Jesus Christ.

4.28,

adoption.

5.1,

for freedom Christ has set us free.

That's redemption language.

5.13-24,

because of the gospel,

we no longer walk by the flesh,

we walk by the Spirit

so that we can fulfill the law of God.

Gospel.

6.2,

we bear one another's burdens

and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The gospel sings to our hearts

as we serve one another.

It's because of the gospel.

It's the new creation rule by which we walk.

Galatians,

from beginning to end,

is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It just doesn't start and end with the gospel.

It is packed full of gospel.

It's all about the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.

And let me just let you know,

it's only that gospel that can save sinners.

You can't add works to the gospel,

nor can you remove the cross of Christ from the gospel.

If you add to it or remove from it,

you don't have a gospel anymore.

There's only one true gospel,

and you can sum it up with just two words,

Christ crucified.

So our first walk away

is this huge emphasis

on the gospel of Jesus Christ,

and it just doesn't get us into the kingdom.

It helps us live out

being citizens of the kingdom.

So now we turn to the second walk away.

Wouldn't it be great

if we as a church,

back to the first walk away,

wouldn't it be great

if moving forward

for weeks and months

and years,

Lord willing,

ahead,

we are gospel-centered

like Galatians is?

Now to the second walk away,

the old gospel enemy.

Throughout this letter,

Paul repeatedly warns

of a false gospel,

a distorted gospel.

And so let me just tell you up front,

a distorted gospel

is a dud of a gospel.

It can't do anything.

Here's a nice thought.

Just imagine a hot August summer day

in Kenosha.

You're walking down 73rd Street.

It's the street I live on.

You're sweating up a storm

because it's like 90-something degrees out

with Wisconsin humidity.

I'm on my front porch.

I see you walking by.

You're a sweat hog.

I've got compassion on you.

And I say to you,

hey, would you like a cold glass of water?

And you're like,

absolutely.

I'm so sweaty and hot.

I'm so weary.

I say, well, come up onto my stoop.

And I run into the house.

30 seconds later,

I am back

and I hand you

a tall,

cold glass of water

packed full of ice

brimming with water.

And it even has that kind of

perspiration on the outside of the glass

because it's so humid.

You know what I'm talking about?

Your mouth is so parched.

And as you bring that glass up to your lips,

I happen to mention to you,

oh, by the way,

I just put a drip of my dog's blood

in that glass of water.

What would you do?

Would you knock that baby back?

You'd be like,

you'd throw the glass against my house.

You'd be like,

what are you thinking?

I'm not drinking that polluted water.

It's not good for me.

Legalism pollutes the one true gospel

into something else.

A corrupted gospel is a contrary gospel.

A distorted gospel is a dud of a gospel.

It's blood water.

You don't want it.

There's no power in it.

Legalism.

Legalism corrupts the one true gospel

of Jesus Christ into something else.

A legalistic approach to religion

has no power to justify you.

It has no power to redeem you.

There's nothing in it that brings you about

the adoption,

the spirit dwelling,

a new creation,

making you a citizen of the Jerusalem from above.

It's got no power to do that.

In fact, it only just condemns you.

The legalism of the first century in Galatia was this.

Jews were insisting that Gentiles,

in order to become Christians,

had to first become Jews.

Jews.

That means men had to be circumcised.

That was what's going on with a little powwow

we read about in chapter 2, 1 through 10.

There was also this insistence

that in order to be a true Christian,

you needed to observe Jewish dietary restrictions.

You had to eat kosher.

That's the big deal of what we see going on in 2.12.

And then there was this kind of insistence

that you need to observe Jewish holy days.

Make sure Yom Kippur is on your calendar

and you observe it.

We see that reference in 4.10 through 11.

But what you need to understand,

that's not the gospel.

You're not justified by works.

The good news of Jesus Christ

is not what we must do.

You're not justified by your works.

You're not redeemed through circumcision.

You're not adopted by eating kosher.

And you're not indwelt by the Spirit

by observing Jewish holy days.

When we try to sneak our own works

into our standing with God,

we are actually trying to broker

our own salvation.

That's not good news, brothers and sisters.

That's our old gospel enemy.

That's legalism.

If the pure, true gospel

is a cup of cold glass water

to the soul on a hot summer day

in this present evil age,

legalism is the drip of dog blood

that changes its very essence.

The essence of legalism

is a salvation dependent

upon the obedience of man.

It's a man-centered salvation

and it doesn't save.

The essence of the gospel

is that salvation

depends solely on the finished

substitutionary work of Jesus Christ,

Christ crucified.

It's a God-centered salvation.

It's by grace alone.

And today,

there's all sorts of legalisms,

both major scale and minor scale.

The health and wealth gospel,

the prosperity gospel,

is actually a kind of legalism.

It's saying that if you want

to experience the riches

and the health today

that Jesus died for,

then you just need to believe more.

It puts salvation on you.

It's no salvation.

There's a kind of Pentecostalism

that says in order for you to be saved,

you must speak in tongues.

In order for you to be saved,

you must speak in tongues?

In order for you to be saved,

you must believe in the finished work

of Jesus Christ.

There's no salvation in provings

by speaking in tongues.

It's no salvation.

There's some Christians out there

that says in order to be saved,

you must be baptized.

Baptism doesn't save you.

Being united to Christ

in His death and resurrection

saves you.

That's what baptism symbolizes.

There is a little phrase

that you need to be aware of.

Maybe it's in your own thinking

or when you hear a bubble up

from somebody else,

it goes something like this.

Real Christians don't

fill in the blank.

Real Christians don't

watch R-rated movies.

Real Christians don't

let their kids play video games.

Real Christians don't

drink alcohol.

Real Christians don't

smoke or chew

or go out with girls who do.

watching an R-rated movie

is not going to save you

or unsave you.

Your kids playing video games

is not going to save them

or unsave them.

Drinking alcohol

is not going to save you

or unsave you.

Dating a girl

who chews tobacco

Now if you're united

to Christ

if you've been born

of the Spirit

it informs

the movies you watch.

It informs

how you

the video games

you play.

It informs

what foods

you take in.

Romans 14

out of love

you don't want to

cause anybody

to stumble

by drinking alcohol.

It's not worth it.

It doesn't save you.

The finished work

of Christ

saves you.

Real Christians

homeschool their children.

Real Christians

eat only

what's in the Bible.

Ezekiel bread.

Jesus declared

all foods clean.

Eat whatever you want.

That's the real

biblical sense.

Amen.

Real Christians

give 10%.

Real Christians

invest in gold.

Real Christians

pay in cash only.

Real Christians

never go into debt.

Your salvation

isn't dependent

on any of that.

Your salvation

informs these things.

How you

educate your children.

What kind of foods

you eat.

Your giving.

Your investments.

How you manage

your money.

Whether you go

into debt or not.

But certainly

only the cross

of Christ

saves you.

Remember that

Colin Smith quote?

We do not obey

in order to come

to Christ.

We come to Christ

in order to obey.

Legalism says

we obey

in order

to come to Christ.

Here's how

this shows up.

one of you

sins.

And you're

a total mess

about it.

How could I

do that again?

And instead

of running

to the finished

work of Jesus

Christ

and finding

a cup of

cold water

for your soul

you start

doing things

like this.

I'm just going

to read my Bible

more.

I'm going to pray

more.

I'm going to

give more.

I'm going to

go to church

more.

I'm going

to atone

for my sin

by these

works.

And Jesus'

blood has

covered it

all.

Brothers and

sisters

your works

cannot save

you nor do

they keep

you saved.

It's only

the finished

work of

Jesus Christ.

Here's what

you need to

understand as

we move

forward together.

We learn

from Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

that we

have our

bodies

if you're

a Christian

our civil

war.

You have

the flesh

that internal

power in

you towards

self-centeredness

and then there's

the spirit

at work in

you who

wants you

to live

for God

and they're

in conflict

with one

another.

Here's what

you need to

know about

your flesh.

Your flesh

loves legalism.

Give me

rules.

Because your

flesh loves

to be

self-righteous.

justified.

A corrupt

gospel

is a

contrary

gospel.

A distorted

gospel

is a

dud of

a gospel.

Man-centered

legalism

cannot save

nor keep

you safe.

It just

further

condemns

and confuses.

Do you

remember this?

Run,

John,

run,

the law

demands,

but gives

us neither

feet nor

hands.

A far

better

news the

gospel

brings.

It bids

us fly

and gives

us

Holy Spirit

wings.

As long

as we're

in this

side of

glory,

we will

need to

be aware

of in

fighting by

faith the

corrupting

influence of

legalism,

the flesh,

and the

world.

we have

an old

gospel

enemy

seeking to

corrupt

us.

Let's

move

forward

sobered

by that.

But here's

where I want

to bring

you now.

Here's how

we fight

that

legalistic

pull on

our flesh.

It's with

the third

walk away.

And it's

the one

I've been

looking forward

to most

to preaching

this morning.

It's our

new gospel

identity.

Let's

just pretend

we all

go out

to your

car and

we open

up the

hood.

And as

we're

looking at

the

battery,

we can

help that

on the

battery

terminals,

you know

those little

metal

stumps

that are

sticking

out.

It looks

like

Frankenstein

stumps

but sticking

out.

Well,

those battery

terminals,

they're just,

we're looking

in your

battery together

and they're

just white

with corrosion.

You're kind

of just

grossed out

by it.

Like,

do I

actually

touch that?

Well,

here's what

that corrosion

does.

That corrosion

can actually

build up

and it can

block that

vital connection

between the

positive terminal

and the wire

that goes to

starting your

car.

And when

that corrosion

blocks that

vital contact,

you're not

going to be

able to

start your

car.

Legalism is

like the

corrosion on

the contact

point between

the gospel

and a

Christian's

understanding

of themselves.

it can

short God's

glorious work

in which

he's done

in you

and you

begin to

think of

yourself

in the

old way.

Do you know

how to clean

a corroded

battery terminal?

You pour

Coca-Cola

on it,

baby.

Coca-Cola

has this

mild acidity

to it

and it

cleans out

that corrosion

like

zippity zap.

The book

of Galatians

teaches us

that the

gospel

is the

acidic

solution

to clean

up legalistic

corrosion

in your

heart.

And we

do that

by looking

at our

new identity

in Christ.

The gospel,

the gospel

helps

clean up

any kind

of corrosion

so that

gospel

contact

is true

and vital

in you.

So let me

tell you

three

beautifully

gospel

truths

about your

new identity.

Christian,

you are

justified.

You are

justified

now

and

forever.

In

Galatians

2.16

Paul talks

about being

justified

and here's

what that

is.

When you're

justified,

the moment

you believe

in Jesus,

it's like

all of a

sudden you're

in a

court of

law

and God

the Father

passes a

verdict over

you and

he says

of you,

this one

is righteous

in my

sight

based on

the finished

work of

Christ.

here's

what that

means.

At that

moment you

believe all

of your

sin,

past,

present,

future,

was put

on Christ.

This is how

God thinks

about it.

It was put

on Christ

on the

cross and

all of

God's

wrath,

rightly

hovering over

that sin,

was poured

out fully

on that

sin so

that there's

no more

wrath of

God for

that sin.

it's all

poured out

on Christ

which means

this,

the moment

you believe

you are

fully forgiven

of all

your sin

past,

present,

and future.

Isn't that

good news?

It's a

legal declaration.

It's done

in God's

court of

law.

But that's

just half

of it.

What God

does in

that act,

he also

declares

you righteous

in his

sight.

all of

Christ's

obedience

in the

33 years

he lived,

all of

his right

feelings,

right thinking,

right believing

and stepping

out,

all of

his obedience

which pleased

his father,

God,

in the moment

you believe,

transfers all

that righteousness

into your

account.

So in

that one

act by which

God justifies

you,

you're fully

forgiven and

fully accepted

based upon

the finished

work and

Christ's

righteousness

imputed to

you.

Isn't that

good news?

That's who

you are

forever.

That doesn't

change because

it's based on

the finished

work of

Jesus Christ.

Justification

is the

gospel

solution

to the

corrosion

of legalism.

when you

want to

kind of

atone for

your own

sin by

your works,

you're

justified.

It's

done.

That's the

first beautiful

truth of

who you

are.

The second

is this.

Christian,

you are

redeemed

now.

Redemption,

we see it in

3.13 and

4.4 and

5.5.1 for

freedom,

Christ has

set you

free.

This redemption

language is

actually pictured

in the slave

market of

slaves being

purchased and

set free.

And what

Galatians is

clear to say

over and over

again is that

if you put

your faith in

Jesus, you

who were once

enslaved to

sin have been

set free.

You're no

longer under

slavery to

sin, the

flesh, the

law, the

world.

Do you know

how Christ

redeemed you?

Do you know

how Christ

sets you

free?

Christ sets

us free by

paying a

ransom price.

And that

ransom price

he paid for

our freedom was

the blood he

shed on the

cross.

It's been

poured out

on full.

You've been

fully purchased

from slavery

to sin.

You are no

longer a

slave to sin

anymore,

Christian.

In fact, it

was for freedom

that Christ has

set you free.

5.1.

You've been

redeemed,

freed from

slavery to

sin to live

for God,

now and

forever.

So, when

you like me

are having

thoughts, and

you're being

tempted in

your flesh to

do something,

you know what

you say?

I've been set

free.

The gospel

has set me

free from

this.

Christ died

so this

would not

rule me

anymore.

I'm arguing

from what

Christ has

done and

what's true

for me.

It's time

for you to

start making

the same

argument.

This

redemption,

this gospel

redemption is

God's gospel

solution to

the corrosion

that comes in

with our

flesh.

church.

The last

beautiful gospel

truth of your

identity is

this.

Christian,

you're adopted.

You're a part

of God's new

family now and

forever.

In Galatians

4, 4-7,

there is this

combination of

talking about

we have been

redeemed from

slavery,

from the world,

in order to

be placed

into the

family of

God.

You were a

slave,

now you are a

son or daughter

and it's all by

the finished work

of Jesus Christ.

We are

redeemed from

and adopted

to God's

family.

And what that

means is the

moment you

believe you are

given all the

rights and

privileges of a

legitimate son

and daughter of

the God of

the universe.

So when

through Jesus

Christ, God

becomes your

heavenly father,

there's this

all sorts of

promises that

you are brought

into as a

member of his

family.

Promises like

this.

God says, I'm

never going to

leave you.

Many of you in

this room have

had fathers who

left you.

God, your

father will never

leave you, never

forsake you.

He's in it.

promises like

this.

He's not going

to ruthlessly

punish you.

He's not going

to lose his

temper on you

and punish you

out of anger.

God doesn't do

that.

Our heavenly

father doesn't do

that to us as

children.

He does

discipline us in

love for our

good so that we

can share in his

holiness because he

loves us.

He promises us

to love us

always.

He promises us

to work all

things out for

our good no

matter what our

circumstances are.

God, our

heavenly father,

because he loves

us and he's

sovereign over all

things and he's

powerful.

He's working it all

out for our good

and that good is

becoming like his

son, Jesus.

You belong to

God, sons and

daughters through

Christ.

And because your

sonship rests in

Christ's finished

work, your

sonship is forever

settled.

Can I just make

this statement?

You've got to

hear it.

Brothers and

sisters, you

will never, never

be disowned by

your heavenly

father.

Never.

Because your

sonship or your

daughtership has

been sealed by the

blood of Jesus.

He's the

guarantor of it.

But,

you know,

pour that gospel

solution on

your heart when

things get tough

and you start to

be afraid and

you're like,

is God for me?

Yes, he is.

Do you remember

Al Franken?

He was a former

Minnesota senator,

fell from respect,

but before that he

was a cast member

on Saturday Night

Live.

And when he was

on Saturday Night

Live, he did a

skit in which he

was the character

Stuart Smalley.

And Stuart Smalley

was incredibly

insecure.

And this skit

about Stuart Smalley

always had Stuart

facing a mirror,

talking to himself,

and speaking daily

affirmations to

himself.

I am an attractive

person.

I refuse to beat

myself up today.

I'm entitled to my

share of happiness.

I am fun to be with.

It was a tongue-in-cheek

jab at the self-talk

of the self-help

movement of the day

and put its finger

on everybody who's

struggling with their

identity.

So let me ask you

a question.

What's the difference

between you and

Stuart Smalley?

The difference is

this.

The difference is

who is telling you

who you are

in the basis

of that.

In the

Saturday Night Live

skit, Stuart

Smalley spoke

on his own

authority

and based

his identity

on a distorted

view of himself.

In the book

of Galatians,

God is speaking

to you,

brothers and

sisters,

in all of

his authority.

And if you are

in Christ,

he is saying

on the basis

of the finished

work of my

son Jesus,

you are justified,

you are redeemed,

you are adopted.

it's all

true.

Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30:5

verse 5 says

all of God's

words prove

true.

And he is a

refuge to all

who trust in him.

When we

remind ourselves

that we're justified

and redeemed

and adopted,

it is not

some Stuart

Smalley

self-help

talk.

when we

remind ourselves

of being

justified

and redeemed

and adopted

in Christ,

it is

gospel talk.

It is

renewing our

minds on the

truth of what

Christ has done

for us.

So when your

thoughts of

past sins

condemn you,

you say to

yourself,

by God's grace,

I've been justified

by the blood of

Jesus.

When your flesh

tempts you,

you remind

yourself,

the cross

has redeemed

me from this.

When your

circumstances

stand against

you,

when you start

questioning God's

intention for you,

you remind

yourself that

he is now

your heavenly

father and

you're adopted,

you're his adopted

son or daughter.

Do you know

what God

intends to

happen when

you renew

your mind

on this

truth?

When you

remind yourself

of these new

categories of

self-understanding

and identity

that I am

justified and

redeemed and

adopted,

here's what

happens.

These truths

are designed

to become

the primary

defining reality

of your life.

Who you are

in Christ

becomes more

important than

your gender.

who you are

in Christ

becomes more

important than

your age.

Who you are

in Christ

becomes more

important than

your income,

your social

status.

It's more

important than

your ethnicity.

Your new

gospel identity

is so important,

it informs

your gender,

it informs

your age,

income,

social standing,

ethnicity.

in August

of 2017,

I'm guessing

you remembered

the full

solar eclipse

of the sun,

do you remember

that?

It's when the

moon's orbit

brought it

between the

earth and the

sun and it

blocked the

brightness of

the sun

from sight.

It was a new

governing reality

for a little

while.

The solar

eclipse is

temporary,

but the

gospel eclipse

is permanent.

When Christ

comes into

our life,

our new

position in

him eclipses

all that

had been

primarily

defining us

before.

Hey,

it may be

true that

you're a

male or

female.

It might be

true that

you're black

or you're

white,

that you're

rich or

you're poor

or somewhere

in between,

but those

things don't

shine nearly

as brightly

anymore because

they've been

eclipsed by

the gospel.

And the

gospel doesn't

make things

dark.

The gospel

outshines

everything else.

Our new

gospel identity.

Brothers and

sisters,

can we move

forward together

reminding

ourselves of

who we are

in Christ?

We love

each other

well when

we say,

remember who

you are,

brother.

Remember who

you are,

sister.

I'm feeling

the limits

of time.

I want to

be attentive

to your

attention span,

but I've

got one

more walk

away I

want to

emphasize.

It's really

important.

We've been

given a new

gospel identity

in Christ,

Christ, and

that translates

into a new

gospel community

in Christ.

We learned

from Galatians

1 and 6

that the

cross delivers

us from this

present evil

age.

It delivers

us, crucifies

us to the

world.

Now the

world is

comprised of

all the

non-Christians

who are living

according to

their flesh

for things

other than

God, and

the world

creates its

own

atmosphere.

It creates

its own

culture.

It creates

its own

currents.

If you are

in Christ,

you've been

delivered from

this present

evil age.

You've been

delivered from

the world.

So what that

means is,

though we are

in the world,

we are no

longer of the

world.

We are of

Jesus in

the world.

now, here's

what you need

to understand,

brothers and

sisters.

The moment

you personally

believed in

Christ, you

were transferred

from the

kingdom of

darkness into

the kingdom

of his

beloved son.

You were

transferred from

one community

who were living

apart from God,

running from

him, and you

were transferred

into a new

community who

had been born

again, who

had new

identities, seeking

to live for

God by the

power of the

Holy Spirit.

God is

gathering for

himself by

the gospel of

Jesus Christ, a

people from all

over the world,

from every tribe,

tongue, and

nation.

In fact, we can

say this, you,

brother, sister,

have more in

common with a

tribesman in

Africa who is a

believer in Jesus

Christ than people

from your own

family who don't

know Jesus yet.

Because what

unites you more

is far more

important than

anything else that

might differentiate

us from each

other.

So throughout

Galatians, we

pick up on this

theme that Christ's

death has begun a

whole new era in

salvation history.

We pick it up in a

passage like Galatians

1 through 5 that

now has all this

kind of spirit talk

about it.

Salvation history is

a way of understanding

how God relates to

humankind in the big

picture.

Creation, fall,

redemption,

consummation.

And Christ's coming

inaugurated a new

way in which God

related to mankind

through Christ.

That new era was

prophesied in passages

like Jeremiah 31,

Ezekiel 36,

Joel 2,

when God would

establish a new

covenant with a new

people in whom he

would cause his

spirit to dwell in

in order that they

would obey him.

That should ring a

bell.

Galatians 5,

we live out our

freedom as God's

new people in the

power of the Holy

Spirit that we

would obey him.

Brothers and

sisters, we are

delivered from the

world to be part of a

new covenant community.

A new gospel

community.

God didn't save you.

He didn't justify you

and redeem you and

adopt you and dwell you

by his spirit, make you

a citizen of the

Jerusalem above.

He didn't make you a

new creation of a new

creation so that you

would be an island unto

yourself.

He saved you to be part

of a new people.

The new gospel community

Paul describes throughout

Galatians is described

as 329, Abraham's

offspring.

426-31, citizens of the

Jerusalem above.

Not children of the

slave but children of the

free woman.

514, these are the

people called to

fulfill the law by

walking according to

the Spirit.

616, when he blesses

all who walk according

to the new creation

rule, he says these

people are the new

Israel of God.

God's new people.

A new covenant

community.

A gospel community.

The church.

Those delivered from

the world and placed

into God's household.

God's new people.

Got to hang in here

with me.

This new people is

comprised of all and

any who have believed

in Christ alone for

their salvation.

We are all one new

people of God in Christ

indwelt by his Spirit.

And so let me now get to

some implications of

that.

The gospel gives each

of us a whole new

identity.

Do I have an amen?

The gospel gives us a

whole new corporate

identity.

We are a new people.

The gospel of Jesus

Christ is what unites

us.

And it's more important

than gender, ethnicity,

income, education,

culture, employment,

neighborhood, even your

political party.

All the things that

once divided us

when we are of the

world, they no longer

can divide us.

They must no longer

divide us.

Because what unites us

in Christ is far more

important.

It eclipses everything.

In the first century,

there are these dividing

lines between Jew and

Gentile, slave and free,

male and female.

You read about this at the

end of Galatians chapter

three.

If you are part of the

majority culture,

if you are living in a

higher social status,

here's what this means

for you.

If you're white middle

class,

it means that your

white middle classness

is not to govern your

interactions with other

people anymore as the

primary thing by which you

understand yourself.

The primary thing by which

you understand yourself

is the cross of Jesus

Christ.

If you are part of a

minority culture,

lower social status.

Your social status is not

nearly as important as you

being united in Christ.

Christ.

So here's what the gospel

does.

It humbles those in a

high worldly position and

elevates those in a low

worldly position and puts

us all on the same equal

footing under the cross.

So we don't ignore our

culture, ethnic, gender

differences.

It's just the cross eclipses

everything.

We are all justified.

We are all redeemed.

We are all adopted,

spirit and dwelt, new

creation, citizens of a new

Jerusalem.

And it's all because of what

Christ has done for us.

We are a new gospel

community.

And we've been given a whole

new social value system.

Our identity now informs how

we relate to one another in

the gospel.

We live out the gospel by

keeping in step with the

truth of the gospel by the

power of the Holy Spirit.

We've been called out from

the world.

We've called into the family

of God.

We are new creations who live

by a new rule.

Love your neighbor and it's

completely countercultural.

So we must be loving one

another regardless of our

similarities and differences

socially.

Our tendency as human beings

is to, of the flesh,

gravitate to those who are like

us in the flesh.

They're the people we're most

familiar and comfortable with.

But the gospel changes all of

that stuff.

Instead of allowing our flesh

to gravitationally pull us in

the flesh to those like us

socially, the Spirit compels us

to move towards other people

unlike us, but we are united

with in Christ.

It's a gospel social system.

Value system.

What is striking to me about

Galatians 5, 13 through 6, 10

is that the conflict between the

flesh and the Spirit gets

played out in the context

of relationships.

We must be constantly, as we

move forward as a church,

given the uniqueness of where

we're at, we love where we're at.

We love the people who our God

is bringing.

We must be constantly working

to maintain the unity of the

Spirit and the bond of peace

because we are all one in Christ.

We are a gospel community in

motion, walking by the Spirit.

Here's what's going to result

from that we're trusting God

for.

We're going to experience deeper,

richer gospel relationships with

people who we're united to in

Christ, but we are different from

culturally.

That is richness.

It's got to get played out in

specifics.

There's going to be greater peace.

We're not going to be biting and

devouring one another because of

our differences.

We're going to be restoring one

other, caught in trespasses,

regardless of you, rich or poor.

Bearing one another's burdens.

It's going to culminate in a

corporate boasting in the cross

because only God does things like

that.

When it unites a people who are

different from each other

culturally and unites them in such

a way that the gospel eclipses

everything.

It becomes our governing reality as a

people.

We are God's new people, brothers and

sisters.

A new gospel community that has been

brokered by the blood of Jesus.

Galatians is all about the gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ alone

frees us from slavery to sin so that

we together can live by the spirit for

God.

Paul begins this letter by issuing a

curse on all those who distorted the

gospel and made it a dud.

And he closes with blessing all those