Two Ways To Live

Run, John, run, the law demands,

but neither gives us feet nor hands.

Run, Mike, run, the law demands,

but gives me neither feet nor hands.

Run, Joanne, run, the law demands,

but gives you neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings.

It bids us fly and gives us wings.

This past week, Jenny and I were in Chicago.

We went and saw the musical Hamilton,

which was phenomenal,

and we stayed in a nice hotel,

and of course when we checked in,

we were given the key card,

and so we went up into the room,

kind of slid the key card,

opened the door,

and then that key card's work was done.

So I put it on the desk.

We limit our understanding

of the gospel of Jesus Christ

to a key card that gets us into Christianity,

and once we're into Christianity,

we think the gospel key card is done,

so we put it on the shelf.

And when we forget the cross of Jesus Christ,

what happens is we become more aware of our actions,

what we should or should not be doing.

You know, we shouldn't be lusting,

we shouldn't be swearing,

we shouldn't be lying,

we should be praying,

we should be writing our Bibles,

we should be giving generously,

we should be going to church.

And so when we lose sight of the cross,

what we become more aware of

is what we are or are not doing,

and those things become what we determine

how we're doing with God.

I'm good with God if I am doing this.

I'm okay with God if I'm doing that.

I'm not good with God if I'm doing this.

So we can begin to measure

our standing with God

based on our own obedience or lack thereof.

What we fail to realize

is that the gospel

is not only the key that initiates our salvation,

the gospel is the very thing of our salvation.

It completes our salvation.

What God begins in us by gospel grace,

God will complete in us by gospel grace.

In other words, this gospel,

Christ crucified,

it's the announcement that God's salvation

salvation from beginning to end

is all a work of God's grace.

The book of Galatians

is the apostle Paul

writing to these young Christians

in the first century,

these Gentile Christians

in southern Galatia,

and he's really concerned about them.

If you'd open up your Bibles to Galatians,

if you haven't already,

let me just help you see the concern.

In Galatians 5.1,

Paul writes to these Christians,

for freedom Christ has set us free.

Stand firm, therefore,

and do not submit again

to a yoke of slavery.

Christ, through the gospel,

sets you free, brothers and sisters.

Don't go back to the law.

Slavery.

4.21,

Tell me,

you who desire to be under the law,

do you not listen to the law?

4.9,

But now that you've come to know God,

or rather to be known by God,

how can you turn back again

to the weak and worthless

elementary principles of the world,

which,

whose slaves you want to be once more?

You want to go back to that?

Way back in Galatians chapter 1,

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

this thing that Paul is really concerned about,

he uses different language

in Galatians 1.6,

I am astonished

that you are so quickly deserting him

who called you

in the grace of Christ

and are turning to a different gospel.

Going back to the law.

It's what Paul rebukes Peter for,

what we saw the last couple weeks

in 2.18,

when he says to Peter,

for if I rebuild what I tore down,

I prove myself to be a transgressor.

You're just going back to the law.

And in our passage today,

Galatians chapter 3,

Galatians 3:1–14

verses 1 through 14,

if you look at Galatians 3.3,

are you so foolish,

Galatian Christians?

Are you so foolish?

Having begun by the Spirit,

are you now being perfected by the flesh

by obeying the law?

What Paul is doing in the book of Galatians

is he's trying to free these Christians

from this false understanding

of a false gospel that says,

hey, you can start by believing in Jesus,

but you've got to finish what God starts

by obeying the law.

And so what ends up happening is

you've got, in the book of Galatians,

two incompatible ways to live life.

Option one is the gospel of self-dependence.

It's not really a gospel,

but it's spun as gospel.

It's spun as good news,

but it's not good news.

Here's the thinking of the gospel of self-dependence.

Hey, Jesus may have saved me,

but I need to trust in myself

to stay saved with God

by obeying his law.

And so what you're essentially saying is,

my salvation depends upon my obedience.

That's a gospel of self-dependence,

or it's also known as legalism,

thinking that obeying the law

will keep me right with God.

Option two is the one true gospel,

that by trusting,

not in myself,

but in Christ,

trusting in not my works,

but Christ's finished work

by trusting in what Christ has already done.

I have been declared righteous forever

in God's sight.

All of my sin is forgiven.

I am in righteous standing with God

because of Christ's righteousness given to me.

And so now I don't obey

in order to win God's favor,

thoroughly convinced of God's favor through Christ.

I want to obey him.

So either you're going to live your life

trusting in your own efforts

to stay right with God,

or trusting in Christ's finished work

who has made you right with God.

The two are incompatible.

And what the Galatians were being taught

by false teachers way back in the first century

was,

no, no, no,

you need to be circumcised,

you need to eat kosher foods,

you need to observe Jewish holidays,

and then you will stay right with God.

And Paul says,

we'll have none of that.

And so in 3.1,

he says,

oh, foolish Galatians,

who has bewitched you?

One English translation says,

oh, you stupid Galatians,

who has cast this spell on you?

Who's telling you that what began by God's grace

is now finished by the power of the flesh?

He's like saying this,

as if it's possible that any sinner

can add to a salvation

that is by grace alone,

in Christ alone,

by faith alone,

from beginning to end.

Oh, foolish Galatians,

who's bewitched you?

And then he says,

in that same verse,

it was before your eyes

that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed

as crucified.

You know what he's talking about?

He's talking about,

in Acts 13 and 14,

when he's on his first missionary journey,

and he's cruising through southern Galatia,

and he's hitting all these cities,

and he's proclaiming Christ to the Galatians,

what the Spirit of God was doing,

is he's proclaiming Christ,

and they're thinking,

it's like Jesus is here being crucified,

and we're seeing it for us.

That's how impressive

the Spirit's work was

when they first were converted.

And he's saying,

I preach to you the true gospel,

two words,

Christ crucified, period.

And the way to respond to that

is by faith alone.

And so,

what we have here

is a rebuke.

Paul is saying to these Galatians,

snap out of it.

Snap out of this

legalistic spell on you.

And for the rest of these verses,

for verses 2 through 14,

he gives us three gospel convincers.

Three reasons why

the gospel,

Christ crucified,

in all of its grace,

keeps us from going back to legalism.

So if I can sum up this passage

in one sentence,

it would be this.

In light of the gospel of grace,

don't go back to the law.

In light of the gospel of grace,

don't go back to the law.

So let's look at reason number one.

It's in verses 2 through 5.

The first reason why

we don't go back

to live for the law,

to try to finish

what God has begun,

we don't do that

because we are

God's new covenant people now.

Indwelt by the Spirit of God.

Now if you look at verses 2 through 5,

I don't see any new covenant phrase.

No new covenant.

Verse 2, nope.

3, nope.

4, nope.

5, nope.

Where is this new covenant business

coming from?

Well let me give you

a little background.

In the Old Testament,

in Jeremiah 31

and Ezekiel 36,

God began promising

that he was going to establish

a new covenant

with a new people.

And in Jeremiah 31,

we learn that

this new covenant

was going to be different

from the old covenant

that God had made

with Israel

on Mount Sinai

after he delivered them

from Egypt.

And in Ezekiel 36,

we learn more

about this new covenant,

this new way God relates

with a people.

And the new way

we learn in Ezekiel 36

is that

God himself

would put his spirit

in this new people

and radically transform

their hearts of stone

into hearts of flesh

so that

they would obey

God's law.

And so what you need

to understand is

the new covenant,

the hallmark,

is the pouring out

of the Holy Spirit

who radically changes

sinners' hearts

from hard

and not wanting God

to soft

and now wanting

to obey Him.

And so what we see

going on here,

you don't see

new covenant language

but you see

spirit language.

Let me ask you

only this,

did you receive

the spirit

by works of the law?

Having begun

by the spirit,

are you now being

perfected by the flesh?

Does he who supplies

the spirit to you

and works miracles

among you

do so by works of the law

or by hearing

with faith?

Paul is pointing

to a new reality.

These Galatians,

these Gentiles,

they are God's

new covenant people

indwelt

by the spirit.

Now,

here's what you need

to understand.

The new covenant

of what

Jeremiah and Ezekiel

prophesied,

it has come.

The new covenant

is here

and it has come

through Jesus

ratified by his

blood on the cross.

Do you remember

when we do communion,

hold up the cup

and we say these words,

this is the new covenant

given in my blood.

The new way

with which God

relates with his people

through the blood

of Jesus.

Jesus.

So,

this gospel,

Christ crucified,

is an announcement

of the new covenant.

And what we are learning

about the spirit here

is this,

the third person

of the Trinity,

the Holy Spirit

who is completely,

wonderfully a person,

what he is seeking

to do is

the spirit of God

is seeking to apply

the finished work

of Jesus,

freedom to every

single person

who believes.

And so,

the spirit of God

is applying

the finished work

of Jesus

to anyone

who believes

in what Christ

has done.

It's

a working

of God's spirit

among a new covenant

people.

So,

the spirit

is seeking

to empower us

daily

to live out

the freedom

accomplished

by Christ's death.

That's

what it means

to walk

by the spirit,

Galatians 5 and 6.

So,

that's a little

background

of what's going

on here.

So,

in verse 2,

in verse 3,

in verse 4,

in verse 5,

we have

four rhetorical

questions.

Do you know

what a litmus test

is?

Remember,

high school

chemistry?

Litmus paper,

there would be

a petri dish,

some solution

in it,

you dip it

in there,

you pull it

out,

the litmus paper

turns colors

because there's

some kind

of chemical

in there,

and so you

see what's

in the dish,

you find out

what kind

of chemicals

in there.

These rhetorical

questions are

a litmus test

for what's

going on

in the Galatians.

So,

let's just

look at two

questions,

verse 2

and verse 5.

Verse 2,

we read,

let me ask you

only this,

did you receive

the Spirit

by works

of the law

or by

hearing with

faith,

this new

covenant work

that God

has begun

in you,

Galatians,

is this new

covenant work

of the outpouring

of the Spirit,

did you earn

that by your

obedience to

the law?

option 1,

or did you

receive that

as a gift

by the hearing

of faith?

We know the

answer.

We received it

by the hearing

of faith.

And so what Paul

is pointing back

to is,

your very salvation

began by

nothing you did.

It was all

a work of God

and outpouring

of Spirit

that you received

by faith.

The Galatians

were making

a classic

mistake.

They were

thinking,

verse 3,

that what

began by

the Spirit

that they

now are

to complete

by the works

of their flesh

by obeying

the law.

Not so.

In verse 5,

Paul moves

from talking

about what

happened at

the beginning

of their conversion

to what is

presently happening

in their midst.

present.

He says,

does he who

supply the Spirit

to you and

works miracles

among you do

so by works

of the law

or by hearing

with faith?

It's all

present tense.

Does he who

is supplying

the Spirit

to you now

and working

of miracles

among you

now do

so because

you are

obeying

his law

or does he

do so because

you're just

hearing it

with faith?

We know

the answer.

We don't

obey God

in order

for him

to bless

us.

We receive

his blessing.

So the

present

working of

the Spirit

in Galatians

to which

the Apostle

Paul is

talking about,

he's saying

this isn't

some,

you've heard

it in the

news,

some quid

pro quo.

You scratch

God's back,

he scratches

yours.

He scratches

yours.

The

outpouring

of the

Spirit

in our

past

to in

our

present

is all

by God's

grace

and it's

all received

by faith.

And so

here's the

Apostle Paul

doing this

litmus test

in the

Galatians.

And he's

pulling out

this paper

through these

questions

so that the

Galatians

can understand

what their

true colors

are,

who they're

truly trusting.

And Paul

is trying

to convince

them,

you are

new covenant,

new covenant

people indwelt

by the Spirit.

So what that

means is,

they don't go

back to

legalism because

they've been

made new by

the Spirit and

the Spirit is

at work in

them to begin

all the way

to completing

them all the

way through.

another way

to think

about it

is this.

In light

of the

nature of

the new

covenant,

Jeremiah 31

and Ezekiel

36,

we don't

obey God

in order

to be given

new hearts.

We've been

given new

hearts by the

Spirit,

in order

to obey

God.

The first

is legalism,

the second

is gospel.

So here's

what this

means for

us.

I know

many people

in the room

want to see

an outpouring

of God's

Spirit in

our midst.

We want

to experience

the presence

of the third

person of the

Trinity in

greater and

greater measure.

God's

love.

And so what

we're learning

here is

that's not

something we

swap for.

We don't

obey God

so that He

would pour

out His

Spirit on

us.

It doesn't

work that

way.

Our

experience of

the Holy

Spirit

doesn't come

as a result

of our

performance.

our experience

of the Holy

Spirit is

solely a

working of

God's grace

which we

receive by

faith.

But it

raises an

interesting

question.

Let's say

that God

we're asking

God to pour

out the Holy

Spirit on

us.

How will

we know

that the

Spirit is

moving in

our midst?

Will people

start prophesying?

Speaking in

tongues?

Will there be

healing?

Perhaps.

We'd

welcome that.

But the

onus of this

passage and

of the New

Testament is

that when the

Spirit of God

is moving in

the midst of

His sons and

daughters,

the hallmark

of the

Spirit's

activity

is freedom.

When the

Holy Spirit

moves on

us and

applies the

finished work

of Christ

to us in

greater and

greater measure

and we are

experiencing

greater and

greater measures

of freedom

to not be

ruled by sin,

to not be

ruled by fear,

but to be

ruled by grace

and to live

our lives

out of the

freedom purchased

for us by

Christ, the

Holy Spirit is

seeking to do

that in our

midst so we

don't need to

go back to

legalism.

So the first

reason why we

must not revert

back to a

legalism is

that we are

God's new

covenant people

indwelt by the

Spirit.

Isn't that good

news?

Here is the

second reason.

The second

reason is in

verses 6

through 9.

Now it is

unfortunate in

the ESV that

verse 6 is

at the end of

a paragraph

after verse 5

when verse 6

should actually

begin beginning

the paragraph

before verse 7.

And so that

question mark at

the end of

verse 6 should

be following the

word faith at

the end of

verse 5 because

Paul is making

a really important

argument.

I am going to

help you to

see that.

But here is the

second reason

why.

Brothers and

sisters,

Gentile brothers

and sisters,

the second

reason why we

don't go back

to legalism is

we are sons and

daughters of

Abraham.

And Abraham

was no

legalist.

father Abraham.

Maybe you have

heard that

familiar song,

classic Sunday

school hit.

Father Abraham.

Sing with me.

Father Abraham

had many sons

and many sons

had father

Abraham.

I am one of

them and so

are you.

So let's all

praise the

Lord.

Let me ask you

this.

How is it

that Gentiles

living in the

21st century

can say

we are

somehow

related to

Abraham

who lived

thousands of

years before

us and we

have no

common DNA?

How are we

related?

Amen.

In verse 6

we read this.

Just as

Abraham believed

God

and it was

counted to him

as righteousness.

Here's what

is being said

in Genesis 15

6.

That's the

quote.

God promised

that Abraham

would give

a descendant

would come

from despite

his old age

and God

would populate

the earth

with his

descendants

as the

stars and

the heavens.

Abraham

believed that

promise

and God

credited

that belief

God

credited

it in

his sight

as

righteousness.

At that

moment

Abraham

was justified

made right

with God.

Nothing he

did.

The law

had not come

yet.

He wasn't

circumcised.

He believed

and God

said you're

right with

me

because you

trust me.

And so the

argument goes

like this.

Just as

Abraham was

justified by

faith

verse 6

7

no

believe it

bank on

it

know then

that it is

those

anyone

of faith

anyone

who believes

in the

finished

work of

Christ

know

that it

is

those

of

faith

who are

the

real

sons

of

Abraham.

Do you

know what's

going on

in Galatia?

Here's these

false teachers

who are

saying oh

you want

to be a

son or

daughter of

Abraham?

Oh you

need to

get

circumcised.

Oh you

need to

eat kosher.

Oh really?

Oh you

need to

observe Jewish

holidays.

And Paul

is saying

no no

no.

a true

son or

daughter of

Abraham

is one

who doesn't

perform the

law to be

justified.

A true

son or

daughter of

Abraham

is justified

by faith.

Abraham

was no

legalist

and we

as his

sons and

daughters

are no

legalists

either.

What has

made us

right with

God is

not what

we do

it's what

Christ has

done.

And you

know what?

It gets

better.

Look at

verse 8.

And the

scripture

foreseeing

that God

would justify

the Gentiles

by faith

preached the

gospel beforehand

to Abraham

saying in

you shall all

the nations

be blessed.

Literally in

you shall all

the Gentiles

be blessed.

Is that

in my

Bible?

Is that

in your

Bible?

Do you

know what

that's

saying?

The gospel

that justifies

people by

faith has

been God's

plan all

along.

Way back

in Genesis

the scriptures

were preaching

the gospel

to Abraham

saying not

by works

but by faith

in what God

has done.

So what

that means

for us

is that

we are

sons and

daughters

of Abraham

not because

we're

obeying

the law

but because

we've been

justified

by faith

and that

was God's

plan all

along.

Next week

we're going

to see

the fireworks

of how

this blessing

has come

to us

as

Gentiles.

But here's

the intended

effect.

Because God

has always

intended

Gentiles

to be

fully

included

into his

new covenant

people

sons and

daughters

of Abraham

and it's

always

by faith

there's

no distinction

among God's

people.

the issue

isn't if

you're a

Jew or

Gentile

the issue

is how

you've

responded

to Christ

crucified.

Have you

believed

that?

Have you

trusted in

that?

And so in

this first

century

Galatia

the issue

was these

Christian

Jews were

saying hey

we're kind

of first

class

Christians

I mean

we're

Jews

and

Gentiles

were being

thought of

as kind

of a

second

class

Christian

and what

was happening

was in

order for

a Gentile

to become

a Christian

they needed

to become

a Jew

and what

Paul is

saying here

is no

no you got

the whole

sons and

daughters of

Abraham thing

wrong.

According to

my Bible

Paul says

what justified

Abraham was

his faith.

So anybody

who has

faith in

God will

be justified

by God

and therefore

the difference

between Jew

and Gentile

if you're

believers in

Christ

it's not a

big difference

because the

issue is

Jesus.

Now

today

in our

congregation

we're not

having fights

over

who's

Jewish

who's

Gentile

and what

does that

mean for

us.

But

we deal

with other

issues.

We deal

with other

kinds of

differences

other

distinctions

that are

made

and they

can fall

along a

very similar

first class

second class

Christian kind

of line.

Now I'm not

going to go

into all

of the

differences

but here's

one that

you need

to be

aware of.

There can

be a

difference

between

churchy

people

and

non-church

people.

And

churchy

people are

those people

who've spent

a lot of

time going

to church.

They are

the religious

insiders.

They've got

I'm one

of them

churchy

language

churchy

expectations

kind of a

churchy

schedule that

they live

off of.

And so

these

churchy

people which

I would

count myself

one of

what can

happen is

we can

think that

we got it

down.

And in

order for

someone to

become a

Christian they

got to

become

churchy

like us.

And so

there's this

other group

of people

people who

have not

spent most

of their

lives inside

the church

but outside

of the church

and all of a

sudden when

they're around

churchy people

they can feel

like they're a

religious

outsider.

And they can

start drawing

the false

conclusion that

in order for

me to become

a Christian

I need to

become churchy.

But the

gospel says

none of that

business

because that

is not

what makes

one a

Christian

or not.

What makes

one a

Christian

is not if

they're

churchy or

not

it's how

you have

responded to

Christ crucified.

Of whether

or not you

have believed

that

alone

for your

salvation.

So the

issue is not

whether or not

you've been

growing up in

the church

or not

the issue

is if you're

justified by

faith or not

of whether

or not

you're a

son or

daughter

of Abraham.

So in

verse 9 we

have this

summary statement.

So then

those who are

of faith

justified by

faith they

are blessed

along with

Abraham who

also exercised

faith.

And that

word blessed

is carrying

with it

Paul is

connecting the

blessing of God

in Galatians

with us

being justified

by God

according to

our faith.

So what he's

saying is here

is we don't

revert back

to legalism

because we're

sons and

daughters of

Abraham and

he wasn't a

legalist.

He was justified

by faith.

We are the

legit sons

and daughters

of Abraham.

Members

of God's

new covenant

people.

That's the

second reason.

Don't go

back in

light of the

gospel of

grace that

has made

you a son

or daughter

of Abraham.

Don't go

back.

The third

reason why

we don't go

back to

legalism trying

to finish

what God

has begun

in us is

third reasons

found in

verses 10

through 14.

It goes

something like

this.

We don't

go back

because we

who were

under a

curse, that

curse has

put on

Christ and

the blessing

in Christ

has been

given to

us.

Don't go

back.

Another way

to say it

is this.

Legalism

leads to

being cursed

and that

curse was

put on

Christ's

head so

don't go

back to

legalism for

which Christ

was cursed.

all

throughout

this

passage

Paul is

appealing

to

multiple

Old

Testament

passages.

In this

section

in 10

through 14

there are

multiple

Old Testament

passages

that he

appeals to.

So in

verse 10

he says

for all

who rely

on the

works

of the

law

are under

a curse.

Now

those

who rely

on the

works

of the

law

are in

contrast

to

verse 9

those

who are

of faith

are blessed

with

Abraham.

So those

who are

relying on

the law

are the

ones who

are actually

trusting in

their obedience

to make

them right

with God.

And he

says

for all

who rely

on the

works of

the law

are

blessed.

Man

that guy's

blessed.

You see

how much

he obeys?

It says

here

for all

who rely

on the

works of

the law

who are

trusting

in their

own

flesh

to make

them

right

with

God

they're

not

blessed

they're

under

a

curse.

And he

appeals to

Deuteronomy

27

26

for

cursed

be

everyone

who

does

not

abide

by

all

things

written

in

the

book

of

the

law

and

do

them.

Here's

what he's

saying.

If you're

trying to

justify

yourself

by

obeying

any

of

the

law

you

are

obligated

to

keep

all

the

commands

of

the

law

all

the

time

all

your

life.

And did

you know

that there

are actually

613 commandments

in the

Old

Testament?

So

here's

what this

means.

If you're

trying to

justify

yourself

by the

law

you've

come to

faith in

Jesus

and you're

like

okay

Jesus

started

it well

his

blood

spirit

now

I

gotta

work

this

out

by

my

flesh

I'm

gonna

obey

God's

law

which

means

you gotta

obey

all

613

commandments

all the

time

all your

days.

So let's

take a

straw poll

just

show of

hands.

Who in

this room

has

obeyed

all

613

commandments

of the

Old

Testament

every

day

of

their

life

all

the

days

of

their

life

up to

this

point

hands

please.

No?

Okay let's

narrow it

down.

Let's

just go

down to

the

Ten

Commandments.

Okay so

who in

this room

has been

able to

obey

all

Ten

Commandments

all

the

days

of

their

life

in

both

attitude

and

action?

Raise

your

hand

please.

Oh no

couldn't

do it.

Let's

commandment

the

commandment

that you

shall

have

no

other

gods

before

you

who

in

this

room

please

raise

your

hand

who

in

this

room

is

able

to

say

that

they

have

no

had

no

other

gods

before

them

all

the

days

of

their

life

up

until

this

point.

No

one.

No

one.

You

have

not

obeyed

God's

law.

And

if you

think

you

have

you

haven't

obeyed

the

rest

of

God's

law.

Here's

Paul's

point

in

bringing

this

up.

Quoting

Deuteronomy

27.

If you're

seeking

to justify

yourself

in your

flesh by

obeying

any

of God's

law

you are

obligated

to obey

all of

God's

law.

Which

means

this

if you

just

break

one

of

God's

law

you've

broken

the

whole

thing.

That's

why

he

says

you're

under

a

curse.

Even

if

you're

thinking

you're

obeying

God

in

these

three

commands

and

failing

to

obey

God

in

these

other

610

commands

you're

under

a

curse.

Failure

at any

point

in

God's

law

brings