Gospel Power - Galatians 5:1-15 - Sunday Sermon

Good morning.

>> Merry Christmas.

>> If you're new or visiting and have uh

interest in getting to know Boon's Ferry

uh more or connecting and being

connected with, you can use one of these

welcome cards. Uh my name is Mati

Scaring. I'm the preaching and teaching

pastor. And uh if you um take the

welcome card, fill it out, and put it at

the connection table. We do have a gift

card for you as well. We also use those

as prayer requests. I know there are uh

just as many prayers during Christmas

time, maybe even more than usual, and

and we'll be continuing to to pray for

you for those. So, go ahead and uh fill

out any prayer requests. Just remember

that since anyone is welcome to come to

our prayer times, you you it would

probably be wise to write that prayer

request in a way you're okay with uh

people knowing about. If you would like

to turn in a more confidential prayer

request, you can just put confidential

on there. Um, I'd also like to draw your

attention to our Christmas Eve service.

Um, out of all the services during the

year, probably Christmas Eve and Easter

are the ones that, uh, maybe I shouldn't

say most special, but we put a lot of

energy in. We plan a lot for those, and

I'm really looking forward to our

Christmas Eve service. That's going to

be um, obviously the 24th at 4:30. And

we do have child care for that. Um, for

uh, I guess it's fifth grade and under.

uh sixth grade and under is is more

welcome more than welcome in the service

and so go ahead and bring your kids. The

service is also designed to be um even

even the sermon will be designed in part

with with kids in mind as well. It's

also a more evangelistic sermon. So

since we know that Christmas Eve and um

Easter are times where uh non-Christian

friends might be more likely to come um

I keep that in mind. And so there will

be a gospel presentation as well uh for

your friends that hopefully you've been

sharing the gospel with and may um it

may be the day of their salvation. It's

a big deal. So go ahead and invite your

friends as well. Um I'm going to go

ahead and pray and we can we can get

right into it. We are at Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 and we'll be going through

verse 1 through 15 today. And then uh if

you were kind of hoping that we'd have

more Christmy themes, look forward to

Wednesday cuz uh it is Wednesday, right?

I've been moving. So yes, Wednesday.

Look forward to Wednesday. That will be

very Christmassy themed. So let's pray.

Father, thank you for today.

Thank you for the opportunity to

continue learning from Paul in

Galatians. You taught him so much. You

revealed to see things to him that seems

you revealed to only very few others

powerful things about the gospel. And

we're thankful for what we're learning

through him. We pray that you would not

only teach us content from these verses

that we can understand with our minds.

That is good, too. But we pray that it

would be something that we understand

how you're intending us us to apply it

in our lives and that we would receive

power by your spirit to actually be

changed so that we can apply it to our

lives. I pray these things in Jesus'

name. Amen.

I've got a strange question for you. How

many of you have a tree in your car

right now? Raise your hand. I thought

that would be so relevant to people. I

have a tree in my car right now. And you

might think I'm joking, but you can go

look in our sprinter and you will see a

tree in there. And that's cuz we've been

moving. In fact, uh it was only a couple

days ago that we spent the very first

night and we've been working hard on

emptying pods cuz there's dates when

they have to uh come and pick them up

and so you got to have them finished and

stuff. So, we ran out of time to empty

the sprinter and so the tree is still in

there. And uh I had a little scare this

morning. Um,

I uh so when you pack stuff up, I I just

didn't plan well enough to make sure

that I had all of the clothes that I

needed. I had some go bags, but I just

simply forgot uh to pack uh nice clothes

separately. And so they got packed, a

lot of them, in a uh suitcase that is in

a pod that is only arriving at our house

on Tuesday. And so I was feverishly

looking for pants this morning. Could

not find them anywhere. And I know that

God has provided everything we need for

life and godliness, but I still feel

like I need pants when I get in the

pulpit. So,

yeah. And oh man, um my body is so sore.

My hips, my ankles, my hands from

gripping everything, so sore and achy

that when I was driving the Sprinter two

and four, uh we're moving to Oregon

City, the Oregon City address. It's I

think some people call it Beaver Creek.

Uh about 25 minutes away from the house

in Twatton that's only 10 minutes away

from here. And so I'm driving back and

forth and I was so sore that I started

daydreaming about starting an elderly

care ministry.

And I think we'll just randomly set the

age at 42

so that I can qualify for that. And if

you feel like that's cheating, maybe

we'll just call it an elder care

ministry and then I qualify no matter

what. In all seriousness, I was actually

thinking about uh the populations in our

congregation that may need more help. Um

and that's not just true of the elderly.

as you grow older. I have a lot of

friends that are older and um I'll use

Vern as an example because I know uh

he's just kind of giving me all time

permission to talk about things that he

said, but he's been talking about the

aging process and uh well, not things

that are that are negative or something

like that. And this really isn't. This

is I I mean this sincerely one of the

blessings uh that I've noticed God has

given me as a pastor. I am 42 and I I

don't consider myself old and and my

body is still working just fine.

Although as I age, uh I don't recover as

fast. I'm a little more tired. Um I I

see maybe more times more frequency that

I'm like, I should probably go to the

doctor for this and get an MRI or

something. I think certain football

injuries are catching up with me. But

Vern will talk about um the the kinds of

things that you experience that are sort

of declining as you're getting older.

And I think these are all things that

are really awesome for me to know about

to prepare for in advance, you know. Um,

one time he talked about how hard

actually retiring is. And so I thought

about that eventually. Um, I I don't

know if it'll be like full retirement,

but I'll transition out of being a lead

pastor and thinking about what God has

for you next before you do that and

looking at what your what your calling

and goal and assignment in life is. you

just retire into kind of nothing. That's

really difficult. And and so I think

about those things and they're a

blessing to me. And I care deeply about

um about the elderly. In fact, I think

boomers um and and beyond maybe I don't

know exactly where that age range ends

is one of the only reasons that our

nation is still um where it's at today

morally. It's declining. But uh I really

believe that the boomers are uh sane.

You know, there's a lot of insane

thoughts out there. So, I appreciate

that. But I really was thinking about

the idea of maybe establishing care

teams where when people have needs to be

checked in on, maybe a phone call, maybe

a home visit, um if you're lonely, if

there's companionship, if you're having

a surgery and just have actually needs.

So, um I think the reason why I started

thinking about it was my own needs, but

uh I I'm sincere about the the idea of

praying about that and establishing some

of those. So, um let me get into more of

an introduction. That was just kind of

sharing life with you guys. Oh, I want

to thank you for for those of you that

uh um came and helped and even for

people who volunteered but the schedule

didn't work out. Thank you so much. I

know that you're willing to there's

still more needs, so just come talk to

me if you if you want to help. But I our

church is so servant-hearted and it's

unbelievable to have people just come

and and offer to come. Hey, do you need

help today? I can come. So, I felt very

supported and loved and so did

Christine. So, thank you for that. Um,

so into the more introduction of the

sermon, I got a lot of positive feedback

on something that I just said kind of it

was top of mind. I hadn't planned to say

it and it was the idea of when you

return back to the law. It's kind of

like being a kid who was kidnapped and

then rescued, returning back to being

kidnapped. And that seemed to have left

an impression. And it's related to

things like Stockholm syndrome. Um and

and so I I I realized I don't know why

they call it Stockholm syndrome. I'd

never Stockholm's a place. And so I

assumed that something happened there. I

looked it up and um I don't know if you

know this. Uh, some of you probably do,

but the term originated from a bank

robbery in Stockholm, Sweden in August

1973, where four bank employees were

held hostage for six days. After their

release, the hostages had positive

feelings towards their captives, refused

to testify against them, and even raised

money for their defense.

And it's not the only time this has

happened. Um, I don't think this is a

syndrome that's like uh recognized. It's

not that in the DSM manual where uh the

American psych satri psychiatric

association records actually documented

um cases of this but it happens so much

as a pattern um and and it happens like

I don't know if you've read about

battered women syndrome but it can

happen there um it can happen in uh

children being kidnapped and it can

happen when you're being uh taken um

hostage like that. It's a very strange

thing. Why does that happen? And I'm not

even going to begin to try to claim that

I understand exactly why something like

Stockholm syndrome uh happens. And so I

was thinking about but it does seem to

sort of apply. It's also bewildering to

Paul when Christians who are saved by

faith alone through grace alone and

Christ's work alone would return to the

laws if they could do what Christ has

already done for them in their own

power.

Right? Paul says he's perplexed about

them. And then I was thinking about it.

Yeah, I think I want to use that as an

induction because it's such a visceral

idea. Why would you do that? But I

realize there's something that doesn't

fit quite right about the metaphor. And

that's the fact that we think of people

who are taken hostage as victims. We

don't think of it as their fault that

they're uh in a type of slavery that

they've been captured in that way. Um

and so I I thought, well, I could use

it, but it doesn't fit as well as I'd

like to. And so, um, you know, with all

of the moving and hoopla going on,

normally I have a lot of freedom to

think of metaphors and think of what

fits and what would help anchor in your

memory what Paul's talking about. So,

when someone says, what was the sermon

about? Like Stockholm syndrome,

but then you remember, oh yeah, it was

about capture and it was about falling

back into slavery to try to do things in

your own power, that kind of thing. Um,

so Stockholm syndrome would probably do

that. But I I just God popped an idea in

my memory that's something very similar

that I'd read a lot about in seminary

during pastoral counseling of different

type of demographics. And it's called

institutional institutionalization.

It's not an easy word to say. You know

what that is? That's when prisoners have

been in prison for so long that they

don't want to leave.

That's a very strange thing, too. And I

think that one, no metaphor will ever

fit perfectly, but that one, well,

prisoners are there because they've been

um uh convicted as guilty of something,

you know, and that's true of us when

we've failed.

Even though we tried in our own power to

be good enough and we've fallen short,

we're guilty of having broken the law.

And so that one fits. I want to tell you

just a little bit about

institutionalization

because there's these observable

patterns. Uh one of them is fear of the

outside.

You've been taken care of. You've had

three square meals a day. You've had a

place to sleep. There's been structure.

There's been authority. And you got used

to the routine. And you got used to all

of that. There's some fear of change.

I'm sorry. I don't pretend to understand

this concept either. I haven't been to

prison. Um, I don't look down on

prisoners. In fact, uh, there are people

that obviously need the grace of the

gospel as well. And so, I don't know if

God will call us to develop prison

ministry at some point or not, but that

would be something that I would be

interested in. So, there's no I'm not

judging. I I don't believe in my hearts

and that's not the point. But there's

some fear of the outside world again and

reintegrating it. Um, the guaranteed

provisions of the prison are something

that often times prisoners don't want to

leave. social connections. Maybe they've

made friends. Maybe they've kind of

figured out a group that they sort of

feel like they belong to and fit in

prison. Control and power can be one,

too. There's a real hierarchy in

prisons, and maybe you were on top of

that hierarchy, and you don't want to be

lowest on the totem pole again. Um, and

then another one could be lack of

support systems. Uh, one that that

wasn't mentioned in this exact list, um,

but you get looked down on when you

leave as a prisoner. and and and then

there are certain job opportunities that

are just locked forever to you for

understandable reasons. And so you're

not actually as free as you were uh

especially in the beginning before

having rebuilt some trust with society

than you were before. So all of those

things contribute to

institutionalization.

And so there are reasons why that maybe

in some ways are more understandable

that prisoners wouldn't want to go. But

I still think it's a perplexing idea.

You would desire prison over freedom.

And so enough with the introduction,

enough with the metaphor, but I will be

coming back to that uh in in the sense

of considering

if it can happen to prisoners, if it can

happen to hostages, if it can happen to

children, if it can happen to wives

who've gone through a domestic abuse

situation. Um,

part of my job will be to convince you

that it can happen to you, that you

could fall back towards the law and

start being convinced that you need to

do things in your own power and that it

can happen in such a way that you don't

even realize it's happening.

You've been confused. You got deceived.

uh and you didn't think you were being

legalistic and self-righteous, but all

of a sudden you find yourself trying to

accomplish what only God can accomplish

in your own power, and you get stuck

shackles on your hands and feet

spiritually.

That can happen to Christians, too.

We'll talk about the limits of what can

and can't happen to Christians. But Paul

is preaching and teaching to Christians

through this letter. Um, specifically

Gentile converts, but what h what he's

teaching here applies to Jews and

Gentiles and anyone alike. Uh, it might

apply in sort of different ways, but it

applies deeply. And I've got a main

point for you that you can kind of hang

everything I say on. I'm going to try

even my side points to not make side

points that don't relate directly to

that point today. So, if we could put up

the main point, the main point today is

that the freedom of the cross is placing

your faith in Christ's work, not our

own.

In a way, it's unbelievably simple.

Christ's work, not your own. Put your

trust in his work, not your own. Uh but

you start losing the spiritual freedom

that he died for when you get that mixed

up.

It's quite natural, quite easy to start

mixing that up. Again, the freedom of

the cross is placing your faith in

Christ's work, not your own. When you

begin to start trusting in your own work

again, it's really no different than h

raising money for your uh uh hostage

takers or

being so afraid to reintegrate into

society that you would sacrifice freedom

and rather have prison again. It's the

same thing. And we're going to talk

about why today. So, one more last time.

The freedom of the cross is placing our

faith in Christ's work, not your own. If

you become convinced of that and the way

that applies to your life, then you've

heard what Paul says, and I've done my

job well. So, I I have been praying that

you be convinced of that and understand

how it applies to your life. Let's get

into the very first verse, chapter 5,

verse one of Galatians. For freedom,

Christ has set us free. For freedom,

Christ has set us free. Let's just stop

and think about that for a moment. Uh

remember in chapter 3,

um Greg and I discovered something I had

never seen in scripture, and that is the

idea that the promise that was made to

Abraham is not just fulfilled in Christ

way later, but it was a promise that God

made to Jesus Christ directly. I want to

show you that again. And I don't have

the team having it up, but if you want

to turn in your Bibles to chapter 3,

we'll just start in verse 16 and then

skip down to verse uh 19. It says this

in chapter 3 16. Now the promises were

made to Abraham and to his offspring.

And Paul belabors the point that it was

not to his offsprings as in many. That's

also true. the promises are reiterated

to the patriarchs but and and to the the

12 tribes and the tribal heads. They're

reiterated to them and and ultimately to

Israel as a whole. But here he's saying

it does not say and to offsprings

referring to many but referring to one

and to your offspring who is Christ. So

God made the promise to Abraham and to

Christ.

And he reiterates it in verse 19. Why?

Then the law it was added because of

transgressions until the offspring

should come to whom the promise had been

made. To whom the promise had been made.

It had been made to him before he came

before his incarnation before what we

celebrate Christmas as being all about.

And then I remembered while as I was

studying this John 8 where Jesus says

what before Abraham was I am

eternal present. So that means that

there would have never been a time that

Jesus didn't know

that God had made him this promise.

Okay.

But when you think about so this promise

is that everyone that would put their

faith in him would be called a son or

daughter of God. That's what that means.

That's the promise. That's part of

Christ's inheritance.

He's promised you as someone that would

be in unity in him with him and in

eternity with him forever if you

believe. Do you know that you're part of

Christ's inheritance? an everlasting

eternally past and eternally future

promise but was made directly to him.

It's so powerful. But there's a painful

side to consider and that's the cross.

For that promise to be fulfilled, Jesus

had to buy your freedom.

What were you enslaved to? Everyone

who's ever lived was enslaved to the

fact that the law says that if you sin

even once, you're guilty of all of it.

We're going to go to James 2 and look at

that. That's what God says. That's the

truth.

So, if you if you've sinned even once,

and we all have, and and way more than

once, then you're guilty of the law. And

the law says that all those who

transgress it deserve death. And what

it's talking about is eternal death,

condemnation away from the presence of

the Lord.

I I don't want to stop short of what it

really means. Hellfire is what it really

means. Weeping, nashing of teeth,

where the worm never dies and the smoke

of their torment rises forever. This is

what the Bible says. Jesus talked about

it a lot. That's the truth of what we

deserve for our trespasses against God's

righteous and holy law.

And so, what do humans do? Well, they

try to prove that they're good enough in

their own power. Not just Jews.

Everyone, even the Gentiles, have a form

of God's law written on their hearts.

And so, their constant conscience will

either accuse or excuse them, right?

Gentiles know. Non-Jews.

That's I think just about all of us, if

not most of us,

they know and they have no excuse for

doing immoral things. Paul says that in

Romans 1. And then when we try to

complete justification, becoming

righteous before God, being right in

relationship to him so that we don't

have to be condemned in our own power,

you get enslaved because it's a

treadmill that just keeps speeding up

and you can't stay on it. You do not

have the power.

You do not have the power to accomplish

righteousness on your own. And when you

do, it's enslaving to you.

So to be free of that, the son of glory

the one to whom the promise was made and

the promised one had to die being held

guilty for our sin when he had committed

no sin. I can feel you feeling the

weight of that. For freedom Christ has

set us free.

And if you feel the weight of that, then

it ought to seem stranger to you. It

seems stranger to me than Stockholm

syndrome or institutionalization. I'm

going to try to stop saying that word.

It takes too much energy,

but it ought to seem too stranger than

that.

It ought to seem stranger than that. And

so when Paul says, "Stand firm,

therefore, and do not submit again to

the yoke of slavery,"

that does not seem like a strange

command, does it? That does not seem

like a strange thing to say. That would

be the right thing to do when it costs

God his life, God the Son. It cost Jesus

Christ his life to set you free.

You know, it's it's wrong to raise money

for people who broke the law. It's

wrong. For whatever strange emotional

reason, the people the bankers in

Stockholm be con became convinced that

that was the right thing to do. That's

wrong. How much more wrong is it to have

the one who fulfilled the law in action,

word, and speech, and never committed a

sin ever lived a perfect life and have

that one then be condemned for those who

over and over again broke it, oftentimes

pridefully, sometimes with sickening

arrogance, pretended like they'd been

fulfilling it.

Then by the spirit and through the

kindness that precedes our repentance,

God does something to show us and

convict us just how sinful we are. And

then we repent of that and realize we

could never earn it. It was always only

offered freely and all you have to do is

believe. And it's offered to you in that

way. Cost you nothing and costs him

everything and then you'd go back to it.

so much stranger, more bewilding,

perplexing

to the greatest scholar who seems to

have ever lived sans Jesus. And I mean

Paul the apostle.

So do not submit again to the yoke of

slavery.

A lot of what we're going to be talking

about was what what does it look like is

to stand firm in that freedom. What does

it look like to stand firm in that

freedom? We already know from the main

point it means standing firm in the idea

that it's Christ's finished work and

none of your own. Standing firm, not

slipping, sliding towards the right or

to the left where it becomes somehow

just even a little bit about your work.

I think we're going to be convinced as

well that actually there are some pretty

relatable reasons for why we slip to the

right or left off of just standing firm

by faith in Christ's finished work. Now

Paul goes on in verse two, "Look, I Paul

say to you that if you accept

circumcision, Christ will be of no

advantage to you." In your Bibles, I

want you to go ahead and turn back to

verse one of Galatians.

first three words,

Paul, an apostle.

He's already identified himself.

More than likely, these letters would

have been circulating the churches

ultimately, not just in Galatia, but

throughout the whole church. And they

would have

at least in the beginning not just read

short portions and preached on it. It

would have been read as an entire letter

to the church. And then after that there

would have been more expository

preaching on sections of it.

But he already identifies himself. So

all the readers already know it's Paul

that's writing. Why does he say look I

Paul? Why does he reidentify himself?

I don't want to do too much speculation,

but we know that there are false

teachers um that are

at some of the churches in Galatia and

they're called the circumcision party,

the Judaizers.

And I think it's safe to assume that

they at least the vast majority of them

are Jews themselves. We get an example

of Judaizers coming from Jerusalem to

the church in Antioch. And that's where

we get the episode where Peter because

of fear ends up separating from the

Gentiles and then even Barnabas is taken

in. I want to actually read the exact

word because I want to be careful to say

exactly what Paul says. It says he was

led astray

and many of the other Jews or actually

the rest of the Jews acted

hypocritically along with him. That's

verse 13 of uh chapter 2 if you want to

check that. That's an example not of a

church in Galatia but a church in

Antioch. But Paul is using that to

describe something where uh the

hypocrisy of falling back towards the

law. And so circumcision, by the way,

and if you can remember this, I'll

repeat it more than just once throughout

the sermon, but that when Paul is

talking about circumcision, he's talking

about

a

he's talking about something that not

just that you do physically, but

spiritually you're committing yourself

to something, and that is to keeping the

whole law.

It's it's not just a physical act that

the Jews, the Judaizers were demanding

of Gentile Christians as well. It's the

idea that they would commit themselves

to keeping the whole law for the sake of

salvation. It's unbelievably important.

If you don't keep the whole law and

therefore circumcision is a sign of that

I am devoting myself to keep the whole

law then you cannot be declared

righteous by God and therefore cannot be

saved. That's what they're saying.

But false teachers because they're

hardened in their heart and because of

their legalism and thinking that they uh

can be righteous enough, they have

seared consciousnesses and hardened

hearts. Why? Because God says there's

not even one person with an excuse. Just

read Romans 1 and then read Romans 2.

It's a one-two punch. Jews have even a

less excuse because they've been given

more in God's word and through God's

word and through him choosing them as a

nation. And and so there's an

accountability there. So to say that

that they somehow could accomplish God's

perfect righteousness in their own

power, you have to suppress the truth to

believe that too.

You have to lie and make God out to be a

liar because God is the one that says

that no one is righteous, know not one.

We'll go to that that passage in a

little bit later in the sermon. So

what's happening here is these liars,

these hard-hearted phariseaical

hypocrites,

since they don't have a conscience to

win their case, they are willing to lie.

You can be certain of that. That's not

speculation.

Where we have to be careful when we're

reconstructing a historical context that

may make sense of why of what we're

hearing uh what it means, what we're

hearing, that historical context, if

it's not explicitly stated in the Bible,

you ought not to put too much uh trust

in it. Right? I also don't think that um

certain historical writers for example

like uh Josephus should just be treated

with total skepticism. You know, I don't

treat good historical writing with total

skepticism. I just don't treat it like I

treat the Bible, which is always

authoritative for everyone everywhere at

all times. Okay, that's different.

So, there's also you don't have to

submit to historical documents the way

we're commanded to in the Bible. But

here's what I believe is happening. You

have these false teachers, these

Judaizers that um you know, Paul

established these churches in Galatia.

And so there's there's some trust in

Paul's name and reputation in who he is.

I don't know if you remember uh if there

was a specific person who led you to

faith. There's some some natural trust,

some deep trust there because of what

God did through their witness. And so

there would have been that too. And one

of the devices that false teachers will

use is appeals to authority. And they

can simultaneously

contradict the person they're appealing

to and then later use him as again,

well, he agrees with us. You know, I'll

show you that later. If you're looking

for where it's verse 10 where Paul says

he has this confidence uh about

something and and we're going to talk

about how he could have that confidence

and what he means. And then verse 11

where he says, "But if I brothers still

preach circumcision, it seems, I say

seems on purpose, it seems as though

there were um teachers, false teachers

that were both accusing Paul of bad

theology and then saying, "No, we agree

with Paul. What he's saying is similar

to what we're saying." Okay? And if

that's what's actually happening, is

there some evidence biblically of that

when he says, "Look, I Paul say to you

that if you accept circumcision, Christ

will be of no advantage to you." At the

very least, what he's doing is making

absolutely sir sure that they know

that's what he teaches. He does not

teach that you have to be circumcised

for the sake of being declared righteous

before God. Okay?

Look, I Paul say to you that if you

accept circumcision, Christ will be no

advantage to you. Here's what I want to

do. Um, and this is part of this is my

experience in the way false teachers

will just weave in falsehoods with the

truth. They have a bad faith intent. And

one, I'll give you an example of

something they do that puts a whole lot

of spin on a passage that makes you feel

like Paul's contradicting himself. Okay?

And this is just one form of spin that

false teachers will put on the truth to

lead Christians astray. Uh we know that

they're actually planted in churches as

weeds by the enemy. Jesus told that told

us that in the uh parable of the sewer

and the parable of the weeds.

So we know that the enemy is actually

the one that's in control of false

teachers. And so if the enemy is it's

not just humans that are dangerous in

this case. real spiritual power behind

them. So we ought not to think that our

own power, oh, we can just withstand all

these cunning ways of tampering with

God's word. So very first thing, why

don't we look at 2 Timothy 2:15 about

2 Timothy 2:15

what is actually required of us. Okay,

instead of turning there, I'm going to

rely on the team because I think I can

get uh there faster. Do your best to

present yourself to God as one approved.

What is one approved? a worker who has

no need to be ashamed, rightly handling

the word of truth.

Okay? Rightly handling the word of

truth. So, let me show you an example of

how a false teacher might wrongly handle

the word of truth to bring doubt in what

you had believed and stood firm in so

that they can move you from that

position. And remember, we've always tal

we've already talked about chapter 4:1

18. What's their motive? Um, oh, it's

not 18. It's right above that. Uh verse

17, they those false teachers make much

of you, but for no good purpose. They

want to shut you out. Why? That you make

make much of them. They want to be

exalted by you. So they'll deceive you

so that you do it. Oo, I'm I'm perfect.

Look how well I keep the law. But then

they have to convince you that you need

to keep the law, too. And they're doing

that so that they can be in a position

much like a prison hierarchy. You're all

enslaved if you agree with it. But

they're the ones that have attained this

public reputation of being the best at

keeping the law. Right? In reality, even

being the best at uh uh keeping the law

is meaningless because if you've even

sinned just once, how does doing better

help? It doesn't erase what you did.

Doesn't erase what you did. I said I'd

prove that scripturally. Why don't we go

to uh James?

This is way down on the list if you're

looking for it on the slide team. James

uh chapter 2 verse 10. James is after

Hebrews towards the back of your Bible.

For whoever keeps the whole law but

fails in one point has become guilty of

it all.

Okay. But so they have this bad faith uh

point of of basically they're social

climbers, these false teachers. That's

one of their motivations. Money is

another one evidently. But let's go to

um

uh we already went to 2 Timothy. Acts 16

1-4. Okay? Because here Acts 16:14

Acts 16:14

could be used to show you, hey, the

Bible contradicts itself. Paul

contradicts himself. He says in one

place circumcision is of like no value.

Doesn't mean anything. Don't do it. And

then in another place, and right in my

words, I'm not saying what he actually

says. I'm using the spin here that

they'll use. and another place. Didn't

he do exactly the same thing Peter did?

Cave to the circumcision party. Didn't

he do the exact same? That's the spin.

Listen to verse chapter 16 verse one of

Acts. Paul came also to Derby and to

Lististra. A disciple was there named

Timothy. We know a lot about Timothy. We

went to first and second Timothy in a

nice good solid uh uh study uh now a

couple years ago actually. the son of a

Jewish woman who was a believer but his

father was Greek. He was well spoken of

by the brothers at Lististra and

Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to

accompany him and he took him and had

him circumcised or ha took him and

circumcised him because of the Jews who

were in those places for they all knew

that his father was Greek. Okay.

So

Jewishness was reckoned through the

mother and in in those days and I don't

know if that was always the exclusive

case but evidently because Timothy had a

Greek father he hadn't been circumcised.

Okay so because of the Jews see Paul's

not I Paul shouldn't be calling out

Peter like that

Peter was just doing the same thing and

you know you know why you know why he

was because the Bible and back then

especially you know what the Bible was

the Old Testament. these New uh

testament letters were only just

starting to be circulated. Okay? So they

would appeal to the Bible and say, "Does

Paul not know that circumcision was an

everlasting covenant command commanded

for God to do forever?"

Let's go to Genesis 17:13

Genesis 17:13

where it says that

both he who is born in your house and he

who is bought with your money shall

surely be circumcised so that my

covenant be in your flesh an everlasting

covenant. Everlasting means never

ending.

Paul's saying that covenant of

circumcision is ended and that you don't

need to be. But then when he's pressured

socially, he has his disciples

circumcised. So, he's the hypocrite,

right? Well, that would definitely be

dividing God's word wrongly. And

honestly, the protection is a

no-brainer.

The protection against these false

teachers is a no-brainer. All you have

to remember is that God's word does not

contradict itself. Not ever.

Not ever. So if you just reject that

outright, then you can also take the

next step. This person's showing me a

contradiction in the Bible as if it was

a contradiction. They're not

trustworthy. Boom.

Right? That's how you do that. The Bible

doesn't contradict itself. I can sense

the sliminess of them trying to show me

that the Bible contradicts itself.

However, that's not as stand as firm as

being able to know how what they're

saying is false. Right? and and you may

not know. Wait, I don't get it. It does

kind of seem like what you said and the

spin really pushes you in that

direction. Well, here's the reality.

Let's go ahead and put up 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9:19–22

9:19-22.

Context, heart intent, they all matter.

Let's recap what happened with Peter

before we even read this. What happened

with Peter is the circumcision party

came in maybe actually saying things

like this. Peter, you're disobeying the

command of scripture. It says an

everlasting covenant, right? You can't

just be part of God's people and not get

circumcised. So, the Gentiles need to be

circumcised, too. Obey scripture. Well,

it doesn't actually say that Peter was

deceived. It says that he caved because

of fear. So, he gave in because of fear

and then he socially I think social fear

is probably what it was. We don't know

exactly why he was afraid, but he was

afraid. And Peter did have a fear issue.

And so he decides to separate himself

from the Gentiles.

All right. Paul says that's hypocrisy.

He was eating with them and and he

doesn't even live like that like a Jew.

But now all of a sudden he's he's acting

like he does and separating from the

Gentiles. There's hypocrisy there. In

this case, Barnabas was taken in by that

idea. So I'm not going to call myself uh

more knowledgeable and committed to the

scriptures than than Peter or Barnabas.

I don't think you should too either. So

it's a warning to us, right? But at the

end of the day, they actually acted

hypocritically and separated from the

Jews, which would definitely have been a

stumbling block to them, right? And a

stumbling block to the unity of the

church

and moving towards them becoming

enslaved again.

So keep that m in mind with the

stumbling block because here uh 1

1 Corinthians 9:19

Corinthians 9:19 says this for though I

am free from all. I have made myself a

servant to all that I might win more of

them. Next verse to the Jews I became a

Jew in order to win the Jews. To those

under the law I became as one under the

law. Really important. Though not being

myself under the law that I might win

those under the law. Next verse. to

those outside the law. I became as one

outside the law. Not being outside the

law of God, but under the law of Christ,

that I might win those outside the law.

To the weak, I became weak, that I might

win the weak. I have become all things

to all people that by all means I might

save some. What's Paul's motivation

in having Timothy get circumcised? No

evidence that he forced him to do so.

Well, you are free to get circumcised

and you remain free in that circumcision

as long as you are not in your heart

pridefully devoting yourself to be under

the law for the sake of righteousness

which we just saw Paul's motivation even

though he's willing and he's not being a

chameleon in this sense either right he

and and how can I prove that he's not

being a chameleon yes I can verse

chapter 16 back to Acts verse 4 look

Look at what he says. As they went on

their way through the cities, they

delivered to them for observance the

decisions that have been reached by the

apostles and the elders who were in

Jerusalem. We're talking about the

Jerusalem council, famous council. We

talked about that quite a bit in

Galatians 2. What did the elders decide

there? That Gentiles did not need to be

circumcised. And furthermore, that

fleshly circumcision has nothing to do

with salvation in the first place. You

are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and

you received the promised Holy Spirit to

come and dwell you you forever that way

by faith alone. That's what they

decided. So if Paul's telling them that

he's not pretending like circumcision is

good enough for salvation. He's saying

okay that's going to be a stumbling

block for the Jews. If a son of a Jewish

mother isn't even circumcised and they

know it, they won't even listen to him.

So go ahead. you're free to do so

obviously not committing yourself to

keeping the law for sake of

righteousness and becoming a hypocrite

and becoming reinsslaved if that were

possible for a Christian and so his

motivation is to not be a stumbling

block whereas Peter was so it doesn't

take that much information from the

Bible to just force stop the spin of the

false teacher there's no contradiction

here no contradiction whatsoever so

let's go back to, oh,

I'm excited to prove to you just how

false these teachers are from their own

Bible at the time, which is now our Old

Testament and definitely part of the

Bible, right? Yes, it was an eternal

covenant. You should believe that all

the way. But let's read some more

scripture that you can't pretend like

they didn't know because many of them

memorize these scriptures. Okay, let's

go to Deuteronomy 30:6 for example.

Deuteronomy 30:6

And the Lord your God will circumcise

your heart and the heart of your

offspring so that you will love the Lord

your God with all your heart and with

all your soul that you may live. Who

will circumcise your heart? A surgeon.

Yeah. But a spiritual one. The Lord.

So it's not even right. The human

beings, the Jews, they would actually

circumcised the infants. Some human

being circumcised Timothy in this case.

However, in what is actually being

talked about about the eternal covenant

of circumcision is the Lord making a

circumcision of the heart. And in this

case, it doesn't actually require any

physical operation. It requires a

impossible thing to happen that the only

the Lord can do and it's giving you a

new heart. Since we know that New

Testament is scripture, let's go to

Colossians 2:11 to see how that's

Colossians 2:11

reiterated. And I could have gone to at

least five or six more from the Old

Testament and five or six more from the

New Testament. In him also you were

circumcised with the circumcision made

without hands by putting off the body of

the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

Now in this case one of the ancient

false teachers before New Testament the

New Testament informed and conized as

God's will to be inscripturated. They

could have said this is what the

scriptures say, but they still would

have been false because Deuteronomy 36

says there's a circumcision of the heart

that it's actually about and that's how

it remains an eternal covenant. But by

the time Paul is teaching, he's making

clear that the circumcision that is

valuable, that is meaningful, and that

is necessary for salvation is something

only who can do? Jesus Christ.

False. False. False. False. False. from

their own Bible, from our Bible, same

Bible. False is their motive. False is

their teaching. And they are the

captives. They're the ones that want you

to be enslaved along with them. They

won't admit that they're slave. They

won't admit that they're sinful. And

they're doing that so that you would

praise them.

You can you can Where does that motive

come from that you want to be praised

instead of God? It comes from Satan.

Remember that was his final temptation

to Jesus. Worship me. That's where that

comes from. So, we ought to take it

seriously. There's real power behind

these deceptions. Let's return to

Galatians. Galatians. And we're not

going to take this long on every verse,

but it was really important to

understand what Paul's actually talking

about. Circumcision two. Look, I Paul

say to you that if you accept

circumcision, Christ will be of no

advantage to you. It's not talking about

heart circumcision. He's talking about a

circumcision that can only be made by

hands. And what he's really talking

about is a circumcision with the heart

commitment that I'm going to keep the

whole law myself and therefore I'll be

good enough. I will be righteous. That's

not what Tim what Timothy or Paul were

saying in having Timothy circumcised.

They were just going around a stumbling

block. Why? Out of love for the people

that were still stuck in that way.

It's kind of like breaking into a prison

and freeing someone who's falsely

accused,

right? In case in this case, however,

the Jews are not falsely incu accused.

That's where my metaphor breaks apart.

Everybody who is enslaved to the rat

race of trying to prove yourself good

enough. The whole point is that you're

enslaved to that pride to think I can do

it in my own power.

I can do and there's different forms of

that. I don't need Jesus. I can do it in

my own power. Yes, I put my faith in

Jesus at first, but now I'm being

perfected in the flesh. I can do it

myself. He got me. He's got me started.

That's another form of legalism. Also,

not the gospel.

Verse three, I testify again to every

man who accepts circumcision that he is

obligated to keep the whole law.

Does anybody keep the whole law? No.

What happens if you sin even just once?

And it would be outrageously prideful

for anyone to claim they only sinned

once. But just in case you do claim,

yeah, there was that one time you're

still guilty of the whole law. So what

is keeping it do after that? Certainly

doesn't erase what you did. You're

severed from Christ. You who would be

justified by the law. You've fallen away

from grace.

For through the spirit by faith, we

eagerly await where we eagerly we

ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of

righteousness. So what is Paul saying?

You could wrongly divide this and saying

that Paul was actually saying that all

of these Gentiles that initially got

taken in or Barnabas or Peter are

actually severed from Christ. That's not

what he's saying. Skip down to verse 10.

You can see that's not what in Paul's

heart or intent. I have confidence in

the Lord that you will take no other

view. No other view than the right one.

We'll define it when we get there. But

Paul also it says would be justified.

So if if that's what you're ultimately

going to commit yourself to the result

of that is severance from Christ. But he

has confidence that they're not that

they're going to return like Peter did

like Barnabas did. Barnabas and Paul

continued in ministry until they had

their split about John Mark. So like

after Antioch. So the point here is that

Paul is telling them what will happen if

they actually commit themselves

spiritually to circumcision.

I also do not believe that what Paul is

saying is that it would be possible to

truly have the Holy Spirit indwell you

and then to actually be severed from

Christ again. Very clear. Ephesians

signed, sealed, guaranteed. Those are

very clear words. either you're either

you are sealed in the Holy Spirit.

Either it's it's uh guaranteed or it's

not. Also, we can go to Romans 8 and I

will go there. Uh go ahead and put

Romans 8 um

verse 35 through39. Who shall separate

us from the love of Christ? Shall

tribulation or distress or persecution

or famine or nakedness or danger or

sword? As it is written, for your sake

we are being killed all the day long. We

are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than

conquerors through him who loved us. For

I am sure that neither death nor life,

nor angels, nor rulers, nor things, nor

present, nor nor things present, nor

things to come, nor powers, nor height,

nor depth, nor anything else in all

creation will be able. Anything else in

all creation, anything will be able to

separate us from the love of God in

Christ Jesus our Lord. Remember, what

Christ did in your heart is permanent.

There's no way to be uncircumcised

whether it was in the flesh or whether

it's by the spirit of Christ. So I don't

believe that's what he's saying. And I

believe the word would shows that he is

warning them. And here is the reality.

Christians can slip back into legalistic

ways too.

I bet you if if you've been humble and

sober about the measure of your faith,

you've realized more than once, I think

I'm trying to accomplish this in my own

power.

One place what where you're going to be

tempted to accomplish it in your own

power is where change in your life or

change in someone else's life really

matters to you. It really matter.

Marriage, children, co-workers, bosses,

employees, those relationships all

really matter. Maybe some more than

others, but they matter. And have you

ever found yourself trying to push

someone to change?

Push someone. Can you push someone to

change? We don't have any power to do

anything. And yet somehow we could be

convinced that if we just say it in a

different way or say it in the right way

or say it again or say it louder or in a

more tense way, then they'll change.

That's falling back towards legalism

where it's someone else's power other

than Christ that will change. But why?

Well, it can be really painful if you

find yourself not changing and you see

damage happening as a result. It can be

really painful to see other people not

changing, especially if you're married

to them and what they're doing hurts

you.

Hurts you.

So, back to Galatians. There's all kinds

of reasons why we'd be tempted uh to

fall back. Um but I just wanted to make

sure that uh you knew that that doesn't

mean um people losing their salvation.

Verse 5, for through the spirit by faith

we e we ourselves eagerly wait for the

hope of righteousness. What Paul's

saying is we're not claiming that we're

already righteous in our own power. He's

also not saying that Christ hasn't

already accomplished a true

righteousness in our hearts. What he is

saying is that we're waiting for that

hope of perfection

either when you die or in faith or when

you uh um living in faith in true

repentance see Christ's return out of

the sky, you will be made perfect,

caught up with him in the air.

You'll never sin again. Your flesh will

be fully dead. No more evil desires. No

more desires contrary to God. No more

idols.

No more being sinned against as well.

That is the hope of righteousness.

That's Paul talking about. Hope and

faith are linked. We don't claim it for

ourselves as if, oh yeah, I'm sinless

now. I'm sinless now. funny ironic

statement to claim you're sinless now

because that's a sin, right?

Go ahead and try it. You're not going to

like finding out what God says. You

know, don't go ahead and try it.

Verse seven, Paul says, "You were

running well. Who hindered you from

obeying the truth?"

It seems he does not know exactly who

the ring leader or ring leaders of uh

whatever church because he's remember

he's talking not to a church in one

city. Galatia is a region

and so he does not necessarily know

exactly who the bad faith actors are in

every one of those churches. Who

hindered you from obeying the truth? He

wants them to identify them.

This is an answerable question for those

ancient gentile Galatians who had been

converts. That's the one.

Maybe they use the device I just talked

about. I don't know. But they're trying

to get me to contradict scripture.

They're putting a whole bunch of twists

on. I found Deuteronomy 36 and it says

circumcision of the heart, but they said

that the eternal covenant was

circumcision of the flesh. Return to

Paul. Return to Jesus. Return to what

scripture and God and the Holy Spirit

actually say.

This persuasion is not from him who

calls you. What persuasion? That you can

do anything to become righteous in the

first place.

The theological word for that is

justification. Can't be accomplished by

you at all. And but even remember in

chapter 3 verse uh three he says, "Are

you so foolish having begun by the

spirit? Are you now being perfected by

the flesh?" That is in envisioning

people that know that they were uh

justified by the spirit's work, by the

spirit of Christ, by Jesus himself,

circumcised in the flesh, regenerated,

given a new uh becoming a new creation,

given a new heart, a heart that actually

desires what God wants.

It's the heart that we are to grow into.

Next week will all be about by the

spirit putting to death the fleshly

desires that are still there. That is

not part of that new heart.

They compete with each other in a

terrible war. However, in this case,

Paul is saying this persuasion is not

from him who calls you. And so those

those ancient Christians could have

identified and contradicted these false

teachers just by using scripture

themselves. They're twisting it. They're

pretending like, I don't know that these

other verses are there. It's not true.

And also, you just have to lie to your

own heart to think you can accomplish

spiritual things in your own heart. With

what tools,

by what power? You ever try to change

yourself?

You know, New Year's resolutions are

coming up.

The the most obvious one that I think

happens that people want to commit to,

and I think it's a good one, is getting

healthier. So, maybe losing weight,

having a better diet, uh maybe having a

better diet not to lose weight just

because it's more nutrientdense. Uh

cutting out more junk food or whatever

it is. That that's one kind of New

Year's resolution. And even that one you

can do in the flesh as if you don't need

God to help you. And then you've tried

over and over and over again and it

maybe lasts a couple weeks or a month or

two months but then you fall back into

the old patterns and nothing really

changes.

You can definitely make a New Year's

resolution in the flesh. I don't think

New Year resolutions are bad. I think

resolving uh I would keep them limited

because you choose to do too many

things. uh it's more likely that you're

not going to and and making commitments

and failing them is spiritually

discouraging. Um but I think we ought to

focus primarily on spiritual commitments

like maybe you say I want to pray with

my wife more regularly. Maybe we'll add

some scripture to read through as well.

I want to commit more to studying

scripture. I want to commit to serving

in church more. What spiritual kinds of

commitments, right? Maybe just choose

one or or two and and and keep them

simple enough and and give yourself some

I like to say when you're building a

spiritual fire in the sense of fanning

your desire into flame by the spirit or

or developing a gift in your life, uh

start with just some kindling and then

build some put some more logs on there.

You don't have to have a bonfire all at

once. Also, it'd be much better to just

have a fire that stays on than to have a

bonfire that burns out and then just

turns right back to embers. Embers,

excuse me.

But you anything that's worth doing, you

can try to do in your own power except

you don't accomplish anything.

I think a lot of anxiety comes from us

trying to be better in our own power and

we don't have the power and we we know

that deep down and so deep down we have

this droning feeling I'll never change

but then you just redouble your efforts

and like I can do be I can do better I

can do better but that's leaven Paul

says I can do better attitudes and a

little levan leavenvens the whole lump

it it will affect your whole person and

being to allow even a hint of legalism

in your life.

I want to take an example of a command

and it's a New Testament command and an

Old Testament command. It's that we

would forgive one another.

Legalists cannot forgive. Why? Because

you cannot forgive in your own power.

Have you ever said to yourself

about someone who's sinned against you

in a very deep way? The more you care

about them, often times the more painful

it is. That's why father son

forgiveness. People will say it's just

so hard. Same thing with daughter son or

excuse me, daughter mother or mother son

or brother to brother or sister to

sister or close friend to close friend.

The more you care, the more that your

heart was thinking they wouldn't betray

you in some way. And then you say to

yourself, "It's just so hard." It's just

so hard is not biblically true. What's

biblically true is that it is impossible

for you to forgive. So it's not that

it's hard, it's that it's impossible.

You say, "Well, how can anyone forgive

there?" Well, God can do the impossible.

Remember,

we got to remind ourselves of that when

we get stuck in trying to do the

impossible over and over again and it

seems even more impossible. God can do

the impossible. So, it's not that it's

hard to forgive someone. We ought not to

say that. It's just so hard. Another

reason why you ought not to say that is

that I know you believe that God can do

the impossible. How much power does he

have to do the impossible? Infinite

power. So, let's say someone stole a

piece of candy and let's say you're a

kid and so it really bothers you. Surely

we're not going to say that's as serious

as someone killing someone's son or

daughter.

So, we might say, "Well, it's probably

not that hard to forgive someone who

stole a piece of candy, but it's hard to

forgive somebody who murdered my son."

And it feels totally reasonable. Is it

any harder for the Holy Spirit to help

you forgive the most heinous crime

against your family than it is to

forgive

than it is to for him to help a child

forgive another person that stole a

pissy candy? Does it exhaust any more of

his power? Candy here, murder here,

infinite power beyond where we can even

see. It's not any harder for him. It's

impossible for you.

And I was just going to say it's easy

for him, but it cost the son of glory

his life. You remember the garden?

Sweating droplets of blood. A a real

physiological manifestation of his

suffering. Spiritual suffering of what?

Having to bear God's justified wrath

against all sin himself as though he was

the one who did it. That's what impute

imputation means. He did not sin. Not

ever.

But God imputes

the guilt on him

so that we could receive the

righteousness he has really has

sacrifice beyond belief.

So it is costly and I wouldn't call it

easy but it doesn't exhaust anywhere

near infinite power does it? So let's

not call it hard. Let's call it

impossible. Let's call it impossible.

And but let's also not say that we just

can't. We just can't because it's saying

I just can't is still saying I can't.

Yeah, I know. You know, we all know. We

already said it's not hard. It's

impossible. Hopefully, you're convinced

of that. So, yeah, you can't. Don't say

that you're confusing and and deceiving

yourself saying you can't because what

you mean is you can't, therefore, you

won't.

But is the Holy Spirit at any given time

ever unwilling to give you the power to

forgive anyone for anything they've

done? Nope. 77* 7 times. You start

counting that, you're a legalist.

It's not wonderfully not about math.

Unless you love math, then it's just

fine to think it's about math.

I'm just not good at it. So

what ought to we we to realize not that

it's hard, it's impossible, not that we

couldn't. It's that it's painful and you

don't want to experience the pain. Why

is it so painful? What they did is

wrong. And your heart will sometimes

scream, "They do not deserve to be

forgiven. They'll just do it again." And

it's the same kind of deception because

you're saying, "They do not deserve, so

I won't." One is true, one is false in

attitude. Nobody has ever deserved

forgiveness.

But you know what you're also implicitly

saying and what I'm implicitly saying

when I listen to that fleshly divorce?

They don't deserve it. They'll just do

it again and it hurts. And me forgiving

them, that means I'm just going to let

them off the hook and then they'll just

use that as a license.

I have confidence in the Lord that you

will take no other view. What view? that

it's Christ's power that justifies you

and that's what you place your faith in.

It's the power of the cross. Any gospel

that doesn't require the cross daily is

a false gospel all the way through and

it will enslave you to one degree or the

next.

So do not let yourself slip into that.

And the one who is troubling you will

bear the penalty, whoever he is.

Accursed or gospels like that.

But if I, brothers, still preach

circumcision, why am I being persecuted?

Again, back to that idea that it seems

that people are intentionally

misrepresenting him. And then also

saying he he he teaches something false

simultaneously, a trickery.

Why would Paul, what is Paul saying? But

if I if I brothers still preach

circumcision, why am I being persecuted?

Because circumcision is just

the circumcision for the sake of keeping

the law is an just an ancient repeating

way that human beings try to justify

themselves. In this ca case, one that's

kind of sounds biblical, but it isn't.

And it never was. And it was never the

intention that anyone would ever be able

to just say, "I'm right with God because

I did something.

Why am I still being persecuted?" What

he is saying is in this case that if the

the the prevailing idea in this case is

that you're right and that you'll be

exalted and you'll be made much of is

that look how much I keep the law and if

I was preaching that then why are is

there so much hate coming towards me in

that case the offense of the cross has

been removed why

well what do you need Jesus for if you

can be righteous on your own

what do you need a sacrifice for. But

you don't you don't need it a little bit

and you don't need it a lot. And even if

you say you need it a little bit, it's

still false cuz you need it all the way.

You need it all the way for your

justification. You need it all the way

for your growth in sanctification,

becoming more like Jesus.

So the offense of the cross has moved.

What Paul says next,

I'm not going to joke about

because I don't think he's joking.

What he says is, "I wish those who

unsettle you would emasculate

themselves."

And if you're like, "Whoa, that's not

very kind."

Remember, it's God that said it.

So why? If you have a proper degree of

understanding how dangerous these false

teachers are, I I do believe Paul is

being sarcastic. He's saying, "Well, if

you think a little bit cut off will do

something, why not take the whole

thing?"

Still vetoing any jokes coming to mind.

But here's the thing. If you think

you're kinder than God,

you're not going to enjoy the ways he

shows you, you're not self-righteous

hypocrisy, that is. But if you

understand how wicked these false

teachers are, then you don't judge Paul

for Yeah. The cutting sarcasm.

That pun was intended.

I couldn't pretend like it wasn't.

For you were called to freedom,

brothers. Only do not use your freedom

as an opportunity for the flesh, but

through love serve one another. What

does that mean? It means don't say,

"Well, I'll do it and ask for

forgiveness later." Don't say, "Well, I

can get away with this for a little bit

longer." Repent early. Repent often.

Confess your sin now. And ask God to

change the desires that keep bringing

about the weakness towards the

temptation to do it again, especially if

it's patterned.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one

word. You shall love your neighbor as

yourself. You know, you can even get

legalistic about that.

What does that mean? What it means is

that when you have had your heart

circumcised, it shows that and and been

given a new heart, you will actually

love God. And everybody who actually

love God loves God means that God is in

their heart. God made your heart is

home. And and he's residing there

forever by the spirit. It's the spirit

of the father and it's the spirit of

Jesus Christ. And it's the spirit

himself as well. and and he resides

there. And you have all the power you

need to love others even when it's

really painful. Back to the idea of

forgiveness. It's not that it's hard.

It's that it's impossible. It's not that

you couldn't. It's that it's painful.

Really painful.

Something has to die in your heart by

faith with Jesus on the cross when

someone sins against you because they do

not and will never deserve to be

forgiven. And if YOU HOLD THEM

ACCOUNTABLE to deserve it, what are you

doing? You're saying, "Well, you better

atone for what you did to me." And they

can't and they never will be able to.

And there have been fathers and sons

separated for until they die and never

reconciled. and brothers and daughters

and brothers and sisters and brothers

and brothers and friends that were

friends for so long and so deep because

they will not forgive each other and I'm

not going to forgive because if I do

they will just take a license to do it

again.

God says no don't do that. Don't take a

license.

But here's the problem.

What are you saying when you say someone

doesn't deserve to be forgiven? and so

therefore you won't.

Nothing scares me worse than if God

would treat us like that. Nothing.

So

it's a legalistic gospel to say they

don't deserve my forgiveness, so I

won't. It's true that they don't deserve

it. It's true that you can't in your own

power. It's true that the spirit lacks

no power to help you. And it's true that

it's painful to surrender. Isn't it

really painful?

What if God wants to use your

forgiveness,

which he knows nobody that's ever sinned

against you deserves, and he's going to

use that grace to set them free again?

Because being unwilling to admit that

you were wrong is another kind of

slavery.

What if that's the forgiveness your son

or daughter need or your mother or

father? And what if they need it long,

long, long before they repent? And how

long ago did Christ die for you before

you did for me?

While we will were still sinners, Christ

died for us before. Having faith in the

cross means you have the power to

forgive people before. And if you don't,

you're saying you're the judge.

Lots of God's attributes like his love,

his joy, his peace, they're

communicable. They means you can imitate

them. His nature as judge is not

communicable. You're not the judge. He

is. I guess in some ways it is. And

through discernment we'll be made

judges. Oh, but in under his authority

only. And he says forgive. And you can't

in your own power, but you can with

Christ.

Talk about loving one another. But if

you bite and devour one another, watch

out that you are not consumed by one

another, which is the only natural

result of a congregation of people

thinking that they're better than others

and good enough for God. Yeah.

Bitterness, anger, contempt,

selfish ambition, desire for praise from

others. That's what we'll see just how

much the flesh will destroy people in a

congregation in the next chapter. But

again, can we put up the main point

because we're done. For the the freedom

of the cross is placing our faith in

Christ's work, not your own.

The freedom of the cross is spiritually

available to you right now at the table

of communion. for anything you've done,

for anything you've left undone. And God

is not withholding any power for you to

forgive, for you to confess your sin,

for you to be free again, of trying to

do things in your own power. I said I'd

come back to the prison metaphor.

Prison in a way represents control and

the ability for things to be controlled.

One reason why it makes so much sense to

me to decide that it's not by faith

alone is that anything that's not by

faith alone, we perceive we can control.

And so we'd rather just confuse

ourselves that we can control something

we don't have the power to control

because it feels more like we're in

control than just trusting God for it.

And that too is a form of legalism and

it leavenvens the whole lump.

So if you need that freedom, come to the

table and ask for it and then celebrate

what Christ has done to set you free.

Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you

for the freedom

that cost your son his life.

Thank you that for the power to forgive

and to love one another. Thank you for

the power to grow, to become more like

your son. It's yours. It's yours. It's

yours. It's not ours.

And so when we make every effort, when

we with fear and trembling work out our

salvation, when we commit to New Year's

resolutions,

let us do it by surrender to your power

by faith alone.

I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.