FREED THROUGH FAITH
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· 4 viewsGalatians 2 teaches us that God’s pleasure in you is based on Christ’s performance for you.
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FREED BY GRACE
Last week, we talked about being freed by grace. The truth that we reiterated over and over and over again was that
God’s pleasure in you is not based on your performance for Him.
We saw that freeing truth over and over again in Galatians 1. And yet that glorious truth leaves us somewhat frustrated, because we want to please God.
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
So, how do we please God since His pleasure is based on Christ performance not our? Galatians 2 will teach us how through three pictures.
FIRST PICTURE
So, the first picture we see in Galatians 2:1—10.
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.
But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—
to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised
(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),
and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
A PICTURE OF LEGALISM
Galatians 2:1—10 is a picture of legalism.
Legalism is right behavior with wrong belief.
In Acts 15 they were having a discussion about church membership. Do you need to follow Jewish rules, customs, in particular circumcision, in order to be saved?
But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Standing before them in Galatians 2:3 was Titus a testimony against the Judaizers. He was the nail in the coffin of legalism.
But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Legalism is, either, working according to our own power or according to our own rules and, ultimately, legalism is working to earn the favor of God thinking, that by doing certain things, that we are earning or meriting favor before God.
A PICTURE OF LEGALISM
Now, the reason I describe that as “right behavior with wrong belief” is because the Judaizers were saying, “We need to follow Jewish laws or customs; you need to be circumcised” It was the accounting not the act of circumcision that wrong. The act became wrong when it was attached to merit.
A PICTURE OF LEGALISM
We all are recovering legalists in a sense, because we are all born with a nature that says, “We can make our way to God, because certainly, when I do something, that counts for some kind of favor or merit before God.” That’s legalism;
Right behaviors with wrong belief.
The first picture, legalism: Right behavior with wrong belief.
SECOND PICTURE
Second picture, Galatians 2:11. This is one of the most tense, dramatic episodes in the New Testament described here. Listen to it.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
SECOND PICTURE
Here we see Paul confrontating Peter face to face. The confrontation centered on Peter’s behavior. Here we see our second picture.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
Hypocrisy, which is right belief with wrong behavior.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
Antioch was a church made up of predominantly Gentiles, non-Jews. Peter, it said in Galatians 2, had gone to Antioch, and he had sat down at the table with these Gentile Christians, and he was eating with them; he was fellowshipping with them, and things were going great; they were hanging out together.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
However, when “certain men came from James” “he separated himself, fearing the circumcision party”. Peter knew it was right to eat with Gentiles even though his behavior indicated something different.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
Acts 10 gives us a little bit of a picture of how Peter came around on this picture.
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared,
“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
This was monumental in the first century. This was the entrance of Gentiles into the church. This is a mega-event in the New Testament church, and we see how important it is, and even how controversial it is based on what happens right after this. Look at Acts 11:1.
Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
How do you think they responded? Do you think they were happy? Listen to what they did.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying,
“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
But Peter began and explained it to them in order:
He recounts the whole story, and you get down to verse 17, and he says,
If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Then, right after this is the picture we have…the first picture we have of the church in Antioch, which was made up of mainly Gentile believers, and even says down in verse 26,
and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
Peter initial conduct was in complete step with the Gospel, yet he compromised his conduct when he step outside of the Gospel.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
So, Paul finds out about this, and he goes to Peter, and he confronts him to his face. The key phrase is in verse 14.
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
“When I saw that they…” Listen to this phrase, “…were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.” That’s the hypocrisy. Right belief with wrong behavior.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
Peter believed the gospel; he knew the gospel. Peter preached the gospel, but his life was not reflecting the gospel. Right belief, wrong behavior. So, Paul confronted him on it.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
What does this have to do with us? Are there areas where we claim to have right belief, but our behavior does not reflect that belief? Absolutely. It’s hypocrisy, and that’s what the Word does. It exposes that to us.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
Saying, your life is not in line with the truth of the gospel is not legalistic. Paul’s not being legalistic. That’s Christianity, to help each other, to spur one another on so that our lives reflect the gospel.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
You see, in these two areas, two extremes, or errors, we need to avoid. We need to avoid doing things in order to earn favor or merit favor before God. “The more I do, the better off I am.” Legalism: Right behavior, doing good things, with wrong belief.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
At the same time, we have got to avoid hypocrisy, saying, “I believe in a gospel of grace, and I believe God loves me no matter what I do.” The Gospel of Grace does say that God loves you no matter while also saying the way you lives matters.
Hypocrisy: Right belief with wrong behavior.
What we’ve got to do as a community of faith is help guard each other from both of these, and we need a word to help us do that.
A picture of faith
Now, how do we do that? How do we avoid right behavior with wrong belief and right belief with wrong behavior? How do we bring them together, and that’s the third picture I want you to see.
A picture of faith
I want you to see a picture of faith in Galatians 2: Right belief and right behavior. How do you bring those two together? The answer is faith.
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Did you see the key word? Everything revolves around faith, Paul says. Not faith plus something else, but faith and faith alone.
Galatians 2 teaches us that through faith in Christ, we are accepted before God.
I want to show you two results, in Galatians 2.
Through faith in Christ, we are accepted before God.
Through faith in Christ…faith alone; not faith plus anything…faith alone, we’re accepted before God.
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Through faith in Christ, we are accepted before God.
What he is saying to Peter is, “If God accepts them by faith, then why are you not accepting them in their faith.”
Through faith in Christ, we are accepted before God.
One of the most important words in all the New Testament for our understanding of salvation, is found here. It is mentioned 4 times in verses 16 & 17.
Through faith in Christ, we are accepted before God.
In fact, when you get to the very end of this chapter, verse 21, when it says, “If righteousness could be gained through the law…” that word “righteousness” is actually the same word in the original language of the New Testament for “justification.” It’s just translated there “righteousness.”
We are justified by faith.
The picture Paul is giving us here is the fact that we are justified before God by faith; justified by faith and faith alone.
Luther said, “The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls.”
Calvin said, “It is the hinge upon which everything turns.” It was the heart of the Reformation, and it’s the heart of Christianity.
Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.
Luther said, “Beat it into people’s heads.” Justification, and that’s what Paul is doing. Why is this so important? So, what is justification? You’ve got it in your notes:
Justification is the gracious act of God.
Start there: the gracious act of God. It is something that God does by His grace. Here in Galatians 2:16, at the very end of that verse,
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
He’s quoting there from Psalm 143:1-2.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
This same picture is painted in Romans 3:9-20. “There is no one righteous, not even one; no one who understands; no one who seeks God.”
Justification is the gracious act of God.
The picture is there is nothing in man that would cause God to justify him, that would initiate justification or would bring about justification. Absolutely nothing. It is all of God, not from man at all.
Justification is the gracious act of God.
This is why we talk sometimes about caution when praying a prayer or signing a card or doing this or that, because the tendency we have is to “Say these magic words, and this is what you do in order to be saved. Do this in order to be saved.”
Justification is the gracious act of God.
The reality of what Scripture is teaching is in order to be saved, God has to do the work. Even faith itself is evidence of God’s grace in our lives. There is nothing in us that causes us to reach out and want God. That is a work of the grace of God in our hearts.
It is the gracious act of God, by which God declares…
Justification is a legal declaration. Its a pronouncement by a Judges declaring something just or unjust, right or not right, guilty or not guilty.
Justification is an act, not a process.
You can’t be more justified today than you were yesterday. Once you are justified…declared to be a certain way, then you are that way regardless of what happens. So, we are not working for justification. Justification is something that happens at a point in time, not a process.
It’s a declaration by which God declares a sinner.
Justification is the gracious act of God by which God declares a sinner. remember that every single one of us…not just because we have done wrong things, but at the very core of our heart, who we are…we are willfully rebellious creatures against our Creator.
Justification is the gracious act of God by which God declares a sinner righteous.
That’s an amazing truth. The Holy Judge of the universe would look upon you or me in our willful rebellion against Him, with no desire for Him on our own, with desire for our own glory instead of His and with idolatry at the core of who we are, with guilt written all over our lives and say,
Justification is the gracious act of God by which God declares a sinner righteous.
“Not guilty. Righteous. Innocent. Right before me; peace with me; accepted before me.” It makes no sense. This is the gospel. The gracious act of God by which God declares a sinner right before Him, even though there is nothing in that sinner that causes him to say that.
Justification is the gracious act of God by which God declares a sinner righteous.
How can He look at you or me in all of our sin and all of our guilt and say, “Not guilty”? How can He be a true and just God, a just Judge and look at you or me and say, “Not guilty, innocent”?
The only way He can do it solely on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ.
How can a sinner be declared righteous in the eyes of God? What happens is, in justification, God takes the righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself, and He credits it to you.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
How are you righteous before God? Heidelberg Catechism #60
Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. In spite of the fact that my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God and have not kept any one of them, and that I am still ever prone to all that is evil,
nevertheless, God, without any merit of my own, out of pure grace, grants me the benefits of the perfect sacrifice of Christ, imputing to me His righteousness and holiness, as if I had never committed a single sin, or had ever been sinful, having fulfilled myself all the obedience which Christ has carried out for me, if only I accept such favor with a trusting heart.
No record
A wealthy Englishman in London bought himself a Rolls Royce years ago, at a time when Rolls Royce was saying, “This is the car of all cars, and it will never break down. You will never have any problems with it.” He drove it to France where it broke down. He called Rolls Royce and flew a mechanic to fix the problem.
No record
Weeks later he sent a communication saying, “You fixed my car. I’d like to pay my bill.” They sent this car owner a note from the Rolls Royce office, and the note said, “Sir, with all due respect, we have absolutely no record of anything ever having gone wrong with your car.”
No record
Can I remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that the God of the universe looks upon your life, and by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, He says, “I have absolutely no record of anything ever having gone wrong in your life”?
No record
Is that not an amazing truth! No record, and it’s not swept under the rug where He is pretending it’s not there. He has taken the full record of your sins and my sins and put them on His Son. They have been paid for, so that when He looks at you and me, there is no record of sin whatsoever, as if we had never sinned.
No record
Justification is one awesome, awe-inspiring truth…life-transforming truth. This is the gospel. Now, it almost seems too good to be true but wait it gets better.
Through faith in Christ, we are alive to God.
Through faith in Christ, we are accepted before God, but not just accepted before God but through faith in Christ, we are alive to God and that changes the way you live. Look at verse 18 and 19.
For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
faith is not only the way we are accepted before God, it is also the only way we are able to live before God. Faith is not a one time decision where we pray a prayer and move on, Faith is what saved us and faith is what enables us to live out our salvation day by day, moment by moment. Which takes us to
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
We live by faith.
Are we dead or alive? How does this work? Here’s what Paul says. He says, “Both.”
We die to sin.
That’s the point. All of our sin is put on the cross. He takes all of our sin…past sin, present sin, future sin…it has all been put on the cross. It has been crucified. All of it. Christ has taken all of it. This is good news all our sin taken and put on the cross.
Justification is different than forgiveness.
You ask forgiveness for something, then you go do something else, and you ask for forgiveness for that. Justification is a once for all declaration. Your standing before God is not dependent on whether or not you make it through tomorrow perfect, because you are declared right before God. He has taken all your sin…past, present, future sin. We die to sin; we are dead to sin and
We die to ourselves.
Paul says, “I no longer live. I no longer live.” This is where the “easy believeism” that is sold in our culture today under the guise of the gospel is completely undercut. Paul is talking about this point of salvation being a crucifixion of self. A point in which our heart of stone and our pride is crushed, is shattered…slain, crucified. “I no longer live.”
We die to ourselves.
Paul says, “The ‘I’…the desired things of this world. The ‘I’ that thought this world revolved around him. The ‘I’ that lived for the pleasures and the preferences of this world. The ‘I’ that indulged in that which would promote self-esteem and self-confidence and self-justification and self-glorification. The ‘I’ that revolved around himself, that ‘I’ is gone. Dead. Crucified. I no longer live.”
We die to ourselves.
You see, when you get back up to verse 16 when he is talking about faith in Jesus Christ, the word there, literally, is “into.” It’s faith “into” Jesus Christ. Running into Christ.
We die to ourselves.
I know longer live. Does that mean we are completely dead? No, but Christ lives in me. Well, what does Christ do? Christ covers our sin. He takes all of our sin upon Him. His blood covers it. Romans 5:8—9
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
He covers our sin.
He covers our sin. He does not swept it under the rug; He covers it with his blood.But He doesn’t just cover our sin;
He changes our lives.
The verb, “have been crucified,” it’s a perfect tense verb which means it happened in the past, but it has present, ongoing implications. “I have been crucified with Christ, and that radically affects the way I live today, because I am dead to sin, dead to myself, and alive to Christ.
He has covered my sin, and He has changed my life.
It is no longer about me. It is about Christ living in me. It’s about trusting…” and this is the key. Faith is the key. Trusting Christ to live in me. Trusting Christ to work in me. This is the picture: faith. “I live by faith. Every moment, every day, I’m trusting Christ.” Not just, “I trusted Christ back then when I was nine years old, but I’m trusting Christ today. I’m living by faith today. I’m believing Christ for everything I need today.”
We are not in debt to Christ.
This is how we normally view Christianity. Sometimes, this is how we hear it preached. “Christ did this for you. The least you can do is live for Him. Christ did this, now live for Him.” Now, the only problem with that is, yes, Christ did this, but Christ does not stop doing. He is still doing. He is doing it right now.
We are not in debt to Christ.
Everything we have is because Christ is still doing, still working in our lives at this very moment. He has not stopped.
The reason we are not in debt to Christ, the reason we are not paying Christ back is because He is still paying us.
He is still serving us. He is still empowering us. He is still enabling us. He is doing everything that we need. He has given us every single thing we need.
We are not in debt to Christ; we are indwelt by Christ.
That is a word. I promise, that’s a word, “indwelt.” My small group said, “It’s not a word.” I looked it up; it’s a word. “Indwelt.” Christ in you. Think about it:
What if the Christian life is not about you living for Christ, what if the Christian life is actually about Christ living for you, and through you, and in you, and Christ working in you moment by moment, and day by day with His indwelling presence, and we are trusting Him by faith at every single second.
Luther said, “By faith, you are so cemented to Christ that He and you are as one person, which cannot be separate, but remains attached forever.”
Calvin said, “The Christian does not live by His own life, but is animated by the secret power of Christ, so that Christ may be said to live and grow in Him.”
Ian Thomas a leader with Intervarsity Ministries gives this testimony
I had been reduced to a state of complete exhaustion spiritually, until I felt that there was no point in going on. And then one night in November, just at midnight, I got down on my knees before God, and I just wept in sheer despair.
I said, “Oh, God, I know that I am saved. I love Jesus Christ. I am perfectly convinced that I am converted. With all my heart I have wanted to serve thee; I have tried to my uttermost, and I am a hopeless failure.” That night, things happened. I can honestly say that I had never once heard from the lips of men the message that came to me then, but God that night simply focused upon me the Bible message of Christ who is my life.
The Lord seemed to make plain to me that night, through my tears of bitterness, “You see, for seven years, with utmost sincerity, you have been trying to live for me on my behalf the life that I have been awaiting for seven years to live through you.”
A word of caution
Ian Thomas, gives us a caution here that I want to put before all of us this morning.
Beware, [he said] lest even as a Christian, you fall into Satan’s trap. You may have found and come to know God and the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving Him sincerely as your Redeemer. Yet, if you do not enter into the mystery of godliness and allow God to be in you, the origin of His own image, you will seek to be godly by submitting yourself to external rules and regulations,
and by conforming to behavior patterns imposed upon you by the particular Christian society that you have chosen, and in which you hope to be found acceptable. You will in this way perpetuate the pagan habit of practicing religion in the energy of the flesh, and in the very pursuit of righteousness, commit idolatry in honoring Christianity more than Christ.
Live by Faith
So that when we hear tough commands we don’t walk away venturing into legalism. “If I do these things, and do these things, I am right before God.” Though we don’t want to go there, we also don’t want to ignore these truths. That’s hypocrisy. It doesn’t line up with the truth of the gospel in our lives. What do we do then?
Live by Faith
We live by faith. We say in our hearts, “I need Christ. I need Christ. I can’t do it without Christ. I need Christ to take more of me; I need Christ to change more of my desires and change me more. I believe you; I trust you. You are right, so make your Word come alive in me.” That’s where He does this work by grace. We are freed by grace through faith.
Galatians 2 teaches us that God’s pleasure in you is based on Christ’s performance for you.
How do we please God? We said, “God’s pleasure in you is not based on your performance for Him.” Because God’s pleasure in you is based on Christ’s performance for you. It’s based on Christ’s performance for you.
Galatians 2 teaches us that God’s pleasure in you is based on Christ’s performance for you.
So that, when you are tempted to sin and tempted to hang on to the stuff in this world. Then, you look to Christ and you say, “Christ I need you to overcome my sin. I need you to give me grace to let go of this, and I trust you. Give me everything that I need.”
How do you know He is going to give it to you?
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
he says, “I know this. I live by faith, because Jesus loves me, and Jesus gave Himself for me.” I want to remind you that you can trust Him, because He is passionate about you. He loves you.