GALATIANS 2:11-21

Ricky Gobert

GALATIANS • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

TO THIS POINT PAUL HAS ADVANCED TWO ARGUMENTS, BOTH DRAWN FORM HIS PERSONAL LIFE, TO SHOW THAT HIS APOSTLESHIP IS AS VALID AS THAT OF THE TWELVE.

Galatians 2:11–21 NASB95

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, 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; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

HE BEGAN (1:11-24) WITH A RESUME OF HIS CONVERSION AND HIS EARLY MINISTRY, THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF WHICH POINTED OUT HIS INDEPENDENCE OF THE TWELVE. THIS WAS FOLLOWED (2:1-10) WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE JERUSALEM CONFERENCE, WHERE PAUL WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN EQUAL BY THE OTHER APOSTLES.

AFTER PAUL AND BARNABAS HAD SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED THEIR POSITION IN THE CONFERENCE AT JERUSALEM, THE TWO MEN RETURNED TO ANTIOCH. THIER REPORT TO THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH MUST HAVE ENCOURAGED THE GENTILE BELIEVERS THERE, AND WE CAN IMAGINE THAT FOR SOME TIME ALL WENT WELL.

EVENTUALLY, HOWEVER, ANOTHER SITUATION AROSE WHICH POSED A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE UNITY AND FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHURCH. PETER, THE LEADING JERUSALEM APOSTLE, WAS A CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS NEW OUTBREAK OF FACTIONALISM, AND PAUL AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE FELT COMPELLED TO RESIST HIM.

THIS FINAL INCIDENT IS PRESENTED IN THIS SECTION TO CLEAR UP APPARENT CONFUSION AMONG PAUL’S READERS. WHILE PAUL AND BARNABAS WHERE IN ANTIOCH, CRITICISM FROM OTHER JEWS WHO HAD ARRIVED FROM THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM PRESSURED PETER INTO HYPOCRITICAL BEHAVIOR. PETER’S ACTIONS STRONGLY IMPLIED THAT IT WAS NECESSARY FOR GENTILES TO OBSERVE JEWISH TEACHINGS, ALTHOUGH GOD HAD DECISIVELY TAUGHT HIM AT A MUCH EARLIER POINT THAT WAS NOT TRUE.

TELL THE STORY OF PETER ON THE ROOF TOP.

AS A RESULT, PAUL FOUND IT NECESSARY TO CONFRONT PETER BECAUSE OF HIS DANGEROUS HYPROCRISY.

THIS EVENT IS DESCRIBED IN 2:11-21, AND THE DISCUSSION OF IT CONSTITUTES A THIRD AND FINAL LINE OF EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY PAUL IN SUPPORT OF THE VALIDITY OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY.

THE INCIDENT SHOWS CONCLUSIVELY THAT HE IN NO WAY ACTED IN SUBORDINATION TO THE JERUSALEM APOSTLES. NOR DID HE ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEPENDENCE ON THEM, FOR HERE HE SET HIS OWN AUTHORITY OVER AGAINST THAT OF ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH.

NOW, WE ARE NOT TOLD WHEN THIS CONFRONTATION BETWEEN PAUL AND PETER TOOK PLACE, AND THE BOOK OF ACTS MAKES NO MENTION OF IT. BUT IT DID TAKE PLACE AFTER PAUL WAS BEFORE THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL.

AS WE READ THESE PASSAGES THEY FALL NATURALLY INTO TWO DIVISIONS. FIRST, (11-14A) DESCRIBES THE CONFRONTATION WITH PETER; THE SECOND (14B-21) GIVES THE ESSENCE OF PAUL’S ARGUMENT AT THE TIME.

READ VS 11-21

SPURGEON WROTE...IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY PAINFUL TO PAUL TO HAVE TO BE IN THIS CONFLICT WITH PETER, WHOM HE THOUGHT HIGHLY OF. YET FOR THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL PAUL COULD NOT ALLOW ANYONE FROM ANY WALK OF LIFE, EVEN AN APOSTLE, TO PERVERT THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL AND ROB THE GENTILES OF THEIR XIAN LIBERTY. BECAUSE OF THIS WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL THAT GOD WAS GRACIOUS TO RAISE UP A CHAMPION, PAUL, AN APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES...

PAUL’S GOAL IS TO ENSURE THAT THE GALATIANS ACTUALLY LIVE THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL.

THE FIRST THING WE SHOULD SEE IS THAT OF PETER’S FREEDOM WHILE IN ANTIOCH. HE WAS ENJOYING THE FELLOWSHIP WITH ALL THE BELIEVERS, JEWS AND GENTILES ALIKE. TO …EAT WITH THE GENTILES… MEANT TO ACCEPT THEM, AND TO PUT JEWS AND GENTILES ON THE SAME LEVEL AS ONE FAMILY IN CHRIST.

REMEMBER, PETER WAS RAISED AS AN ORTHODOX JEW. HE APPARENTLY HAD A DIFFICULT TIME LEARNING THIS LESSON. BECAUSE JESUS HAD TAUGHT IT WHILE HE WAS WITH PETER BEFORE THE CRUCIFIXION.

READ …PETER SAID TO HIM, EXPLAIN THE PARABLE TO US. JESUS SAID, ARE YOU STILL LACKING IN UNDERSTANDING ALSO? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYTHING THAT GOES INTO THE MOUTH PASSES INTO THE STOMACH, AND IS ELIMINATED? BUT THE THINGS THAT PROCEED OUT OF THE MOUTH COME FROM THE HEART, AND THOSE DEFILE THE MAN. FOR OUT OF THE HEART COMES EVIL THOUGHTS, MURDERS, ADULTERIES, FORNICATIONS, THEFTS, FALSE WITNESS, SLANDERS. THESE ARE THE THINGS WHICH DEFILE THE MAN; BUT TO EAT WITH UNWASHED HANDS DOES NOT DEFILE THE MAN...

THEN IN ACTS WHICH I SHARED ABOUT EARLIER; THE HOLY SPIRIT SENT PETER TO THE HOME OF CORNELIUS, THE ROMAN CENTURION WHO WAS A GENTILE. BUT THEN THERE IS ALSO THE POINT THAT AT THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL PETER WAS PART OF THE LEADERSHIP THAT APPROVED AND ACCEPTED THE TRUTH PAUL WAS SHARING.

BUT LET US NOT BE TO HASTY TO CRITICIZE PETER OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOUND IN SCRIPTURES WHO DID NOT DO THINGS THE WAY THEY SHOULD HAVE.

LOOK AT OUR OWN LIVES; HOW MANY FAMILIAR BIBLE DOCTRINES DO WE ACTUALLY OBEY? LOOKING OVER CHURCH HISTORY, EVEN WITH A COMPLETE BIBLE, BELIEVERS THROUGH THE YEARS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO BELIEVE AND PRACTICE THE TRUTHS OF THE XIAN FAITH.

WE ALL KNOW, IT IS ONE THING FOR US TO DEFEND A DOCTRINE IN A CHURCH MEETING, BUT IT IS SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT TO PUT INTO PRACTICE IN EVERYDAY LIFE.

SO PAUL OPPOSED PETER FACE TO FACE: MAY I SAY; THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF HOW WE TODAY NEED TO ADDRESS SITUATIONS IN OUR LIVES WHEN WE ARE IN A CONFLICT OR A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE. ADDRESSES THE PROPER WAY TO DO THIS.

BUT TO TRULY ADDRESS THE CONFLICT YOU ARE IN YOU HAVE TO DO SO IN PERSON FACE TO FACE. DO NOT DO IT WITH AN EMAIL OR A TEXT. ‘JESUS UP’ AND GO TO THAT PERSON, BRING SOMEONE WITH YOU IF YOU MUST AND ADDRESS THE SITUATION.

THEN PAUL’S REASON IS STATED…BECAUSE HE STOOD CONDEMNED...

IN OTHER WORDS; PETER HAD ACTED INCONSISTENTLY AND …STOOD CONDEMNED…BY HIS OWN CONDUCT EVEN BEFORE PAUL CHALLENGED HIM.

THE CONDEMNATION IS NOT THE VERDICT OF THOSE WITH WHOM PETER WAS HANGING OUT WITH BUT THE VERDICT CAME FROM PETERS ACTIONS THEMSELVES. SO PETER CONDEMNED HIMSELF.

HERE IS WHAT WAS GOING ON: PART OF THE LIFE OF THE EARLY CHURCH WAS A COMMON MEAL WHICH THEY CALLED THE AGAPE OR LOVE FEAST. At this feast, the whole congregation came together to enjoy a common meal provided by pooling whatever resources they had. For many of the slaves, it must have been the only decent meal they had all week; and in a very special way, it marked the togetherness of the Christians. THIS IS PROOF THAT THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH WAS BAPTIST. THEY HAD POT LUCK MEALS!!

The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians The Essential Unity (Galatians 2:11–13)

Strict Jews were forbidden even to do business with Gentiles; they must not go on a journey with Gentiles; they must neither give hospitality to, nor accept hospitality from, Gentiles.

At this feast, the whole congregation came together to enjoy a common meal provided by pooling whatever resources they had. For many of the slaves, it must have been the only decent meal they had all week; and in a very special way, it marked the togetherness of the Christians.

BUT HERE IS THE THING; Strict Jews were forbidden even to do business with Gentiles; they must not go on a journey with Gentiles; they must neither give hospitality to, nor accept hospitality from, Gentiles.

Strict Jews were forbidden even to do business with Gentiles; they must not go on a journey with Gentiles; they must neither give hospitality to, nor accept hospitality from, Gentiles.

BUT HERE IN ANTIOCH, A PROBLEM AROSE. COULD THE JEWS AND THE GENTILES SIT DOWN TOGETHER AT A COMMAN MEAL? IN OTHER WORDS, IF THE OLD LAW WAS TO BE OBSERVED, THEN THIS FEAST WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

AND PETER CAME TO ANTIOCH AND AT FIRST DISREGARDED THE OLD TABOOS IN THE GLORY OF THE NEW FAITH IN CHRIST, AND HE WAS SHARING MEALS WITH BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES AS DESCRIBED IN VS 12,13

SO BY PETER’S CONDUCT, FELLOWSHIPPING WITH THE GENTILES HE WAS ACCEPTING OF THE THEM AND THEIR NEW FOUND FAITH IN CHRIST.

AND YOU WOULD THINK FROM PETER’S EXPERIENCE WITH CORNELIUS AND HIS FAMILY THIS WOULD HAVE TAUGHT HIM THAT A JEW WAS NOT DEFILED BY SOCIAL CONTACT WITH GENTILES.

THIS WAS OF COURSE BEFORE CERTAIN MEN FROM JAMES ARRIVED. WHICH MAY MEAN THAT THE PERSONS SO DESCRIBED WERE SENT BY JAMES (FOR WHAT PURPOSE WE ARE NOT TOLD), OR IT MAY SIMPLY MEAN THAT THEY CAME FROM THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM, OF WHICH JAMES WAS THE PASTOR.

AFTER THESE MEN ARRIVE PETER BEGAN TO WITHDRAW OR GRADUALLY SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM THE GENTILES. AND IT WAS DUE TO PETER’S FEAR OF THE PARTY OF THE CIRCUMCISION. PETER FEARED THAT THE JEWS WOULD CONDEMN HIS CONDUCT AND CAUSE HIM TO LOSE THE GOOD WILL OF THE JEWISH XIANS IN JERUSALEM.

VS13 GIVES EVIDENCE OF THE TREMENDOUS EFFECT OF PETER’S INFLUENCE. NOT ONLY THE OTHER JEWS FOLLOWED HIS EXAMPLE BUT EVEN BARNABAS WAS CARRIED AWAY BY THEIR HYPOCRISY...

PAUL’S LANGUAGE SUGGESTS THE HIGH REGARD IN WHICH HE HELD BARNABAS AND THE SURPRISE AND DISAPPOINTMENT WHEN HIS FRIEND OF MANY YEARS YIELDED TO THE PRESSURES OF THE JUDAIZING XIANS.

PAUL WAS PASSIONATE AND INTENSE ABOUT THIS BECAUSE HE SAW WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF NOT ADDRESSED.

A CHURCH CEASES TO BE XIAN IF IT CONTAINS CLASS DISTINCTIONS. IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, PEOPLE ARE NEITHER JEWS NOR GENTILES, RICH OR POOR, THEY ARE ALL SINNERS FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED. IF WE ARE ALL CHILDREN OF GOD THROUGH JESUS, WE MUST BE ONE FAMILY.

PAUL SAW THAT FORCEFUL ACTION WAS NECESSARY TO COUNTERACT A DRIFT THAT HAS OCCURRED. HE DID NOT WAIT. IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE TO HIM THAT THIS DRIFTING WAS CONNECTED WITH THE NAME AND CONDUCT OF PETER. IT WAS WRONG, AND THAT WAS ALL THAT MATTERED TO HIM.

FRIENDS, A FAMOUS NAME CAN NEVER JUSTIFY AN INFAMOUS ACTION. HERE, PAUL’S ACTION GIVES US A VIVID EXAMPLE OF HOW ONE STRONG INDIVIDUAL BY DETERMINATION CAN STOP THE DRIFTING AWAY FROM THE RIGHT COURSE BEFORE IT BECOMES A TIDAL WAVE.

RALPH L. KEIPER A VETERN BIBLE TEACHER WROTE THIS PARAPHRASE OF VS 11-13…PETER I SMELL HAM ON YOUR BREATH. YOU FORGOT YOUR CERTS. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN YOU WOULD NOT EAT HAM AS PART OF YOUR HOPE OF SALVATION. THEN AFTER YOU TRUSTED CHRIST IT DID NOT MATTER IF YOU ATE HAM. BUT NOW WHEN THE NO-HAM EATERS HAVE COME FROM JERUSALEM YOU HAVE GONE BACK TO YOUR KOSHER WAYS. BUT THE SMELL OF HAM STILL LINGERS ON YOUR BREATH. YOU ARE MOST INCONSISTENT. YOU ARE COMPELLING GENTILE BELIEVERS TO OBSERVE JEWISH LAW, WHICH CAN NEVER JUSTIFY ANYONE...

NOW THAT IS A STRONG CONFRONTATION AND PAUL CONFRONTED PETER IN PUBLIC MOST LIKELY DUE TO THE FACT THAT WHAT WAS BEING DONE WAS BEING DONE IN PUBLIC. BUT WITH A PUBLIC REBUKE IT WOULD WEIGH UPON THE CONSCIENCES OF THOSE WHO HAD WITHDRAWN WITH PETER.

NOW PAUL CONFRONTED PETER IN PUBLIC MOST LIKELY DUE TO THE FACT THAT WHAT WAS BEING DONE WAS BEING DONE IN PUBLIC. BUT WITH A PUBLIC REBUKE IT WOULD WEIGH UPON THE CONSCIENCES OF THOSE WHO HAD WITHDRAWN WITH PETER.

IN VS 14B-21 IS THE SUBSTANCE OF PAUL’S REBUKE TO PETER. READ 14-21.

BEING A JEW…MEANS SOMETHING LIKE, BEING A JEW TO BEGIN WITH. PETER WAS BORN AND RAISE A JEW. BUT PRESENTLY PETER WAS LIVING AS A NON-JEW WHEN FIRST ARRIVING. AND SO THE QUESTION IS ASKED …HOW IS IT THAT YOU COMPEL THE GENTILES TO LIVE LIKE JEWS…?

PAUL SAW PETER’S ACTIONS AS AN INCONSISTENCY THAT WAS HAVING MAJOR EFFECTS UPON GENTILE XIANS. THERE WAS THE ATTEMT TO COERCE THE GENTILES INTO OBSERVING JEWISH CUSTOMS.

PAUL’S WORDS WERE BOLD AND SEVERE, AND EVEN THOUGH PETER WAS CALLED ON THE CARPET BY PAUL , PETER SHOWED HUMILITY AND MEEKNESS IN TAKING A PUBLIC REBUKE.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS A SOBERING CHALLENGE HERE FOR EVERYONE WHO IS A TRUE FOLLOW OF CHRIST. WHEN YOU AND I PLAY THE HYPOCRITE AND ACT LIKE THERE IS NO GOSPEL, NOT ONLY CAN WE INFECT OTHER XIANS AND CAUSE THEM TO DO THE SAME, BUT WE CAN ALSO IMPACT NON-XIANS AND CAUSE THEM TO MISS OUT ON THE GOSPEL.

BUT MARTIN LUTHER ACTUALLY VIEWED THIS PASSAGE AND THE EXAMPLE OF PETER AS A GREAT COMFORT TO BELIEVERS; SAYING ‘FOR IT IS A GREAT COMFORT FOR US TO HEAR THAT EVEN SUCH GREAT SAINTS SIN. LUTHER CONTINUED WITH…SUCH ERRORS AND SINS OF THE SAINTS ARE SET FORTH IN ORDER THAT THOSE WHO ARE TROUBLED AND DESPERATE MAY FIND COMFORT AND THAT THOSE WHO ARE PROUD MAY BE AFRAID. NO MAN HAS EVER FALLEN SO GRIEVOUSLY THAT HE COULD NOT HAVE STOOD UP AGAIN. ON THE OTHER HAND, NO ONE HAS SUCH A SURE FOOTING THAT HE CANNOT FALL. IF PETER FELL, I, TOO, MAY FALL; IF HE STOOD UP AGAIN, SO CAN I...

THIS IS WHY PAUL CONTINUES IN VS 16 THAT WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN CHRIST; THREE TIMES. LOOK AT VS 16 WITH ME.

…A MAN IS NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW BUT THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS… THIS IS A GENERAL STATEMENT.

THE SECOND IS PERSONAL…EVEN WE HAVE BELIEVED IN CHRIST JESUS, THAT WE MAY BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN CHRIST....

THE THIRD IS UNIVERSAL…SINCE BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED...

ALL CLAIMS TO SALVATION IS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST AND ADDING SOMETHING ELSE IS SATANIC LIES. BECAUSE THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE OR ACCEPTABLE HUMAN ADDITION TO THE WORK CHRIST HAS DONE.

BUT WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION YOU MAY ASK…JUSTIFICATION IS THE ACT OF GOD WHEREBY HE DECLARES THE BELIEVING SINNER RIGHTEOUS IN JESUS CHRIST.

JUSTIFICATION IS AN ACT NOT A PROCESS. SINCE IT COMES BY FAITH AND IS AN IMMEDIATE EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE BELIEVING SINNER AND GOD. IF WE WERE JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, THEN IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A GRADUAL PROCESS.

IN VS 17-18 WE SEE THERE IS FREEDOM FROM THE LAW. AT THE JERUSALEM CONFERENCE, PETER HAD COMPARED THE MOSAIC LAW TO A BURDENSOME YOKE.

PAUL’S ARGUMENT GOES LIKE THIS: ‘PETER, YOU AND I DID NOT FIND SALVATION THROUGH THE LAW; WE FOUND IT THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST. BUT NOW, AFTER BEING SAVED, YOU GO BACK TO THE LAW? THIS MEANS THAT CHRIST ALONE DID NOT SAVE YOU; OTHERWISE YOU WOULD NOT HAVE NEEDED THE LAW. SO, CHRIST ACTUALLY MADE YOU A SINNER! YOU HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL OF GRACE TO JEWS AND GENTILES, AND TOLD THEM THEY ARE SAVED BY FAITH AND NOT BY KEEPING THE LAW. BY GOING BACK TO LEGALISM, YOU ARE BUILDING UP WHAT YOU TORE DOWN!

IN OTHER WORDS; PAUL IS ARGUING FROM PETER’S OWN EXPERIENCE OF THE GRACE OF GOD. TO GO BACK TO THE MOSAIC LAW IS TO DENY EVERYTHING THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR HIM AND THROUGH HIM.

YOU HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL OF GRACE TO JEWS AND GENTILES, AND TOLD THEM THEY ARE SAVED BY FAITH AND NOT BY KEEPING THE LAW. BY GOING BACK TO LEGALISM, YOU ARE BUILDING UP WHAT YOU TORE DOWN! IN OTHER WORDS; PAUL IS ARGUING FROM PETER’S OWN EXPERIENCE OF THE GRACE OF GOD. TO GO BACK TO THE MOSAIC LAW IS TO DENY EVERYTHING THAT GOD HAS DONE FOR HIM AND THROUGH HIM.

VS19 CONFIRMS THE STATEMENT OF VS17-18.

THIS DEATH TO THE LAW TOOK PLACE AT THE TIME OF PAUL’S CONVERSION AND THE END RESULT OF IT WAS THAT HE CAME TO LIVE FOR GOD. THIS IS A GOD-DIRECTED, GOD-CONSECRATED LIFESTYLE. A LIFE UNDER THE CONTROL OF GOD AND FOR THE HONOR OF GOD.

VS20 DESCRIBES THE NEW LIFE INTO WHICH PAUL CAME WHEN HE RENOUNCED THE LAW AND TURNED TO CHRIST. IT WAS A LIFESTYLE OF IDENTIFYING WITH CHRIST, BOTH IN DEATH AND IN RESURRECTION.

…I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST…BELIEVERS BY THEIR UNION WITH CHRIST, WERE INCLUDED IN HIS DEATH.

…KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, IN ORDER THAT OUR BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DONE AWAY WITH, SO THAT WE WOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN; FOR HE WHO HAS DIED IS FREED FROM SIN...

BUT BEING CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST DOES NOT STOP THERE. HE CONTINUES WITH THE RESURRECTION LIFE HE NOW LIVES.

…IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHIRST LIVES IN ME...

FRIENDS, WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT A TRUE FOLLOW OF CHRIST LIVES A CRUCIFIED LIFE. IF WE ARE TRULY ROOTED IN THE SAVING WORK OF JESUS CHRIST, WE WILL EXPERIENCE AN ONGOING KIND OF DEATH. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE STOP LIVING. IT ONLY MEANS CHRIST LIVES IS US. HIS RESURRECTION LIFE TAKES OVER OUR EARTHLY LIFE.

SO WHILE WE MAY END UP DYING TO WHAT WE HOLD DEAR IN THIS LIFE, WE WILL LIVE TO GOD, FOR THE SAME ONE WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD WILL RAISE UP THOSE WHO HAVE SURRENDERED THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TO CHRIST.

THAT IS WHY WE CAN ONLY LIFE THIS CRUCIFIED WAY OF LIFE IN ONE WAY; THROUGH FAITH. WITHOUT FAITH NOT ONLY IS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEAS GOD, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE A CRUCIFIED LIFE. BUT THIS FAITH THAT MARKS OUR NEW RESURRECTION WAY OF LIFE IS NOT FAITH IN SOMETHING ABSTRACT; BUT IT IS FAITH IN THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST, THE ONE…WHO LOVED ME, AND DELIVERED HIMSELF UP FOR ME...

IF WE TRULY WRAP OUR LIFE AROUND THE LIFE OF CHRIST, IF JESUS TRULY LIVES WITHIN US, THEN THE CHRIST WHO IS IN US WILL DO WHAT CHRIST DID IN HIS EARTHLY LIFE; HE LOVED OTHERS AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR OTHERS. SO THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN US WILL CAUSE US TO DO THE SAME.

SO WE HAVE SEEN PAUL’S RESPONSE WHEN THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL OF FAITH ALONE WAS BEING CHALLENGED.

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TODAY IS:

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THE ‘TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL?’

PERHAPS THIS IS A GOOD PLACE TO TAKE INVENTORY OF OURSELVES.

HAVE YOU BEEN SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD? THE ONLY GOSPEL THAT SAVES IS THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD AS REVEALED IN JESUS CHRIST. ANY OTHER GOSPEL IS A FALSE GOSPEL.

SOMEONE HAS DEFINED GRACE AS

GOD’S RICHES AT CHRIST’S EXPENSE.

GOD’S

2. ARE YOU TRUSTING IN YOURSELF FOR SALVATION THROUGH YOUR MORALITY, YOUR GOOD WORKS, OR EVEN YOUR OWN RELIGION?

IF SO, THEN YOU ARE NOT A TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS, FOR A TRUE FOLLOWER TRUSTS IN CHRIST ALONE.

…FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD; NOT AS A RESULT OF WORKS, SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST…

…FOR CHRIST ALSO DIED FOR SINS ONCE FOR ALL, THE JUST FOR THE UNJUST, SO THAT HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD…1PET3:18

…BUT GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US…

…THEREFORE, REPENT AND RETURN, SO THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE WIPED AWAY, IN ORDER THAT TIMES OF REFRESHING MAY COME FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD…

…THAT IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS AS LORD, AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED; FOR WITH THE HEART A PERSON BELIEVES, RESULTING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND WITH THE MOUTH HE CONFESSES, RESULTING IN SALVATION…