Rev. John Kroeger
March 19, 2023
Scripture Reading : Galatians 5:16-25
The Apostle Paul had personally taught many of the Galatians in the church about the gospel (the good news: that Jesus of Nazareth was the sinless Savior) and many in Galatia had believed and come to faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of their sins. After Paul left to preach the gospel in other cities, false teachers had come in to the church. These false teachers turned the church away from believing the gospel, to a false gospel of works and keeping the Old Testament law. Paul begins his letter by reminding the church at Galatia of the truths that he had shared with them in person.
Paul reminds the Galatians that the source of his authority and the source of His teaching is from God. The false teachers had told lies about Paul so that the believers in the Galatian church would doubt and then disbelieve Paul’s message. Sadly, the false teacher’s lies seem to have worked because Paul would write in Chapter 1:6-8,
6 I am surprised that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–
7 not that there is another one (gospel), but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Gal 1:6-8 ESV)
why were the Galatians Christians so quickly and easily turned away from Salvation by faith to believing in a salvation by works and keeping the Law?
We all have a problem, a problem called sin: we all fall short of God’s perfect standard. In the past when I preached here at this service, I began my message by saying:
In the book of Genesis, we read that God created a perfect world, and created man and woman, in His image or likeness, to have perfect relationship with God, with one another, with ourselves, and the world around us. The bible tells us that this perfect relationship was broken by sin or disobedience to the will of God who is perfect and pure and, holy. Because the relationship was broken there was nothing that we could do to meet God’s righteous standard or requirements. Roman 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” it also says that we became strangers and enemies of God. BUT, God in kindness and love made a way to restore or reconcile the broken relationship so that we can have hope and purpose in life. The Bible tells us the that in loving kindness God sent His perfect Son, to live a perfect sinless life to show us how to live a life that pleases God, and to give His life as a payment for our sins Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Genesis tells us that our first parents Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned, on that day God told Adam and Eve the punishment for sin would be life in broken world, sickness, pain and death. Genesis three tell us that on that day God tells Adam and Eve that even though they had sinned, God would one day send a Savior to save the world from sin and death. Two thousand years later God would give a promise to a man named Abraham that through Abraham’s descendant all the people of the earth would be blessed, this promise of a Savior was repeated through Jacob, Abraham’s grandson 100 years later in Genesis 49.
430 years later this promise would be repeated again through Moses who wrote the Old Testament Law. The Law was written to teach the people of Israel about God and His perfect standard. The Old Testament Law had many rules for the Israelites to follow, and it also said that the penalty for breaking this Law was death. This is a problem because on our own, none of us can perfectly keep God’s Law. Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags…” The best of our works and efforts are not good enough to please a perfect holy God. James 2:10 says: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”
In the OT Law, the people of Israel could bring a spotless lamb to the temple to as a sacrifice. The lamb would die instead of the sinner so that the sin could be covered. The OT Law showed us God’s perfect standard, tells us the result of breaking God’s perfect standard, but could never save anyone from the penalty of breaking the Law. Hebrews 10:1-4 says:Hebrews “ For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Salvation in the Old Testament and the New Testament, has always been based on believing by faith in the work of a savior who would perfectly keep and fulfill the Law, in our place.
Though the Law could not save us, the Law gives us an example for how we can live in a way that honors God and seeks to do God’s will. Psalm 119:9-16 “9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! 13 With my lips I declare all the rulesof your mouth. 14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”
Commandments, statutes, and precepts, are all different names for “the Law” in the Old Testament, the law was an example, guiding us to faith, in God. Paul writes the that the Law was like a tutor or caretaker leading us to faith in Christ. In Galatians 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” And in 3:24 “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
From Genesis the first book of the Old Testament to Malachi the last book of the Old Testament there were over 350 times that God would repeat His promise to send a Savior, and what this savior would do; this savior would perfectly keep the Law, God’s righteous standard so that He could save us from our sin.
Look at Isaiah 53:4-11 “4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned– every one– to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief;when his soul makesan offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall seeand be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”’
In our pride, we think that we can and must do something to save ourselves when the truth is that we could do nothing to save ourselves from our sinfulness. We needed the perfect work of a savior who a had perfectly kept the Law.
Gal 4:4-5 4 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons”
Trying to gain God’s approval, do enough good works, trying to be a good enough person, is exhausting. It is like running an endless race on treadmill that not never stops, never slows down, and you never get any closer to your goal. The beauty of the true gospel (good News) is this: Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God, ran and finished that race for you. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus speaking to a crowd says “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The weight of trying to earn God’s approval is to heavy for any of us to carry; here Jesus tells the crowd and us: drop the heavy burden of trying to save yourselves by your works. Drop the burden of trying to look perfect so that no one will see how far you fall short of God’s righteous law. Lay down all of your effort and rest in God’s promise of a Savior who would meet God’s perfect standard on their behalf.
Galatians 2:16 “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.”
I said earlier that in the OT law, the penalty for sin is death and that in law the people of Israel could bring a spotless lamb, that would die instead of the sinner. Jesus Christ the sinless perfect Savior, gave His life in our place, He died the death that you and I deserved, because He perfectly kept and fulfilled the law, His death satisfied the requirements of the Law. But wait… there is more. Three days after the sinless Savior died in place of sinners, Jesus the sinless Son of God, rose again from the dead, proving that He had power over sin and death. 2Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
If we believe in Jesus the perfect Savior and His perfect completed work for us, 1 John 1:8-9 says “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This means that all who admit that they are sinners, who are unable to save themselves, and by Faith believe that Jesus Christ paid for their sins, God forgives their sin. And when God see the believer, God does not hold our sin against us, but instead see the perfect sinless, works of Christ, applied to their account. The theological term for this is justification: in simple terms to be declared or considered righteous. For a debt to be declared paid in full. This is the gospel, this is great news.
All who believe in the perfect work of Jesus, the sinless Savior, are free from the penalty of sin the demands of the law.
The Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Galatia, to remind them of all of these things. Because false teachers had come into the church after Paul was gone and they (the false teachers) told the Galatians the they were not free from the penalty of the Law, and that they were still obligated to keep all of the law if the wanted the approval of God and of other people. The false teachers real motivation was that they wanted the approval and attention of other people. The false teacher were more interested in looking and acting like they were pleasing God, than actually living a life that was pleasing to God.
Earlier, I asked the question: why were the Galatians Christians so quickly and easily turned away from Salvation by faith to believing in a salvation by works and keeping the Law?
This is because, as believers, even though our sins have been forgiven, we still feel the temptation to sin and disobey the Will of God. We still experience other people sinning against us.
In our pride, we are tempted to think that by our own ability we can resist the sin that is still in and around us. Even those who have trusted Christ for salvation, fall into this kind of thinking even if we may never admit it. The truth is that we could do nothing to save ourselves from our sinfulness. And on our own we are unable the live a life that is pleasing to God. Just as we needed the perfect work of a savior who a had perfectly kept the Law to save us from sin. We need God to help us to resist the temptation to sin.
The false teachers confused Salvation and sanctification. Salvation is God accounting the believing sinner as Justified. And Sanctification, is the ongoing process where believer grows in their understanding of God and the Word of God, and grows in their ability by the help of God to resist the temptation to sin.
In our sinful pride, salvation by grace through faith, almost seems too easy, as I said we are tempted to think that our own efforts to live out our faith will somehow help us gain more approval with God.
We are Saved from our sins by the grace of God and His power to save us, and we live out the Christian life only by His power. As Paul continues to write to the church at Galatia, he encourages the believers to reject their human efforts to please God, and live in the freedom the Christ has purchased for them and to depend of God for the strength to resist sin, and live a life that truly pleases God.
Imagine a Japanese salary man, who feel obligated to work long hours for the company, and then when the work day is over, he feels obligated to join his colleagues as they go out for dinner and drinks. Maybe this salary man wishes he could spend more time at home, but because he feels the weight of his obligations, he continues to work long hours, and then go out with his co-workers day after day, week after week. But what if one day a new owner buys the company, and the new management announces to the employees, that their job at the company is going to be much easier, and that everyone at the company will now only have to work 9-5 and at the end of the day they are free to go home. The salary-man in our story is now free of his obligations to work late into the evening and then go out dinning and drinking with his co-worker. If this salary-man continues to work late and stay out drinking even later, he is not living in the freedom that he has been given, but instead living as if he is still under the obligation, that he wished to be free from for so long.
In Galatians 5:16-25 Paul writes 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Paul calls the Galatians believers to walk by (live according to) the Spirit, and says that if you walk by the Spirit (the power of God) you will not gratify or feed the flesh (sinful desires / temptation to sin) Paul then compares the works or product of walking in sin, to the Fruit or product of walking according to the Spirit.
These fruit of the Spirit are ways that believers can reflect the character of God himself.
Love: God is perfectly loving and we are called to love others as God loves us.
Joy: God is to be the of our joy. Joy is the believer’s delight and contentment in all that God has provided,
peace: the sense of wellbeing and rest in God the goes beyond explanation,
patience: one writer has described patience this way: “the quiet willingness to accept irritating of painful situations”,
kindness, goodness: moral excellence,
faithfulness: reliability, gentleness: power under control,
self-control: ability resist inappropriate a desires, words, or actions.
Paul again reminds the believers in Galatia of their freedom in Christ when he lists the fruit of the Spirit, when he end this section by saying: “against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
Our efforts to try to gain God’s approval by on our own will never work, it is only when we live in the freedom that we have been given in Christ, that we are able to live a t life that is pleasing to God.
Christ is our perfect sinless savior calls us to trust in His completed work for us and to drop the burden of our good work, so that we can rest and rely on God to live in the freedom we have been given.
One last illustration as I close, picture our thought and attitudes like a pot of water on a stove, and the trials, temptation, situation, and irritations of life as the heat that boils the water. Now imagine two different kinds of tea, one called the fruit of sin and the other is called the fruit of the Spirit. What flavors will each tea brew? Imagine one smells bitter and tastes rotten, the other smells pleasant and tastes sweet. Imagine that each tea is put into a cup, and the hot water is poured into the cups.
What kind of Tea is Your life brewing? What kind of fruit are you growing in your life, is bitter and rotten to everyone around you, or is the fruit of your life pleasant and sweet? When the situations in life cause you to react, how do you respond? Are you walking by the flesh (sin) or walking in the Spirit, and the liberty that you have been given in Christ?
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