Galatians“No Other Gospel”

sermon #8Galatians 3:1-14

Heidelberg Catechism - 60

Q. How are you righteous before God?

A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.

Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.

Confrontation (verse 1)

Four Questions in Relation to the Galatian’s Experience (verses 2-5)

question 1 - [2] Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?question 2 – [3] Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

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question 3 - [4] Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

question 4 - [5] Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—

Abraham, An Illustration of Justification of Justification by Faith (verses 6-9)

Genesis 15:1-6 [1] After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” [2] But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” [3] And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” [4] And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” [5] And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” [6] And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

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False teachers You will become children of Abraham if you go through the external right of circumcision.

Paul You will become children of Abraham if you encounter the internal reality of faith.

Salvation has _______________ been and will _________________ be by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone.

Justification has _______________ been by works of the law.

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.

Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

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The _______________ of _______________ in being historically worked out.

In the Old Testament they looked _______________ to the cross.

Now, we look _____________ at the cross.

Implications in Relation to Blessings and Curses (verses 10-14)

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 [19]  I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, [20]  loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

the great exchange

Christ _______________ a curse…

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[13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

so that I can ______________ the blessing

[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

II Corinthians 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.

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Gospel Living Requires Gospel Seeing

Galatians 3:11b “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Ephesians 1:18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

All quotes below are from The Bookends of the Christian Life by Jerry Bridges (pages 65-77)

1 – seeing yourself as a desperately _________ _______________

Isaiah 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

The law brings ___________________ of sin.

Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his

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sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. pride, selfishness, judgmental,

lust, anxiety, greed

unthankfulness, unforgiveness, prayerlessness, covetousness

impatience, irritability, frustration, anger, resentment, jealousy, gossip, discontentment, bitterness, impure thoughts

failure to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

failure to love your neighbor as yourself

disregarding God, failure to trust God

2 – seeing the righteousness of Christ as all-sufficient for you daily

“But it's not enough to merely see the righteousness of Christ as all-sufficient; we must see it as all-sufficient for us. Jesus was perfectly obedient in our place, as our substitute. Have we lacked purity? Jesus was pure in our place. Have we lacked patience? Jesus was patient in our place. In every area where we see failure and sin, Jesus was successful at providing a perfect obedience that's credited to us. Whenever we see Christ's righteousness as all-sufficient for us,

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shifting our dependence to it should be almost irresistible.” (page 70)We must _______________ to ourselves every day.

Every day: God, be merciful to me, the sinner! (Luke 18:13)

Sunday: But he was pierced for my transgressions; he was crushed for my iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought me peace, and with his wounds I am healed. [6]  I, like a sheep, have gone astray;

I have turned to my own way; and the LORD has laid on him my iniquity (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Monday: He will again have compassion on me; he will tread my iniquities underfoot. You will cast all my sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)

Tuesday: “Blessed am I whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed am I whom the Lord will not count my sin.” (Romans 4:7-8)

Wednesday: There is therefore now no condemnation for me as one who is in Christ Jesus.

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Thursday: And I, who was dead in my trespasses and the uncircumcision of my flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven me all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against me with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

Friday: As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove my transgressions from me. (Psalm 103:12)

Saturday: Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though my sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

Every day: Christ’s work for me is finished.

“By preaching the gospel to ourselves every day, we regularly see ourselves as desperate sinners who have been rescued by the all-sufficient righteousness of Christ.” (pages 71-72)

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3 – seeing and rejecting your functional saviors

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”

These other gods become functional saviors, as we look to them to satisfy our core longings

identity, security, comfort, meaning, hope, peace, significance, etc.

Consider some functional saviors.

When a good things becomes an ultimate thing, that’s a bad thing.

Functional saviors fail us.

Jeremiah 2:11-13 [11] Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. [12] Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, [13]  for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

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We must discover what our functional saviors are.

I am preoccupied with ____________.

If only ______________, then I would be happy.

I get my sense of significance from _________________.

I would protect and preserve ________________ at any cost.

I fear losing __________________.

The thing that gives me the greatest pleasure is ________________.

When I lose ________________ I get angry, resentful, frustrated, anxious, or depressed.

For me, life depends on ___________________.

The thing I value more than anything in the world is _________________.

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When I daydream, my mind goes to _________________.

The best thing I can think of is _________________.

The thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning is _________________.

Gospel living requires the exposure and rejection of functional saviors and moving to faith in The Savior

Isaiah 55:1-3 [1] “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. [2] Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. [3]  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

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an illustration

“I've found it incredibly challenging to give up the belief system that has sustained me so long – one built on an initial forgiveness and then fed through a powerful combination of fear and pride. Pride that stemmed from the performance of spiritual disciplines. Pride that pointed to the obvious symptoms of success – we were, after all, named in the Fasted Growing 100 Churches in America. And most of all, pride that was fueled by the approval of others. But fear may have been an even greater motivator. Fear of being exposed as less than what people expect. Fear of not being as smart, as spiritual, or as competent as I should be. Fear of not measuring up. And fear of Luke 12:48 – "To whom much was given…much will be required."

The belief system of a pastor is bound to come out in his preaching, at least in subtle ways. My emphasis was always on grace, but it was also laced with the disciplines of effort and inner strength to be what God called us to be. The result was either pride or defeat. My preaching has changed as a result of the gospel going deeper inside me.

The truth is, I have existed as a pastor with gods in my closet. There were

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times when these gods sustained me. And giving them up has caused more death this year than I would like to admit. The closet is still not empty. But the death of these gods has made me ravenous. Without the gospel as my source of security and significance, I would die. So as one who has a vacillated between self-sufficiency and depression, gospel-driven transfor-mation is both liberating and terrifying.

There are some in our church who have not yet rediscovered the gospel this way. There are others who hear the terrifying part but not the liberating part, and they sit on pins and needles. Many of them will leave soon, I think. But there are many others who have felt the shackles start to fall off and, like me, they're filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.

Rediscovering the gospel is an ongoing process. Our church is a big ship to turn. I would never attempt to turn it if the approval of others was as vital to me as it was a year ago, and if I hadn't been changed by the Good News. This is a much better place to be – even if I'm rejected by some; even if attendance falls. As a sinner-pastor, I stand in dependence on grace to plant and water gospel seeds, recognizing that God himself gives the growth.” (pages 75-76)

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“As you can see, the shifting of dependence is often a difficult, even painful pursuit. And it can be an ongoing battle. But when all is said an done, what could be better that leaning on a real God, with real and lasting righteousness, who saves, satisfies, fulfills, and sustains us now and forever.” (page 76)

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