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The Only Thing That Matters: Faith
That Works By Love
Galatians 5:1-12
These are the closing words of the
Declaration of Independence:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World
for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and
Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free
and Independent States; … And for the support of this declaration,
with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
This past Thursday our nation celebrated its 226th birthday, making the United States of America the longest-lasting democracy in history. Our
existence as a nation goes back to that fateful day in July 1776 when 56
brave patriots signed the Declaration of Independence. I find it striking
that twice in the closing sentences, the Declaration appeals to God,
referring to him as “Supreme Judge” and “Divine
Providence.” In the book I
am currently reading “Founding Brothers” by Neil, He makes
the comment “ read out of book” To have signed the Declaration of
Independence meant these men were putting their very lives on the
line….as much as the men on the beaches of Normandy or in the hills
of Viet Nam or in the Mountains of Afghanistan. As I read the stirring words of the
Declaration of Independence or I listen to my dad recall stories of
flying his Hellcat off the carrier Independence in the South
Pacific…or the countless other stories shared by veterans around
this country is to recall that freedom for us as a nation has never been
free…will never be free. This nation was founded by men willing to
pledge “our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” And
we have learned since 9/11 that the continuing price of freedom as a
nation is eternal vigilance. For
what is purchased with blood can be quickly lost through careless
disinterest.
On a personal level we also have to fight for freedom. A man with cancer fights to be made
well. A couple in deep debt fights to become financially free. Someone
with an addiction to alcohol, drugs or pornography struggles desperately
to be free. Sometimes we must fight to save the things most valuable to
us.
Of all the freedoms in the world, the
most basic and the most precious is spiritual freedom. “If the Son
makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). The freedom Jesus gives is freedom from sin,
freedom from guilt, freedom from shame, and freedom from the burdens of a
painful past. To those who trust him, he gives the freedom to know God,
to love him, and to serve him with joy. When Jesus sets you free, you can
be all you that God created you to be. You are free to discover and
fulfill God’s purpose for your life.
Freedom …whether national freedom, personal freedom or spiritual
freedom demands a choice. You have to stand and fight for what is
right. Freedom doesn’t just
happen. And that brings us to our text, Galatians 5:1-12. We have now
entered the third and final section of the book. Galatians falls neatly
into three sections:
Chapters 1 & 2: Personal
Chapters 3 & 4: Doctrinal
Chapters 5 & 6: Practical
The first 12 verses of Galatians 5 are like a lawyer’s closing
statement to a jury. Here Paul summons all his rhetorical power to make
one final assault on the Judaizers and their false gospel built of Jesus
plus good works…in this case the works of Judiasm. As he presses for a decision, he uses
extremely strong language. Verse 12 reveals the depth of his righteous
anger against the Judaizers: “As for those agitators, I wish they
would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” Martin Luther
paraphrased it this way, “I wish the knife would slip.” While
that may sound strange to our ears, the words reveal the crisis
enveloping the churches of Galatia. This was nothing less than a battle for the
hearts of these new believers. Their freedom in Christ was at stake.
Paul fires back by challenging the Galatians to make a decisive choice
for Christ, for grace, for freedom, and for the cross of Christ.
Let’s take a look at the choices as Paul sets them forth in this
passage.
Choice
#1: Slavery or Freedom 1
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us
free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a
yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). The most basic choice is between slavery and freedom. This verse
tells us why Christ came—to set us free. It also tells us what we
must do to maintain our freedom—stand firm. And it warns us about
what we must avoid—the entangling yoke of slavery. The crucial point
is that freedom comes at the cost of continual vigilance. If we would be
free from the yoke of slavery, we must take our position in Jesus every
day and stand our ground against anything and anyone who would steal our
freedom from us.
Either you are being saved wholly and only by God’s grace or else
you feel you must do something to merit God’s favor. The yoke of slavery is that yoke that
says that in order to merit God’s favor you need to do
this…and you need to do this…and you need to do that. And as we have said before that yoke is
a heavy yoke….because how do you ever know you have done enough to
merit God’s favor. Grace is
the unmerited favor of God….nothing you can do to earn
it…otherwise it wouldn’t be grace.
And when other Christians
or non Christians put you down and say that you are unfit or that you are
unworthy …because of this sin or that sin…agree with
them. I am unworthy…my
freedom comes knowing that I am unworthy…and that Jesus by his
death on the cross has paid the penalty for all my sins…and that
God by his grace and mercy has accepted me as his child not because of my
righteousness, but because of Jesus who lived and died for me. God has declared that we are “accepted
in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6 KJV).
We have been set free
from the guilt of sin, that we are being set free from the power of sin
as we surrender more and more of our lives to Jesus, and some day we will
be entirely set free from the presence of sin.
Standing firm in this
freedom enables us to learn from our defeats while not being defeated by
them. You know one of the
implications of this verse is that it is impossible for us to be enslaved
unless we voluntarily allow it to happen. No one can chain us up again
unless we willingly surrender our freedom. So stand firm, fellow
Christian. It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.
Choice
#2: Law or Grace 2-6
The second choice
involves law versus grace. In verses 2-4, Paul explains the disastrous
consequences of choosing to go back to the law as a means of meriting
God’s favor. He uses
circumcision as an example because that was the particular issue
troubling the Galatians. No doubt his readers needed to hear these strong
words because circumcision seems like a very small thing, a tiny operation,
a small concession to the Judaizers. But when it comes to freedom, there
are no “small concessions.” Tiny decisions have enormous
consequences.
If you give in to the Judaizers …
A. Christ is of no benefit to you.
“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be
circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all” (Galatians
5:2). According to verse 6 circumcision itself doesn’t matter one
way or the other. It’s not a meritorious act and it’s not a sin in and of itself. But to be circumcised
under these circumstances…believing it merits you God’s
favor…. would be to reject the gospel of the grace of God. It would
be saying, “Christ is not enough for me. I need to be circumcised, too.”
In that case, you have lost the benefits that Christ came to secure for
you. You have turned from freedom into the chains of slavery to the law.
B. You are obligated to obey the whole law.
“Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that
he is obligated to obey the whole law” (Galatians 5:3). The law is
not a cafeteria where you can say, “I’d like a helping of
circumcision but I don’t want any sacrifices. I’m going to
hold off on the feast days but I’ll take an extra helping of the
Levitical priesthood.” It doesn’t work that way.
So, Paul says, don’t
go in the door of circumcision thinking you can stop there. Once you walk
through that door, you’re obligated to keep the whole law—all
of it, all the time.
C. You have abandoned the gospel of grace.
“You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from
Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4). I
don’t believe this statement is about personal salvation. It is
about the implications of following false doctrine. This verse is like a
sign in the road proclaiming, “Danger. Bridge out. Turn back before
it’s too late.”
Our greatest problem with this passage is that in the 21st century
it’s hard to get worked up about circumcision one way or the
other. It is easy to think this
doesn’t apply to us. But the principle remains that small decisions
often have big consequences. For Paul, circumcision under these
conditions was a “hill to die on.” The gospel itself was at
stake. It is Jesus and Jesus alone…period. If it is Jesus plus doing this or doing
that…it is a false gospel.
Choice
#3: Circumcision or the Cross 7-12
In this passage Paul
turns from addressing the issue of circumcision itself. He now addresses
the issue of the false teachers and their bad influence on the Galatians.
In the next few verses he points out the five dangers of living by the
law instead of living by grace.
A. It stops our spiritual progress.
“You were running a good
race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians
5:7). Here the picture is of a runner who was doing well until someone
cut in and knocked him off stride.
B. It pulls us away from God.
“That kind of persuasion does
not come from the one who calls you” (Galatians 5:8). Paul
wants the Galatians to know that though the Judaizers claimed to be
speaking for God, it was not true.
C. It leads to other errors.
“A little yeast works through
the whole batch of dough” (Galatians 5:9). Here Paul reminds
them that one act of compromise soon leads to another. In this case,
taking even a tiny step toward adding something to the Gospel of
Grace….soon leads to total enslavement.
D. It produces spiritual confusion.
“I am confident in the Lord
that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into
confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be” (Galatians 5:10). The Judiazers emphasis on circumcision has
led to enormous spiritual confusion and caused many of these new
believers to waver in their trust in the Lord.
E. It removes the stigma of the Cross.
“Brothers, if I am still
preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the
offense of the cross has been abolished” (Galatians 5:11). Paul could have avoided the controversy that
dogged his steps if only he would stop preaching the cross of Christ as
the only hope of salvation. If only
he could compromise and start preaching Jesus plus circumcision, his
critics would be happy and would leave him alone. Paul was persecuted because he preached
the cross as God’s way of salvation.
The cross is always controversial and there will always be those who are
offended when we boldly proclaim the cross of Christ. To which our
response should be a sanctified, kind and gentle, “So what?”
Let’s stand up for Jesus and lift high the banner of the cross. We
don’t need to get angry when others disagree with us. If anyone
gets angry, let it be those who do not love our Lord. But let the people
of God rally round the cross of Christ and there proclaim the message of
salvation.
I suppose someone could ask why we are so insistent on what we believe. Why
do we fight so hard for the truth of the gospel? I find the answer in
Galatians 5:5-6. “But by
faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we
hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any
value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through
love.” Our hope is in the Lord alone. All that we need comes
from him. The righteousness we need is found in Christ. And that
righteousness comes to us by virtue of his bloody death on the cross. God
doesn’t care whether or not we are circumcised. The only thing that
matters is true saving faith that expresses itself in a life motivated by
love.
Let’s wrap up this message with three simple conclusions:
1) When it comes to the gospel, there can be no compromise.
This is Paul’s whole point in Galatians. We will gladly discuss
lesser issues, such as the proper mode of baptism, the correct form of
church government, and the timing of the rapture in relation to the
tribulation. And while we’re at it, we’ll also cheerfully
debate worship styles and the all-important issue of hymnals versus
choruses. But where the gospel itself is concerned, there can be no
compromise. There’s nothing to discuss.
2) Even a small compromise in this area produces disastrous results.
Circumcision seems like a minor issue, and it is until it is made into a
requirement for salvation. Then this “minor” act becomes a
major heresy. Nothing can be added to the value of the blood of Jesus
Christ as the ground of acceptance with God.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
3) The only thing that matters is knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior.
In the end it is faith in Christ that moves the heart of God. When you
tell the Father that you are trusting his Son as your Savior, you are
saved, born again, redeemed, reconciled, welcomed into God’s
family, adopted, justified, regenerated, and given eternal life. And it
all comes as a free gift from heaven on the simple and single condition
of wholehearted trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The only thing that matters is knowing Jesus Christ as Savior through
faith that works by love. Do you know him? Are you trusting him? This
week I heard about a cartoon that depicts Regis Philbin standing at the
gate of heaven. God has just asked him something like, “Why should
I let you into my heaven?” and Regis has just given his reply. Then
God says, “Is that your final answer?”
Make Jesus your final answer and the gates of heaven will swing open for
you. Amen.
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