Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Galatians: A Grace-full Life

Not I...but Christ

Sermon Series: Galatians: A Grace-full Life

Title: : Not I...but Christ  Text: Galatians 2:11-21

Introduction: Two men who lived in a small village got into a dispute they could not resolve. So they decided to talk to the town wise man. The first guy went to the man’s home and told his version of what happened. When he finished, the wise man said, "You are absolutely right." The next night, the second guy called on the sage and told his side of the story. The wise man responded, "You are absolutely right." Afterward, the wise man’s wife scolded her husband. "Those men told you two different stories and you told them they were absolutely right. That’s impossible—they can’t both be absolutely right." The wise man turned to his wife and said, "You are absolutely right."  (Guy Caley)

Some people will do or say anything to avoid conflict. I’m glad Paul didn’t avoid conflict here in our text this morning. Because he confronted Peter’s behavior, we have one of the most challenging texts in all of God’s Word...

Read: Galatians 2:20

But I get ahead of myself. Let’s see what happened to motivate Paul to write these profound words.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Galatians 2:11 (pg. 887 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we can join with Paul and say ‘Not I...but Christ.’

I. Galatians 2:11-14  The Christian life is not

                                                  about us.

Read: Galatians 2:11-14

It seems sometime before the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15, Peter made an extended visit to Antioch. He was there long enough for others to know that he made it a habit to ate regularly with the Gentiles.

As God’s kingdom was growing and becoming more diverse, Peter had learned to fellowship with others who were different. He learned freedom in Christ, because he had experienced God’s grace.  

But, a sequence of events had been set in motion by the arrival of some Jews from Jerusalem. Paul writes that these Christians were of the ‘circumcision group.’ A powerful group of people in the Jerusalem church that believed

·       men had to be circumcised

·       and men and women had to follow the Law of Moses

·       in order to be complete Christians.

They were the legalists of their time who said like the legalists of our time ‘Do this and don’t do that to be a good Christian.’

The text says Peter was afraid of those in the ‘circumcision group.’ Now I don’t think he was literally afraid of them, but he was afraid these, immature Christians, would go back to the church in Jerusalem and cause trouble, possibly dividing the church. You see, as long as there are immature, legalistic Christians in the church, there is the potential for division...even today.

So Peter compromises his beliefs by no longer eating and hanging out with Gentiles. Because of Peters stature in the Christian community, he had great influence on others and they too began to stop eating and hanging out with the Gentiles, particularly the Gentile Christians.

People noticed the change in Peter’s behavior

...one in particular was the Apostle Paul who saw the seriousness of what Peter was doing. So Paul confronts him.

I don’t believe Paul shouted but others took notice. Paul said ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.’  What he meant was that while in Antioch, Peter was not living under the Law, he was eating bacon, ham, and lobster while hanging out with Gentiles.

I am sure Paul got the attention of the Jewish Christian. I can imagine that Peter’s face got red by this time, and his heart began to beat faster... Then Paul says ‘How is it that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’

Paul was saying,

·       your compromise is not insignificant, nor is it an innocent personal choice. Peter, by your actions, you are saying that God does not love these Gentiles the way they are so they must become like Jews in order to truly be accepted and loved by God.

·       You are missing the whole point of the Gospel...You are saying that what counts in the Christian life are the externals, the outward things we do and don’t do and that is an affront to God’s grace.

·       And...you are destroying our ‘koinonia’ (fellowship). This oneness, this fellowship has broken all barriers between Jewish and Gentile Believers and is perhaps the greatest evidence of Christ in us...in us all.

Transition: confronted Peter’s hypocrisy...he was living contrary to his beliefs. Had this been on a matter other than God’s Grace, I think Paul may have handled it differently...it wasn’t and he didn’t.

II. Galatians 2:15-21      The Christian life is

                                               about Christ

Read: Galatians 2:15-21

‘...a man is not justified by observing the law; but by faith in Jesus Christ.’ Let me give you the full meaning of what Paul is saying here. Justification: is the opposite of condemnation.

Have you ever felt condemned, disapproved of, cut off,? Imagine all of the emotions that go along with being condemned. Now try to imagine the opposite and you will know what it means to be justified by God.

·       We are not made right with God, accepted by God, by our external observances of the law, the things we do or don’t do.

·       We are not kept right, we don’t maintain our acceptance by God, by the things we do or don’t do.

·       We are accepted/justified/loved by God, now and forever, by grace alone.

But we still think we need to do or not do to please God, to be accepted by God. We have this belief that because we are free from the law we might enjoy our freedom in Christ too much and, it will lead to sin. That’s what Paul meant in verse 17 ‘If while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?

The Jews from the ‘circumcision group’ believed that if they got Christians to live by the Law they would reduce their possibly for sin. (By the way modern day legalists believe the same thing.) And Paul says both are wrong.

But that doesn’t deter us from trying to appease/please God by what we chose to do or not do. Here is a true life example.

ILL: His father wanted him to become a lawyer, so he studied philosophy and law. At 20 he was prepared to begin his career in civil law, but during that year something happened that would change human history.

On a sultry day in July of 1505, a lonely traveler was walking the  parched road on the outskirts of the Saxon village of Stotterheim. He was a young man, short but sturdy, and wore the clothes of a university student. As he approached the village, the sky became overcast. Suddenly there was a shower, then a crashing storm. A bolt of lightning struck near and knocked the man to the ground. Struggling to rise, he cried in terror, “St. Anne help me! I will become a monk.”

And he did become a monk, but even that did not quell the religious turmoil that was engulfing his soul.

·       He practiced the mortifications of the flesh that he believed would bring his peace, but they never did bring his peace.

·       He laid upon himself vigils and prayers in excess of those stipulated by the rule of his order and God’s Word.

·       He cast off blankets permitted him and almost froze to death.

·       At times he was proud of his sanctity and would say, “I have done nothing wrong today.” Then misgivings would arise. “Have you fasted enough? Are you poor enough?” Then he would strip himself of all but that which decency required.

Martin Luther said about himself, ‘I was a good monk, and I kept the rule of my order so strictly that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his monkery it was I. All my brothers in the monastery who knew me will bear me out. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading, and other work.’

Martin Luther was literally killing himself with piety, (his good works and total removal form the world) but it brought him no inner peace. He tried to compensate for his sins through holy living (doing and not doing beyond what the Bible and his monetary required), but to no avail. (Anthony Seel)

One day Luther discovered another way, the way of Grace. And it changed his life, and the Christian church, forever.

Martin Luther, like the Apostles Paul and Peter before him had torn down the structure of religious rules and regulations. Paul wrote that if I rebuild this structure and influence others to follow my legalism, I am breaking God’s law again....His law of Grace.

Paul’s point here is

·       One, that our acceptance by God, at salvation and continuing on in our Christian journey, is not about us, our externals, the things we do or don’t do, it’s about Jesus Christ: what He has already done and will continue to do.

·       Two, ‘koinonia’ our fellowship with each other will not last if it’s based on observing rules and regulations and judging others who don’t live up to our standards. The foundation of our oneness, the basis of our fellowship....is Christ in us!

That’s the argument that leads us to verse 19 ‘For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.’  How..how does that happen? Paul says...by being crucified with Christ and allowing Christ to live through you.

Well, we’ve come to Galatians 2:20 a text I hope you all will strive to memorize because it can have a great impact on how we live the Christian life.

But as I approach this verse, I do so with great caution because there is far more to it than I can ever personally understand or teach to you. But the bottom line is the love of Jesus for Paul...for you. The great thing is not:

·       Just that Jesus loved you

·       Just that Jesus died for you

The great thing is that Jesus would want to live IN you. Paul’s rebuke of Peter was so significant, because he didn’t want to see anything or anyone diminish God’s grace displayed IN us through Jesus Christ. Let me make this practical.

ILL: Christ living in us is like being a glove. A glove cannot do anything by itself.  It needs a hand to fill it. When the glove has a hand inside, it is enabled to do all sorts of things.  We are like a glove.  What we need is the Lord to fill us with His presence, then we will be able to do all things through Christ, who lives in us. (Jeff Strite)

One last thing...when Paul wrote ‘I have been crucified with Christ...’ he’s not just talking about the sin in our lives...he’s talking about the good things we do as well...our works of righteousness, good things that we think will keep us in God’s good graces and make us better Christians...they too have been crucified with Christ.

·       The only thing that remains...is God’s grace.

·       The only thing that must remain....is God’s grace.

Finally, Paul says ‘I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.’ Here’s what Paul is saying: The Law says DO, Grace says DONE! Anything else makes Christ death meaningless.

Conclusion

Not I...but Christ. Say that with me. Not I...but Christ! Not I...but Christ!! Not I...but Christ!!!

·       Anything else denies grace. (Not I ...but Christ!)

·       Anything else denies the love of Christ for us. (Not I ...but Christ!)

·       Anything else denies the necessity of Jesus’ death on the cross. (Not I ...but Christ!)

·       Anything else denies the power of His resurrection. (Not I ...but Christ!)

·       Anything else denies our need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Not I ...but Christ!)

·       Anything else is...I, not Christ. (Not I ...but Christ!)

One of my favorite hymns says ‘I hear the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness watch and pray. Find in me thine all in all.’

·       Not I...but Christ!