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

Grace... It's personal (Pt 1)

Sermon Series: Galatians: A Grace-full Life

Title: : Grace... It's personal (Pt 1) Text: Galatians 4:8-20

Introduction: I often have deep thoughts. Yea I know, that’s hard to believe. But I wonder about things....everyday things. Let me give you a few examples:

·       Why can’t someone come up for a shorter word for abbreviation?

·       Why is lemon juice often made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

·       Why is the man who invests all your money called a ‘broker’?

·       Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called ‘rush hour’?

·       Why isn’t there mouse-flavored cat food?

·          Why can’t women put on mascara with their mouths closed? (Mike Sares)

And why, when people are going to criticize you, start out with ‘Nothing personal but’? Hey, when you’re talking about me...it is personal.

Background

In our text this morning the Apostle Paul gets personal with the Galatian Christians.

A deviation from the Truth of God’s Word, is not just about principles, it involves people...it’s personal.

When the Galatian Christians chose to leave Paul’s teachings on grace to follow the teachings of the Judiaziers, they were not just turning away from the Truth of God’s Word, they were turning away from Paul....It’s as if they said ‘Nothing personal Paul, but we no longer believe what you taught us.’

For Paul, his message of life in Christ by God’s grace, WAS his life and it WAS personal. So when Paul addresses the Galatians in this part of his letter, he gets personal.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Galatians 4:8 (pg. 888 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we’ll discover that Grace...is personal!

I. Galatians 4:8-11  Why turn from the God

                                      who knows you?

Read: Galatians 4:8-11

Paul starts off by making a significant distinction:

·       It’s one thing to know God.

·       It’s an altogether different thing to be known by God.

Is there really a difference or is it just semantics?

ILL: Luther wrote: ‘The different religions to be found among all nations at all times bear witness to the fact that all men have a certain intuitive knowledge of God...’ (Guzik)

But knowing God isn’t enough...we must be known by God. And the difference has eternal significance.

Read: Matthew 7:21-23 ‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Is it important that God knows us? You bet!

Paul told the Galatian Christians ‘You once lived a certain way trying to please the god you thought you knew, but you did it in vain...it was useless, it didn’t work, you were wasting your time because you weren’t known by God. But when I spoke to you about Jesus and you opened your heart to Him:

·       You were then known by God.

·       You crossed the line from death to life.

·       Your eternal destination changed from Hell to Heaven.

·       You began to live by grace and not by works.

So...what has happened that you now think you need to work to please God? The text says:

Read: Galatians 4:9b ‘...how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?’

The weak and miserable principles are works....in this case, works of the Law of Moses...what the Judiaziers had taught them was necessary not only for salvation, but for sanctification. What’s sanctification? Basically it’s the process of becoming like Jesus.

Paul is referencing what we call ‘legalism.’ It’s a works based way to live the Christian life.  It’s a ‘if/then’ way to be a Christian. (If I do this or don’t do that, then God will be pleased and I will be a better Christian ‘sanctified.’)

But Paul is telling the Galatian Christians, who have turned their backs on God’s Grace to live according to the Law (an if/then life), that you are moving backwards not growing, not moving forward with Jesus.

The only if/then you need to hear is found in John 8:36:

Read John 8:36 ‘So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’

So why would you want to go back to the slavery of a ‘conditional’ Christianity?

Paul gets specific and says:

Read: Galatians 4:10 ‘You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!’

Get the significance here...Paul is saying...look, you are Gentile Christians who are following Jewish holidays and rules, thinking that by doing so, you will mature in your faith. But, you’re wrong, it didn’t work for me and it won’t work for you.

Why? Because you’re not relying on the power of the Spirit to help you successfully navigate the Christian life, you’re depending upon religiously following rules whose very purpose was to lead you to faith in Jesus. Well, you found Jesus, He saved you by His grace...now continue to live by that grace, alone.

At times, we can be like the Galatian Christians. We too seek the comfort of rules/ an if/then life/ of duty:

·       it’s something we can touch,

·       it’s something we can measure,

·       it’s something that gives us boundaries/structure,

·       it’s something we can be proud of when we don’t break any rules or cross any of the lines.

But Paul will tell the Galatian Christians and us as well, that the Christian life is a life of grace and love, not works and duty. There is much greater comfort in knowing that your Christian life is not ‘conditional’

It’s because they have gone from grace and love to works and duty that Paul says he’s afraid that his time with them may have been wasted. He is revealing feelings of regret and despair.  

Don’t misunderstand the emphasis. It’s not that Paul was regretting his time and effort given to the Galatians, it’s that he was genuinely concerned that they wouldn’t turn back to God’s grace and fail to experience God’s love, personally.

Transition: Paul has worked hard to be an example of a life of grace and he wants to see them return to it. So Paul gives them a real life example of someone who did just that...himself.

II. Galatians 4:12        Brothers...be like me!

Read: Galatians 4:12

Paul tells the Galatian Christians to be like him. What does he mean? In what ways should they be like him? We must remember context. There are many ways Paul could want us to be like him...but here in verse 12 he’s referencing something very specific. Let me explain.

The Galatian Christians are to imitate Paul in his freedom from the Law. OK tract with me on this:

·       The Law of Moses was given to the Jews, not the Gentiles.

·       The Law of Moses was never intended to be binding on the Gentiles.

·       Therefore, the Gentiles are naturally free from the bondage the Law brings.

·       Paul, a Jew born under the bondage of the Law, became like a Gentile in that, through faith in Jesus, he was freed from the requirements of the Law.

What Paul was saying is...just be yourselves...Gentiles who are Christians by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus. You don’t need to change your identity, you don’t need to become Jews to be mature, growing Christians.

Let me put it this way:

·       Paul, after becoming a Christian, had become like the gentiles in many ways because of God’s grace.

·       The Gentiles, after becoming Christians, were now trying to become what Paul used to be (a Jewish Pharisee) intent on achieving a self-made righteousness apart from grace.

Do you see it? Paul is encouraging them to be free in Christ.

Christianity is not about a day, month, season or year...it’s about all of life, everyday, living it for Christ, by God’s grace.

Then Paul says something odd...he tells them they are not hurting him by their actions. Again, I believe Paul wanted to focus their attention on Christ and their relationship with Him.

But as we’ll see next week, Paul is concerned about his relationship with the Galatian Christians, because it was personal to him.

Conclusion

There comes a time when every relationship gets personal, when you have to put up or shut up. That is, there comes a time when you have to figure out for yourself just who that other person is to you and what he or she means to you.

Remember back to a time in your life when you were dating. At some point, relationships get personal, they intrude on our private space and demand that we answer a fundamental question: “just who is this person to me.”

That’s the bottom line question in any human relationship. Once it is asked, the relationship will never be the same.

·       The question forces us to either move forward in the relationship or move away.

·       It forces us to search our heart, mind, and soul and decide who you say the other person is.

-A mere acquaintance?

-Just a friend?

-A potential life partner and mate?

Who do you say that other person is? And there comes a time in every churchgoers life when you have to answer the same question about Jesus. Who do you say that He is? (Dr. Bruce Emmert)

Our challenge this morning is this: is your faith... personal?

Do you know God? But more important, does God know you?

·       Have you placed your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin and your eternal life in heaven?

·       Have you received the Holy Spirit into your life?

·       Are you navigating the Christian life by the fruit of the Spirit being developed in you?

·       Are you moving from day to day by God’s grace and not by your works?

·       Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus that didn’t stop at salvation but continues everyday of your life, affecting every area of your life?

Have you made God’s grace...personal?