Experiencing The Freedom of Union with Christ (Galatians 2:20-21)

so grab your Bibles now and open the Galatians chapter to Galatians chapter 2 meeting some people just now in the in the lobby letting them know what kind of what what's gonna be happening now we were preaching through the book of Galatians we believe verse by verse teaching through books of the Bible is beneficial for Christians it helps them grow deeper in their their understanding love and and desire to live for Jesus and for people who aren't Christians yet it allows them to hear like we're not hiding anything from you here's what the Bible says and we just walk our way through it and so we are in Galatians the end of chapter 2 we're looking at one of the like the list of people that you know these are my favorite verses in the Bible typically this verse is there and so I go ahead and stand please and recognizing this is God's Word Galatians chapter 2 Galatians chapter 2 and we'll start in verse 19 Galatians 2:19 God's Word says for through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God I have been crucified with Christ it's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness were through the law then Christ died for no purpose that's God's words you may be seated and as you're getting situated again let's probably one more time Jesus as we wrap up Paul's defense of the gospel here it is a it's particularly relevant because most of the people that we interact with maybe at work or school or maybe even around Christmas dinner coming up in a week from now most people believe that they're able to make themselves right with you they can do enough good things to to make it so that you are obligated to let them into the blessings that you've prepared for those who love you well we just saw in this in this last verse that I just read is that to believe that is really a it's really an attack on your character it's really an attack on the cross of Christ it's really not a good thing at all and God you've equipped us with your word you've taught us truth you've allowed us to be exposed to truth so we can take that truth in a winsome kind gentle manner respectful manner and share that with people who believe this this falsehood and so I pray that you would equip us to do that in the service today I pray that you would bless our time in your word and God I pray that she would do the same thing with all without walls church just down the street right now pastor ken is preaching I pray that you would use him powerfully in this moment even to draw people to yourself to save those who need to be saved that are not service right now and to grow the people there who are already committed to you may people leave that church today more more on fire to live for you because of what you do through the preaching of your word I pray that for them I pray that for us please God do that in our churches here in Gilbert turn us to you let us let us let this be a place where your word is preached from multiple pulpits all over this this part of the valley revived us may may we care less and less and less about our kingdoms and care more and more and more about advancing yours may this be about your name and your fame in your glory not our own that would be evidence of your grace here in the valley that would be evidence of revival if you would do that so how do that please and in this church and all the churches here in Gilbert make your name great I pray amen so I heard about a pastor recently who loved to preach God's Word and as a result of preaching he was it was all about helping people he loved his people he wanted to encourage his people so all of his preaching had that in mind and so he's he's preaching year after year but then it's he's meeting with people in his congregation he's he's seeing that they're despairing that they're that they're losing hope that they're in agony that there's there's this sense that that God's Word is be had become a weight on them and that they were looking at their lives and looking at God's Word and they're coming am I ever gonna measure up am I ever gonna catch up is my life ever going to to match the kind of holiness and growth in progress that I'm supposed to see in my life as they as they looked at their lives and they would hear the preaching and they would compare their lives what they see in God's Word they would be they'd be broken they'd be saying gosh like I I I want to live for him but I keep failing I keep falling like what what is what is wrong with me and so then this this pastor seeing his people loving his people his response to that was God I need your help what am i what am I doing wrong what do I need to know that will help this group of people live more holy lives lives that are that are finding victory over sin lives that are aren't falling back into the same patterns over and over again that that don't lack progress but that actually see progress in growth in their lives God give me what I need to do that for them and then he says that God answered that prayer when he went to Galatians 2:20 that this passage revolutionized his life in his ministry and his preaching and I hope that it does the same for us this morning because there is there's the there's this sense that I find in myself as well as talking to other Christians that there is this here's where I should be and here's where I am and by this time in my Christian life I should be here but I'm I'm here and and it's not it's not difference that causes despair it causes a lack of hope it causes a sense of I am I am I really getting everything out of us that I'm that I'm supposed to is this am I really living the Christian life that that God had for me isn't there isn't there more to this what we see in the passage Galatians 2:20 is that there is a key in this passage that that what I found in my own Christian life and in talking to other Christians that that key is is not there that it's that they're living the Christian life that we're doing what Christians are supposed to do but there's this aspect of the Christian life that's not there if you take a look at the passage that aspect that that thing that's missing is this idea of being united to Christ but if I were to ask you what is the Christian life about you might say something else about love or it's about faith or sacrifice or obedience or the mission you know it it might you might think of those things and all of those things are good things but all of those things are on the periphery at the at the essence of the Christian life is union with Christ so our passage today is not only going to explain why earning your salvation is is completely bankrupt but it's going to show us that when it comes to living life if we are trying to live the Christian life apart from the experience of freedom that comes from being United to Christ then we're where it's gonna be off its gonna feel off it's not it's not going to be everything that God designed the Christian life to be because most of us when we think about Jesus we think about Jesus out there like he's he's out there he's above us and beyond us he's distinct from us he's in heaven you know watching and waiting and hoping we're gonna live for him and do his will and all of that down here but we picture him out there and we're down here but when we compare that that paradigm to say Ephesians 5 we learned that he wants us to understand our relationship to him with by picturing the oneness that there is between husband and wife that that connection between husband and wife that oneness that fellowship that togetherness he says that's how I want you to think about your relationship to me or first Corinthians 12 he wants us to understand in our relationship to him is like a body's relationship to its head or John 15 or he wants us to understand our relationship to him is like a branch's relationship to a vine that there's in other words he's not just above us and beyond us and he's not just close to us and near us according to this passage here you see it right in the middle Jesus lives in me he lives in you that you are a container you you you the location where Jesus is in his omnipresence is being at present everywhere she is especially present in you and this is not some temporary bond of friendship this isn't well you were united in purpose this is the same life this is as if the same blood was running through both of our veins he is the source of our life he's the motivator of our obedience he's the energy behind our growth he's the motivation behind our living for him that he is not outside of us going hey pick it up slapping that whip at us he's inside of us motivating encouraging apart from him we can do what nothing meaning the Christian life is not the static lifeless thing this rote thing or you just go through routines and do this and don't do that and have this list of things to do that I check off no this is a dynamic life-giving this is nothing close to boring this is the God of the universe in you so if again if you're wondering why the Bible says this is true about you but you don't feel that that's true about you that's because union with Christ can be a reality about your life in my life it can be the real thing it can be what we actually are and at the same time we can not be fully conscious of it just like the seed can be that can be dormant the sift fully there that the united to him fully inside of you and yet just like the plant hasn't broken through the colonel so this so this reality hasn't broken into part of like this is what it really means to be a christian in 1738 there's a man named charles wesley he's he'd wrote like a song a day for thirty years that all were worshipping Jesus and about Jesus and all of that and famous songwriter and in his journal he said just before he was saved his journal says this quote I spent some hours this evening with Martin Luther's book on Galatians and he says it greatly blessed me especially his conclusion of the second chapter he said I labored waited and prayed to feel the words Christ in me he loved me and gave himself for me said I labored and waited and prayed so that I would feel that so that I wouldn't be words on a page but that that would be my experience in life that's my hope for all of us that today this passage will help us not just know about it okay that's great this knowledge Christ in me but that we would feel it that we would know it that it wouldn't be something out there that it would be something right here so let's take a look at Galatians 2:20 and let's start in the first part there verse 20 I've been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live just look at those words I think I think what happens in familiar verses like this is that we don't stop and think what did I just say did you see what I just said you were crucified with Christ what does that mean what do you think that means like it's not literal right Paul wasn't on the cross with Jesus it's not a metaphor for personal sacrifice whatwhat is this these words crucified with Christ this is this is something that happened in the past that Paul is saying there is a present reality the power or an influencer of that moment doesn't negate there doesn't slow down doesn't lose its power it stays that this crucifixion that happened in the past stays relevant now well for Paul riding Galatians he's riding about 20 years after the death of Jesus personal union with Christ think about this here this is talking about union with Christ two millennia before you were born and he says two millennia before you were born you were crucified with Christ huh meaning all the experiences what we find when we look at Scripture and this idea being United to Christ us being in Christ Christ being in us what we find is that all the experiences that Jesus had become the Christians it's as if we live Jesus life we were united to him so that in his life we live his life we die his death we rise from the dead with him in other words when you see a cross like the one behind me or the one you wear on your own on your around your neck the first thing you should do when you look at that crosses you should think this was done for me this is an act of love where Jesus sacrificed himself paying the penalty that I deserve for my sins but this verse tells us that we shouldn't stop there that we should also see ourselves on that cross dying on the cross with Christ but how we don't pay for our sins so that's not worth doing we're not paying for our sins on that cross but what does it mean then I think the next phrase lets us know what that means what does it mean that we died on the cross look at what it says there verse 20 it's no longer I who live what's kind of strange Paul because if if you're not living then who's writing Galatians right well it can't be literal life and well what what are you talking about then Paul this this I is the old self this is the person enslaved to sin this is the one that is subject to the law if you were here on Wednesday night we talked about this is the the I in Adam the eye that is enslaved to sin and is leading to death and is under condemnation and judgment and eternal punishment this is the eye that was at war with God this is the eye that was God's enemies that that the eye before the person is born again the eye before salvation but notice that I is what in verse 20 that eye is no longer that for the Christian that I that old I that that eye that is seeking to earn my salvation that I enslaved to sin that I doesn't exist anymore that I died with Christ on the cross forever so if you're gonna experience being united to Christ if that's gonna be an actual reality in your heart and life then point number one you and I need to recognize the freedom of being dead recognize the freedom of being dead let's see you have a convicted murderer served his time he's found guilty he is he's going to be executed so he is led to the firing squad and they ready themselves they aim they fire he dies when that moment his in that death he paid the penalty he owed to the law the law said you break this rule this is your penalty you murder somebody you die so in that moment he pays his penalty to the law he dies death is the legal penalty for murder and with death that debt is paid in full now in the same way your substitute Jesus was killed for your crimes violating God's law is a capital offense the soul that sins will die ezekiel 18:4 death is the legal penalty for breaking God's law so Jesus takes the penalty to God's law and dies in your place for your crimes you didn't pay the penalty for your sins but you died when Jesus died now here's the point that Paul's making in this passage if you are dead that means sin has no authority over you if you are dead that means the law has no authority over you and has no jurisdiction over you and has no claim on you you are free because you no longer live that you that was this that was subject to the law and sin and death died on the cross and I want you to think about death for a minute death is decisive it's complete it is it is a complete break with life so in the same way Jesus death to the law and sin and death and condemnation was decisive and it was complete there's no little bit that that that God's law now has jurisdiction over you and can say you must do this in order to be right with God know the era of the law ended when Jesus died on the cross now we don't relate to God based on the law now we relate to God in a completely different way that that old way is dead it's over it's done you are no longer a part of that old way you are free it's like we've looked at last week look at chapter 2 verse 19 you are you are dead to the law its power its authority Christians don't relate to God on the basis of law anymore because you died to the law with Christ you are free from the law we went into that in great detail last week so I'm not gonna cover that stuff again but your death with Christ freed you from slavery to sin since authority over you the laws authority over you both of them ended when you were crucified with Christ by faith their lordship over you is broken their curse over you was broken you are free from being afraid of sin you're free from the power and shame and guilt of the law you are free from the power of sin free from its condemnation think about it how free you know are you just like kind of free like I've got a really long leash though you know that sin and death and howling and then the law all of these things that one I'm free but I'm not completely free no you are is free from those things as Jesus is because you are United to him you see the freedom you have and being united to Jesus in his death being crucified with Christ so how do you get better at being dead you don't you just you just be dead but here's the thing we've all heard stories about criminals that they get out of jail and they aren't used to the freedom and so they commit a crime really quick so they'll be thrown back in jail Christians we do the same thing right Christ to set you free this is what we do we go gosh you know I get God do you accept me I didn't have a good quiet time this week well God you know I'm just not feel like I can be close to you because you know I I sinned against you in this way I'm not sure if things are good between God and I because you know I I did this that I said this thing to my coworker I did this thing like that's that's you going back to the law and saying my acceptance with God is based on a law that you are already free from no you are just as accepted with God as Jesus is because you are United to him think about that so you don't give them domination over you you are free from sins penalty you are free from its slavery be who you are which is free United to Christ you are free as free as Jesus is because you are in him this is exactly where Paul goes in the next part look at verse 20 again I've been crucified with Christ it's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me so in the first part of the verse we see that when Jesus died Paul died but in the middle of the verse we find that when Jesus rose from the dead Paul rose from the dead and if you are united to Christ then you have been raised from the dead as well now Paul's individual personality didn't change it wasn't obliterated he's still Paul he's living his like it says there the life I now live like he's living his life he can still sin but now what's happened is there is a new life inside of him he's got his his normal human life but now there's this other life living in him this old I enslaved to the law and slave to sin didn't just die this old I was replaced upgraded you know a new I that was raised from the dead born again clothed in Christ's righteousness this new I United to him so that all righteousness and peace and acceptance and motivation and desire comes from him to live for him so this passage even though we're looking out like oh it's my favorite passage I'd love it so much this has deep deep theology in it we are swimming in the deep end of theology we were thinking about United to Jesus 2,000 years ago hounded wide crucified raised with him what yeah we're talking about some deep stuff but if God will allow us to graph just a fraction of this deep stuff it will change our lives because this is not how we typically think about living the Christian life we see Jesus as the lawgiver out there he's sitting there arms crossed like are you gonna are you gonna pick this up or you gonna figure this out what's wrong with you and no he is so connected to you that he is in you never to leave you push you away he is in you forever the god of the universe the holy God of the universe who hates sin makes you holy and then lives inside of you Christ is Christ is now the power and influence and drive and direction that fuels the Christian I mean if this is the result of justification that the God of the universe would live inside of you take up residence in you then why in the world would anybody go to like I'm gonna try to figure out this whole god thing on my own like why in the world would we do that when we have every single thing here bondage to trying to be good enough for God to accept you but never really knowing have i done enough is this enough and oh I thought it was enough but knife sinned again am i you get this back and forth it's like it's replaced by freedom of knowing that through union with Christ you are always and forever accepted and loved by God just as accepted and loved by God as who Jesus is there any is there even an ounce like it ethic a small molecule of non acceptance between the father and the son even like a small little bit work God the Father is like I love you like but there's this one thing Jesus no and not only are you in him but we see here in verse 20 he is in you do you hear I just said by faith you are United to Christ cemented as Luther said to the one who could not be more accepted and loved by God and cemented to the one who could not be any more dead to the law sin death and hell if you cannot be any more accepted by God than you are right now live in that freedom you will experience the freedom being united with Christ if point number two you let Jesus live his life through you let Jesus live his life through you see we look at the Christian life as I'm living my life for Jesus and what we see Paul saying is that no the Christian life is is different it's the opposite of that it's not just that you're living your life for Jesus maybe that's like a minor part of it but the major part of this whole thing is that he lives in me this is this is the clearest simplest definition of what it means to be a Christian you are not you anymore Christ is in you you've become one with him this is the Christian life listen to Paul's words again look at verse 20 Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God again this description the Christian life is not so much you living your life or Christ but it's Jesus living his life through you like I said there are now two lives inside the Christian there is your normal everyday this is the life you get when you're when you are conceived but then there's this other life this this theologians call it this alien life this life that has nothing to do with you that's that's not doesn't come from you at all completely from outside of you now also living in you so that we're before you pushed against God's rules now you embrace them now you read things like love God with all your heart soul mind and strength on the inside instead of pushing against that you go I want that I want to live for it I want that I want to live that in my life why because that's what Jesus wants and he's living his life through you it starts your life starts with your desires those desires come from him and then they are lived out in your actions and that's what's talking about here this isn't you being good enough for God through the law this is a new life that Paul had because Christ was living his life through him and Christian that same experience that same reality that Paul is describing here is true for you this is not something that Paul had because he was an apostle this something he had because he was a Christian Jesus living his life through you well how do you how do you do this like how do you grow in this out how does how do we let Jesus live his life through us look at verse 20 that happens by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me on the outside we look like we're just living another life just we go to work or we go to school we do our things we make our food we eat our food we go to bed we wake up do it all over again I think just looks like we're living this life with nothing supernatural going on but what we see here is that for the Christian they're not not living in their own power in their own strength they're not living in trust in themselves and advancing their cause Paul is still active like he says they're the life I now live I'm living a life but the activity now is different the active now according to verse 20 is faith commitment trust faith wasn't some occasional topic that Paul you know talked about every once in a while this was central to everything Paul was about everything he did everything he desired to be and do it it all revolved around this idea of faith commitment trust so here's Paul no longer committed consumed I've got to keep this law to be right with God the law is always on my mind I got to do what the law wants me to do I got to not do this and do this eat this don't go there dude follow these rules keep these holidays like all that stuff dominating his life all of that is replaced with a single singular focus Christ Colossians 3:4 Christ is your life Philippians 1:21 to live is Christ this union was so thorough that Paul doesn't know where he stops and Jesus starts because it seems like this is my desire but you find well know Jesus is living his life through you so that's his desire but it's his desire lived through my desires in my life like there's this like I said where it is one and in the other start no there's just this this this union is so complete so thorough so Jesus has made his home in Paul it made his home in Paul's heart so that just like a a soul gives life to a body so Jesus gives life to the Christian who trusts in him so how does he do this what what is what does the Bible say like what does this look like practically turn to chapter five I want to show you one place that says this is this is what it looks like for Christ to live his life through you Galatians five drop down to verse 16 Jesus lives his life through you when his spirit is leading you look at verse 16 but I say walk by the spirit then you will not gratify the desires of the flesh verse 18 but if you are led by the spirit you're not under the law and if you'd look over at verse 25 if we live by the spirit let us also walk by the spirit so the spirit living inside of us the spirit of Jesus living inside of us when you put all the verses together in the Bible by the way what you find is that the Christian is in the Trinity and the Trinity is in the Christian so Father Son and Holy Spirit in the Christian so here's the Spirit of God communicating his desires to us through his word saying this is this is this is where I want you to go this is what I want you to do we enter situations we know this is what God would want us to do how would how do we know that oh it's good they spend a lot of time in the Bible true but it's also because God's Spirit is living inside of you the same word that he authored is the word that he wants us to accomplish so he's directing our actions as that happens Jesus is living his life through us but I want you to see the second way turn back to turn back to verse 20 Galatians 2:20 because there's a second way that Jesus lives his life through us and it's in verse 20 he lives his life through us when we return often to this one fact that he loved me and gave himself for me notice our commitment to our faith in Jesus is a living commitment to him because of his personal love for us individually so he he loves us individually it says there and he expresses that love for us by dying for us individually did you know that in the Bible if you were to do a search and you were to look for Jesus and the word love and find all the places where those two words are close together you would find that every place in the Bible where - in the New Testament where Jesus and love are connected except one it's all love is always in the past tense except one time in Revelation every other time dozens of times it's geez it's not that Jesus loves me presently though he does the focus of the New Testament authors is that geez loved us past tense and it's always connected to the cross where he loved you and gave his life for you so what I'm saying here is this as we fill our thoughts with Jesus individual love for us where there is little faith in Jesus when there's little confidence in his love for us there's gonna be little commitment to him so if we're not confident that Jesus loves us if we live our lives and it's based on law and I haven't kept these rules and so I'm not sure if God loves me now and he's mad at me and ticked off and things just aren't gone well at home and he's got to be ticked at me because my wife is or my kids are my co-workers are like God must be ticked off at me too where there is little confidence that Jesus loves you there will be little commitment to live for Jesus faith in Jesus grows and is sustained and exists where there is confidence that he loves you and that love is based on the cross and we'll come back to that in a second because that's huge his love for you a substitutionary death for you is where faith feeds it's where it grows if you're saying I want more faith I want to trust you more Jesus the way that you do that is not looking forward and going got all these things coming up and I need to trust you help me trust you know the way to trust Jesus more is to look back all the way back to the cross and as you are as you fill your mind with truth you already know it grows your faith because this is where faith feeds 11th Luther says about this verse he says son of God he loved me gave himself for me he says these words are sheer thunder and heavenly fire against the idea that we can earn our salvation I don't think any of us I think any person that I've ever met in Western culture at least it's lavishly trying to obey God's laws in order to be right with God like I don't think most Westerners are doing that at all I think most Westerners think well I'm I'm not a bad person I'm a pretty good person and so you know people like me at work and people like me at home and guy you know God's gonna like me too right like it's just kind of how we think you know I'm a good person and so God's gonna think I'm a good person to and I'm fine we're not slavish ly like making sure we're not we're not breaking any of his rules because we're not comparing ourselves the gods law like the Jude's it Jews did who are we comparing ourselves to other people and we're going I'm not Hitler I'm not that guy in the freeway that you know drunk driver I'm not those wackos on TV doing whatever they're doing like Nam I'm pretty good he should reject all those guys but I'm a good guy no so for us it's not this slavishly trying to be good enough to impress God but it is still saying hey God look at me like I'm a good person you should should let me in but we're finding here is that the Christian life isn't isn't that at all trying to impress God and be good enough for God your art accepted and loved infinitely and forever the Christian life is just simply being who you already are and letting his life come out of yours see too many Christians aren't the mistaken assumption that that we love Jesus and we give our lives for Jesus that that's the Christian life and like I said like to some extent that's what it is but it's so minor what the Christian life is coming back over and over again to this one thought he loved me and he gave his life for me so the Christian life isn't about finding yourself or being yourself it's about realizing you have no self except the self that you are in Christ a healthy self-image is seeing yourself as United to Christ as he daily is living his life through you in whatever context you find yourself and so for so in these so what I want to save it for you and that is don't mess that up don't get in the way of that don't fight that don't don't just follow his word follow his spirit remember the gospel let him live his life through you don't fight him on that and for an again that's not me saying well you're gonna be sinless and perfect no I think right now all of us there's something that God keeps showing us like you need to do this you need to do this that's what I'm saying don't get in the way of that just do it let him live his life through you all of the stuff that we've talked about whether it's United to Christ or having Jesus perfection so that you're already accepted by God loved now and forever all of that is a gift of God's grace and that's where Paul goes next if you look at Galatians 2:20 1 so you remember that the context of this passage is Paul is defending an attack against the gospel that people are trying to teach the Galatians here and Peter was living in such a way that they were communicated in order to be right with God you have to follow some rules if you don't follow the rules you're not right with God Jesus did you know he did a bunch of what you needed for salvation but you make up the rest with your obedience and then you're saved well this is this is the conclusion of Paul's argument and this is the this is the death blow this is the nail in the coffin this is - for anyone who thinks you know what I'm not sure I I'm not sure I'm really buying all that stuff you're telling me pastor I think if I just keep the 10 commandments I'm good you know that's really all I need I'm fine I'm a good person people like me take that idea if you think that - verse 21 I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness were through the law through keeping the Ten Commandments then Christ died for no purpose nice this is the death blow so every idea that I can be good enough that people can can earn their way with God that God can be bought with my good works to demand any amount of obedience to any law rule principle statue to be right with God is what we see here turns Christianity upside down why why does that turn Christianity upside down here's why because if you boil Christianity down if you boil the mess to the gospel down the message of the gospel is this the grace of God in the cross of Christ that's what it is the you and I can't earn our salvation we're in trouble we're sinful so God in His grace decides I'm going to rescue them and in order to do that I'm gonna send my son to die for them that's the gospel in a nutshell what works righteousness this idea that I earned my salvation first as we see in this verse attacks the gracious character of God it says it nullifies the grace of God it completely sets it aside and then to it completely nullifies the mission of Jesus says what you did Jesus was unnecessary you didn't need to do all of that so earning your ticket to heaven keeps God from being gracious to you and it tells Jesus you should have spent your time doing something else because I got this you know this legalistic salvation these these false teachers that teach this stuff say God can be bought that salvation can be earned so grace is unnecessary you don't need grace you just do it yourself you suck it up you do what you need to do and you'll be fine and they teach Jesus death is excessive if you didn't need to do that you know you went a little too far Jesus you got a little bit too carried away because um your your work is not what counts most my work is what counts most so here's the thing if I can get salvation atonement justification adoption reconciliation peace with God redemption sanctification glorification if I can get every blessing that salvation does for me and I can do it by my good deeds then Jesus died for nothing remember Jesus is in the garden and he's praying three times you remember what he was praying father if possible let this cup pass from me that cup is the cup of God's wrath if there's any other way for you to save these people so that I don't have to go through your wrath then let it happen and what did Jesus hear in that moment silence right this says no Jesus you pray may not have heard God but you should have heard me saying hey you don't need to do that I'll take care of it for you it's it is a blasphemous attack on the entire Christian system and Jesus himself so point number three if you are ever going to experience union with Christ then point number three you have to see earning your salvation as blasphemous you have to see earning your salvation as blasphemous no one will ever be able to say he loved me and gave himself for me and at the same time say my good works are enough to get me into heaven it is either one of the other telling God he doesn't need to be gracious to you because you're gonna save yourself telling Jesus he didn't do you need to die for you because you've got this with your good works I cannot think of a greater more horrible blasphemy than that verse 21 should scare us away from ever considering works salvation but here's the thing I would not say point number three to your friends and family who are trying to earn their salvation that's blasphemy unless you have a really great relationship with them you know I would not say this to them but what I am saying is you've got to keep this in mind and you've got I would keep this verse in mind since you can say hey I know you're part of that religion you're part of that group um what do you do with this verse in Galatians what do you do with this and just let them try to figure it out because here they are trying to earn their salvation and thinking that that's a good thing and I'm going to tell you why they think that's a good thing in a minute so here they are thinking that's a good thing and this verse is not is not a good thing to tell God I yeah you don't need to be gracious to me in Jesus I got this like that's that's not good in fact saying that Jesus death is inadequate like yeah you did some but I'll take care of the rest or that his death was pointless Jesus you didn't need to die because I can earn my salvation that does to Jesus theologically what the Roman soldiers did to him physically this this treats Jesus remember in that moment those Roman soldiers just treated Jesus like he was just another criminal well this treats Jesus like he's just another religious teacher out there when in fact he is according to verse 20 the Son of God earning your acceptance with God strips Jesus work bare of all its power it mocks him it attacks the cross is unnecessary did you think about this this should repulse us this is an assault on the heart of everything Jesus did and everything it means to be saved and think about it to Jesus I mean it's not like Jesus said well I got a whole bunch of sheep over here just in one of these sheep over to die for them oh you know sheep those are those are kind of expensive you know turtle duffer oh you know they're really valuable to me so I'll send a-- a cour you know what I've got all the money in the universe I'm gonna put that down as their payment for their lives like that's not what you have in Jesus doing he gave his his blood for us more precious than anything in creation and so when we say like okay Jesus I know it took your blood to stop the wrath of God but yeah you know I've got these good works over here it does not count for something me saying it right now sounds ridiculous but I'm gonna tell you most people on the planet today think it's honorable to give God their good works to show God their resume and say see I'm a good person most of your family friends co-workers classmates think that doing something for God saying I'm not a charity case I don't need your charity God because I can take care of this on my own they think that that is a good thing that that's honorable this is horrible think about this when I was in high school I had a friend every year his dad would get a movie pass and that movie pass would let four people in to any movie any time of the year for free so mom and dad would gone on dates and they'd take the movie pass but when they when they didn't go on a date they gave it to my friend and we go to the movies well over the span of junior high high school and some College like we're talking dozens and dozens of movie so we're talking hundreds maybe even thousands of dollars that was completely free to me that I never had to pay back there was there's just this is this is the blessing that you have because you are the friend of this family so picture this for movie passes so we go to the movies my friend me his mom and dad we go to the movies they go in and find their seats and I I you know stay back a little bit and I go over to the concession stand and I find the cheapest $2 popcorn I could possibly find okay and I say I want one of those yeah put that butter on there put that yeah I put some salt on there yeah perfect and I walk over to my friend's dad and I take that popcorn and I smash it into his hand and I say sir just wants to thank you for the dozens and dozens and dozens of free movies that I've had over the past decade this is my token of appreciation we're even now right it's not gonna go over well how good timing what do you think dad's gonna do in that moment Oh John this this popcorn is so valuable this is this is clearly equal to all of the everything that I've done for you no this is insulting this is the height of arrogance and insult to think that we can pay God back who has given us life and breath and everything else and on top of that gave us his son who did every single thing we need to do to be right with him only to tell him I got this no true honor before the God of the Bible is humility it's humbling yourself to receive the gift that he offers it's saying I don't just need a charity case I need Resurrection this is trusting in Jesus to save you not yourself this is surrendering our bogus claim to being king or queen of our own lives and submitting to the king of King and Lord the Lord of lords it's renouncing this allegiance to our self and I so great and wonderful and giving our legions to Christ is the one who loved us and gave ourselves for us gave himself for us what what stands in the way of all of that it's the the blasphemy of our good works seen as seen as that cheap popcorn that we're gonna give God and say God aren't you impressed now one last thing I want you to see look back at verses 20 and 21 quickly I want you to count how many first-person pronouns those are if you're like um I don't remember phonics class from fifty years ago so the first-person pronouns are the eyes and the Me's so how many eyes and Me's do you see in verses 20 and 21 8 right you see 8 I hope tell me I saw 8 first-person pronouns I me I mean I mean the point here is that this is intensely personal and individual Paul uses himself as an example of all Christians everything that we experience with Union because of were united to Christ so as we saw that our union with Christ means that we're dead to the law and dead to sin we're dead to the law which leads to sin which leads to death were dead to all of that and replacing that if we had time to go to first Corinthians 5:15 we would learn that in place of that we are we are united to Christ by faith which leads to righteousness and eternal life live in that freedom our unit with Christ means that Jesus will live his life through you as you remember his death for you as you follow his spirit obey his truth as you as you consider that this was done not just for the world which he did not just for other people but this was done for me and this declaration by God that we have forever right with him we receive this perfection because we're united to Christ the perfection sinlessness only Jesus had we received by grace because were united to him that this doesn't happen by earning it it's received by grace now do you see Jesus love and death is something that was just for the world or do you personally see that Jesus love for you you just love and death was for you are you able to say with Paul he loved me and gave himself for me I would encourage you if you can't say that if you don't have that assurance if you don't if you don't have that kind of peace I ask you do not rest until you are done with whatever questions doubt sin is it that is keeping you from saying those eight words with all your heart he loves me and gave himself for me why does he love you think about that for a minute because he got warm fuzzy feelings about him he's got a good day yesterday you didn't get mad at anybody you didn't do anything overtly sinful you know but does he love you because you're not like those sinners on television addicted to drugs or you know sleeping around or whatever they do you know that's not you it does he love you because you have this perfect quiet time record that's been going on now for a decade or more no this pastor says he loves you because he gave his life for you he loves you because of the cross this is the language of substitution he took your place he was punished for sins he received your wrath why did he do that because he loves you he won't judge you because he was already judged for you he won't condemn you because he was already condemned for you this is the moment where you see his kindness offered to you and you say I surrender my life is yours and then for the rest of us who've done that but we still live in this tension of seeking our acceptance with God based on our works let the cross be an anchor for your soul let the cross dispel your doubts let it melt away your shame let the Cross declare his love for you instead of following your feelings let him let the cross tell you he loves you when you don't have those warm fuzzies when you don't have a perfect quiet time record when your life is a lot like those sinners on television and you are having lots of bad days all rolled up into one feelings doubt shame bad days all those things change the cross never changes it is a fixed point in history it is a permanent declaration that he loves you he loves you he loves you whether you have cancer or you're in remission whether you have a good job or lobster job whether your kids love you or think you're an idiot whether you have a great marriage or whether it's the worst marriage in the world jesus loves you this I know for the Cross tells you so let's live in that freedom let's pray the Jesus it is easy for us to hear these truths and to see these truths in this passage this passage that we read through very quickly and we don't stop and consider what is this saying it is so easy for us to do that have this knowledge in our head but that it doesn't affect our everyday walk with you please just move all of us a little bit closer whatever that would look like in each of our lives closer to you living your life through us closer to us trusting that you love us and you gave yourself for us closer to seeing ourselves as dead to the things that seek to enslave us and as accepted and loved by God as you are Jesus would you please be gracious to us and please do that in each of our hearts the glory of your name

Channel: Redeemer Bible Church

Views: 382

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Jesus, Bible, Redeemer Bible Church, Arizona, Gilbert, Mesa, Bible Church, Truth, Understanding, God

Id: Dif2rcahJRs

Length: 54min 42sec (3282 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 17 2017