The Dangers of a Distorted Gospel

and particularly this morning as we come to galatians chapter five and i want to read to you the first six verses and that will be the text that we'll be talking about this morning galatians chapter five starting at verse 1 it was for freedom that christ set us free therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery behold i paul say to you that if you receive circumcision christ will be of no benefit to you and i testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation to keep the whole law you have been severed from christ you who are seeking to be justified by law you have fallen from grace for we through the spirit by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness for in christ jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love now we all understand the message of this wonderful polemical book it is a political book in the sense that it's the defense of the truth against the assaults of error the apostle paul had gone into the region of galatia and he had preached the gospel and the gospel is that salvation comes by faith alone apart from works that no sinner can contribute anything to his or her salvation it's all a work of god all the sinner does is reach out an empty hand to receive a gift by faith the gospel of grace the gospel of faith was the true gospel and paul said any other gospel is to be damned cursed only the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in christ so paul had gone to galatia planted churches in a number of cities and churches were flourishing they had heard the gospel believe the gospel they had been justified that's a forensic work by god more than that of course in addition to that they had been regenerated they had been converted they had been transformed they had a new nature and the holy spirit took up residence in their hearts so they had experienced the fullness of salvation personally they were moving in the power of the holy spirit they had seen the power of god in their own lives everything was going down the right path until some jews came from jerusalem and these these jews have been called judaizers in the new testament because they want gentiles to be judaized to turn them into jews under the notion that you can't just go from being a gentile to being a child of god since they believed that the jews are the people of god since they are the chosen people of god before you could ever become part of the kingdom of god you had to become a jew you couldn't become a jew obviously genetically but you could become one kind of officially ceremonially they called this a proselyte there were certain rites that would happen and you would enter into judaism and only in that way could you then enter into the kingdom of god and salvation in jesus christ so they were coming to these churches not only in galatia but all over the apostolic preaching world they were telling people that believing in christ faith alone was not sufficient for salvation they had to come through the entry which was judaism and that required that they acknowledge the role of circumcision and the keeping of the mosaic rituals and ceremonies and ordinances not the internal moral law but the external laws that identified israel as a nation apart from the other nations so they were preaching essentially salvation by faith and works and saying that unless you acknowledge these works and do these things you cannot enter the kingdom of god you cannot be justified forgiven saved and enter into his eternal kingdom this is an all-out attack on the gospel of grace and faith and paul addresses this entire epistle to that simple point salvation is by faith alone apart from works in the opening two chapters he gave a personal set of proofs personal evidences from his own life you could call it a historical argument from his own personal experience he had been saved marvelously transformed from a persecutor of the church to a lover of the one he persecuted his own testimony is proof that salvation is by faith he lived his whole life in the works system of judaism and only when he turned from that to faith was he justified and transformed so first two chapters are a personal testimony the next two chapters chapters three and four are a biblical testimony and he defends justification by faith by going back to the old testament the first is a kind of personal argument experiential argument from his own life the second is a doctrinal or theological argument from passages in the word of god and we've just gone through that in chapters three and four now he comes to chapters 5 and 6. and this is the end of this wonderful letter but it's a tremendously important section what he shows here is the justification is true as proven by the experience of believers you could call it a moral argument there is a moral transformation there is a transformation in desires drives longings there's a transformation on the inside that gives people all new desires all new longings and a new love so he shows here the evidence of justification by faith in the actual transformed lives of believers first it was his own testimony then it was the testimony of the old testament scripture and now the testimony of the believers themselves they should not even be listening to anyone who says your salvation has not happened you have to back up or take this turn and go through circumcision and the jewish ceremonies they shouldn't have even been listening because they had already experienced the power of god the spirit of god in them plenty of evidence for the transformation so in this section because some of them were being led astray in spite of their experience paul looks to that experience and particularly the ministry of the holy spirit if you'll look at chapter 5 just run along to verse 5 he starts to talk we through the spirit that's his first mention of the spirit here down to verse 16 walk by the spirit to verse 17 it talks about the flesh setting its desire against the spirit the spirit against the flesh verse 18 talks about being led by the spirit verse 22 talks about the fruit of the spirit verse 25 live by the spirit walk by the spirit we could say this is the spirit's chapter and the reason he addresses this is because this is the evidence of a justified soul the work of the spirit and that he referred to back in chapter three verse three when he said having begun in the spirit do you think you're now perfected by the flesh if you go back essentially you're turning your back on the spirit and pursuing the flesh this then becomes a very practical practical set of proofs for the doctrine of justification by faith it is evidenced by the work of the holy spirit in the life of believers now verse 1 begins with a very strong statement it was for freedom that christ set us free the implication is he set us free to stay free he set us free to remain free therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery you just got out of one slavery as a gentile you got out of the slavery to sin and the law and death and satan don't go back again to a yoke of slavery keep standing firm in your freedom now just a footnote at this point and i want to address it because i think it's so very important we've talked about in previous weeks this antinomian idea uh this is a view of the christian life that says uh you don't have to pay any attention to the law of god uh now that you're a saved person all your sins are forgiven so what you do is already cared for and covered and by the way christ lived a sinless life that has been basically attributed to your account it has been imputed to you christ's perfect life has been credited to you as if you lived it you're forgiven of all your sins and his life is now in place of your life so don't worry about what you do we're free we're under grace um you don't need to live under some kind of burden of duty and responsibility and obedience this is a very very popular idea particularly in the superficial kind of christianity that we have today where people want jesus in their life to give them what they want but they don't want to change their life it's great to be able to say hey take jesus and he'll apply his life to yours don't worry about what you do and he'll forgive all your sins that antinomianism is far from what scripture teaches and here's a good illustration of it the first statement it was for freedom that christ set us free and what follows immediately is a command therefore in a very strong command keep standing firm do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery immediately after saying for freedom christ set us free he gives them a strong command no believer is out from under the commands that are laid out for us in the word of god yes for freedom christ has set us free but that does not mean we have no obligation to god to honor him and obey his moral and spiritual commands our former life as gentiles was under the slavery of sin and we might not have known it but under the slavery of the law of god even though we didn't know the law of god as pagans the galatians could say it was god's law god's moral law was was in action and it would be based on that law that we would all be damned and along came the gospel and jesus christ was our liberator and jesus christ in an act of emancipation set us free from our bondage to sin and the law and death and now we are free paul says you need to remain free what kind of freedom is it well it's freedom from the burden of sin freedom from relentless guilt freedom from an accusing conscience freedom from the tyranny of our transgressions freedom from the terrible pressure and frustration of trying to be something other than you can be freedom from in a word sins dominance you've been set free set free and now don't go back into some kind of bondage now i want to say just a few more things so i'm going to digress for a minute i am deeply concerned about the popularity of these anenomian ideas that you can be a christian live any way you want to live i see it all the time so do you in the media the notion that now that i'm a christian all my sins are forgiven jesus is on my side he loves me unconditionally he lived a perfect life for me it's credited to my account so it doesn't really matter what i do nothing could be further from the truth absolutely nothing could be further from the truth i want you to turn in your bible for just a moment to titus chapter two titus chapter two we'll get some significant help from this portion of scripture we find in verse 11 this statement for the grace of god has appeared bringing salvation to all men we understand that the grace of god appears in the person of christ and he dies and rises again and and provides salvation the grace of god has appeared bringing salvation but notice the next verse verse 12 instructing us now the antecedent to that and the subject that is acting on that verb is the same grace of god the grace of god one has appeared bringing salvation to all men the grace of god too is instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly righteously and godly in the present age looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great god and savior christ jesus who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a people for his own possession zealous for good deeds these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority let no one disregard you now i just want to capture the essence of this the grace of god has appeared bringing salvation yes salvation by grace but at that point grace doesn't disappear it takes over and we see in verse 12 the grace of god instructs us to deny ungodliness when people are under the law the law is external the law is instructing them externally from outside of them to conform to something they have not the ability to do along comes grace and saves them and now the grace of god begins to instruct them because the grace of god in the form of the holy spirit has moved inside of them and begins to instruct them to do what deny ungodliness worldly desires those are the negatives the positive lives sensibly righteously godly all of this because verse 14 god redeemed us to purify for himself a people for his own possession zealous for good deeds and verse 15 says don't let anyone get around this truth don't let anyone disregard this great truth grace has become our instructor and i want to have you look at the word instructing for a moment because it appears a little bit benign in this text it is the greek verb pie duo pie duo and i only mention that because of its other uses it means to instruct yes but in a far bigger sense than that word would indicate it includes to reprimand it includes to discipline and it even includes to punish this verb is used twice by luke in the gospel of luke to mean punish paul uses it also ii corinthians 6 9 in the sense of punishment the grace of god is a full orbed instructor training us disciplining us reprimanding us and punishing us it is used in second timothy 2 25 and translated correcting us if you think that because you're under grace you're free to do whatever you want you have no idea how far off you are the instruction came from an external law now it comes from an internal spirit in fact look over at the 12th chapter of hebrews for just a moment and you will will be familiar with this verse 5 my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the lord nor faint when you're reproved by him so it's discipline with reproof verse 6 those whom the lord loves he disciplines and he scourges every son whom he receives it's disciplined with scourging that's a kind of form of punishment in verse 8 the word discipline appears again in verse 9 the word discipline appears again and we are reminded that all fathers disciplined their sons and if you're not disciplined you're not a legitimate son verse 10 says we're disciplined for a short time but discipline for our good so that we may share his holiness discipline for the purpose of holiness verse 11 admits all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful yet to those who have been trained by it afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness it's discipline for holiness it's discipline for righteousness here's the interesting thing it's exactly the same verb pie duo it's the grace of god that instructs us that is the same grace that sets us free in galatians all right back to galatians there is no excuse for anyone to come up with the idea that now that you're a christian you're not responsible for anything you're free to do whatever you want free to sin not at all for the first time you're free to do the right thing and you're empowered to do the right thing and you're taught to do the right thing so freedom is not just deliverance from the oppression of legalism or the law or sin it is the endowment of the power and presence of the holy spirit so that you can do the right thing and since you have been transformed you desire to do the right thing if somebody comes along and says to you you know i'm free to do whatever i want if they say well i'm a christian but i'm not under law i'm not under any obligation i'm not i'm not going to live my life by law and duty and responsibility i'm free if they tell you that you have every right to question their christianity because sanctification is not an option it is a work of god just as much as he elected us justified us and will glorify us he is sanctifying us and all of that sanctifying instruction and discipline and correction and punishment is going on internally by the holy spirit freedom then is now an enabling to walk in the spirit to live in the spirit to see the fruit of the spirit produced to live with joy and gratitude doing the will of god from the heart not a freedom to sin it's a freedom to do what is right so i just want to make clear that point again in this text now let's go back to verse 1. it was for freedom that christ set us free he did it he set us free not on our merits not on our accomplishments or our works he did it how did he do it back in chapter 3 verse 13 he was made a curse for us he did it by taking our place and receiving the divine curse that we deserved by becoming a curse he set us free the price was that high christ had to become a curse to set us free please don't go back into what he died to deliver you from for freedom christ set us free it is ridiculous to imagine that you walked out of the prison the lord having opened the gate only to make a right turn and go back into another one do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery he set you free in john 8 36 says whom the son sets free he shall be free indeed he's really free no longer under the penalty of the law no longer under the full tyranny of the law and one day free from even the presence of sin the galatians aren't already sons not slaves they're already free they don't need to go back into bondage gentiles going back to mosaic law they never even knew about because they needed to work some part of their salvation on their own in swinging back to the externals of the law of moses they would be nullifying the work of god therefore keep standing firm do not be entangled in echo or or oppressed by a yoke of slavery don't go back now there was a lot of effort going on turn to acts 15 for just a moment remind you of it a lot of effort going on by jews who claim to be christians who are going around to gentile congregations and telling them they had to become jews first they had to become proselytes they had to affirm circumcision and the keeping of all the restrictions and rituals of the mosaic law that god gave to israel and it got to such a point that there was a council meeting in jerusalem among the leaders of the church and in acts 15 1 here's the beginning some men came down from judea and began teaching the brethren unless you are circumcised according to the custom of moses you cannot be saved down in verse 5. they were of the sect of the pharisees and they stood up in that meeting in jerusalem and said it's necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the laws of moses and then down in verse 10 the question is asked now therefore why do you put god to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear but we believe that we are saved through grace the grace of the lord jesus in the same way as they also are it's grace it's faith why are you putting this yoke of slavery on their necks they had been saved out of paganism they didn't need external judaism to qualify for justification now i want you to notice something carefully i want you to notice the pronoun as it appears here you'll see the word you a couple of times in verse 2. you'll see it again in verse 4 a couple of times this is very important paul is talking to someone you someone in a group that he's not a part of because in verse 5 he begins for we it's very important that you see that distinction here's what's happening there are people in this gentile congregation who on the surface have become a part have come to understand the gospel have to some degree accepted the truthfulness of it but they are in danger of coming to the brink of salvation and turning away and heading in the direction of law some of them had already made some moves back in chapter four and verse 10. paul says to them you observe days and months and seasons and years some of you are already caught up in the mosaic feasts in the mosaic sabbaths you're going that direction and this is a warning passage severe warning passage in verses 1 to 6 he warns them about the danger of false doctrine in verses 7 to 12 he warns them about the danger of false teachers so for this morning let's just look at the false doctrine the false doctrine said you have to be circumcised or you can't be saved it's a small thing just acknowledge a minor surgical operation this will open the door to the kingdom of god for you and then follow the mosaic prescriptions faith is not enough mosaic ritual circumcision has righteous merit so paul says this if you do this you who are contemplating it if you do this here are the results number one verse two behold i paul say to you that if you receive circumcision christ will be of no benefit to you that is a stunning statement that's why it says behold because it's shocking behold is an exclamation i paul i an apostle and more than that a circumcised jew proud of my heritage proud of my judaism living my entire life under the mosaic restrictions i paul this jewish patriot i'm telling you if you receive circumcision christ is of no benefit to you this is this is the dilemma it's christ or works it's all christ or no christ it's all faith or no salvation if you get yourselves circumcised and this indicates that they hadn't yet gone this far if you do this if you've come to the brink of salvation by faith and you turn and go the way of law christ is of no benefit you've canceled christ this is a severe danger this is a shocking statement somebody might say well i believe in christ but but i also think works are a part of it you just canceled christ christ is no benefit to you there is no hybrid salvation if you accept circumcision thinking it necessary for your salvation you just forfeited christ romans 11 6 if it is by grace it is no longer on the basis of works or grace is no more grace it's either grace or works all of christ or none of christ you say but there are so many people who profess christ claim christ acknowledge christ and think their works contribute to their salvation they have no connection to christ he is meaningless to them no matter what they say faith and works cannot go together this is basic to the doctrine of salvation it is impossible to say i want to receive christ thereby acknowledging that i cannot do anything to save myself and then go do something that i think helps to save myself you have to choose if you add anything to christ you lose christ i know we like to say well you know there are lots of people in lots of forms of christianity and they go to church and and uh they believe in in christ and they believe in god and all of this and it's just isn't it just a minor deal that they're trusting in their their works their their infant baptism their adult baptism or or their adherence to rituals and sometimes their moral conduct no if you are depending on any thing other than christ you have no benefit from christ if you submit the circumcision you have canceled christ christ is everything christ is all and in all now many jews were disqualified for this very reason they they actually came to believe some things about christ we read about them in romans 9. israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not arrive at that law why because they didn't pursue it by faith but though it were by works so they stumbled over the stumbling stone many jews had some affirmation of christ but it was christ plus their religion christ plus their circumcision their mosaic obedience and they rendered christ useless second effect verse 3 and i testify again me the circumcised life-long pharisee until my conversion i i lived in all this i testify again to every man who received circumcision if you do that you have placed yourself under obligation to keep the whole law i testify again martura my i affirm literally could be translated i protest further every one of you who lets himself self be circumcised you have just placed yourself under the law if you're going to be saved by law then you're responsible to keep all of it what does it say back in galatians chapter 3 verse 10 as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse for it is written cursed is everyone who doesn't abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them in james 2 10 whoever shall keep the whole law and offend in one point is guilty of all so if you're going back under the law you have to keep the law perfectly and you've already been disqualified because you've lived as long as you have without doing that and you'll continue to live that way false doctrine renders christ profitless and puts you under the bondage to the whole legal system then this shocking statement in verse 4 you have been severed from christ that is just amazing say well can't you have can't you believe some in your baptism and your works and and the things that you do the rituals that you go to and your morality and also believe in christ no no if you're counting on any of that for your salvation you are severed from christ that is a violent word a violent word you are cut off from him this is the message really repeated many times in the book of hebrews look at hebrews chapter 6. this is an illustration there are people apparently in the galatian churches who said they believed and they'd come they'd come to be a part of the church but they hadn't come all the way to christ and so they're standing on the brink and they're being seduced by these judaizers to go the way of works and they're very much like those in hebrews 6 verse 4 who were enlightened who tasted the the heavenly gift tasted the the reality of salvation they got a smattering of the experience of salvation and the work of the spirit these are people in a congregation that had been ministered to by the apostles they'd seen apostolic power probably apostolic miracles they they tasted the good word they sampled the divine revelation they they saw the powers of the age to come miracle powers and then have fallen away it's impossible to be renewed again to repentance seeing they again crucified themselves the son of god and put him to open shame if you've come all the way understanding christ understanding the gospel of grace and faith and you turn and go back to works you are severed from christ in a really fatal way because you knew the truth and when you knew it in its fullness you turned your back and walked away you're severed from christ listen to what it says again a warning in hebrews 10 my righteous one shall live by faith and if he shrinks back my soul has no pleasure in him if he goes back to works but we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul when you get to the brink of considering whether you're going to believe and receive christ by faith or go the way of works understand this turn your back on christ and you're severed from him he is speaking of interested but unconverted folks that's why he calls them you there's no middle ground here it's all of christ or none of christ all of him none of us but that's not all there's another effect if you go the way of hybrid religion christ has no benefit to you you're a debtor to the whole law you are fallen from grace you are severed from christ you have literally fallen from grace you've fallen out of the category of grace you stood on the platform you looked at salvation by grace you turned your back you went the other way you've fallen from grace and those are the words essentially used in hebrews 6. if you try to invent any hybrid gospel christ profits you nothing you're a debtor to the whole law you're severed from christ you're fallen from grace and a final verse five you're excluded from righteousness the very thing you seek will never be yours verse 5 notice the change in pronouns for we we now he's speaking of believers including himself for we through the spirit by faith are waiting for the hope of righteousness we have to wait for the hope of righteousness because it's a gift from god we literally as to ourselves it is through the spirit by faith that we eagerly await the hope for righteousness we're not trying to earn it we're waiting for it and in our sanctification the lord gives it to us as a grace gift and one day in our glorification he'll give it to us perfectly we through the spirit by faith our waiting i love the fact that he used the verb waiting this is something god has to do for us and in us and is doing it by his holy spirit if you follow the path of any works you have lost the very thing you hoped for righteousness it comes only by waiting in faith on the work of the holy spirit conclusion verse 6 in christ jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love that's all that matters the whole law is fulfilled by faith and love believing god loving god it's all gone internal it's all gone inside it's faith working through love our hearts are literally drawn to god in trust that's what faith is we live trusting god and we live loving god and as a result loving those around us as well it's a working faith it's a living faith it's a growing faith it's an increasing faith it's a growing love it's an increasing love it's a it's a multiplying love as we wait and the spirit in grace does his work in us i can't think of any passage in the new testament which is more terrifying to people who are in some form of hybrid christianity than this if you think your works are part of your salvation christ profits you nothing you're in debt to the whole law to keep it perfectly you are severed from christ you are fallen from grace you are excluded forever from righteousness i read about an artist who wanted to assemble his life masterpiece and he worked on it for years and years and it was some kind of combination of natural elements stones and things and he brought them into his studio and he kept building and building and adding and adding and adding until it reached the point where it was finished and then he realized it was too big to get out of the room and i thought about the fact that that's essentially what happens to people who are trying to earn their way to heaven everything they've built isn't going to get out of the room spent all your life trying to work your way to heaven and that's the one place you'll never be christians wait in faith and love walk in the spirit and let him do the work

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 61,148

Rating: 4.8533835 out of 5

Keywords: Truth, Gospel, Christianity, Law, Grace, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Bible, Scripture, Biblical Preaching, Exposition, Expository, Sermon, John MacArthur

Id: y9chUuloF-4

Length: 44min 27sec (2667 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 14 2018