Faith In Christ

Galatians - Freedom!  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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How to stand and remain standing before God.

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Please open your Bibles to

Read Galatians 2:15-16.

How do we stand before God?

One of the most profound books in the Bible is Job.
One of the most profound books in the Bible is Job.
No other book deals with God’s sovereignty and man’s suffering quite like that book.
It’s a difficult book to read as well.
The book is about a wealthy man named Job, who had everything taken away from him.
He lost his riches, his family, his reputation and his health.
The first couple chapters describe the tragedy that hit his life.
How Satan himself attacked Job.
Then the next 30 chapters or so, is a dialogue between Job and his friends.
What makes the book so difficult is that his friends sound like us.
At times they say things that seem right.
But in reality, they are wrong.
Basically, Job’s friends accuse Job of some hidden sin.
They say that the bad things that have happened to Job, have happened because he has some secret sin in his life.
They think that his secret sin has ruined his good standing with God.
That’s the whole book right there.
It’s Job’s friends accusing him of sin.
It’s Job declaring his innocence.
For the most part, Job’s friends are wrong.
But they do ask one good question.
And it’s a question that needs to be answered.
It’s asked in , “How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?”
This is THE question.
How can we be right before God?
How can we be seen as innocent before God?
If we have sinned, what hope do we have?
God is just.
God will not allow sin in His presence.
famously says that the wages of sin is death.
If we have sinned, then we deserve death.
How do you deal with that?
says, “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
You either have to say:
You’ve never sinned.
Or, you cannot stand before God.
And so if this is true, then we should ask the question right alongside Job’s friends.
Only the question is much more than how can Job stand before God.
It’s much bigger than that.
The question is how does anyone stand before God?
says, “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Everyone of us needs to be asking that same question.
How can I be made right with God?
You have sinned, how can you be made right with God?
Because if we are not made right with God, then the consequence is His justice … Hell.
So how are we made right with God?
Every religion in the world attempts to answer that question.
And they al approach it in the same way … you must do something.
You’ve got to do something to earn God’s favor.
Go to mass.
Take communion.
Do good works.
Be baptized.
But the Gospel is different.
The Gospel is Good News.
The Gospel is a message.
The Gospel is a declaration.
The message is what you must do … has been done for you.
Through Jesus Christ.
But this goes contrary to what comes natural to us.
\Man is able to stand before God in the most spectacular of ways.
Man has a tendency to boast.
To say, “Look what I have done.”
And yet, God is to receive all the glory.
God is to receive the credit for us standing before God.
says that this gift of salvation is “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
And for God to receive all the credit, all the glory … He must do all the work.
Here we are in .
Paul has defended himself against his opponents by saying that what he learned he learned directly from Jesus.
He has silenced his critics.
Then he argues with Peter, and reminds Peter of the Gospel.
He reminds Peter of how man can stand before God.
It’s not by anything we have done.
It’s because of what God has done.
And in , times Paul says the same thing 3 different ways
3 times he says it’s by faith, not by works.
He says we are justified by faith.
Justified means to be made right with God.
And he says we are justified by faith … not by works.
And he repeats that 3 times.
“we know that a person is not justified by works but through faith ...”
“so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
That’s the same statement in 3 different ways.
I was debating making the outline for this week the same point 3 times,
Not works
Not works
and Not works
Because that’s how Paul lays out his thoughts.
Just pounding home the message that it is not by works.
Instead, I thought we’d spend some time evaluating our own walk, and our own attempt to boast in Christ.
You see, I love Peter.
Peter’s not a villain.
He’s not the bad guy.
But look at how Paul corrects Peter in verses 15-16,
“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law ...”.
There is something Peter knows.
He’s learned it.
He’s grasped it.
The Gospel isn’t something he’s still trying to get a hold of.
He knows the Gospel.
He knows the truth.
He’s not on his way to becoming a Christian.
Yet, Peter messed up.
He’s compromised.
He’s drifted from truth.
Peter spent 3 years in training with Jesus Himself.
If Peter can drift to legalism.
So this morning, on this Lord’s day, let’s test ourselves, examine our own hearts, and make sure that the Gospel we hold to is one of faith alone.
We will do this by asking ourselves a series of questions.

The first question to ask yourself is, are you relying upon who you are or what you’ve done to stand before God?

We are a reformed church.
We believe in election.
We believe that God predestines.
We believe that God chooses.
And yet … that never means
How did your faith begin?
Paul begins by using election and predestination to prove his case.
Verse 15 says, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentiles sinners;”
We hear the Gospel and it is
Israel was a special people.
God chose Israel.
He chose them not because of anything they had done.
In fact, they had a pretty terrible track record of doing bad things.
All the way back, they frequently messed up and sinned against God.
Not only did God choose Israel, but He governed Israel.
God never revealed Himself to the Gentiles like He did the Jews.
He gave them rules.
He didn’t rescue the Gentiles like He did the Jews.
I know that
He gave them laws.
He said this is how you are to live.
Israel had much to be proud of.
They were to be distinct.
We are saved.
We are born again.
They were to look different from all the other nations.
We receive new hearts.
Paul says, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ...”
We obey God.
The tendency for those who have grace is to begin thinking they deserve that grace.
Paul says, “We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners ...”
That line of thought says, “We are closer to God unlike those who love to sin.”
What’s the assumption in that statement?
The Gentiles are worse.
The assumption is that the Jews are better because of their good works and obedience to God.
That their obedience makes them better.
Think of .
Jesus tells a parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector.
They both went up to the temple to pray.
The tax collector boldly stood out, in front of everyone and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”
What’s he doing?
He’s praising God that he is better.
He is giving himself the credit.
He is saying he gets to stand before God because of his works.
Then there was the tax collector.
He stood off by himself.
Ashamed.
Wouldn’t even lift his eyes to pray.
Instead, he beat his chest saying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!”
He knew that there was nothing in him to allow himself to stand before God.
We naturally become like that Pharisee.
And the longer we are in the faith, this danger increases.
We naturally begin to see our works and think that our obedience and our religious actions somehow keep us saved.
The
We drift towards legalism.
And the answer is nothing.
There’ve been many times I’ve sat down with a family after they’ve experienced a death in the family.
I ask if the person who died was a Christian.
And many times they’ll say, “Well, he was baptized.”
Then I ask, when was the person born again.
And often, I’m just given a blank stare.
Sometimes they’ll even repeat, “Well he was baptized.”
As if to say, “Doesn’t the baptism save you?”
There is a slide towards boasting in what we’ve done and what we do.
Thinking that somehow, this is what makes us right with God.
Strangely, our actions were never intended to save us.
Obedience to the law could never make us right with God.
says that because of Adam we all sinned.
We are all guilty because of Adam.
We all start not being able to stand before God.
You can hear David’s understanding of this when he prayed, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
The 2nd commandment teaches us how we invent god’s that we are satisfied with.
According to , the purpose of the law was not to teach us how to stand before God, but to reveal our sin.
The 2nd commandment teaches us how we invent god’s that we are satisifed with.
Think of it this way, have you ever had an X-Ray?
Does the X-Ray heal you?
No.
It reveals what’s inside.
It reveals the condition.
It shows you what is wrong.
The law does the same thing to our soul, it shows us what is wrong.
The 10th commandment taught us not to covet.
When we covet, we are saying that we are not satisfied with what God has provided.
That He hasn’t given us enough.
That law teaches us that it is wrong to covet.
And if you are an American , you’re probably pretty good at coveting
And so God gave the law to expose our sin, just like a doctor orders X-Rays to expose a broken bone.
But the law goes even further than just exposing sin.
says that the purpose of the law was to show how bad our sin was.
It says that the law was given so that sin might become sinful beyond measure.
The doctor holds up the X-Ray.
You say, “Is it bad?”
He says, “Oh yea it’s bad. It’s gonna kill you.”
When the attitude we need is that of the tax collector.
To cry out to God for mercy.
Understanding that all our best deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags.
And how do we do that?
How do we get to that point?
By remembering what we were.
By remembering our sins.
By remembering what we deserved.
We do that by going through the law.
Like a physical or an X-Ray, being reminded of what we were, and what we deserved.
And then when you come to that point of hopelessness, spiritual bankruptcy, then remember He who died for you.
I hope this doesn’t come off as too elementary for you.
Peter was in danger of this same error.
Paul said, “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ ...”
Peter knew this, but he had drifted from the truth.
What makes you exempt?
On a regular basis, remind yourself of what you were, what you brought, and how you were saved.

The next question to ask yourself is, Are you convinced Christ’s death is the only way to stand before God?

Where the first question hinges on what you were, this next one talks about what Jesus did for you.
Paul repeatedly uses the word justified in our text.
He says we are not justified by works of the law.
He says that we are justified by faith in Jesus.
Justified means to be made right with God.
Naturally, we are not right with God.
Our sin required us to pay a fine.
And the fine was death.
Romans says the wages of sin is death.
says the soul who sins shall die.
Have you ever wondered why there were sacrifices in the Old Testament?
Throughout the Old Testament, sacrifices were given.
It’s not that God hated animals.
Have you ever wondered why they don’t happen anymore?
These sacrifices acted as a stay for our own punishment.
They held off God’s wrath, they pushed it aside for a while, but they never removed God’s wrath.
There was a weakness in the Old Testament sacrifices.
says, “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
So while there were sacrifices all the time … they could not remove sin.
Have you ever found yourself in trouble with a creditor?
Maybe you tried to negotiate with them.
“Can you give me one more month?”
“Can you lower the interest?”
You asked for leniency.
The sacrifices in the Old Testament, put off the payment for a time.
Jesus came to fulfill those sacrifices.
Or to put it another way, Jesus came to pay off the debt of sin.
Those old sacrifices were shadows of a better sacrifice.
They were shadows of the death of Jesus.
Something I learned about shadows, is that shadows aren’t the real thing.
When you see a shadow, you should look up and see what is casting the shadow.
You don’t catch a fly ball by watching the shadow on the ground.
You look up and look for the real thing.
And in this instance, Jesus is the real sacrifice.
But under this second question, we are asking, “Are you convinced that Christ’s death is the only way for a right standing before God?”
The problem is that not that we don’t believe in the death of Jesus.
The problem is we think that we need Jesus and something else.
That His death wasn’t enough.
We think we need Jesus to get us on the path to holiness, we need Jesus to get us started, but then we have to give God something else to give us that extra push.
So maybe it’s:
Jesus and communion
Communion
Jesus and a really big offering
Jesus and baptism.
But it’s really Jesus alone.
We are justified, we are made right because of Jesus alone.
Our sins have earned a debt to God.
Our death.
An eternal death in Hell.
This means that God has called for an infinite, priceless payment.
If God is asking for a priceless payment what could we give Him?
We can’t give Him anything from this world.
It’s all temporary.
It’s all created.
It’s like giving God monopoly money, it’s not unacceptable to Him.
What do you have that is infinite and eternal?
The answer is nothing.
You have nothing to give to God that will pay off the debt.
Jesus is different though.
He is not created.
In fact He is the creator.
, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
He is infinite and priceless.
He has no sin.
His life is laid down, and satisfies that infinite debt that was owed to God.
And with His resurrection we know that the payment is accepted.
So what do you have to give?
Nothing.
I think of the words to the song, Rock of Ages.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
The words said,
“Nothing in my hand I bring”
“Naked, come to Thee for dress.”
When you sing that song, you are saying you have nothing to give, but the Cross of Christ.

The last question is, Are you trusting in Christ alone to stand before God?

Look at verse 16.
Paul says, “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law ...”
When you become a Christian there is something that you learn.
You can’t be a Christian without knowing these things.
Understanding Jesus’ death is Christianity 101.
But Peter had a problem … he knew this, but he was trusting in something else.
He was trusting in works also.
He was trusting in obedience also.
We can easily become like Peter.
We know the right answers.
I think of the kids in Sunday School, who you ask a question, and they always answer Jesus.
We know Jesus is the answer.
But there’s a huge difference between knowing the answer, and believing that answer.
When I was youth pastor, there were times we’d go rock climbing with the students.
It was a blast.
We’d climb up rocks.
We’d climb down rocks.
We’d go repelling.
It was fun to begin getting so confident that you could jump out from the rock and bounce all the way down.
We’d go to the top of a rock.
The instructors were great.
They were very patient, and they’d explain every part of the process, because they knew we were terrified.
They wanted to show how safe the event really was.
We’d have a harness on around our waist.
And they’d explain how the harness was built around safety.
They’d show where the rope was secured, and how there was no way for that rope to come displaced.
There’d actually be many ropes.
One of them would act as a brake and secure us in case something were to happen.
There’d always be that one student who was fascinated in all of it.
He’d memorize the rock climbing lingo.
He’d know the commands for climb and stop climbing.
He knew it all.
But none of that mattered till you walked off the top of the face of the rock and started repelling down.
You could know all the words, but if you couldn’t lean back into the harness it didn’t matter.
That first step off was the scariest moment.
You’d slowly back off the edge of the rock, and you’d have to trust that the ropes and the harness would support your weight.
That moment of putting your life into someone else’s hands is the best way for me to describe faith.
Faith is trusting your life in someone else’s hands.
When we’d repel, if someone didn’t completely lean back into the harness and trust it to hold them bad things would happen.
The goal was to walk on the rock.
To be able to stand at a 90 degree angle off of it.
But if you didn’t lean back and trust the harness and the ropes, you’d end up dangling.
Banging against the face of the rock.
You’d get hurt, and over all it wasn’t an enjoyable process.
We are justified by faith.
says that God is a jealous God.
says, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
God isn’t looking to share His glory with anyone.
He desires us to lean completely into Him and trust Him.
That’s what He wants.
But we make things complicated, and when we make things complicated … then we stop trusting in Him alone.

This is a simple message.

I didn’t bring you any cool illustrations, or fancy stories.
It’s an important one.
We see Peter drifted into error.
The treasure of justification by faith alone is something to be guarded.
Martin Luther once said that if the article of justification by faith alone is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost as well.
Today think about where you stand.
Celebrate Christ.
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