Life in Christ

In Paul’s farewell address to the church of Ephesus, he told the Ephesians in , “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.”

will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Paul knew the danger was of a similar, but not quite the same thing kind of Gospel infiltrating the church.

He knew that if someone preached something similar, but different, people would fall for it.

His biggest fear wasn’t some completely different religion.

It wasn’t atheism.

It wasn’t evolution.

It wasn’t Islam.

It was something close to Christianity.

Something that developed within Christianity, but was different.

He knew the danger of it, so he hammered the same thing over and over and over again.

You ever get clovers in your yard?

They start off as just a little sprout.

And if left unchecked they spread.

They grow.

Clover isn’t like a normal weed.

It’s hard to find that single root.

It’s all so connected.

So the way I fight clover is by chemical warfare, spray poison on it, the kind that kills the weed but not the grass.

But you’ve got to act on it.

And you’ve got to be diligent.

You’ve got to frequently spray, and respray.

Because it spreads fast.

That’s why Paul said, he preached on the same thing over and over again for 3 years.

Since the start of the year, we’ve been in Galatians.

Paul is writing to the Galatians, because they’ve got clovers in their spiritual life.

Chapter 3, he will say, “Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”

“Who let those clovers grow?”

This is the perfect storm.

It’s everything Paul has ever feared.

They’ve embraced something that is like Christianity, but not Christianity.

They still acknowledge Jesus.

But then they also say that you need to do certain things if you want to be saved.

They’ve got clovers in the lawn, and Paul is going to pull some weeds.

Paul is once again going to teach against legalism.

Because it’s a weed that easily spreads.

Charles Spurgeon said of legalism, “The idea of salvation by the merit of our own works is exceedingly insinuating. It matters not how often it is refuted, it asserts itself again and again and when it gains the least foothold it soon makes great advances.”

That sounds like clovers.

If you don’t deal with them, they spread.

If you don’t deal with legalism, it spreads.

Have you ever been prescribed antibiotics?

The doctor says take the whole prescription, until it’s all gone.

Even if you think the symptoms have disappeared, keep taking that prescription.

Because you don’t want the infection coming back.

We are going to go again against legalism.

We need the whole teaching.

Because we don’t want the infection coming back.

I know you know the truth.

But like clovers in the yard, we need to be frequently reminded of truth.

Paul spent 3 years preaching to the Ephesians this same truth.

He preached it to a church.

They knew the truth.

But like clovers in the yard, we need to be frequently reminded of truth.

And in this text, I would say this single passage might even be the central and most important part of Galatians, Paul lays out 4 reasons to avoid legalism.

This is in Galatians 2:17-21.

Let’s go ahead and read the dangers of legalism.

Read .

Paul is arguing with people that say you need to believe in Jesus and do works.

Paul plays a game of pretend with them.

Pretend you are right.

Pretend we need to do something.

In their case, it was let’s pretend that for you to go to heaven you must believe in Jesus and you have to continue obeying the Jewish Law.

But in our case, it would be let’s pretend that for you to go to heaven you must believe in Jesus and you have to start eating only at Chick-Fil-A and shopping at Hobby Lobby.

Pretend that in order to go to heaven you must believe in Jesus, and you have obey the law.

What would that mean?

And so Paul gives us 4 reasons to avoid legalism.

First, Paul says it Makes Christ Wrong.

Verse 17, “But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! “

To understand this we have to begin with why did Jesus die?

Jesus died to pay for sins.

It’s why He came.

The big theological phrase is penal substitutionary atonement.

Jesus died, was punished and was a substitute in my place.

We hear it read at Christmas, , “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

He paid for our sins.

And they are gone.

As far as the East is from the West.

Gone.

And for you the believer, how are you viewed by God?

I John says you are a child of God.

has very strong language about the Christian.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

That language is phenomenal.

We are conformed to the image of Christ.

We are justified.

What I am most astounded with is we are glorified.

The thought of going from sinner to saint.

Or going from depraved to glorified is huge.

I feel so unworthy.

But, if suddenly, you have to maintain that status by doing the right things, obeying the law

Wearing the right clothes.

Eating the right food.

Celebrating the right holidays.

Now there is a law.

And what happens when you break that law?

Then you are a sinner.

This is where there is a problem.

Because Jesus was supposed to take away sin.

John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Our hope is completely tied up in Jesus dying for sin.

And He would need no help from you in the removal of your sin.

In , Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

He didn’t say, “No one can come to the Father, except through you and me working together.”

He was very clear … it’s only Him.

And Jesus will never lose any of those He has died for.

, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

Yet, if somehow, after your sins have been removed, you can once again be called a sinner.

Put sins back on top of you.

Meaning you are back under the curse of the law.

Meaning you have not had your sin fully removed.

Meaning that you have somehow removed yourself from the grace of God.

If that has happened, what does that say about Jesus who said those things would never happen to you?

It means Jesus lied.

This means that Jesus is not only unable to do what He said He could do, but He has lied.

He said He was truth.

But if He’s lied, He’s not truth.

And as a Christian our goal is to see Christ as glorious.

We desire to worship Christ.

Legalism challenges our ability to see Jesus rightly, because it means He has lied and He is not as great as He said He is.

But what happens if we go back under the law?

Legalism challenges our ability to see Jesus rightly, because it means He has lied and He is not as great as He said He is.

Legalism reduces our understanding of Christ.

Which in turn affects our ability to worship Jesus.

Because how can you worship a Jesus who has lied, or is unable to do what He has said He would do?

Which is completely save you and keep you.

Truthfully, you can’t.

And so Paul points out that legalism, makes Jesus wrong which goes against the Christian faith.

Next, if we go back under a law, it Makes You a Sinner

Here are some fun theological questions for you.

If a Christian sins right before he dies, does he go to heaven?

If a Christian lies on his taxes, sends them in, then has a heart attack, is he going to Hell?

If a Christian is on the road, gets cut off, and says to the car that cut him off, “I hate you.”

Then immediately, gets sideswiped and dies, before he has a chance to repent, where does he go?

The Roman Catholic Church answers the question in this way.

In their own catechism, they say, “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

So the Roman Catholic Church has developed a theology that says after becoming a Christian, there are things that you need to do, to maintain your salvation.

It puts people back under a law.

But it’s not just the Catholics, there is always a draw to place people under a law.

Even we have that leaning, and we are not Catholic.

That pull, that tug is within us as well.

We can create laws that we expect Christians to do … that simply don’t exist.

Let me give you some examples.

I may step on your toes as well.

But here are some laws that good Christians, often put upon other Christians, expect of them.

You must wear a suit and tie to church on Sundays.

You ever been in a church where that was expected.

I think there was a time that was the norm.

You cannot wear sandals to church on Sunday.

Uh oh, some of you might be in trouble here.

You cannot wear a hat to church.

You cannot wear a hat backwards … ever.

You must listen to Christian music.

You must read your Bible in the morning.

Clergy and Pastors must wear a robe.

And there are other rules.

Sometimes theres wisdom in those rules.

Others are purely cultural.

The problem, is that we create these rules, and we expect others to follow along with them, and if they don’t, we say then there’s no way they are going to heaven because a Christian would never do that.

Paul clearly saw the problem with this type of thinking.

And it’s more than just saying it’s mean.

Look at verse 18, “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

What do we know about the death of Jesus? It paid for sin.

describes why Jesus died.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Why was Jesus pierced?

For our transgressions.

For our sins.

What was laid on Jesus?

Our iniquity.

Our sins.

What was the result of His death?

We have peace with God.

By His wounds we are healed.

How complete was the death of Jesus?

It put an end to all sacrifices.

says, “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Those who Jesus died for, are no longer called sinners.

But now we have peace with God.

Think of the announcement of the angels when they appeared to the shepherds on that cold, dark, night, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”

says that sin is lawlessness.

But in Christ, we are no longer lawless, but we have peace.

Because of Jesus, a Christian is justified, no longer called a sinner.

Because the law has been fulfilled.

Jesus paid the debt.

And the expectations of it, are satisfied.

And now if some new law, some new level of expectation comes around that a Christian is expected to obey, what happens if he doesn’t obey it?

What if he wears a hat in church?

What happens if he doesn’t wear a suit?

What happens if he dies before he repents or sees a priest?

Paul says, “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

He says, I become a sinner … again.

And what are the wages of sin?

Death.

So you once were a sinner, but that debt was paid.

But if the law is still binding, then even though your sins were paid once, you can fall back into debt again.

Legalism says Jesus couldn’t keep you saved.

Legalism removes your hope.

Legalism destroys the Christian religion.

And what’s the cure to legalism - continue to put a high value on the Cross of Christ.

And see it alone as what gets you into heaven.

The 3rd reason to avoid legalism is that it Makes You Live For Yourself.

Look at verses 19-20.

“For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is 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.”

Remember doing group projects in school.

They were the worst.

And even today, working with groups is hard.

Why?

Because they depend upon you depending on others.

You split up the responsibilities.

You can’t finish the project until someone else does his part in the job.

And then when you get it, when you see the work that others have done, most of the time it isn’t done right.

If it’s a paper, someone didn’t format it right.

It’s filled with misspellings.

It’s frustrating.

Group projects are hard because you must depend on others.

The Type A person, the overachiever, often says, “I’ll do it it all.”

Why to you do it all?

Because your grade is on the line.

You work hard because you are thinking about yourself.

The theme of Galatians is Freedom.

And Paul makes that theme of Freedom crystal clear in verses 19 and 20.

You are no longer judged by your performance.

He says, “For through the law I died to the law.”

Why?

Because my performance condemned me.

Paul says, “I died to the law.”

He says, “I have been crucified with Christ.”

Legalism says its you who you need to pay attention to.

Your actions make you right with God.

And you must deal with the consequences of your actions to be made right with God.

But grace says something different.

Who is it that received the payment for your sins?

Jesus.

CJ Maheney is a preacher who says, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord’, the old negro spiritual asks. And we must answer, ‘Yes, we were there, not as spectators only, but as participants, guilty participants, plotting, scheming, betraying, denying, and handling him over to be crucified.’ We may try to wash our hands of responsibility like Pilate, but our attempt would be futile. Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, leading us to faith and worship, we have to see it as something done by us, leading us to repentance. Only the man or woman who is prepared to own his share in the guilt of the cross may claim his share in its grace.”

I was at the cross because it was my sins Jesus was dying for.

Over and over again, Paul keeps saying:

“It’s Christ.”

“We are in Christ.”

“I’m in Christ.”

Over and over again Paul is telling us to take our eyes off of ourselves and look to Jesus.

And I need to hear that.

Because we still want rules.

We want to be told what to do.

Astronomers used to look to the skies and view the stars, but they didn’t know a whole lot about them.

I knew a young man who was a rowdy young man.

Kind of wild.

He got involved in a very legalistic group.

It straightened him out for a while.

His mom even approved of it, because she said the rules gave him structure.

He ended up becoming very legalistic.

And then in the end abandoned the faith.

It was too exhausting.

We too want rules.

How often should I pray?

How much should I read of the Bible?

Then in the late 1700’s a man named William Herschel developed a new kind of telescope.

How many people should I evangelize too?

It brought the stars into focus.

Parents you ever give your kids reading requirements before they can plan a video game?

It brought clarity to them.

You have to read for 30 minutes, then you can play a video game for 30 minutes.

New formations were discovered.

Maybe you give yourself those kinds of requirements for church.

I went to church today.

So now I can watch a 2 hour movie.

New stars were discovered.

Paul doesn’t answer any of these questions for us.

The Gospel acts like a telescope.

He doesn’t say, “This is what you need to do.”

Instead he says we live to Christ.

It brings our

And what’s Paul’s motivation?

It’s not because Jesus said, “Do this.”

At the end of verse 20, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

What’s the motivation?

It’s not a law.

Jesus loved him.

Jesus gave himself for him.

Jesus purchased us on the Cross.

What’s the motivation?

It’s love.

And now out of love, we live for Him.

This means we aren’t waiting to be told what to do.

Some of us are like robots, and we only do what we are programmed to do.

No more.

No less.

The bare minimum.

Sometimes I struggle with this.

I do it with evangelism.

I am told in the Great Commission to go and make disciples.

As I live my life, make disciples.

Share the Gospel everywhere and to everyone.

Sometimes, I go evangelizing.

Maybe it’s GTTV or at the junior college.

And then I pass up opportunities to share the Gospel, because I already did it earlier in the week.

That’s not love.

And maybe you do that in other areas.

You think:

You went to church on Sunday, so you satisfied your weekly requirement of fellowship.

I already saw a bunch Christians once this week, so I don’t need to do it again.

I served in one area, so I don’t need to serve again.

We are looking for a standard a bare minimum.

But now we are living by the law of love.

Imagine if you lived this way with your husband or your wife.

“What’s the minimum that I can do for you to keep you happy?”

My motivation is I love Christ.

Maybe you are here today, and you are wondering, “What do I need to do?”

You have questions.

How much should you give?

How much should you participate?

And you want a number.

How does love answer those questions?

I now live for God.

The money I have is Christ’s money.

I give out of love.

Which is generous.

My life is Christ’s life.

He’s gifted me.

Now I live it for His glory.

The question isn’t how much time, but am I using my time for His glory?

But legalism robs us of any of these fun questions.

Because legalism says:

“It’s my money.”

“It’s my life.”

Legalism destroys the Christian religion.

And the worst consequence of legalism is it Makes Christ’s Death Meaningless.

There are some who have suggested that there are actually multiple ways to heaven.

They think that God has given us 2 paths to heaven.

There are those who are good and they get to heaven because they’ve done all that God has required.

Then there are the rest of us, who have sinned and need Jesus.

There is perfectionism, and then there is grace.

It might sound nuts, but a lot of people really do embrace that first path.

There are actually a couple types of people who think that there really are good people who can go to heaven because of their goodness.

For example, there are some theologians who think that those who are Jewish, get a free pass if they perfectly obey the law.

They don’t need Jesus, they have the law.

Then there are others who know really nice nonChristians, and they have a hard time seeing how they don’t go to heaven, after all they are really nice.

Think of a family member who wasn’t a Christian.

A mother or father, who wasn’t a Christian.

They loved you, raised you well.

They had strong values and morals.

You have a hard time imagining how someone so kind would not be in heaven.

Someone like that.

Look at what Paul says if there are two ways to heaven, a grace way and an obedience way.

Verse 21, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

If you can get to heaven by good deeds he says 2 things.

First, you nullify grace.

There is no grace, because you’ve earned it.

Suppose a man is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.

He’s in the court and the judge wants to know what he pleads innocent or guilty.

If he didn’t commit the crime:

He’s not going to plead guilty.

And he’s certainly not going to ask for mercy and grace.

Because he didn’t do anything wrong.

Instead, he’s going to talk about how good he is.

Innocent people don’t ask for mercy or grace.

And more shockingly, Paul says that if you can get to heaven by works, he says Christ died for no purpose.

If you are saying you have no sin, then you are saying you don’t need Jesus.

Which means that His death was in vain.

You are saying it had no value.

You are saying it was meaningless.

Or as Paul says, “Christ died for no purpose.”

Why no purpose?

Because if all you needed to do was do certain things … then Jesus didn’t need to die at all.

Because you could have done it on your own.

Such a thought should be the worst thing in the world to think about.

It is a blasphemous thought to say that Jesus wasted His time and His life.

Especially as we aim to exalt Christ.

Most of our songs talk about the death of Jesus.

But they are now meaningless.

That would make … meaningless.

That would make Christmas and Easter meaningless.

That would make Sunday meaningless, because you don’t need an empty grave.

Legalism destroys the Christian religion.

Legalism isn’t just wrong, but it destroys the Christian faith.

That’s why Paul said it was his biggest fear.

Because:

It says Christ is a liar

Puts you back under sin.

Puts you under bondage to having to live perfectly.

And empties Christ of a demonstration of His own love and robs Him of accomplishing anything.

You cannot have Christ and the law.

We have to pull those weeds when we find them.

Because they are deadly.

How do we combat this?

Knowing that God has spoken truth through His Son Jesus Christ.

Knowing that if Christ died for you, that you’ve died and been judged already, and nothing can reverse that.

He will not lose you.

Look to live for Christ.

Letting your love for Him to be your standard.

In fact letting your love for Him be the law of your life.

And never doubt the effectiveness of Christ’s death.

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