First Things
Galatians: Life in Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsPaul's opening addresses a key theme in Galatians by establishing the parameters of the gospel
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Galatians is one of Paul’s most passionate letters because in it he was writing to combat a false teaching that was threatening the purity of the gospel.
There were a group of people who would come in behind Paul and the other apostles on their missionary journeys and try to convince the churches they had planted that Paul hadn’t preached to them the full gospel.
They would try and convince the new converts that Paul didn’t have the authority to tell them they didn’t need certain elements of the law (circumcision). They would try to convince them that Paul was trying to soft-pedal the gospel in order not to offend anyone.
This is a main reason why Paul took up his pen to write this letter, to correct these false teachers and re-establish the pure, true, unadulterated gospel.
Body
Body
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul’s introduction of himself:
Paul, an apostle = eyewitness of Jesus sent by Him with His message.
Probably written early on (48 A.D.)
Maybe right before the Jerusalem Council?
not from men nor through man = my authority isn’t derived from a human being
but through Jesus Christ and God the Father = divine commission
who raised him from the dead = new dispensation
and all the brothers who are with me = I’m not alone
To the churches of Galatia (Modern-day Turkey)
Area Paul would have been familiar with after visits there on his first and third missionary journeys
Greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ...”
This is a common greeting from Paul (Rom., 1/2 Cor., Gal., Eph., Phil., Col., 1/2 Thess., Phile.)
Double purpose here because of the temptation to follow a works-based gospel
Exclusivity of the message = it comes from God the Father through God the Son alone
JESUS
who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
who gave himself
Sacrificial emphasis
Cost incurred on our behalf
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
for our sins
For the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23)
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
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.
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.
Jesus Died for You Because He Loves You (1:4a)
Jesus Died for You Because He Loves You (1:4a)
Jesus Loves Me began as a poem taught to Civil War soldiers to comfort them while on the battlefield facing death and eventually was put to music and into the hearts and minds of children who grew up going to Sunday School.
Basic truth that we learn as kids, and the Bible DOES tell us so...
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Love of Jesus for us is most clearly seen in His willingness to pay a price that you and I couldn’t pay.
We want to be able to pay it, and that’s why this Galatian heresy was so appealing to the Christians.
“If you want to be forgiven by God, acceptable to God, you CAN! That’s why the law is there. Obey this, read this, do this, attend this, stop this, eat this but not that, wear this but not that...”
This appeals to our pride, our want to be able to do something in order to close the gap between us and God.
We can’t. Jesus could. Jesus did. Praise God.
What’s more, Jesus did this willingly!
Some want to point to the cross and call it cosmic child abuse, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Jesus wasn’t forced to die for us, his life wasn’t taken from him against his will.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Paul continues in verse 4 focusing turning his attention to the impact our sins have had on this world.
who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
to deliver us
Rescue
Peter being “rescued” from prison in Acts 12:11
Also in Matthew 18:9 “to tear” out and throw it away
from the present evil age
Would you describe this world as evil, as wicked?
Murders, abortion, hatred, anger, glorification of sex and violence
Do you look around this world, this “age” and think about how we need rescuing?
We aren’t victims of this present evil age.
Before Christ we are citizens of this present evil age!
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
If you were caught in a riptide, being dragged out into the middle of the ocean, and someone came along and snatched you out of that riptide, rescued you, delivered you to safety, how long do you think that event would stay with you, would stay in your mind?
Jesus has delivered us from something far more serious in saving us from this present evil age. Yet how quickly do we tend to forget this?
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Before Jesus saved us, we were in a bad way. What’s worse, we didn’t even realize it! JESUS didn’t save us when we were crying out for salvation. He saved us when we were blind to the danger we were in (Romans 5).
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
We can see this blidness in this world.
This world rejoices in things that God hates, that God despises, and they have no idea that they are storing up wrath for themselves like Paul says in Romans 2:5.
The attack on marriage
The attack on gender
The rejection of God
Greed
Envy
Hatred
Anger
It’s easy for us to be shocked at this, to get angry, to be amazed at how evil people are, but this was us before Christ. We weren’t all as wicked as we could have been, and we weren’t maybe even as wicked as most. But we were wearing the uniform, playing for their team, and following their captain, and we needed Jesus to rescue us!
Y’all, Jesus delivered us from this age and the fast-track to hell, because of an overwhelming love that He has for us, and that should cause us to Praise God!
who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
according to the will of our God and Father
Did you know the cross was part of God’s plan from the outset?
41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
More than that, did you know that God had you in mind from the outset?
Sometimes when you’re out fishing you’ll pull up a fish that you really don’t care to keep, but it’s legal length, and you’re not sure what else you’re going to catch, so you toss it in your bag. That’s not the way salvation works.
Every person saved by God is saved intentionally as a part of His divine will to deliver us from this present age through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins.
The Father Gave the Son for You Because He Loves You (1:4b)
The Father Gave the Son for You Because He Loves You (1:4b)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Ephesians 1:3-14 TURN AND READ (Emphasis on sovereignty of God in the unfolding of our salvation)
When God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit set about the plan of redemption through the cross, you were in view.
7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
You are part of God’s intentional plan of salvation.
You didn’t sneak into God’s family, you were adopted into God’s family through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!
Recognizing this should again prompt us, cause us, lead us, to Praise God!
5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
This is the purpose of everything else we’ve covered so far. God saved you to use you to glorify Him!
20 The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
See Your Salvation as a Stage for God’s Glory (1:5)
See Your Salvation as a Stage for God’s Glory (1:5)
A platform is intended to elevate a person to command a room as they speak about something or sing about something. Our salvation is our platform, our stage, that God has provided for us to stand and command the room as we tell others about how great JESUS is.
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Blessed be the God and Father… (PRAISE GOD!)
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story (Hamilton) “And when my time is up, have I done enough?Will they tell my story?”
One thing I want to accomplish through this series is to cause us to worship God more for what we have in JESUS, for what HE’S done for us. I want this series to stir our affections for JESUS as we come to appreciate or even understand more of what the true gospel means for us.
Our life isn’t lived so that at the end we ask “who will tell my story?”. Our lives should be lived telling HIS story and what He’s done in our lives.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I want you to wake up every day so amazed by what God has done for you in JESUS that you can’t help but think about how you will glorify Him that day. I want you to have to make a conscious effort NOT to talk about JESUS instead of having to make a conscious effort TO talk about Him.
This is only going to happen if you LOVE JESUS MORE as a result of this study. I think that’s what Paul was after with the Galatians as well.
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 4:19
Application Questions
Application Questions
We know the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, yet so often we fall back into the mindset of thinking we can contribute to that equation through our good works or obedience to the law. Why are we so prone to this thinking? What should we do to daily guard against allowing such thoughts to creep into our minds?
There are many people in our culture right now who would agree that this world is evil, wicked, and in need of change. What makes a Christian’s perspective of the world as evil and wicked different from that of a non-Christian?
What evidences of God’s sovereign plan do you see in the circumstances surrounding your salvation that confirm that it was part of His divine plan to save you?