Jesus + Anything = Spiritual Slavery
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Galatians 2:1–10 (ESV)
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Summary of Events
Summary of Events
We’re told in these verses that Paul, after 14 years, went up to Jerusalem again.
When Paul and Barnabas were with the church in Antioch...
These same types of false teachers came in and declared the same thing they’re declaring to the churches of Galatia.
Paul’s gospel isn’t enough.
Paul’s gospel doesn’t truly make you acceptable to God.
Paul’s gospel doesn’t truly gain you acceptance into the family of God.
And, these false teachers were claiming to have come from the church in Jerusalem...
With the backing of the Jerusalem Apostles and Leadership...
To convey this message.
In Acts 15 we find out that they had no such representation granted to them...
And as it finally weighs out, they were declared false...
And the Jerusalem Apostles and Leadership “voted them down.”
The very council in Acts 15 shows us that doctrine matters.
This whole epistle is an argument that doctrine matters.
The whole Bible is proof that doctrine matters.
Everything Paul is saying is a proclamation that doctrine is eternally important.
Truth Matters
Truth Matters
Have you noticed that in our culture being spiritual is hip?
We don’t live in an “Un-Spiritual” Society.
It’s the hip thing to do...to act spiritual.
Let’s talk about Astrology and how the position of the stars will dictate what happens to us today.
Let’s talk about fortune telling and how cards and intuition controls our destiny.
It is HIP to meditate on nothing, to “pray” to no one, to be mystical in your conversations...
We want, as a culture, to claim that we’ve been liberated...
And, make it sound spiritual.
But, what is not wanted within that whole bag of “spirituality & mysticism” is doctrine.
In that kind of system there is no room for absolute truth.
And, why is that?
Because truth informs you regarding how you should feel about something.
And, in that system each individual is supposed to define their own truth.
If you were on a plane and before the plane motored out from the gate...
The pilot got on and said, “So, we’ve been having some trouble with our engines lately. They have actually cut off a few times in the air the last couple of days. We hope this doesn’t happen again because it will most likely cause us to crash. Our mechanics have been real busy and haven’t had a chance to repair anything lately. But, we have a good feeling about today. We feel deep down it’s going to be a wonderful flight. As a matter of fact, we feel like we can say we know its going to be a good flight. Right, Bob? Right, Captain. So, just sit back and feel the warm fuzzies with us.
What’s going to happen?
Your knowledge of truth is going to kick in, which is engines fail, especially when they are not maintained. And, they are likely to fail more frequently when they have been failing more regularly. So knowledge of mechanics informs you.
And then your knowledge of gravity informs you of what happens if you fall from a mile high to the ground.
So, truth is going to keep you from staying on that flight and sharing the same sentiments as the pilot…that everything is going to be okay.
IOW, truth doesn’t let you to do whatever you want and feel good about it.
When a culture’s motto is “Do what makes you feel good!”...
It is not a culture that will be very accepting of absolute truth.
Unless “truth” is allowed to be defined by each individual on their own, truth will be scoffed at.
Which isn’t living under truth at all.
It is enslaving yourself in a system of false belief.
It is just another system that is for the purpose of soothing and searing the conscience...
And, suppressing the truth of God in unrighteousness.
And, that is not Freedom, it is Spiritual Slavery.
Paul knows the path of the False Teachers...
Is a path that does not lead to liberation, but slavery.
What is at stake here is this...
Do You Want Freedom or Slavery?
Do You Want Freedom or Slavery?
Listen to this quote from George Whitfield, well know Puritan Preacher, and our propensity towards making ourself acceptable to God.
Whitfield says, before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must not only be sad for your sins, you must not only be troubled for the sins of your life, but likewise, you must be troubled over your best duties and performances.
When a poor soul is somewhat awakened by the terrors of the Lord, then that poor one, being born under a covenant of works, flies directly to a covenant of works again. As soon as he’s awakened and he senses his need for God, he says, “I will be mighty good now. I will reform. I will do everything I can, and then certainly Jesus Christ will have mercy upon me.”
As Adam and Eve hid themselves among the trees of the garden and sewed fig leaves together to cover the nakedness, so the poor sinner when awakened flies to his duties and to his performances to hide himself from God. Before you can be certain Jesus Christ is in your heart, you must be brought to see, not only that your sins must be done away with, but your righteousness.
You must see all your duties and all your righteousness all put together are so far from recommending God to you, so far from being any motive and inducement to God to have mercy on your poor soul that he will see them to be filthy rags and that God hates them and cannot but put them away if you bring them to him in order to recommend you to his favor.
That is a powerful biblical truth.
Listen, if you want true freedom, true liberation of spirit, true freedom from guilt...
Then you need to know what is actually being argued by the false teachers.
Look at Galatians 2:6...
Galatians 2:6 (ESV)
6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
When Paul says they added nothing to me...
He’s saying that they added nothing to the gospel he was preaching.
They agreed that it was the gospel of Jesus. Christ.
This is beautiful.
The other Apostles didn’t say, “Faith in Christ, but we want you to be circumcised. We want you to be baptized. We want you to do this. We want you to do that.”
No, faith in Christ. Period.
Anything else destroys the freedom.
Galatians 2:3 (ESV)
3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Paul even took Titus as a way to prove that circumcision wasn’t necessary.
If circumcision was necessary, Titus would have been circumcised.
Titus would have come back circumcised.
Titus was a living witness to the truth of the gospel.
That it is Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
So, what are the False Teachers trying to add to the gospel?
They Weren’t Arguing That Christians Need to Obey the Moral Law.
They Weren’t Arguing That Christians Need to Obey the Moral Law.
Because Paul teaches that Christians should obey the Moral Law of God.
It’s very easy to prove from Paul’s writings that he taught that Christians should pursue obedience to the moral law of God.
As a matter of fact, even though you cannot be justified by keeping the moral law...
Paul would say a truly justified person has a new heart that desires to obey God.
So, what are the False Teachers adding to the gospel.
They’re adding that you must keep the ceremonial law of God.
Here’s the thing...
The Moral Law sets one apart ethically.
The whole world is bound to the moral law of God.
We see that in the whole of the Bible, but specifically in the opening chapters of Romans.
The Ceremonial Law set one apart culturally.
It is the customs of the culture.
What sets one nation apart from the other.
The Ceremonial Laws were how you could become clean...
And, therefore, presentable before God.
Do you remember the vastness of the clean laws?
You can’t touch this or you become unclean.
You can’t eat that or you become unclean.
If you come into contact with this or you become unclean.
If your body does this or that you become unclean.
What does unclean mean?
What are the ramifications of being unclean?
You could not approach God in worship.
You couldn’t go to the Tabernacle.
You could not join the “qahal” (the assembly/church) in its gathering.
And, you have so many of these laws that it was impossible for someone to keep it.
As a matter of fact, even the priests, when they were to approach God in their holy garments...
They still had to have a sacrifice to cover their unholiness...
And, the unholiness of their holy garments.
It was absolutely impossible for someone to keep.
If that is the case what was the purpose of the Ceremonial/Clean Laws?
#1 Purpose of the Clean Laws
To show a person that there is absolutely no way you can make yourself clean.
There is no way you can make yourself acceptable to God.
I mean, if you were trying to keep the ceremonial laws...
And, the Jews did try.
You’re spending all of this time thinking about what you can and cannot do.
Can’t touch this…Can’t touch that…Can’t eat with this person… Can’t eat this kind of food.
There’s a reason the religious leaders came up with all of those 500+ extra laws.
It was because they were trying to stay clean.
But, in the end you just cannot keep or make yourself clean.
And, so, you need a sacrifice.
An ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices.
And, who is that sacrifice? Jesus.
#2 Purpose of the Clean Laws
They were to set up a hedge between the Jews and other nations.
It was to make it hard to fall in love with pagans, it was to make it hard to enter business relations with pagans.
It was to help keep the Jews from being seduced into worshipping false gods of other nations.
Now, we’re told in Hebrews 9 et al. that these clean laws were never intended to purify...
And make clean.
The blood of bulls and goats could not atone for sins.
And, that Christ was the fulfillment of those laws.
So, what now?
Were those Ceremonial Laws worthless? No.
What do we do with them now?
We honor them.
How do we honor them? Does that mean we try and keep them?
No. The way we honor the ceremonial laws is by trusting that Christ has fulfilled them on our behalf...
Just as Jesus, the book of Hebrews, & the NT teaches us.
As a matter of fact, if you want to dishonor the Ceremonial Laws...
And dishonor Christ, you try and keep them.
Because it dishonors the laws and Christ by keeping them...
Because it is declaring that you don’t believe Christ fulfilled them.
Galatians 2:6 (ESV)
6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
The gospel is not a call to become a Jew, culturally.
It is a call to admit that your sins and your righteousness need atonement.
And, that you need God to make you acceptable.
And, God does so by faith alone in Jesus Christ, alone.
How Is this Relevant to Christians Today?
How Is this Relevant to Christians Today?
Galatians is showing you the problem in your life.
The main individual problem, and the main root of the corporate problems we have in relationships...
Is we are trying to add something to Jesus as a requirement for being acceptable.
We’re trying to add something.
Galatians 2:4 (ESV)
4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—
This verse should be extremely sobering.
It ought to make us extremely careful to what we say that sounds like a requirement of Christianity.
The verse says because of false brothers...
These were people in the church.
These we people who thought they were Christians.
They thought they were liberated in Christ...
But, because they were adding to Christ they were actually in slavery.
The Church in general, and we as individuals are very good with making our own list of ceremonial/clean laws.
There are a lot of people in Churches that hang the Ceremonial/Clean laws over peoples head.
Listen, that is not biblical.
It’s damaging to the Christian, the Christian life, and the Christian community.
Church Health Diagnosis:
One of the things that is a very unhealthy thing about the “Church” in general is this...
We (individual Christian’s) are always comparing ourselves to one another...
To see if we have it more together than someone else.
Paul says that kind of thinking is foolishness.
Once we convince ourselves that we have it more together than others...
Then we pursue to convince people that they should live like we live.
And, even if it isn’t from a motivation of adding something to Christ...
It can certainly come off that way.
And, we stand in danger of making others feel like there are ceremonial laws they must keep in order to be fully accepted by God.
This is so critical for the Church to understand.
And, this is so liberating to the church corporately...
And, individually.
What We Preach & the Way We Live Can Preserve the Gospel for the Next Generation.
What We Preach & the Way We Live Can Preserve the Gospel for the Next Generation.
We preserve it objectively through defending the doctrine.
We defend it subjectively by living like we believe it.
Can I just confess to you that I care too much what others think?
I do.
And, there is a level of our Christian thinking that we should care about that...
IOW, we want our testimony to be faithful to the Lord.
And, we want people to be properly informed of our beliefs.
But, we should not worry about what people think of us at the expense of our freedom in Christ.
When we do it is preaching a sermon, whether we like it or not.
As a pastor, I understand that my words and actions can be very influential.
I have withheld from doing things that I’m free to do biblically.
Because of concerns of what people may think.
But, I’m more and more convinced that it is damaging to the Christian life to do so.
And, my passion for the ministry.
I can’t explain how burdensome it has been at times as a pastor to try and not displease people in the church.
And, I’m speaking of freedoms within the biblical realm of Scripture.
I’m not talking about explicit sinful behavior.
Not only is there a huge list of expectations that we create for one another, which is wrong.
But, there is a much greater list made up for pastors.
But, the truth is, I cannot, nor should you, live in some sort of spiritual prison because of people’s misunderstandings of God’s Word.
Does that make sense?
I can’t live by someone else’s understanding of what is modest or not modest.
I can’t live by someone else’s understanding of what is an appropriate:
Movie.
TV size.
Length of dress.
Too lavish of a house.
Too nice of a car.
I can and should only allow Scripture to inform my conscience.
And, I also should not lay my opinions on those subjects upon other people...
And measure their Christianity on whether or not they live like me.
When we do such a thing we are adding ceremonial/clean laws to the gospel.
Oh, how much better the church would be if this was the way we lived and interacted among one another.
Let me just get really personal & relevant right now.
I may make some of you mad, by saying this.
Because this is a “Hot Item” right now in Christendom.
And, so that makes it relevant to be discussed and informed.
But, my goal is not to upset anyone, but be biblical.
I’m going to speak to the COVID vaccination.
Please withhold any “Amen” regarding what I say.
Just bite your tongue, please.
Whether you get the vaccination or do not get the vaccination is a personal, individual decision.
There’s no Scripture that you can go to that says...
Thou shall not. –or– Thou shall.
The Scripture you can go to is “Liberty of Conscience.”
You go do your research, you pray over it, you come to a conclusion based on what you’ve researched and learned...
And prayed over.
And then you sleep at night.
But, know this...
As soon as you say “Christians should.” -or- “Christians should not.”
You’re laying out an opinion that at best sounds like a requirement...
And, I believe many say it as a requirement.
And, I’m telling you it is damaging to the Church.
And, it is damaging to Christianity.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve considered walking away from the ministry over this kind of thing.
I think God just hasn’t let me.
He’s just kept my heart captivated to preaching the Word...
And ministering to His sheep.
But, it is such a burden to see the “Church” in general behaving in such a manner.
In the last 20 years there has been a huge revolt of young people...
To either walk away from the Church...
Or start planting their own with the hopes of losing the Ceremonial Requirements that have crept into the “Church” in general over the last 80 years.
It’s been a huge knee-jerk.
And, when knee jerks happen the shift is usually too far.
But that is another sermon.
What I long for in Christianity is for it to be fleshed out in accordance to what Paul is saying here.
Galatians 2:3 (ESV)
3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Galatians 2:6 (ESV)
6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
Oh, how sweet the Church would be in its gathering if we added nothing to the gospel.
If we added nothing other than faith in Jesus Christ to being a Christian.
Paul wasn’t saying that it was okay to break the Ten Commandments.
But, he was saying there is nothing but Christ that can make you clean...
And presentable before the Lord.
As a matter of fact, the very way you do a dis-service to the Ceremonial/Clean Laws is by trying to keep them.
Because Christ has kept them on your behalf already.
And, by trying to keep them, you are saying Christ has fulfilled them on your behalf.
Sola Christos.
In Christ Alone!
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer