• If you’ve never been to one or it’s your first time here this Galatians 1:1-10 morning I would encourage you to try one out- we’re actually about to launch 3 more this month so stay tuned… No other Gospel Image Church // Galatians #1 And then we want to live on mission together- recognizing that Jesus MPS: Do not drift to a distorted gospel that’s contingent on you, stand firm on the has placed each of us where we are to be a missionary for His promises of the true gospel completed by Jesus. message… • In addition, we want to serve and love our community, and our city in a way that displays and distributes the gospel to Introduction others. And we want to mobilize people to take the gospel all Well Happy New Year Image Family, I can’t believe that 2019 is over the country and all over the world for the sake of Gods already here! I want to give big welcome all of our FTG’s that are here Kingdom! with us today…We’re excited that you’re joining us this morning! You say “wow, that’s a big vision for a 1-year-old church,” well we We’re a new church that’s about to celebrate our 1 year birthday serve a big God who uses people like a little boy with 5 loves and 2 here at the end of January, which is hard to believe, so let me just fish to feed thousands, so we believe that God can use us… say, if you’re looking for a church family, now is a great time to jump in with us as we enter into a new year together… We believe what Psalms 20:7 says: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. One of the things that we hold up all the time here is that we exist as to make disciples that live out what Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-38… And we gather here on Sundays, not as an event, but as a group of which is: to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and to love people, coming together to be reminded of who God is, and to your neighbor as yourself… celebrate what He’s done!
We summarize that by saying that want to be a church that Loves And the way that we do that is by holding up the Word of God and God, Loves each other, and lives on mission together… working through it together… We tend to go line-by-line and verse by verse as we letting the text to inform the topic and not the topic We want to love for God by learning more about who He is and what being projected over the text… He’s done by looking at His Word and allowing that to impact how we live… And this morning we’re kicking off a brand-new series in the book of Galatians walking through it from beginning to end over the next 8 We want to love each other by being in gospel community weeks … • We do this through location-based community groups that meet during the week all around the city… Where we do life By the way, if you’ve never experienced a sermon series through a together, dive into God’s Word and live intentionally… book- hang with us…I promise you that you’re gonna love it and in the end be amazed at how everything fits together and is so applicable. Alright, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to the book of I can kinda make it on my own, if I can just reorganize my life here, Galatians… and do some things there, follow these few principals, then I’ll be • If you don’t have a bible, we have one as our gift to you on pretty set… your way out… What happens is, when you first came to Christ you understood that As you’re turning there I want to set up the book of Galatians for you you had no ability, you had nothing and Christ had everything … But really quick… after you’ve been a Christian for a while you start to think: You know what, if I could just get: You may or may not know this, but in our society there’s 2 kinds of • 3 points on how to improve my marriage Bankruptcy- I hope that you haven’t had to experience either, but • 4 points on how to be a better employee there’s 2 basic types of Bankruptcy: Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 and • 6 points on how to be a batter parent1 they are both very different... • Chapter 11 bankruptcy is basically a reorganization- you’re Then I’ll be good to go… There’s some of you that have drifted there moving some assists around, dealing with some debts and this morning… flaws, fixing some problems, with the goal of turning things around and moving back into the profit margins… For some of you, your whole life has been about that, follow the rules, be religious and do the religious rituals, do the right thing, be a • Chapter 7 bankruptcy is much more serious, chapter 11 is good person… temporary, chapter 7 is permanent… You are broke, literally completely bankrupt, there’s no money left, no back up plan, Then there’s of you, that just think Christianity’s a set of rules that no getting your act together, or reorganizing, there’s no other you follow… And if you’re honest you’ve never really known how to options to fix things, the debt’s too big and there is no way for interact with Christianity, because if you look to much into it you start you to overcome it… feeling guilty, or it starts to feel cumbersome because you feel like you have all these things that you need to do for God… Here’s the parallel I want you to see… When you come to Christ, you • So, for you, it’s more something you’ve just kinda affiliated had to spiritually declare chapter 7 bankruptcy… the debt is too big, with, but you’ve never really understood it… there’s nothing I can do, there is no way I can clean up my act, or reorganize my life on my own, there is no other options to fix who I For some of you, you’re coming into the new year and you’re lacking am, I declare total and complete bankruptcy. God you have to pay the motivation spiritually… Or you’re looking for change, you want a fresh debt for me- you have to reset my life… start, or you want to turn over a new leaf…
But here’s the pull, here’s the drift that can happen… What happens What we’re going to see in the book of Galatians is that it speaks to is we started chapter 7 (the debt is too big, God has to pay it for me) all of this by holding up the centrality of the gospel… And that the but then we begin to drift toward chapter 11 bankruptcy… gospel’s not just the start of the Christian life, but it is the Christian life…
1 “Bankruptcy” intro adapted from Bruce Frank, sermon. Galatians: Jesus+nothing=everything. Tim Keller puts it like this: The Gospel isn’t the ABC’s of Christianity, it The book of Galatians is written by Paul to the churches in Galatia- is the A to Z of the Christian life, it’s the way that you go into the Galatia was a religion- it’s where modern-day Turkey is… Christian life and the way that you live out the Christian life… So, Paul’s writing to a region of churches… Some people mistakenly And here’s the thing, when you understand that, it fundamentally refer to the book of Galatians as Paul’s letter to the the church of changes everything… See, for many of you, you know about the Galatia… But he’s writing to the churches of Galatia… gospel, but you don’t understand the implications of the gospel on your life… That’s important for us to understand because what we need to see is that what Paul’s going to address here in Galatians is a major issue Which is why you’re always looking for a list of things to do, or why that’s spread to an entire region… you don’t feel spiritually motivated, or why you kinda ride the fence, • This isn’t about one person, or even one church… What’s with one foot in, and one foot out when it comes to Christianity… happening here is pervasive to the point where it’s effecting an entire region… A little over 500 years ago, a guy named Martin Luther initiated what was called the Protestant Reformation because for centuries religion Here’s the other thing that you need to see in these first two verses… and man-made traditions had covered up the gospel… Look at how Paul identifies himself… He says that he is an apostle. • The word apostle means one who is sent… Who was Paul sent And in all he considered Galatians to be the most important book of by?? the Bible… Well, he says he’s an apostle (which means sent)—not from men or by Because he said that Galatians explains what the gospel is not.2 man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised [Jesus] from the dead… And when we understand what it’s not it helps us more clearly see what it is! … So, you ready?? Here we go, we’re going to dive in from Paul is speaking with the authority of the one who sent him! This I the beginning and walk through this first section together… huge, next week we’re going to walk through Paul’s defense of this significance of it all, but what you need to understand today as we jump in is that When we read Galatians, we are hearing the Words
Galatians 1:1-10 of Christ. Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and 1 God the Father who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers 2 Listen, so many times people are always wanting a word from God, who are with me: they want a message, or a revelation or for God to speak to their To the churches of Galatia. situation… God’s already done that and given it to us through His
Word! Now, a couple of things you need to see right here out of the gate…
2 Facts on Luther from: JD Greear, sermon. Freedom in the in-between: A freedom worth fighting for, Gal. 1:6-10. For some of you, you wonder why you feel distant from God, its’ This letter is the Word of Jesus through his authoritative because you don’t spend time in His Word… representative Paul…
You want Spiritual motivation, you want life change, you want Let’s keep reading in verse 3: wisdom and counsel… Open your Bible it’s all there… 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present This is why every week we hold it up and walk through it together… evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To him be the It’s why I spend 20+ hours studying and preparing each week, so that glory forever and ever. Amen. I can teach it with clarity and accuracy in context with the intended meaning… What Paul’s done here in his greeting is set up a preview of what’s coming in the rest of his letter to the churches in Galatia… What you don’t need is some helpful insights from me, you need to • In verses 1 and 2 he claims authority for his message, and hear from God and the way that that happens is through His Word… then in verses 3–5 he gives a summary of that message. • Joke? • You want to make a New Year’s resolution, then make it about He’s gonna take these two things (the authority and content of his getting in the Bible! message) and lay them in that order throughout the rest of the book.3
I think one of the biggest problems within the church today is that it’s Verse 6: gotten away from the Word of God- it’s become more about 6 I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who motivational messages and catchy ideas that the truth of God’s called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Word… gospel—7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even May that never be the case here, we want to tether ourselves to the if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary Word of God and allow it to shape our worldview and how we live… to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!
If Jesus is Lord of your life, then you have to hold His Word up as the So, Paul’s ticked… There’s no typical warm-hearted greeting like he final authority in your life… You can’t claim Jesus but disassociate or normally does where he affirms and encourages before he jumps in minimize His Word… to his message…
It also means that you can’t pick and choose what you want to believe He just goes straight in- because of the significance of the problem from it… When you do that you’re functioning as god because you’re happening- there’s a “false gospel” bring preached- were going to get the one giving the final say and not Him… to that in just a minute, but you need to understand this is a huge problem, and remember it’s spread all over an entire region… So Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead Verse 9:
3 John Piper, sermon. To deliver us from the present age of evil. Gal. 1:1-5. January 23, 1983. 9 As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to Paul’s like why are you listening to this, why are you embracing it?!? you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him! You know the truth, why are you turning away from it… It doesn’t matter who is teaching it… even if it’s an angel from heaven YOU And then he gives a little cavate… DON’T LISTEN! 10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be That’s a pretty bold statement… Just file that away in case you have a servant of Christ. any angel sightings in the next few months…
Ok so let me give you a little context so you understand what going What you can’t miss in this though, is that what Paul says right there on here before we look at the application… directly goes against the very foundation of Islam and Mormonism… • Muslims believe that Mohamad heard from and angel… There was a group of people who had infiltrated the region of Galatia • Mormons believe Joseph Smith had a revelation from an called the Judaizes who would considered themselves to be Jewish angel… Christians… And what each of the “heard” directly opposes the message that Paul Here was the problem, they were teaching that in addition to Christ his holding up here in Galatians and the message that the rest of the there were certain laws that you needed to observe in order to be Bible holds up… accepted by God… So, if they tell you that you should listen because of the revelation of And if you do that— if you obey these laws— then you could an angel- you just take them to Galatians 1:8 where Paul answers transform yourself into the person that God wants you to be and you that for you! can be in right standing before Him. So, Paul has put a stake in the ground right out of the gate here in the Basically, the idea was Jesus + works of the law= salvation first 10 verses of Galatians… What can we learn from all this?
And this was not at all the message that how founded the churches in Well I think that there’s 2 questions that we need to ask ourselves: Galatia- the churches in Galatia were founded on grace alone, by faith alone in Christ alone. 1. Are you believing a false gospel?
And so, Paul’s confronting saying I’m shocked how fast you have Now for most of you at first glance you’re like, No shot- not me… turned away… In the original language- Paul’s making a hard contrast that they are doing the opposite of living in the grace of Christ… Here’s the problem- it’s so easy us to become blinded to our belief structure to where we don’t even realize what we’re actually They were embracing a false gospel… Gospel means good news- they believing… We may say one thing, by based on the way that we think were embracing something that’s not good news, it goes against the and live we functionally believe something else… a false gospel. good news of Jesus… It distorted the work of Jesus… Let me give you a general definition of what it means to believe a It’s so easy to fall into the lie of believing that God is sitting up in false gospel to help you understand what I mean and then I am going Heaven with a gradebook checking off what I did to decide whether to flesh it out… or not He is going to be mad or not.
You’re believing a false gospel: When you view your standing before Example: I remember my freshman year… God based on anything other than faith in the finished work of Jesus. • God why aren’t you doing anything for me on this end of things?!? Let me show you how this plays out… There are some of you with that same view… If you do the right things One of the ways is through Legalism the idea where your dependence then God is going to bless you… rests on your ability to follow the rules… • I literally thought that if I missed my time in the Word that I ran the risk of going 0-4 This is where you feel like God views you based on what you do… If you had a good week, you read your bible, you didn’t get into an Some of you fall into this same thing when it comes to your job, or argument with your wife or anybody, you didn’t lose your temper and your career, or any other big moments in life… You think if I just walk kick the dog if it was the cat it would have been fine… It’s been a the line then God will bless me with the promotion I want, or the pretty good week… raise I have been after, or that God will exalt you to a place of power… That God will bless you because you have behaved well for So, you feel like you and God are good, that He is pleased with you Him. this week… And so you can hold your hands high in worship because you feel like the week has been pretty good… That’s legalism! Because God’s blessings are tied to your behavior…
But then there’s the week where things don’t go so good… You didn’t Let me tell you what else is tied to legalism… this is how false gospels read you Bible, you got into arguments, you lost your temper, and work- a slippery slope… But when you function under legalism you were bitter an in a bad mood all week that might have even led (following the rules- doing the right thing) you get tied up in Guilt… to some other bad stuff… Guilt is when you feel disqualified and God’s grace isn’t good enough And on those weeks you don’t feel like you can worship God because or sufficient for you… You wanna talk about a ploy from the enemy- you’ve screwed up, you don’t feel worthy to raise your hands becasue this is one of the top ones… failed Him, you feel like you have no right to worship… I know yall • This is something subdues you, it paralyzes you… You know know exactly what I am talking about… exactly what I am talking about, Guilt is one of the worst feelings you can have… Listen, I don’t know about you but the fight against legalism is grind o There is a difference between conviction and guilt… for me… Conviction is designed to bring you back the gospel, guilt keeps you away from it making you feel unworthy… Now, let me be clear on this before I move on because I don’t want to What you don’t need is another New Year’s resolution, what you pendulum to swing the complete opposite direction in this… need is a NEW LIFE! New life that can only be found in the true Gospel of Jesus… Paul’s not against the law. It has its place… What he’s against is elevating the law to a place where you assume it makes you more The reality for us is that we are dead in our sins, not drowning, not right with God, or that it’s the secret to experiencing power in the being swept away, WE ARE DEAD… Christian life.4 We lived according to the ways of this world, We lived out our fleshly So, don’t hear me say do whatever you want then chalk it up to desires, in our actions and thoughts, grace… That’s not what I am saying- and if that’s you, then you don’t understand the magnitude of the grace that you’re being flippant Because of that we are under the wrath of God for our rebellion with… The grace that Jesus offers compels us to respond… against Him…
The gospel isn’t freedom to sin, it’s empowerment to run from it! But Paul in his intro alludes to something in his intro in verse 3&4, and that is that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to rescue us! Something else that’s tied to this false gospel is focusing on your power to change instead of God’s power to change you. See, even though we were dead in our sin, God is rich in mercy, because of that He offers us the opportunity to be made alive again I don’t know about you but I’m a fix it guy – tell me the problem and I through Christ. want to try and find a solution… Jesus would come and live the life that we should have lived and then That may work with household projects, but it doesn’t work when die the death that was meant for us to paying for our sin and we’re talking about legit life change… See, the problem is we want to experiencing the wrath of God in our place… know how to be better people, how to change, how to get a fresh start… And then He raises from the dead, and He offers us new life in Him and the work that He has accomplished on our behalf… What are the steps that I can take…? This is why so many people love • Example: The great exchange sermons that give you a list of things to do- “3 ways to be a better mom” “4 ways to love others” “5 ways to be a better you” … We call And what you have to see in all of this is that you you are saved by those do-do sermons… Because they tell you to “do” this and “do” grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— that… not from works, so that no one can boast!
Listen, if you came in today and you’re looking for life change the There is no other gospel apart from grace alone, by faith alone in answer isn’t mustering up a new you or turning over a new leaf… Christ alone!
4 JD Greear, sermon. Freedom in the in-between: A freedom worth fighting for, Gal. 1:6-10. A false gospel says do, the true gospel says done! Real quickly, let me give you the last question you should ask in light of this passage. Application: 2. Are you defending the true gospel? [******Start Vamp*****] So, listen, what I need you to understand is that when you believe anything other than grace alone, by faith alone in Christ alone you Paul was defending the true gospel and willing to confront the are distorting the gospel, minimizing and degrading the finished opposition… Paul went up against an entire region, you can at least work of Jesus… walk across the room…
When you lay in bed at night and assume God is viewing you based on He says in verse 10: how you have lived you’re tuning your back on the work of Christ… 10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Press in here… a servant of Christ. • When you have a bad week… o The thing is you never really have a “good week” Does approval of man affect your willingness and boldness to share the gospel? • When you are feeling guilty… Do you understand that the most loving thing that you can do is • When you start thinking that your actions merits Gods present the gospel to someone?? blessing… Listen, if there is one true gospel - and the implications are real- then o He has already given you the blessing and it is one that you didn’t deserve and cant work for! how could we not share this to people who are lost and dying??
• When you start trying to change on your own by trying to You should be willing to defend it… you should feel empowered to conform and you get frustrated… defend it…
o Remember that faith in Christ is where true change is found… You don’t conform to a set of rules or Conclusion principals, you respond to the grace that you have Some of you need to walk out of here with a renewed boldness and a been given… renewed conviction for sharing and defending the gospel…
One of the things that God is teaching me is that I have to start going Others of you have been believing a false gospel and it is time to reset back to the gospel quicker and holding onto it and I keep moving your eyes on the finished work of Jesus… through life… • Explain… (Talk with G) I feel the weight of my sin and I have to Others of you need to trust in Jesus for the very first time… trust that the gospel is true and real and get back to it ASAP otherwise I am wrecked… Everything starts adding up and it is overwhelming and then I become paralyzed…