June 18, 2006 - To Free Christians Everywhere: Galatians Chapter 2

By: Rev. Steve Bass

June 18, 2006

Scripture Meditation: Galatians 2

INTRODUCTION

• Maybe I’m a masochist- but I wish Mark Belue was here to critique these sermons on the book of Galatians
• Now Mark is my brother in Christ- and a good friend
• But he could be brutally tough on some of the sermons I preached
• From time-to-time- he would send a LONG e-mail on some point of theology or Biblical interpretation
• I LOVED getting those e-mails!
• Mark is a smart guy with a deep knowledge of the Bible- and he always challenged me and made me think
• One of Mark’s regular pet peeves was his conviction that I should have gone into more depth on a certain point
• You should have said this
• You should have mentioned that
• Or Why did you leave this out?
• In one response I told him: Mark- you can only go into so much depth in a 25 minute sermon
• I think it drove him a crazy when I wrote that
• But now that he’s doing some preaching I THINK he’s coming around...a little bit anyway

TRANSITIONAL REMARKS

• I bring all this up because I feeling some of that 25 minute frustration this morning
• We’re going to be looking at Galatians chapter 2
• And I’m telling you:
• There’s so much stuff in there
• I could spend the next two or three weeks on this chapter alone
• But if we want to be able to get to the Thanksgiving & Christmas sermons in time we can’t do that-
• So I want us to focus on a few verses in particular
• Because they constitute the heart and soul of Paul’s message to the Galatian church
• Before we do that- let’s read Galatians chapter two in its entirety

NOT EVEN TITUS WAS COMPELLED TO BE CIRCUMCISED

• Last week we talked about the main problem Paul was addressing in the Galatian church
• He had taught the Galatians that salvation was a free gift of God’s grace that was activated through faith in Christ
• But then men from Jerusalem came to Galatia claiming to represent Peter, John and the other disciples
• They said that faith in Jesus wasn’t enough
• That if you REALLY wanted to be saved you had to...
• Believe that Jesus was the Christ
• And obey the Jewish Law
• At the very heart of this debate was the issue of circumcision
• In the OT God had established the requirement that all Jewish males had to be circumcised
• Turn with me to Genesis 17:9-14
• Evidently the men from Jerusalem were telling the Galatians: The disciples have prayed about this thing- and decided that...
• If you want to be saved and become a full member of God’s covenant community
• You’ve got to be circumcised
• So- what’s the problem? You get circumcised
• Yeah- it’s gonna hurt like crazy for a few days-
• But you’ll get over it. It’s not a big deal
• Well- Paul understood that it WAS a big deal.
• He realized that...
• If you keep one part of the Law
• You’re obligated to keep ALL of the Law
• And the Jewish Law- with its system of rules & rituals & regulations- could not save you from your sin!
• In fact- the Law had precisely the opposite effect

Romans 7:7-10

• In 2 Peter 2:3 Peter says that Paul’s letters contain some things that are hard to understand...
• This is one of those hard things to understand
• On the one hand- the Law is good because it comes from God
• But on the other hand- the Law also leads to death
• It sounds contradictory- but it happens to be true
• This isn’t a great illustration- but it may help you under-stand what Paul is talking about
• Medical research suggests that drinking a small amount of alcohol- say a glass of wine a day- can:
• Prevent lung and prostate cancer
• Delay the onset of dementia
• Help prevent macular degeneration, diabetes, kidney stones and osteoporosis
• And significantly reduce the chance of having a stroke or a heart attack
• On the other hand drinking too MUCH alcohol can cause...
• Brain damage
• Cirrhosis of the liver
• Severe malnutrition
• And lead to heart attack, stroke and early death
• Getting back to the issue of circumcision- Paul takes a very hard-nosed position
• He realizes getting circumcised is one dangerous step on a very slippery slope
• Read what he says in Galatians 5:2-4
• Given all this- notice what it says in verse 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
• In other words: These men who’ve been confusing you CLAIM the disciples expect you to be circumcised in order to be saved
• Well- I took Titus with me when I went to Jerusalem, and the disciples never mentioned a WORD about having him circumcised. Instead, they accepted him as a full brother in Christ!

I OPPOSED HIM TO HIS FACE

• I’ve always wondered what kind of relationship Peter and Paul must have had
• I’m sure it was characterized by respect and a level of brotherly Christian love
• But somehow I just don’t see these guys ever being bosom buddies
• Their personalities were just too strong
• At times they must have been like two pit bulls locked in the same room bristling and growling at one another
• On at least one occasion- their uneasy relationship erupted into full scale conflict
• I’ve always thought it would be nice if we had a record of Peter’s side of the story
• But all we’ve got is Paul’s account found in Galatians 2:11-14
• At first glance- Peter’s behavior doesn’t seem all that bad
• When Jewish Christians arrived in Antioch he stopped eating with the Gentile Christians
• And resumed practicing the Jewish dietary laws
• You COULD make the argument that Peter did it because of his ministry to the Jews. His reasoning might have gone something like this:
• The Jews would be offended if they saw me eating meat that had been offered to idols
• To help win them to Jesus I’ll...
• Follow the Law- when they’re around
• Even while I tell them that they can only be saved through a personal faith-relationship with Jesus
• Oddly enough- Paul conducted his ministry under some of the same set of assumptions
• Turn to 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
• Paul’s philosophy was:
• If it serves to advance the cause of the Gospel
• I’ll gladly do it
• So why was Paul so quick to confront Peter in Antioch?
• Because Peter’s hypocrisy was harming the cause of Christ!
• By his actions Peter was telling the Gentile Christians: You aren’t as important as these Jewish believers- you’re second-class citizens in the kingdom of God
• But there was also something else going on
• Peter was subtly teaching the Christians in Antioch the same thing the men from Jerusalem were telling the Galatians
• Message:
• Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t enough
• If you really want to be saved you have to follow the Jewish law JUST LIKE WE DO
• For Paul this was totally unacceptable
• The purity of the message of the Gospel had to be maintained at all costs
• Anything less was a disgrace to the One who died on the Cross for the sin of the world!

WE HAVE PUT OUR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS THAT WE MAY BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

• With that in mind- let’s look at what it says in verses 15-16
• Galatians 2:16 is one of the most important verses in the Bible because it explains how a sinner can be made right with God
• The key word here is justified-
• The Greek word is dikaioo
• Dikaioo is a legal term that means to declare someone to be innocent of a particular crime
• The person who would make this declaration would the presiding judge in the case
• After making his decision the judge would say something like this: You have been justified before this court and are hereby declared innocent of the charges against you
• With this in mind- look at what Paul is saying here:
• Carefully observing the Law can’t justify you before God and it certainly has no power to declare you innocent of sin
• If anything the opposite is true
• The Law itself is good
• But inevitably knowledge of the Law is going to entice you to sin against God
• Illustration: Don’t Touch
• It’s like telling a child not to touch your stereo system "or else"
• INEVITABLY the first thing they’re gonna do is touch the stereo!
• So here’s the thing-
• If faithful obedience of the Law can’t justify you before God
• Who can?
• The answer is: GOD
• As the holy and righteous Judge of the Universe He has the authority to pronounce you justified of sin
• Read what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
• Here’s how it works (Ask two people to come and hand them each a placard)
• First God makes a determination of fact:
• Jesus- Innocent of sin
• You- Guilty of sin
• Then God makes a declaration of justification
• Jesus- Innocent- but received in Himself the penalty for sin
• You- Guilty- but justified of sin and decal-red righteous before God
• Here in Galatians 2:16 Paul says the thing that causes God to make this declaration of justification
• Isn’t anything you can say or do
• It is simple faith in Jesus Christ- who offered Himself as a sacrifice for your sin
• So the question is: What does it mean to have saving faith in Jesus? Turn with me to Romans 10:6-10
• Faith that saves...
• Believes- and professes- that Jesus the Christ is Lord- the one and only Son of the Living God
• Believes- and professes- that Jesus...
• Died on the Cross for the sin of the world
• And that He was physically raised from the dead on the third day
• Now let’s try to pull all this together: In Galatians 2:16 Paul establishes the fundamental truth of the Gospel
• IF you’ve placed your faith and trust in Jesus the Christ
• God the Father pronounces you forgiven of sin- insuring your eternal salvation
• And once God makes the proclamation
• You are saved FOREVER...PERIOD!

CHRIST LIVES IN ME

• One of the dangers in preaching the Gospel is that somewhere- someone might misunderstand it
• The risk is they’ll take their freedom in Christ
• And flaunt it for sinful and immoral purposes
• Read what it says in 1 Corinthians 5:1
• Get the picture: A man was having sex with his stepmother
• Rationalizing it on the basis on Christian freedom!
• I don’t have to worry about the Biblical and social taboos about incest and fornication
• I have my freedom in Christ- I can do whatever I want to do!
• People like the men who came from Jerusalem had an answer for such shocking behavior:
• Enforce the Jewish Law!
• Make EVERYONE do what the Law says to do
• Paul had a better idea

Galatians 2:19-20

• If you’re a Christian- Christ lives in you!
• If you’ve declared that Jesus is Lord- He’s got to be YOUR Lord- the unquestioned boss of your life
• If you’ve been saved for all eternity- you certainly can’t live for hell here on Earth!

CONCLUSION

• Illustration: Live The Rest Of Your Life
• I was once with a family when their elderly mother died
• All of her children were gathered around the hospital bed
• With what little strength she had left she set up in bed- pointed her finger at each of her children- and said:
• I want you to live the rest of your life as if I meant something to you
• Folks- that’s Jesus’ challenge to EVERYONE who has called on His name for salvation: I want you to live the rest of your life as if I mean something to you!
• If you’re a Christian- Jesus lives in you!
• YOUR challenge is to live for Him!
• Let us pray