Justified By Faith

Scripture Text: Galatians 2:11-21

When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Sermon Notes:

I met a baby named “Grace” this week. I love that name. Sometimes we use the term “grace” to describe a short prayer, “Please say grace for us.” Sometimes we use “grace” to describe fluid and beautiful movement as in, “She dances with such grace.” Sometimes we use this term to describe a demeanor, an air, a disposition, “He handled himself with such grace today.”

But today I am using the term in the way the Bible uses the term most often, to describe the unearned, undeserved, favor of God.

I have spoken to you about God’s grace in his creation—he freely gives to us sunshine and air and water and sunsets that we have not earned. The rain and the stars are God’s free gifts.

Today I speak about the gift of God’s grace that surpasses all others in its amazing love and result—the gift of God’s grace made available to us through the death of Christ upon the cross.

I want you to ask yourself as I speak, “Is the pastor speaking God’s word to us? Is he faithful to the text of Holy Scripture?”

Your peers will assemble in your mind this morning. Parents and teachers and religious professionals have spoken to you in the past about what you must do to ear salvation or the good works that are required of you to get to heaven. They will debate this word from the scripture. Don’t give in to the peer pressure.

 

Do Not Cave In To Peer Pressure:

 

“he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group” (Gal. 2:12).

 

• Everyone is susceptible to peer pressure, even Peter the Apostle to the Jews. Peer pressure can be good, if your peers, your friends, are godly people with strong morality. Peer pressure is sometimes wicked because it reinforces prejudices and bigotry.

• Peter was not changing his stance on eating with Gentiles. He was trying to play both sides of the fence. He was trying not to offend these brothers who had come and believed that eating with Gentiles, eating pork, was forbidden even for a Christian.

• Peer pressure often shows up when it is time to eat. Who we eat with has always been important to humans.
  
  

• You will be organizing a lunch group at school in a gaggle of girls or guys. Suddenly someone is trying to exclude the odd person, the person with offensive opinions or a different culture and point of view. Someone is proposing a strategy that will leave that person out of the loop. If you go with it, you despite your misgivings, you are caving in to peer pressure.

• You might argue the same thing that Peter was probably arguing in his mind: “I hate to give up my relationship with these friends in order to defend one friend.” You must weigh the values back and forth without being selfish.

• Paul is facing great peer pressure. Peter himself is now refusing to eat with Gentiles. Paul is a Jew just like Peter. Peter is the leader of the apostles.

• But Paul opposed Peter to his face. He stood up against him. Why? Why would anyone refute and contend with Peter?

• Because the very heart of the gospel was at stake in this matter. That is the only explanation. The precious gospel of Christ, the reason for the death of Christ upon the cross, was being perverted by Peter leaving the table of the Gentiles.

• This is a very serious matter here. Sometimes Christians disagree about things, and it’s okay. But not this. You must hear it. Paul was ready to divide the very church of Jesus Christ on this matter of the truth of the gospel. Did Gentiles have to become Jews to enjoy full fellowship with Peter? Did they?

• The answer is a resounding no. Gentiles were trusting in Christ through the preaching of the gospel without being burdened by circumcision and the rest of the law.

• What Paul would not surrender even in a confrontation with the other apostles we cannot surrender for the cause of political correctness or détente, or to escape ridicule and persecution. It’s just that important.

 

Act in Line with the Gospel:

 

“I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14).

 

• Peter is weighing these values: the friends from Jerusalem and his relationship with them, and the gospel message of salvation by faith alone. He makes his choice. Paul disagrees.
• You make many choices of a similar nature. You are trying to decide whether you will conform to some custom that your friends hold dear or whether you will excuse yourself for conscience sake. Maybe the custom in itself is no big deal. But they are elevating their manmade rule to the exclusion of other persons, as with these Gentiles.
• Always act in line with the gospel. Let your behavior line up with faith in Christ. Make that your litmus test. The gospel includes God’s love for us all. It includes forgiveness of sin. It forbids showing favoritism based on social categories.

 

Find Yourself among the Sinners:

 

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!” (Gal. 2:17).

 

• He has already referred to “sinful Gentiles” in verse 16. He contrasted “we Jews” with “sinful Gentiles.” He is setting up this statement in verse 17 that Jews are sinful also.
• We must confess our sinfulness in order to experience justification through Christ.
• Say that I am sick. I go to the Dr. Law. He runs all the tests and looks me over. He does the analysis of my condition. And he finally tells me after thorough examination, “You have a bad heart. You will have to have a heart transplant.” Now that is the diagnosis. It is bad news. That is what the law is for. The law is there to help you examine yourself and understand your sin. Then you say, “Okay, Dr. Law, when will you do the heart transplant.” And Dr. Law says, “I cannot do it. I am not qualified to do the surgery. You will have to go to Dr. Grace. He is the one who will give you a new heart.” So the Law diagnoses and Grace cures. The law is able to help me identify my failure but it cannot correct what is wrong with me. Only God’s grace can do that.
• The law remains useful even after I trust Christ when I am in need of examination. The law will help me know my condition. The law is a mirror. But I cannot wash myself with the mirror.

 

Always Put Your Faith in Christ:

 

“So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law” (Gal. 2:16).

 

• It is not true faith to be depending upon your morality, your good works, for your salvation. That is an effort to earn salvation rather than resting in Christ.
• Do not say to someone at the feeding station, “If you will feed the hungry, you will go to heaven.” That’s a lie. No moral activity will get you into heaven.
• Do not say, “If you are baptized you will go to heaven.” That, too, is a lie. No religious work will get you into heaven.
• Faith includes turning from trusting in your good deeds. It includes the realization that you cannot earn what you do not deserve. Faith is surrendering the idea that the good deed plays any part in the rescue from your sin.
• Until you give this idea up, you will never embrace true faith in Christ. You will always be like the man I heard about last Sunday who said, “Unless I can earn it, it’s not worth anything to me.” I spoke last week about the grace of God in giving us sunshine, air, and his magnificent creation. We cannot earn these gifts. You can earn a chair, a meal, a car, or a college education. But you cannot earn air and sunshine. Which do you think is more valuable?
• Eternal salvation is a far greater gift than air and sunshine and all these other wonderful things. You can buy lunch with your wages, and you will. But you cannot buy eternal salvation with anything that you can generate from those two hands of yours. It is the pearl of great price, beyond anything that you can purchase. To appropriate this pearl you must surrender your very self. That is what you are doing when you repent of your self-righteousness and and you turn to Christ alone. You are giving it all over for him.

 

Reckon Yourself Crucified with Christ:

 

“I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20).

 

• Why did Jesus die upon the cross? Why was he crucified? He was crucified for our sin. He died to pay the penalty for our sin. We are saved by his sacrifice upon the cross.
• No human work can be added to what Christ did. If we say that good deeds help us make heaven, then we deny that Christ is Savior. Instead, good deeds save us. Then Christ died for nothing.
• We are wholly committed to salvation by faith in Christ alone. Therefore, we are crucified with him. We go into the grave with him. We die to sin and to the law that we might live in Christ.

 

Conclusion:

 

You have no other hope. Your hope is in Christ alone. You are a sinner. You cannot keep the whole law. You fail every day. For you to rely upon your performance is insanity and eventual condemnation. Christ lives in me.

For you to insist that you will rely upon your good deeds is to deny Christ and his death upon the cross. You make it empty and useless, this death that he died for you.