Live In Grace

Scripture Text

1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me,

To the churches in Galatia:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Sermon Notes

Three years ago, I had the privilege of serving with a mission team that traveled to northern India. At almost 1.3 billion people, India is the second most populated country in the world, and the world's largest democracy. We visited the state of Punjab. Our team’s goal was to learn about the Sikh religion and to assist the local churches in having conversations with Sikhs about Jesus. Sikh spelled S-i-k-h. There are 24 million worldwide. Our team visited the city of Amritsar, which is home to the holiest site for Sikhs, a place called The Golden Temple.

Visitors are required to enter the Temple grounds barefooted and to cover their head with these orange bandanas. You can see the Temple grounds in the background. The Golden Temple is in the center of the grounds. Many of the items in the temple are made of solid gold. Even the paint on the building contains flecks of gold dust.

Sikhs are deeply religious. They worship an unknown creator God and read publicly from their sacred writings, which describe the human problem of sin. Some of their worship rituals appear similar to Jewish and Muslim practices. I was humbled when some of them told me they prayed 3-4 hours per day. They wanted to know how long I prayed each day. They know there is a God, but they don’t know much about Him. And they know they are sinners, but they don’t know what to do about sin. Sikhs are beautiful people, loved by God. They have a desperate need to hear that Jesus is the answer to all their questions. We had a chance to talk about Jesus with several of them, and one of them placed his faith in Christ and was introduced to a local pastor before we left the city.

Sikhism is one of many world religions. Other world religions have holy writings, followers who pray and have private or corporate worship practices. It’s true of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, African Tribal Religions, and other world religions. 

Followers of Jesus are set apart from followers of every other religious group in one particular way. One thing sets Christians apart from every other group. 

Grace.

Grace means “a free, undeserved gift.” Grace means “I didn’t earn this gift.”

Every other religious groups teaches we must make effort to meet a goal. In Islam, the goal is submission to Allah. How does that happen? A follower of Allah must work to accomplish the Five Pillars (declare your faith, pray, give, fast, and make a pilgrimage). In Islam, you work. You earn it. 

Among other world religions, the gods have different names and the goals are different, but there is one common element: human effort. You have to do things, whether it is to clear your mind or become more disciplined or offer sacrifices or pray at certain times. All other religious systems say: Earn it.

Only Christianity says: Grace. You can’t earn God’s grace. It’s not possible. Grace is a free gift.

Today marks the beginning of a new series from the NT book of Galatians. The series is titled “Grace Changes Everything.” Dr. Crosby asked me to begin the series, and he’ll continue the series next Sunday. 

Look with me in your copy of the Scriptures at the book of Galatians. For those not familiar with the Bible, Galatians is near the back of the book. After the Gospels and Acts, you’ll see Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, then Galatians. While you are finding it, here’s some background:

Galatia was a region in Asia Minor. It’s found in modern-day Turkey. Paul traveled through the region, planting churches and training believers during his missionary journeys. This map charts his third missionary journey, which passed through the region.

Paul’s church-planting model was simple—and we can read about it in the book of Acts. Paul would find the local synagogue and teach the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth is their long-awaited Messiah. He was crucified, but God raised Him from the dead, and He is coming again. Everyone needs to turn from their sin and place their faith, or trust, in Jesus to save them from their sin. Usually, Paul was kicked out of the local synagogue. Next, he would gather an audience of non-Jews, or Gentiles. His message was the same. Jesus was crucified, but God raised Him from the dead, and He is coming again. Everyone needs to turn from their sin and place their faith, or trust, in Jesus to save them from their sin. 

Paul stayed on message. In 1 Cor 2:2, he described his singular focus: “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Have you found Galatians 1 in your Bible? I’ll be reading from the New International Version. Most of these verses will be very similar to the Bible in your hands, even if you have a different translation. Please look with me in your Bible as I read 1:1-10.

When writing a letter or an email, we follow a basic pattern. We name the recipient, insert a greeting, write the body, then close by naming the sender. Paul followed the pattern for first-century letters, which is different. He begins with the sender’s name (who it’s from), then lists the recipient (who it’s to), provides a greeting, and writes the body of the letter.

So, the sender identifies himself in verse 1, “Paul.” This is the same Paul who was formerly known as Saul. Jesus blinded him on his way to persecute Christians, and Jesus identified himself to Saul as the Lord. Later, Paul would write 13 of the 27 NT books. Besides Jesus, Paul probably had the greatest influence on the world for Christianity.

Next, Paul identifies himself as “an apostle.” The word apostle means messenger. In the NT, apostles were those who had been personally commissioned by the Lord Jesus. This was a select group, which included the 12 disciples and Paul. It was common for Paul to identify himself as an apostle at the beginning of his letters. We see this Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians. What is unusual is that in this letter, Paul clarifies the term. He explains in verse 1 that he was “sent not from men nor by a man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” Do you see his point? Paul says: No group sent me. No powerful person sent me. No mere human sent me. I was sent by Jesus Christ. And I was sent by the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. Paul goes out of his way to establish these lines of authority. He doesn’t make this clarification in his other letters. We’ll see there’s something happening in the Galatian churches that prompts him to clarify his calling as an apostle.

So, Paul writes, along with the brothers (or brothers and sisters) with him, to the churches in Galatia. Verses 3-5 is the salutation, which includes a blessing to the recipients. This was practiced even in secular letters, and biblical writers adopted this cultural form as they penned letters inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Verse 3 begins with the word grace. We’ve already defined it as “a free, undeserved gift.” The Greek word is charis, c-h-a-r-i-s. Have you ever met someone with that name? Or a similar name, like Karis or Carissa? Or maybe you know someone named grace. That’s a theme of this book. That’s why it’s the title of the series. Someone noticed that the word appears at the beginning of the letter (verse 3) and in the last verse (6:18) and said, “Galatians begins and ends with ‘grace.’”

The greeting is “grace and peace.” Grace is God’s favor we can’t earn; peace is wholeness resulting from God’s grace. According to verse 3, this grace and peace is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 4 describes the work of Christ, which is the heart of the gospel. Jesus is the one “who gave himself for our sins…” That’s the work of Christ. That’s the heart of the gospel. The reason we can’t earn this grace is because the work has already been accomplished and the price for this gift has already been paid. When? When Christ gave himself for our sins.

Humans have tremendous value because we are each a creation of God. In the Bible, God says we are made in His image. There are things about every person that reflects their creator. At the same time, we are deeply flawed. We’re born into a condition which makes us rebels, idolaters, and law-breakers. We break God’s laws, even if we don’t break civil laws. In the Bible, we learn that before a holy God, breaking His law earns us condemnation and death. But God loved us too much to leave us in that hopeless and helpless condition. That’s why Jesus was made flesh. That’s why God became man. Jesus was the only person ever born with the purpose of dying. Every person dies. But that’s the reason Jesus came to earth. He said it this way, “The Son of Man didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” In John 3, we are told that Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. And we’re already condemned and under God’s wrath because of our sin. But those who believe in Jesus will have life in His name.

Paul says it this way in 1 Cor 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Back to Gal 1:4, “he gave himself to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” to whom be glory for eternity.

In 1:6, Paul writes, I’m shocked! He says: I’m astonished that you would desert God and turn to a different gospel. Remember that Paul had planted those churches. He taught them about God. He taught them the message of the gospel. And now they have turned away from both God and the gospel. And Paul is shocked. 

“That’s not what I said.” Have you ever spoken those words? Perhaps a family member repeated something you said, but changed your words. Maybe a co-worker misquoted you at work. It’s a frustrating experience. And we want to set the record straight. That’s what Paul faced with the churches in Galatia. They misquoted him and misrepresented his teachings on the gospel, and he wants to set the record straight.

Paul writes in 1:7, “some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert (or distort) the gospel of Christ.” So outsiders have come into the church and their teachings are causing confusion about the gospel of Christ. Other issues addressed in the letter focus on Judaism, like the mention of circumcision, the promise to Abraham, the OT Law, and OT figures like Hagar and Sarah. So, Judaism is in focus. These outsiders are probably trying to add elements of Judaism to Christianity. Their teaching was probably something like this: If you want to follow Jesus, then you must add these Jewish practices. Their message of the gospel was Jesus plus something. And Paul reacted strongly against this teaching.

You might wonder: Why is Paul making such a big deal about adding something to the gospel—especially if it’s just a little bit of Judaism? Most of what these teachers said was thoroughly biblical. They affirmed Jesus was the Messiah, that He died on the Cross for sinners, and that people need to turn from their sin and trust in Christ to be saved. They don’t deny the gospel, they simply add to it. But, as one author writes, “as soon as you add anything to grace, you lose grace altogether.”

The Bible is clear that God saves people who cannot save themselves and cannot earn their salvation. Why not? The cost to save us was so high that we could never pay it. Our salvation cost Jesus the price of giving His life up for us. We’re guilty, but He took the blame. At the cross, God provided for us what He required for Himself: the perfect sacrifice to make us right with a holy God. Salvation is a free gift that can’t be earned, because Jesus already gave His life—and nothing is more valuable.

Imagine you’re a solider deployed in the Middle East. It’s two weeks before you return home. You’re on a routine patrol when your unit is engaged in a fire fight. Early in the fight, your best friend sees a grenade roll between the two of you. In that moment, he makes the decision: I’ll give my life to save my friend. He jumps on the grenade, it explodes, and your friend is mortally wounded. Your friend dies to save you. He didn’t have to. But he makes that choice without hesitation. He saves you. 

Two weeks later, your unit returns to the United States. At the airport, you’re greeted by your family with tears and hugs. And you remember your friend, who gave his life so you could live. The next day, you arrange to visit the parents of your friend who gave his life to save yours. When the day of the visit arrives, you wear your formal military uniform—awards on your chest, military sword on your hip. You arrive at their house. The parents greet you at the door with tears. No words. Just an embrace and tears. Those parents will never be the same because of the sacrifice of their son, their only child. But your life honors his memory and your life brings them consolation. They are comforted knowing their son gave his life so you could live.

You end your meeting with the parents by saying, “I can never repay you for the sacrifice your son made. He gave his life so I could live.” You then pull a $10 bill from your wallet and extend it to the parents, saying, “Here, take this.”

Are you kidding me? How dare you! How dare you cheapen the sacrifice of their only son. He gave up his life, and you want to repay that life-giving gift with a 10 dollar bill? And it’s not the amount of money. It could be $1,000,000. Those parents don’t want your money. Offering to repay them for their son’s sacrifice makes no sense. Why? Because the price for your life has already been paid.

I know that all analogies to the cross of Christ fall short, including this one. There are differences between the story and what happened at the Cross: the solider died, but Christ died and was raised; the solider was forced into a split-second decision, but Christ came to earth with the intention of giving his life. Even so, the main point of the illustration remains:

The gospel is that Christ died for sinners and God saves by grace. God has already paid the cost to restore us to Himself. The gift was costly to Him, but free for us.

How dare we distort the message of the gospel by saying the death of Jesus wasn’t enough to make us right with God: believe in Jesus plus give God your $10 bill.

Believe in Jesus + put some money in the plate. That’s not the gospel.

Believe in Jesus + get baptized. That’s not the gospel.

Believe in Jesus + join a church. That’s not the gospel.

Believe in Jesus + serve people every Wednesday night.That’s not the gospel.

How dare we stand before God trying to add our lousy $10 to the death of His Son.

All those things I added to the gospel are good things. But a good thing becomes a bad thing when it’s added to belief in Jesus to be right with God. 

Look with me at verse 8. Remember that he had previously preached the gospel in that region. Now a group has come in to distort that message. So, Paul writes, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse.” Then, he repeats the statement in verse 9. Paul says, I don’t care if a heavenly messenger in shining white clothing shows up at your church. If that angel tells you the gospel is Jesus plus something, then he’s wrong. That’s not the message I delivered when I first declared the gospel. One translation renders verse 8 like this: “We told you the true Good News message. So anyone who tells you a different message should be condemned—even if it’s one of us or even an angel from heaven!”

Paul begins this letter by correcting the Galatian believers. They have been wrongly taught that the message of the gospel is: believe in Jesus, who died for our sins, plus earn God’s gift.

Jesus left His followers one message to deliver, the gospel. We can’t afford to get this wrong.

We. can’t. earn. grace. 

John Newton was captain of a slave ship and later became a preacher. He’s probably best known for writing the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” Newton once said, “When I get to heaven I’ll see three great wonders. The first wonder will be to see many people there whom I didn’t expect to see. The second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see. And the third and greatest wonder of all, will be to find myself there.”That is grace. Will you stand with me?