Sermon Text:
Galatians 3:1-14
The Gospel is so vital that the Apostle Paul is not willing to just declare it and then move on. He wants everyone to see why it’s so important…and why it’s true! In so doing he leads us to look at our own experience as well as the Old Testament.
Sermon Transcript:
(transcribed with AI)
Thank you, Pastor Jonathan and worship team, thank you so much for leading us. My name is Rich Kopanke. Good morning. It's good to be here, and I serve here at Promontory as an elder. And I'm excited about what we're going to talk about this morning. And I'm particularly excited about the freedom that some of us might find as a result of God's word today.
But I also need to tell you something. If you've been with us these past 4 weeks, then you know we've been working our way through the book of Galatians. And we're going to continue that today. And we're going to be actually talking about some stuff that we've honestly talked about before. The apostle Paul could have ended his letter here to the Galatians at the conclusion of chapter two, really. By then he had very clearly made his point. His message to his friends in Galatia, the good news of the gospel was very clear. Salvation comes through faith in Christ, period. It's not something you earn by your own effort or merit. You can't buy your way into heaven by being good enough. It's a free gift of God's grace provided by Jesus' death on the cross and received as we put our faith in Him.
Couple of weeks ago we read a verse that summarizes all that. Galatians 2:16:
We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law, no one will be justified.
And here's the gospel, the good news of salvation. But like I said, we've heard it before, right? I mean, many times these past 4 Sundays. And by now we're going to talk about it again and I'd imagine some of you might honestly be wondering right at this moment, aren't we done with this yet? I mean, is there really anything more we can say about this? And the apostle Paul's answer is, you bet there is. And that's because every generation since the beginning of time has struggled with this idea of unmerited, unearned grace.
I mean the belief that God's favor and forgiveness is ours because what we do is so ingrained in humanity that many people can't fathom the idea that there might actually be a better and a different way. I mean we've seen that in our study, some of the Jews who had become Christians still held on to their Jewish beliefs that the law is what really makes you right with God and so they were Christian Jews that were there trying to set other people straight and tell them, no, no, yeah, you can pray the prayer, you can ask Jesus in your heart, but you still have to keep everything, all the rules, because that's what gets you good with God.
Most of the religions today. Their teaching is really the same. You've got to do in order to get from God. This past week I heard a well-known politician in an interview voice the belief that many people have today:
I want to be good because you want to prove to God you're good. So you go to that next step, right? Having your good outweigh the bad. That's the way you get through those pearly gates.
Our society struggles with this gospel message of salvation by faith. Believing it honestly would imply that they're spiritually impotent. I mean that they need help, they can't take care of this problem of sin by themselves. It's hard for us to let go of that mantra, even sometimes as believers that if I just do a little more, if I just act a little better, then God will finally be pleased with me. Some of you have struggled with that same question. Maybe this morning you've struggled with it. And here's why Paul feels the need to clarify and continue defending this good news.
Chapters 3 and 4. Paul uses in order to give several different arguments to prove that God actually saves sinners through faith in Christ, period. This morning we're going to look at the first two of those arguments, and as we do, we're going to wrestle with honestly a big question. OK, this is where you put your logical cap on, you know, you think really logically. And you ask the question, did God make a huge mistake?
I mean, here Paul has been arguing strongly that the law cannot make you right in God's eyes. And some people probably begin to wonder, then why did God invent the law in the first place? I mean it wasn't Moses who came up with all those thou shalt and thou shalt nots we find in the 10 Commandments, and all those other rules and ceremonies that make up what the Jews call the law. God was the author, he invented the law, he gave it to his people as a gift. But if in light of salvation by faith, was it all a big mistake? A oops, on God's part.
For that matter, how do we deal with this today? I'm not talking about keeping kosher or Passover. I'm talking about the moral, the social boundaries that God gives us in His word. Rules about stealing, about murdering, dishonesty, sexuality. Guidelines about helping others, generosity, relationships, respect. What role do these play in our lives as Christian believers? I mean, can we just throw them out because we're not under the law? If salvation is by faith, then can I live any way I want?
Let's see how Paul addresses all this. As he lays out these first two arguments defending the gospel in Galatians 3 verses 1 to 14. Please stand if you're able as we honor God's word and read these verses. And as we do, I'm going to ask you to do something. Be on the lookout for how Paul develops his case for the gospel. From both personal experience. As well as scripture. OK, let's do it.
O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham, and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith, but the law is not of faith, rather, the one who does them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. So that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
May be seated, please. Paul's first defense of the gospel has to do with our own lives. He's telling us here, your personal experience shows that it is faith, not works, which worked for you. I mean he's encouraging his friends to do a mental rewind, to look back over their spiritual journey so they can see which way really worked for them in seeking salvation.
He starts in verse one, he says, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Not being, I don't know, this is a bad morning for him if he got up on the wrong side of the bed, but he's not really being polite. He's calling them stupid. Foolish, this word bewitched often is a reference to magical spells. Guys, what has happened to you? Who pulled the wool over your eyes? You've got to know better than this.
I mean remember Paul had come to Galatia, the province, and had very clearly presented the gospel, and these people had accepted what Paul had said and then Paul moved on because he wanted to bring that message of the gospel to other peoples and some of these Jewish Christians moved in with their own version of being saved through the cross, but also don't forget those good works because that's really what does it for you. And these people completely forgot what Paul had said, and Paul just can't believe it.
O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
That word portrayed talks about putting up a poster. It's like Paul saying you can't have missed what I was saying. I couldn't have been any clearer for you. The reality of the reason for the cross was central to Paul's message to these people.
Verse 2,
Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law? Or by hearing with faith.
Receiving the Holy Spirit is synonymous with becoming a Christian. It's the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to the truth. It's the Holy Spirit who brings conviction of sin to our hearts. And when we respond in faith to the gospel message, when we step across that line of faith and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, it's God's spirit who takes up residence within our lives. The Holy Spirit is the sign, the proof that we really are Christian believers accepted by God.
And we read about that in Romans 8:
for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. You have received the spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by whom we cry Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
Paul wants to remind his friends of how this happened in their lives. And it wasn't by trying to keep all the rules. Trying to make themselves good enough. Rather, it is when they responded in faith to what Christ had done for them. But now they've forgotten it.
Verse 3,
are you so foolish, having begun by the spirit that you're now being perfected in the flesh?
OK, let's pause. I know right now this is stuff that happened 2000 years ago, and it's easy for us to come here thinking about Turkey this afternoon and maybe not thinking about where we're at today. So I'd like us to do a little bit of an introspection, get a little personal. You see, the problem that Paul is describing here isn't just something that happened 2000 years ago. It's easy even for us. Who started our walk with God on the basis of faith in Christ.
Somewhere in our lives, maybe our mom and dad talked to us, maybe a friend talked to us, maybe we saw something on television, maybe we wandered into a church some Sunday morning. Somewhere in our lives we encountered the truth that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. To take our guilt upon himself and that we can be forgiven by asking Jesus to come into our lives that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and that sounded like such a good deal we stepped across that line of faith. That's how we started.
But then Life goes on. And we begin to think maybe sometimes, hey, we've got to do, we've got to act. We've got to earn God's favor if we want to keep God liking us. It creeps in It's part of our society. Nothing's for free. You've always got to do something to earn it. Friends, the entire Christian life is supernatural. It comes from God. From the day that you prayed that prayer to receive Jesus as your savior to the day that you enter into his presence. It is not us trying so hard to be good, it's God working in us.
But does that then mean that what we do doesn't matter? I can just do anything I want. I mean, Paul tells us no, there's a place for us to do good works. He talks about this very clearly in chapters 5 and 6, we'll get to that in a couple of weeks. James chapter 2 does a really great job at that as well, showing us a balance between faith and works. That when our faith is real, it's going to impact how we live and how we treat others.
There's a place for good works in the lives of Christ's followers, but there's also a right reason for us to do those good works. And that reason is never. So that somehow we can, as Paul puts it here, be perfected by the flesh, by what we do. We're wrong when we think that what we do and how closely we toe the line, that's what keeps us righteous in God's eyes.
What we do needs to spring not from our desire to earn God's love. It needs to spring from an expression of our love for Jesus. And what he's done for us.
And then Paul again refers his friends back to their personal experience. Galatians 3:4 and 5, he says,
did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain. Does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
That word suffer can talk about pain in your life. I mean, you have had babies, you know about that. I don't, but you do. But it also can talk about just experiencing something. And these guys had experienced a lot as they heard the gospel and received the Holy Spirit and saw miracles even. And Paul wants them to realize that none of this happened because they were good enough to earn it.
This word supplies in the Greek often can refer to a generosity that comes from a loving heart. God supplies his spirit as a response of love. His love for us, not because of what we've done.
Now guys, sit back for a moment. It's time for us to do that mental rewind, to think back to when you came to Jesus Christ. Was your salvation the result of how good you were, how righteous, how perfect, of how one day you just decided all by yourself, God would be lucky to have a guy like me on his team. I think I'm going to become a Christian and do God a favor. Or are you saved today? Because of what Jesus did for you and how the Holy Spirit worked in your life, to convict your heart of sin and to open your eyes to the truth of your need for God.
Your personal experience shows that it's faith, not works, which worked for you. And then Paul points to a 2nd argument. To prove honestly the same thing. And he does this by encouraging people to pick up their Bibles and discover. The Old Testament proves that it is faith which brings us to God.
Now to prove this, Paul opens his own Bible and he quotes from six different Bible verses. He turns to the first book, Genesis and writes about Genesis 15:6 and says,
and he, that was Abraham by the way, believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Now let me tell you, if you're scratching your head, who's this Abraham guy, don't worry. These guys back then hadn't, weren't Jews as well, they were Gentiles, they probably hadn't heard a whole lot about Abraham, but they possibly did to some degree because, you know, if they heard any stories from the Jews that were their neighbors, it would have been about Abraham, the father of the Israelite nation. And how God called him to leave his land and his people and to travel to a land that he would show them, and it would be there that God would give him children that would start a great nation.
Abraham's response to these divine directions and promises, he took God at his word, he trusted him and God accepted that faith and declared Abraham to be righteous. I mean this verse in Genesis 15 is actually critical to Paul's argument. It proves that Abraham wasn't righteous because he kept all the laws. In fact, the law hadn't been given to the Israelites yet. It would be a couple 100 years later.
Besides, if you look at Abraham's life, he wasn't all that good sometimes at keeping God's ways. He made mistakes. He had feet of clay just like. Well, at least I do. Maybe you don't, but he did, and I do. Feet of clay, we make mistakes. It was faith in God that made the difference. The realization by Abraham that he could do nothing by himself that led him to throw himself on God and count on God to do what he could not do himself. And it's this humble trust and dependence. This is why God declared righteousness in his life.
In this way, this ancient patriarch, almost 1500 years before Christ becomes a timeless example of a true believer. Verse 7,
know then that it is those of faith who are the sons and daughters of Abraham.
I mean, the Jews, let me tell you, they took great pride in being children of Abraham, the father of the nation. But Paul reminds them. It's those who bear the family likeness in the form of faith in God. They are the true children. Whether Jew or Gentile.
And I want you to put yourself into the sandals of these guys who are hearing this. Gentile Christian believers who honestly were being treated as second-rate Christians because they didn't have Jewish blood coursing through their veins. For them to hear this. That they were Abraham's true children because of their faith in God. What would that have meant? What does that mean to us? If we walk in Abraham's footsteps, trusting God that we are children of Abraham, the greatest patriarch the Bible ever has, our spiritual father.
And how this happened, Paul talks about verses 8 and 9.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying in you shall all nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Again, Paul's referring in scripture to the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 12, showing us that the gospel message of justification by faith is not some new idea that got cooked up by Paul. It was a part of God's plan from way back then. Way before a little baby cried in the manger, the foundation for the gospel message was already being laid. It's through Abraham's example of faith, through his future offspring of Jesus, that all nations would be blessed through him. The Old Testament, the Bible of their time, proves that it's faith which brings us to God.
And then there's even more proof in the pages of this ancient book. Paul goes on verse 10,
for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.
That's not the kind of verse you want to read to your kids as you're tucking them to bed at night. OK, they will not sleep. It's not a very pretty or nice verse. I mean And he's not just talking to Jewish Christians who are trying to have it both ways, you know, faith and law, trying to do them both. That word all there means everyone. I mean, whether way back in the first century. Or whether our own efforts are trying to make ourselves good enough for God. It says they're cursed for they're trying. Not a nice word. The word means to be condemned to the torments of hell, to be eternally separated from God.
I mean ancient Jewish believers believed Gentiles who had no knowledge or interest in the law, they were under God's curse, but here Paul has the audacity to turn the table and say that Jews are under a curse because they sought God's acceptance on the grounds of doing the law. And where does Paul get off on that? I mean to say something like this, come on.
Won't believe it Until you turn to Deuteronomy 27. And after listing a number of curses, cursed the man who kills his neighbor, cursed the man who accepts his bribe, cursed the man who sleeps with his sister. The section concludes in verse 26,
cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them. And all the people shall say amen.
In other words, so be it. I mean the Jewish law was so extensive, touching every area of life. That even the most devout person would fail at keeping all the points of the law. And in the process, thereby be brought under a curse. And that's why Paul says in verse 11,
it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law.
Nobody can keep it all. Our only option is
for the righteous will live by faith.
And then Paul further illustrates this problem and God's solution. Verse 12, he says,
but the law is not of faith.
In other words, you don't have to believe the law, you just have to do it. There's no faith involved.
Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.
In other words, when you commit yourself, this is how I'm going to get God to like me. This is how I'm going to get God to smile by doing all these things and proving myself to God. When you commit yourself to that lifestyle, you're stuck with doing it all.
But here's God's solution, verse 13.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.
Guys, let that sink in. What we couldn't do by ourselves, Christ has done for us. Some pretty key ideas here. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. That word redeemed means to buy back. A word picture of that in the Bible would be a slave who was bought and then set free. We were slaves. We were slaves to sin, we were slaves to the law, but Christ bought us and set us free.
As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6,
you were bought at a price,
and that price was Christ becoming a curse for you. Jesus voluntarily submitting himself to the curse of the cross on our behalf. As we're told in 2 Corinthians 5,
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. So that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Wow Our salvation does not come cheaply. But it had to be that way.
And just look at the effect which Jesus' death on the cross has. Verse 14.
So that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Through Christ's death and not our works, but through Christ's death and faith in what God has done, Abraham's blessing to all nations becomes complete and it becomes ours. Everyone, Jew or Gentile, can be redeemed and set free. We all can receive the promise of the Holy Spirit, God's spirit within us, proof that we are children of God. And all of this, this awesome gospel message of salvation. was spoken of hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Even the Old Testament proves it's faith which brings us to God.
Which now brings us to the most important question of our morning. So what? I mean, what are we supposed to do with this? You know what Paul has written here isn't something that we can just yawn at and forget. So let me suggest to you a couple appropriate responses to what God has done for us.
Number one, get off the treadmill. If you've been living your life driven by the need to prove to God you're good, so you go to that next step, it's time for you to stop. You'll never succeed, and in the process you are just flat out denying the truth of the gospel. Love God. Serve him with all your heart. Bless others as you do the good works which God has prepared in advance for you to do. But do all that, not because that's what's going to earn you salvation. Do it out of a heart of love for your Heavenly Father and appreciation for what God, what his son has done for you on the cross. Get off the treadmill.
Maybe for some of you this morning that might mean praying, maybe for the first time, asking Jesus to cleanse you from every sin and wrong that you have done in your life and all the things that you've tried to make up for by trying to rebalance the scale with what you do. Ask Jesus for this, not because you're good enough, you never will be. But because he's good enough. His death on the cross was for you. He took your guilt upon himself and died in your place.
We read in Ephesians one,
in Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.
And if that's true, if you believe that, and it's in the Bible. Then get off the treadmill. Maybe make that first step towards God this morning.
But then also, thank God for the gospel. I mean this is Thanksgiving weekend. And while we gather to celebrate all the blessings we've received from God, our home, health, family, friends, church, you fill in the blank for what you're thankful for. Don't forget to thank God for the most important blessing of all. The grace and the mercy that your heavenly Father has shown to you in forgiving your sins and giving you new life. Never take that for granted. Thank Him by living a life of gratitude.
And then Take every opportunity you're given to share with others the good news of the gospel. You know, our world That means your friends, the guys you work with, your classmates, your family, your neighbors, our world needs to hear about the awesomeness of a God who loves them. A God who doesn't use a balance scale to determine whether they're good enough to gain his favor. A God who entered this world as a baby and gave his life on a cross. And a God who did this in order to open the door so that we can be forgiven of our sins and given eternal life and have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Pray for those around you that they might encounter the God who has done all this in your life. Use your words, use your actions to show them the love God has. When the opportunity arises, tell them how you came to Christ and the difference he's made in your life. Guys, this is Thanksgiving. Because of the gospel, we have so much to be thankful for.
Psalm 136:1 tells us,
give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Guys, let's do that right now, OK? Let's pray.
Father, we do thank you. We thank you for what you have done in our lives. We thank you for not pulling out the balance scale and deciding whether we've been good enough or not. But taking us, you know, God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And we thank you that you didn't wait until we could be good enough. Lord, for some of us that's hard to believe and it's harder to live out. Lord, we just keep going back to the thoughts of I've got to make myself, I've got to do more, I've got to be better. Lord, help us, help us to get off that treadmill. Help us to put our faith in you. Lord, if today we need to make that decision, help us to receive your forgiveness and salvation. Hear the prayer of our heart right now as we pray to you about that.
And Lord, may we live thankful for the gospel, and may we take those opportunities that you give us to share that gospel through our lives and our words. And our own personal story to share it with those around us who have yet to encounter your grace and mercy. Lord, we love you. And we thank you. Amen.