THE ACCUSATION AND ARGUMENT AGAINST JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH (Part III)
KEY VERSE – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1) SECONDARY THEME VERSES: “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16); “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21).
THEME: Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone releases us from the yoke of the law, freeing us to live a life of love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Legal (Imputed) Righteousness: We are justified by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16). Imparted Righteousness: Immediate Moral Change at conversion (Gal. 6:15); Gradual Moral Change through the fruit-growing work of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) which requires our cooperation (Gal 5:16-17, 25, 6:8). We cooperate by using CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection, Confession/Thanksgiving. Foundational verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14)
Good Teachers: (1) Constantly re-evaluate what they are doing; (2) Set large goals; (3) Ask – “Does everything I do contribute to learning?”; (4) Prepare well; (5) Check for understanding; (6) Like teaching; (7) Get results from their teaching; (8) Have perseverance. Don’t give up.
TEACHING GOAL: Show that love is a great motivator to holiness and that the old self has been dealt a death blow at the cross.
TEXT FOR THE DAY:
“But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Gal. 2:17-21)
ACCUSATION AND ARGUMENTS AGAINST / FOR
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
(Part 1)
1. The Accusation Against Justification by Faith
2. The Underlying Assumptions in the Accusation
PAUL’S REBUTTAL (Part 2)
Why I Can’t Go Back Under the Law
3. Rebuilding a System of Law Proves the Christian is a Lawbreaker
4. Seeking to Live By the Law Destroys All Hope of Salvation
PAUL’S REBUTTAL (Part 3)
Why I Can Live a Godly Life Apart from the Law
5. I Am Motivated to Godliness by Christ’s Love For Me.
6. I Am Liberated from Sin’s Power by My Death With Christ
7. I Am Indwelt by Christ and His Life is My Strength
PAUL’S REBUTTAL (Part 4)
Depending on the Law for Salvation Makes the
Crucifixion of Christ Meaningless
FURTHER INTRODUCTION TO 2:15-21
In dealing with this passage we must remember that it is primarily concerned with the Jewish experience of conversion. If a person has been a devout and religious person seeking to keep the laws of religion this passage would be very meaningful.
READING: “Justification [by faith] remains a vital doctrine to this day, even if many evangelical Christians are not sure what it means or if it matters. The situation is reminiscent of the man who when asked to explain the difference between ignorance and apathy said, “I don’t know and I don’t care!” “Precisely!” came the reply. And ignorance and apathy are precisely the words to describe the church’s present attitude. Christians do not know and do not care to know the doctrine of justification by faith.” (Ryken, 67)
QUESTION: Duke George of Saxony after hearing Martin Luther explain justification by faith said, “This is a great doctrine to die by, but a lousy one to live with.” (Ryken, 81) What did he mean?
REVIEW
The accusation: Those justified by faith still sin. Thus if Christ teaches justification by faith it means that Christ promotes sin (2:17). This accusation assumes that fear is the only real motivation for living a life of holiness. The assumption – grace and love cannot motivate to holiness.
But, love not fear, is the motivation for holiness that God desires to see in our lives: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets. (Mt. 22:37-40, ASV)
If I rebuild the law, I put myself under the law again and will certainly be a lawbreaker. No one has ever kept the law perfectly. What more by following the Jewish ceremonial law and separating myself from table fellowship with Gentile believers I will be breaking a greater law, the second commandment, loving my neighbor.
Secondly, the law is impossible to keep. The law strikes at the inner sin, for example covetousness. I found I could not keep myself from covetous thoughts. The law overwhelmed me, killed me by its demands. (Romans 7:1-12) So I have renounced the law and am breaking my relationship with it. I realized that by trying to keep the law I could never please God.
INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS 2:20
READING: A Christian brother, Rob Morgan introduces his sermon on Galatians 2:20 with these comments: If you could have one verse of Scripture engraved onto your tombstone, what would it be? Or if you could have one verse and only one scripted and framed to hang in your living room or kitchen, which verse would you choose? Or, to put it a little differently, if someone were to write a biography of your life and put one verse on the title page, what verse would best summarize your aspirations and experiences as a Christian?
I’d like to suggest that out of the 31,102 verses in the Bible, you’d have a hard time coming up with a better choice than Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
As I mentioned, Galatians 2:20 was the school motto for Prairie Bible Institute.
Dr. H. Edwin Young said that you need to switch to 220 volts and keep plugged into 220 volts every day in order to live the Christian life. (Most Christians are satisfied with 110. That makes you a Christian but you need 220 in order to live as God wants you to live.)
V. I AM MOTIVATED TO GODLINESS BY CHRIST’S LOVE FOR ME
READ: The Unforgiving Servant. Matthew 18:21-35. While this is being read, ask yourself what should have motivated the forgiven servant?
The king’s kindness, mercy, generosity, love for him. He should have been so overwhelmed by the King’s generosity that he easily and gladly forgave the debt owed him in order to emulate and please the king.
. . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
We said that the underlying motivation for living a godly life should be our love for God. His desire is that we love him with all our heart, soul, mind, strength.
Note he loved “me” and he gave himself for “me.” Mission strategy talks about people movements and church planting movements – the focus is on groups. Paul’s message, he loved me.
“But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me . . . . “ (Gal. 1:15-16)
“We love him because he first loved us. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us . . . “… her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loveth little. . . . “For Christ’s love compels us . . . those who live should no longer live for themselves . . . “ (I John 4:9-10; Luke 7:47; II Cor. 5:14-15).
The Triune God’s love for a truly redeemed person will keep them from misusing the wonderful truth that we are justified by faith apart from works.
ILLUSTRATION: The Prodigal Son disowned his Father, spent his father’s wealth, destroyed himself. Yet we he comes back with the simple desire to be as one of his father’s servants. He is given the ring, the cloak, the feast – the royal welcome. The response of that son would be loving service to the father. The older son is sour. He has been earning the father’s love. What son now will serve the father motivated by love? The prodigal? The older brother?
ILLUSTRATION: In Indonesian we have the phrase “Balas Budi.” It just means to repay an act of kindness. If someone asks, “Why did you do that for me?” you would reply “Balas budi.” With God the whole Christian life is a life of “Balas budi.”
HYMN: I Gave My Life for Thee -This was Franc¬es Hav¬er¬gal’s first hymn. She wrote it af¬ter see¬ing Stern¬berg’s paint¬ing Ec¬ce Ho¬mo in Düs¬sel¬dorf, Ger¬ma¬ny (A painting of Christ’s crucifixion). A cap¬tion on the paint¬ing read, “This have I done for thee; what has thou done for Me?”
Miss V. G. Ha¬ver¬gal wrote on her manuscript copy: “I did this for thee; what hast thou done for Me?” Mot¬to placed un¬der a pic¬ture of our Sav¬ior in the stu¬dy of a Ger¬man di¬vine. On Jan¬u¬a¬ry 10, 1858, she had come in wea¬ry, and sit¬ting down she read the mot¬to, and the lines of her hymn flashed up¬on her. She wrote them in pen¬cil on a scrap of pa¬per. Read¬ing them over she thought them so poor that she tossed them on the fire, but they fell out un¬touched.
Show¬ing them some months lat¬er to her fa¬ther, he en¬cour¬aged her to pre¬serve them, and wrote the tune Ba¬ca espe¬cial¬ly for them.
Frances Ha¬ver¬gal her¬self said about this hymn: I was so over-whelmed on Sun¬day at hear¬ing three of my hymns touch¬ing¬ly sung in Per¬ry Church. I ne¬ver be¬fore real¬ized the high priv¬i¬lege of writ¬ing for the “great con¬gre¬ga¬tion,” es¬pe¬cial¬ly when they sang, “I gave My life for thee” to my fa¬ther’s tune Baca.
I gave My life for thee, My precious blood I shed,
That thou might ransomed be, and raised up from the dead
I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me?
I gave, I gave My life for thee, what hast thou given for Me?
My Father’s house of light, My glory circled throne
I left for earthly night, for wanderings sad and lone;
I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for Me?
I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for Me?
I suffered much for thee, more than thy tongue can tell,
Of bitterest agony, to rescue thee from hell.
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for Me?
I’ve borne, I’ve borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for Me?
And I have brought to thee, down from My home above,
Salvation full and free, My pardon and My love;
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to Me?
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to Me?
The kind of service Triune God wants, the kind of holiness he desires, the kind of commitment that pleases Him is that motivated by love in response to His great love for us.
VI. I AM LIBERATED FROM SIN’S POWER BY MY DEATH WITH CHRIST
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live
“As far as the Law is concerned I may consider that I died on the cross with Christ. And my present life is not that of the old “I”, but the living Christ within me. The bodily life I now live, I live believing in the Son of God, who loved me and sacrificed himself for me” (Phillips paraphrase of Gal. 2:20).
INTERPRETING THE FIRST “I” IN GAL. 2:20
QUESTION: How many times do we have “I” or a form of the pronoun “I” in Gal. 2:19-21?
I died to the law; I might live for God; I have been crucified; I no longer live; Christ lives in me; The life I live; I live by faith; who love me; gave himself for me; I do not set aside.
The “I” who died to the law, the “I” who was crucified with Christ, the “I” who no longer lives is one “I”.
QUESTION: Can you think of some synonyms that the Bible and Bible teachers use to describe the “I” that was crucified with Christ?
This “I” is variously interpreted as: my ego, my natural self, the natural man, who I am by birth, the self that lives for self, the Adamic self, the Adamic nature, the Adamic man, the Adam-hearted man, the natural man whose whole life centers around self, the self-pleasing self, the old self, the old sinful self, the old nature, the person we used to be, the old man, the self loving self.
QUESTION: What word is used for “old self” in your translation of Romans 6:6?
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him . . .” “As in Adam all die . . . “ The first man Adam was made a living soul . . . “ “. . . death reigned from Adam to Moses. . . “ (Rom. 6:6; I Cor. 15:22; I Cor. 15:45; Romans 5:14)
When we come to Christ we are a new creature, a new person, born-again, adopted into the family of God, reconciled with the Father, redeemed from sin’s slave market, cleansed by the blood of the lamb but the old self, the natural self is still there. It has not been eradicated.
QUESTION: What does the “old self” of a redeemed, child of God look like?
The old self loves the world and things of the world, that is the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes, and he boasts about what he has done. (I John 2:15-17).
The acts of the sinful nature: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery (excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures), idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies. (Gal. 5:19-21)
QUESTION: List the fruit of the Spirit and then have the class list to antonyms.
The opposite of the fruit of the Spirit: hatred, unhappy, anxious, impatient, harsh, selfish, faithless, mean, out-of-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)
The opposite of I Cor. 13:4-6 – impatient, unloving, unkind, envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, self-seeking, touchy, holds grievances, doesn’t find great joy in truth, not trustworthy, gives up on people and self.
What is important to remember is that “the old self” can still dominate the life of a redeemed child of God.
So, what does one do? Remember the line from “O for a Thousand Tongues” – “He breaks the power of cancelled sin.” This happens because we are crucified with Christ … the subject of our next meeting.
As to the Gospel, remember that the Man who had no Adamic nature, no old self, who was not a natural man and did not live to please himself, did, on the cross, provide deliverance from sin …. He cancelled the debt and also broke the power of sin … the redeemed are “Born Crucified”.
SO WHAT?
1. The justified in Christ still sin. Love for God, not fear of God’s displeasure or fear of their community’s rejection, motivates them to live a godly life.
2. Christians must avoid rebuilding the law. No one will keep it perfectly. Trusting any law for salvation leads to eternal ddeath and doom.
3. Christ’s sacrificial death for me personally on the cross should motivate me to live a righteous life pleasing to the Triune God.
4. The “old man,” our “old nature” is not eradicated when we experience redemption and are adopted into God’s family.
5. Christ, who was a totally “new man” without a “fallen nature”, embraced us in His death in order to deliver us from both the penalty and the power of sin.