THE GOSPEL OF GRACE, 3 of 3
(June 27, 2010)
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)
REVIEW:
Christians must never let their guard down, never assume that false teachers are not seeking to penetrate either from without or within the teaching ministry of the local church.
The false gospel of the Judaizers was universalistic but put Christ secondary to the Law. Thus they added key elements of the Jewish law as necessary requirements in order to receive salvation as promised in the Gospel of Christ.
Anytime you add anything to the Gospel that bases our eternal salvation on anything less that ‘grace alone’ you are perverting the Gospel.
God sets a universal curse on all those who tamper with the Gospel, who seek to keep the Gospel of salvation from being anything but an offer of grace alone.
INTRODUCTION:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-9)
THE GOSPEL OF GRACE
1. The Content of the Christian Gospel
2. The Ever Present Danger of False Gospels in the Church
3. The Key to Spotting a False Gospel
4. A Description of the False Teachers
5. Impact of the False Teachers
A. A Further Description of False Teachers
B. Perversion of the Gospel Causes Confusion & Desertion
6. Judgment on False Teachers – Anathema & Angels
7. Four Tests of the Gospel in My Life
Paul feared that the Galatians were losing the Gospel. Note his rhetorical questions at the beginning of chapter 3:
Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard [the Gospel]?
After beginning with the Spirit [through the Gospel], are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard [that is the Gospel]?
Dr. Timothy Keller has a sermon on Galatians 1:3-9 that I listened to at least 5 times. I have adopted and adapted what he says in that sermon for today’s lesson.
Dr. Keller shows four tests in our text that we need to apply to ourselves to check to make sure we have the Gospel.
I. HAVE I BEEN ILLUMINATED BY CONTENT OF THE GOSPEL?
THE GOSPEL – NARATIVE OR PROPOSITION
There is a movement in theological circles in America today that says that the Gospel is Narrative, that it is story.
The focus is to shift us away from propositional truth. Propositional truth is not relativistic. And our age is an age of moral relativism when you believe what you want to believe.
People are happy for you to believe in God, to share your testimony and are glad that you have a relationship with God …. but please don’t say that the Gospel is the only way to God. Don’t be so narrow minded.
By focusing on the Gospel as Narrative you are saying that it can’t be broken down into propositions. It is just a story.
READING: Teaching the Gospel as narrative is yet another attempt by the emerging church to connect with postmodern culture. Story lines seem real, authentic, and often invested with personal meaning in a way precluded by traditional exegesis. Yes, the Bible is an intimate love story of God’s relationship with humanity. But any claim that Scripture makes no systematic doctrinal statements fails to ring true. Weak doctrine leads to shallow theology, disjointed and amorphous. An overemphasis of the “images” of Scripture produces a significant softening on the part of the emerging church when it comes to moral issues like homosexuality or theological teachings like the satisfaction view of the atonement.
(Dr. Kevin Hester teaches in the Biblical and Ministry Studies Department at Free Will Baptist Bible College.)
QUESTION: What propositional statements would you make to explain the content of the Gospel?
1. Mankind is born in sin, is sinful.
2. Mankind is alienated from God, is an enemy of God.
3. Mankind is destined for eternal destruction, separation from God.
4. Mankind is incapable of saving himself.
5. God loves mankind.
6. God has devised a way of salvation for mankind.
7. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
8. The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified to atone for mankind’s sins.
9. Mankind can be cleansed from sin through death of Christ.
10. Mankind can be recreated by the Holy Spirit.
11. The salvation God offers is by grace alone apart from works.
12. God’s salvation is received by grace alone.
13. Those who receive the Gospel are promised eternal life.
QUESTION: What words in our text – Galatians 1:3-9 point to some propositional truths that directly point to the fact that the Gospel is more than narrative.
1. Grace and peace come from the Father and Son.
2. Mankind sins.
3. Christ gave himself for our sins.
4. The present age is evil.
5. Christ can save us from the present age.
6. We are called by the grace of Christ.
7. The Gospel needs to be “accepted.” (vs. 9)
8. The Gospel can be perverted. (vs.7) (turn inside out, reverse)
While the Gospel is story and narrative it is much more than that. It is also propositional truth. When you embrace the Gospel you embrace a body of propositional truth.
ILLUMINATION – UNDERSTANDING THE PROPOSITIONS POSED BY THE GOSPEL
The way you know the Gospel is in your life is because your mind wakes up.
The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (II Cor. 4:4)
I am sending you to them (the Gentiles) to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (II Cor. 4:6)
Then he (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke. 24:45)
ILLUSTRATION: A young man had been in a school where he was able to take a course on the Reformation and Martin Luther. He had, in fact, studied the life of Martin Luther for a whole semester and read Luther’s commentary on Galatians. Some time later he became a Christian and understood the new birth, justification by faith, that is the Gospel message. Eventually he felt called to be a chaplain in the armed forces. He was given a mentor who helped him through the prescribed study in preparation for the work of a chaplain. During his interaction with his mentor they discussed the Reformation and Martin Luther. The young man stated that he was amazed that Martin Luther, even though initiating the Reformation, did not understand the Gospel. Of course his mentor was dumbfounded by such a statement. He asked the candidate chaplain to get Luther’s commentary on Galatians, the one he had studied in school. Then they set down and noted his notations and sentences he underlined. All through the commentary clear statements about the Gospel had been underlined. (Timothy Keller, CD on Galatians)
There are people setting in the churches of America today where the gospel is being preached and they are not hearing it. Their hearts have not yet been illuminated by the Holy Spirit.
SO WHAT: The Gospel is narrative but also propositional truth that can only be truly understood and embraced if the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our heart.
II. HAVE I ENCOUNTERED THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL?
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ …. (1:6)
The Greek word for “called” in our text is kaleo. So our word “called” comes from the Greek word.
Called is an aorist participle and could be translated, “who called you once and for all” (2 Thess. 2:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; I Pet 1:15). The call spoken of in the New Testament epistles is always an effectual call to salvation (see Rom. 8:30) (J. MacArthur, 13)
God’s call is decisive, a historic fact in time. (Cole, 76)
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)
The call of God is always effectual, effective. It never is ineffective, unproductive.
ILLUSTRATION: Our words are essentially powerless when compared to God’s words. We call our children to lunch and they respond, “I will be there in a minute.” Or “I’m coming. Be there in a second.” And the minutes roll by. Finally we march to where they are, pick them up and bring them to the table.
Our words / call are only effective if the hearer cooperates.
There is power, reality, action in God’s call. He speaks and the world is created. He commands the wind to be still and all is calm. He calls Lazarus forth from the grave and he comes. He doesn’t need to give mouth to mouth resuscitation.
The Gospel does not have power. It is power! “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . . (Rom. 1:16)
Experiencing the power of God may not always be as traumatic as it was with Paul. Nevertheless you felt a strong drawing of your heart to Him. The call of Peter and John was not so dramatic. Jesus had befriended them for some time and finally called them to leave there nets. They did so and followed him.
Has there been a disruption in your life? A disturbance? Is something going on in your life? After you have experienced the power of the call of God you should never be the same again.
ILLUSTRATION: When I look back on my own conversion I see how clearly and irresistibly God called me. I had not thoughts of God at all nor was my mind even focused on him. I had not been in church since a little child nor had I read any materials about God. I was invited to a Sadie Hawkins dance by a young Catholic girl. We had an accident on the way home. My car was totaled. The girl was unconscious and I had gone through the windshield so was really cut up. I promised God that if the girl lived I would start going to church. And I did but nothing rang a bell. In the summer I worked on a farm that grew broccoli and peas. I did an all-nighter changing irrigation pipes and was overwhelmed by the beauty of creation. One night I knelt in the mud in the middle of a field of broccoli and prayed. Before that time I had paid no attention to creation or the beauty around me. Later when dating a girl from a Baptist church her brother took me home and explained the Gospel to me. And I accepted.
When you review the story of your conversion the call of God seems irresistible.
SO WHAT: Those who have embraced the Gospel have experience the effectual, irresistible call of God. This call has caused a major disturbance, disruption in their lives.
III. DO I HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you the grace of Christ . . . (1:6)
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)
Galatians 2:20 – Christ lives in me.
Galatians 3:2 – Did you receive the Spirit … ?
Galatians 3:26 – You are all sons of God . . .
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are not longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Gal. 4:6-7)
You are not deserting a proposition …. Although you are doing that … basically you are deserting a person, a relationship with the Father.
When you abandon grace you are leaving God. The minute you feel your relationship is cemented with God based on your performance you are deserting the one who called you.
We serve, we obey but all is motivated by our love for our Father, our desire to please Him! Remember the story of the carrot and the king. The peasant gave the carrot out of love for the king; the noble gave the horse to himself, for he was giving with the goal of getting.
Do we delight in our relationship with the Father? Do we like spending time with Him? Do we find joy in doing those things that are pleasing to Him? Do we strive to cultivate our relationship with Him?
SO WHAT: Those who have received the Gospel enjoy a relationship with the Father. Do you have an intimate, personal relationship with the triune God? Are you cultivating it?
IV. AM I AWARE OF PARTICIPATING IN A COSMIC DRAMA?
We all have played a part in the “cosmic drama of salvation.”
I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:10)
So many of our great Christian hymns are written around the concept of the Gospel role in a cosmic drama. Here are two stanzas from “Grace Greater Than All Our Sin.”
Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the sole with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.
Have you experience the drama of being forgiven? The drama of getting a clean heart? The drama of deliverance from some sin?
People around you may have seen a change in your life but they are not aware of the great cosmic drama that is being played out. In fact your whole life becomes a drama.
ILLUSTRATION: Letter from a young woman who was in the East Valley for a short time and who Dan was able to minister to:
Dan,
I will never forget the Phoenix sunset, Sedona , you, and Him…It all started there…
Do you still remember I cried once during the Tuesday Study, worried about the soil for the faith will be gone when I’m back to China and the seed would die? I think He heard me, He heard my prayer. So when I was back in China, I realized I have classmates in MBA program and colleagues at work who are in the faith!
I join the weekly study at work during noon break every Monday and share our new life growing experience on Tuesdays. These kind of activities are controlled in China. I heard police even go to monitor every public get-together. I understand the concern of government, and this group is growing very fast. Police are there to make sure everything’s being done properly and no politics are talked.
I think I testify His wonder by myself. I can feel Him inside. In last one month, I see myself changed:
1. I begin to wash dishes and keep doing it for a month now (I know it sounds silly, but it’s first time in my life to spontaneously to offer a service to family.)
2. I take my Mum to my team building with colleagues( to seek for more understanding from my Mum, about what I’m working on and who I’m working with every day )
3. I just lost temper for once in last one and half months (I used to lose temper a lot and push people too hard at work—almost every day, and bring bad mood back to home…)
Dan…I sincerely say THANKS to you…Thank you for let me know He’s knocking my door…and how much He loves me.
SO WHAT???
SO WHAT: The Gospel is narrative but also propositional truth that can only be truly understood and embraced if the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our heart.
SO WHAT: Those who have embraced the Gospel have experience the effectual, irresistible call of God. This call has caused a major disturbance, disruption in their lives.
SO WHAT: Those who have received the Gospel enjoy a relationship with the Father. Do you have an intimate, personal relationship with the triune God? Are you cultivating it?
SO WHAT: Those who have embraced the Gospel see their conversion as a drama, as part of the great cosmic drama.