Sunday's Message - The Book of Galatians: Set Free. Live Free (Getting the Gospel Right - Galatians 2:1-21)

During most of the Summer, the congregation of Sligo Presbyterian Church will explore the Apostle Paul's Letter to the Galatians and consider how we might claim the freedom we have in Jesus Christ. During our time together, we'll explore the following:

• May 26 - One Gospel (Galatians 1:1-10)
• June 2 - Grace Changes Everything! (Galatians 1:10-24)
• June 9 - Getting the Gospel Right (Galatians 2:1-21)
• June 16 - Don't Be Stupid! (Galatians 3:1-14)
• June 23 - Children, Not Slaves (Galatians 3:15–4:7)
• July 7 - Don't Look Back (Galatians 4:8-20)
• July 14 - Effort Vs. Grace (Galatians 4:21-31)
• July 21 - Set Free! (Galatians 5:1-12)
• July 28 - Living Our Freedom (Galatians 5:13-26)
• August 4 - Sowing and Reaping (Galatians 6:1-18)

On Sunday, we continued the series by looking at Galatians 2:1-21 and by discussing why the gospel of grace can and should be trusted. Below are a recording and the text of the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) 

Although it really doesn’t feel like it, we’re moving into the middle of June. Of course, when I thought we’d turned the corner last month and that we’d be looking at nothing but warm weather in our short-term future, obviously I forgot that we’re in northwestern Pennsylvania and not southeastern Virginia. I guess the temperature bouncing around is just life in the upper left hand corner of the keystone. 

Of course, this also means that we’re continuing the sermon series we started a couple of weeks ago entitled The Book of Galatians: Set Free. Live Free. And to this point, I think we’ve established two things. I mean, first, we know that, even though Paul taught the Galatians the truth, some other folks had sort of slipped in and taught them something else, something that Paul called another gospel. Now that’s one thing we know. And second, we also know that the gospel, the message that Paul brought them, was focused on what he called God’s “gift of undeserved grace.” In other words, this was the true, the genuine, the right gospel, and not the stuff that those interlopers had been dishing out, you know, ideas that were confusing the Galatians and distracting them from the truth. Now that’s something we know as well.

But I’ll tell you, for me personally, there’s something else that I think is spot on. You see, I think we may be more like the Galatians than we may want to admit. I mean, like them, again thanks to Paul, we have access to the uncomplicated gospel of undeserved grace, you know, the idea that God loved us first and we can respond by simply trusting that he does. Now this is God’s gift to us. But you know, maybe because it’s so uncomplicated and simple, there sure seems to be all kinds of people both inside and outside the church who tell us the same kind of thing their spiritual ancestors taught the Galatians after Paul had left. You see, they tell us that trusting in undeserved grace, well, it’s not really enough, you know, that we need to add something more, for example, some special actions like baptism or communion or some special experiences like a conversion or speaking in tongues or some special words, you know, like saying that we accept Jesus as Lord and that we’re going to give him our lives. Now that’s what they say. I mean, it’s like grace by itself makes salvation too simple and the gospel too uncomplicated, and so they try to beef it up a little bit. And you know, I think a lot of Christian buy what they’re being sold, especially folks who have always believed that you get what you pay for and there’s no such thing as a free lunch; therefore, the fundamental problem with undeserved grace is that it’s, well, undeserved. I mean, nothing that’s free can really have value. And so, just like the Galatians who were told that grace was sort of completed by obeying the Jewish law, often we drift toward other messages, other gospels in hope of knowing we’re doing enough to earn some of God’s favor.

And I’ll tell you, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. You see, we’re going to continue our journey through Galatians to see what Paul had to say about getting the gospel right, in other words, we’re going to look at characteristics of undeserved grace that point toward it being true and trustworthy. And to do that, we’ll look at two things. First, we’ll focus on some personal experiences of Paul that reinforced the validity of what he taught. And then, second, we’ll relate to ourselves what those experiences established. Now that’s the plan. 

And like I said, it starts with some of his own personal experiences that Paul offered to the Galatians in the second chapter of his letter. And I’ll tell you, when you take them together, I think they offer three reasons the gospel of undeserved grace is right. 

For example, first, for the Apostle Paul, this gospel was grounded. It was grounded in the reality of God and in the revelation of his son. In other words, according to what he wrote, Paul didn’t pick this stuff up from other people and he sure didn’t come up with it himself. No sir, the message that Paul brought to the Galatians was from Jesus Christ himself, and that’s why he wrote, 

My friends, I want you to know that no one made up the message I preach. It wasn’t given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me. [Galatians 1:11-12, CEV]

Now, that’s what he wrote. And just so we don’t assume that it may be come from some folks who taught him the basics after his Damascus Road experience, Paul also said this to the Galatians:

But even before I was born, God had chosen me by his gift of undeserved grace and had decided to show me his Son, so I would announce his message to the Gentiles. I didn’t talk this over with anyone. I didn’t say a word, not even to the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once to Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. [Galatians 1:15-17, CEV]

You see, for Paul, this gospel of deserved grace was grounded in God himself.

But that’s not all, because, second, based on what he wrote, it was also consistent, and I’m talking about consistent with what other Christians believed and taught, including the Apostles themselves. You see, according to Paul, even though he did visit Peter three years after his conversion, he didn’t meet with all the church leaders for fourteen years, long after he’d been taking this gospel of grace to folks who weren’t Jewish, and I’m talking about Gentiles. And according to what he wrote, after explaining to the church leadership there in Jerusalem what he’d been teaching, this was their reaction:

Some of them were supposed to be important leaders, but I didn’t care who they were. God doesn’t have any favorites! None of these so-called special leaders added anything to my message. They realized God had sent me with the good news for Gentiles, and he had sent Peter with the same message for Jews. God, who had sent Peter on a mission to the Jews, was now using me to preach to the Gentiles.

James, Peter, and John realized that God had given me the message about his gift of undeserved grace. And these men are supposed to be the backbone of the church. They even gave Barnabas and me a friendly handshake. This was to show that we would work with Gentiles and that they would work with Jews. They only asked us to remember the poor, and this was something I had always been eager to do. [Galatians 2:6-10, CEV]

You see, based on their reaction, these church leaders in Jerusalem endorsed Paul’s message of undeserved grace. Why? Because it was consistent with what they believed. 

But again, that’s not all either. And I’ll tell you, this might be the most important of all. Not only was the gospel of undeserved grace grounded and consistent, it was also essential, absolutely essential to what the good news was all about. You see, as Paul was writing about his own experiences, he mentioned something that had happened in the city of Antioch. Now, understand, this was a non-Jewish congregation, and of course, Paul and Barnabas were Jews. Now this could have been a big problem, but actually it didn’t turn out to be. And you see, even though, back in the day, Jews weren’t supposed to eat with non-Jews, since they were all Christians, everybody in the Antioch church dined together. In fact, when the Apostle Peter came to visit, he joined the party with everyone else. That is, until some Jewish Christians from James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, arrived. And even though, according to Paul, they didn’t say a word, Peter decided to change tables so he could eat with these new guys which also meant he stopped eating with the non-Jewish Christians. Now, on the surface, well, that doesn’t seem like a big deal; maybe Peter just wanted to spend time with his friends. But for Paul, man, it was huge. Just listen to how he described it to the Galatians:

When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles. He and the others hid their true feelings so well that even Barnabas was fooled. But when I saw they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone... [Galatians 2:11-14, CEV]

Now, that was Paul’s spin on what happened. And why was it so important that he felt the need to confront “The Rock”? Just listen:

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. I don’t turn my back on God’s gift of undeserved grace. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die. [Galatians 2:19b-21, CEV]

You see, for Paul, doing what Peter did, it actually showed that he believed that grace really wasn’t undeserved and that certain Christians are more deserving than others; for example, Jewish Christians trumped believers who were Gentile every day of the week,  because Jews obeyed the Law and Gentiles didn’t. And if this were true, if followers of the Law really were spiritually superior and more righteous, in other words, if we can do or experience and say something that should lock in God’s favor, then the death of Christ was useless and unnecessary. But that’s not the way it was. Why? Because along with being grounded and consistent, undeserved grace was essential to the gospel. Now that’s what Paul told the Galatians.

And you know, I think he’s telling us the exact same thing. In other words, in spite of all the things we may have been told to do and all the experiences we’ve been told to have and all the words we’ve been told to say, the gospel actually is simple and uncomplicated, because God’s gift of grace will always be undeserved. That’s just the way it is. And when we believe it and claim Paul’s perspective, man, our relationship with God is going to change.

For example, first, when we recognize that this gospel is grounded, undeserved grace can become the focus of our faith. I mean, instead scrambling around, trying to find the right things to do and the right experiences to have and the right words to say, we can just plain relax and do something truly radical; we can clear the decks of stuff that people have created that may offer the empty assurance that they’re good enough to deserve grace, man, we can let this stuff go and simply trust God. I mean, we can simply trust in his power. And we can simply trust in his love. In fact, we can begin to understand that wonderful reality Paul shared with Timothy:

God saved us and chose us

    to be his holy people.

We did nothing

    to deserve this,

but God planned it

    because he is so kind.

Even before time began

God planned for Christ Jesus

    to show kindness to us.

Now Christ Jesus has come

to offer us God’s gift

    of undeserved grace.

Christ our Savior defeated death

and brought us

    the good news.

It shines like a light

and offers life

    that never ends. [2 Timothy 1:9-10, CEV]

You see, since the gospel is grounded, undeserved grace can be the focus of our faith. That’s one.

And second, the minute we accept that the gospel taught by Paul is consistent, undeserved grace can strengthen our unity. I mean, do you remember how we’ve been talking about all the stuff that’s gotten added to the simple and uncomplicated good news of Jesus Christ, you know, all the things we’re supposed to do and all the experiences we’re supposed to have and all the words we’re supposed to say, stuff which varies depending on the Christians you’re with? Suppose we moved all that to the back burner, and we all decided to focus on undeserved grace. Now, I’m not saying the actions or the experiences or the words are bad or wrong. But suppose we agreed that they’re secondary; therefore, we shouldn’t use any of them to judge the faith of one another. Instead, suppose we decide that we’re going to focus on something we can’t earn because regardless of what we do or experience or say, we don’t deserve it. Who knows, we might even find the kind of unity about which Paul wrote to the Romans and as I read this passage, just listen to how many times Paul uses the words “we” and “us”:

And now, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God’s gift of undeserved grace on which we now take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God. But that’s not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love. [Romans 5:1b-4, CEV]

You see, since the gospel is also consistent, undeserved grace can strengthen our unity. And that’s two.

And finally, since it’s also essential, undeserved grace can shape our response. I mean, once our focus isn’t being distracted by a lot of stuff that has far more to do with what we want than in what God did and once our unity isn’t being compromised by Christians who seem far more interested in dividing the body and judging one another than in serving God, in other words, once we accept that, without undeserved grace, we don’t have good news at all, maybe at that point we can start working together. Maybe we can start being the men and women God has called us to be. In fact, maybe we can start being the kind of people Paul thought we could be when he wrote this to the Corinthians:

We work together with God, and we beg you to make good use of God’s gift of undeserved grace.

We don’t want anyone to find fault with our work, and so we try hard not to cause problems. But in everything and in every way we show we truly are God’s servants. We have always been patient, though we have had a lot of trouble, suffering, and hard times. We have been beaten, put in jail, and hurt in riots. We have worked hard and have gone without sleep or food. But we have kept ourselves pure and have been understanding, patient, and kind. The Holy Spirit has been with us, and our love has been real. We have spoken the truth, and God’s power has worked in us. In all our struggles we have said and done only what is right. [2 Corinthians 6:1, 2-7, CEV]

I’m telling you, since the gospel is essential, undeserved grace can shape our response. And that’s three.

Now having said all that, I still believe we’ll have to deal with a lot of different voices which try to distract us from a message that’s simple and uncomplicated. But you know, since this is the same kind of thing that was happening within the Galatian churches, what Paul said to them can really speak to us. You see, in spite of the fact that the Galatians had been taught by some people who were causing them trouble and trying to make them turn away from the good news about Christ, Paul established by his own experience that the message he offered was grounded and consistent and essential. And you know, if we claim what he said as true, that’s going to help us focus our faith and strengthen our unity and shape our response. In other words, when we affirm the message of deserved grace and integrate it into our lives, man, for Paul, that would be getting the gospel right.