September 6, 2020
Morning Service

We are picking up right where we left off before our vacation and Jerry’s series on the fundamentals of our faith.  Paul had written a letter to the Galatian church because they had gotten caught up in legalism.  They were being taught the gospel of works instead of the true gospel of grace.  This had come from a group of Jewish believers, called Judaizers, who wanted to burden new believers with also bearing the load of keeping the Law.  With Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection salvation is now a free gift given to “whosoever will come and drink of the waters of life.” (Rev. 22:17) By demanding that Christ followers keep the Law meant that salvation only came as we did our part drawing the conclusion that Jesus left some work for us to do.  This is not true!  We are complete in Christ alone and our salvation is given solely through the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus.  The works we produce in our lives come as a product of our salvation experience, not in order to earn it or be found worthy of it.  We are forever changed when we truly understand the meaning of John 3:16; God sacrificing His Only Son so that we may have a chance of accepting the gift of eternal life and receiving God’s constant presence, guidance, and blessing in our lives.  Look at the prophecy of Isaiah of what Jesus has done for us.

Isa 53:12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

          This was the plan of salvation from the beginning of time.  God would live among us a perfect life and give Himself freely to die, not for His sins, but for mine and for all who would believe.  He paid the price for my sins so that I could enjoy the hope of eternal salvation and the daily constant presence and fellowship with God in my life. The realization that God loves us that much, even while we are still stained with sin (Rom. 5:8), brings a change that occurs deep inside that drives us to desire to please God with every aspect of our lives.  It changes from us having to do something to wanting to do it to even doing these good works because it is who we are; Jesus followers.

          Here is where we pick back up with the story Paul is telling of Peter and Barnabus getting caught up in with the Judaizers teaching of keeping the Law.  Paul speaks to Peter, but also summarizes the whole idea of works and faith as well.

 

Gal 2:14-18 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?  (15)  We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, (16) knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.  (17)  "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!  (18)  For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

          Paul had lived the life of a Jewish zealot, following the Law as closely as humanly possible, but now through the revelation of the Holy Spirit is given the clear truth that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ not our works of following the Law.  It is what He did that saves us, not what we do.  We as humans infested with the sin virus can never live a life perfect enough to be worthy of eternal life.  It is simply a gift offered to us from God for us to accept or reject.  Paul now clarifies the perspective that we need to understand to follow Jesus.  By accepting His offer of salvation we come to Him to die to ourselves.

Gal 2:19-20 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.  (20)  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

          What a powerful challenging scripture!  First notice the “Why” statement at the end; “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  This decision to die out to myself comes from knowledge that I am loved beyond my own understanding.  Love is the motivating factor and the key to all we do.  Jesus out of love for me gave His all for me and now in return, I will, out of my love for Him, give my all for Him.  In no way to earn His love, but solely as a reaction to His love and the sacrifice He gave for me.  I accept His gift of salvation and offer Him the only thing I have to give, my life.  I come to Him willing to die to sin and self and choosing to allow Him to live in me.  Where and when did this death occur for us as Jesus followers?  At one of the fundamental elements of our faith that Jerry just spoke on; our baptism.

Rom 6:3-8 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  (4)  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  (5)  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  (7)  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  (8)  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

          The “old man” of sin that we once were has died in the waters of baptism and we have been resurrected free from the bondage and wages of sin and free to “live with Him.”  We die to self and now live in close fellowship with Christ.  Look how Paul explained this to the Colossian church.

Col 2:12-15 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  (13)  And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, (14) having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  (15)  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

          Accepting the free gift of salvation and dying out to sin and self is a choice we make.  We choose by faith to believe that the Jesus paid for our sins in full once and for all.  My salvation is guaranteed by His actions, not mine.  “He has made me alive together with Him, having forgiven me all trespasses.”  Our sins, whose wages are death, have been nailed to the cross and Jesus has overcome all principalities and powers for us.  It is not what we do, but what He did. 

          I now press you with this question:  Are you dead yet?  Have you allowed the “old man” in you to die upon the cross?  Have you been resurrected to a new life in Christ?  In the next few weeks we will dive deeper into what that new life looks like, but today I wanted you to understand the “Why” we need to die out to sin and self.  Jesus loves you and desires to have close intimate fellowship with you.  He has plans to use you to reach others with this wonderful gift of salvation.  Will you come and die to truly live?

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us enough to give your only Son for our salvation.  Please open our hearts to be willing to give ourselves wholly and totally to You; to die to self and live for You.