Gospel-Centered Community: Belonging Series

Gospel-Centered Community: Belonging

Galatians 2

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This morning, we continue with Paul’s letter to the Christians in Galatia. Galatia is a region of modern-day Turkey. Paul established a group of churches in Galatia. We read in the book of Acts 16 and 18 about his ministry in Galatia.

Paul’s purpose for writing to the Galatians can be summed up in this: To define and to defend the Gospel or good news of Jesus Christ. And this is the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ - God sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and Jesus rose from the dead to provide eternal life with God. Paid and provided. These are words of good news.

Many people have heard that God gave Jesus to pay for their sin and to provide eternal life. Many even believe this. But Paul wants the Galatians and us to understand how this good news affects a person’s relationship with God and with one another in community.

Paul writes in Galatians 1 that God initiated a relationship with Paul. Paul tells his story of how God came into his life on the road to Damascus. You can read the details in Acts 9. God reached out to Paul with forgiveness. And that became the good news that defined Paul and his relationships.

Pastor Alex brought to us the first message in our Galatians series, gospel centered community: identity. The Gospel was Paul’s defining moment. Paul’s Identity. And if we have had a Christ encounter defining moment, it is our identity as well.

This morning we will be looking at gospel centered community: belonging. How the gospel makes us acceptable to God and to God’s family, the church. The church is what I mean by Gospel-centered community.

Our text is Galatians 2. (READ)

The big idea for this message is this: What makes us acceptable to God should be enough to make us acceptable to God’s church. But here is the problem. People often add to what God requires to be acceptable or to belong to God’s church.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pieces-mind/201403/create-sense-belonging

Psychology Today noted, “Having a sense of belonging is a common experience. Belonging means acceptance as a member or part. Such a simple word for a huge concept. A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that you belong is most important in seeing value in life and in coping with intensely painful emotions. Some find belonging in a church, some with friends, some with family, and some on Twitter or other social media. Some see themselves as connected only to one or two people. Others believe and feel a connection to all people the world over, to humanity.”

First we will look at what belonging to a gospel centered community is not based on. Then we will close by looking at what belonging to a gospel centered community is based on. Let’s look together.

First, Belonging to a GCC is not based on cultural criteria - vs. 1-5

After Paul left Galatia, some Jewish teachers came to Galatia and taught that in order to be accepted by God and belong to God’s family, Christians must keep the Old Testament Jewish law. This included circumcision of men. But the Galatian Christians were Gentiles, not Jews.

When Paul heard this, he became concerned. Paul was proud of his Jewish heritage, but he knew that God didn’t require Gentiles to become Jews in order to be acceptable to God. It would be similar to Americans requiring an immigrant to become an American citizen in order to be acceptable to God.

Paul pointed to Titus as an example of a Greek or non-Jew who received the gospel of Jesus Christ and was not compelled to be circumcised. Belonging to a GCC is not based on cultural criteria.

It’s good to appreciate the values or practices of one’s culture. In the Chinese culture, we value respect for elders, love for family and hard work. But it would be wrong to make these practices criteria for being acceptable to God.

Over 10 years ago, I was asked by a Chinese parent to tell his daughter that to marry a different race is unacceptable to God. His daughter was dating a non-Chinese man. He based whether something was acceptable to God on a cultural criteria.

Numbers 12:1-2, 4-5, 9 “Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite [Ethiopian]. "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this…..

“At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward,… The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.”