07/22/2007
“The Only Thing That Counts” (Gal 5:2-6)
Have you ever said something in a conversation, or in a meeting, or in some group setting, then have someone come along later and blindside you by taking what you said out of context, or they put words in your mouth you never said and they use that against you? That can be a painful experience when it happens. People think you said something you didn’t, or you said it, but they put a totally different spin on it and make it look like you meant something that you never meant and never intended people to infer?
That happened to me once while I was teaching a Sunday School class. I used the word mystery in reference to God. I was saying that no one can completely understand God with our finite minds because He is an infinite being. There are facets of God that we simply cannot comprehend. I wanted people to understand that they should not feel alone or uncomfortable if they could not completely grasp in their mind for instance the trinity. It is impossible for us as human beings to get our mind wrapped around the concept that there is one God, and that God the Father is God, God the Son is God, and God the Holy Spirit is God. I had scripture to back me up. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways, Isaiah 55.
But someone took one sentence, something like “God is a God of mystery” without any of the explanation I just gave you, and accused me of teaching a gospel of mystery. They went on about how salvation is so simple a child can understand it, basically labeled me a heretic. I was devastated by what happened, I felt violated. We got it all straightened out, but the point is that context is incredibly important.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
PRAY
“Mark my words!”
Paul want’s us to pay attention as he makes his final summary argument against the false teaching that was putting the Galatians in danger.
The first four verses of the passage are Paul’s final warning to the Galatians regarding reliance on the law for justification. This is review for us, we have explored this topic in depth beginning in February of this year.
He begins by saying “if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.”
Now here is one of those verses in scripture that MUST be read in context.
Beware of anyone who uses a single verse or statement in the Bible as justification for something if they do not put the verse in context.
There are several principles for interpreting scripture that are always valid, and any interpretation must be able to stand up under these principles in order to be valid.
The first principle is the continuity of scripture. Scripture interprets scripture. The Bible does not contradict itself, so any interpretation of a scripture passage must agree with the rest of scripture.
Another principle is that the interpretation must take into account the context of the passage. Does it make sense in relation to the surrounding passages and in the overall context of the chapter or book. Are there any clues in the surrounding text to prove or disprove the interpretation.
Is Paul saying that the physical act of circumcision will make Christ useless to a person?
Absolutely not!
We see in verse six very plainly that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value” The act of circumcision in itself is totally meaningless.
And in context we see that in verses 2, 3, and 4 Paul is addressing himself to the same group of people.
In vs 2 and 3 he calls them people who let themselves be circumcised.
In verse 4, still speaking to the same people, he says “You who are trying to be justified by law”
Circumcision is merely the symptom being displayed by the particular people Paul is addressing in his letter.
The disease is relying on something other than Faith in Christ (in this case the law) for Justification, relying on anything other than the work of Christ to save your eternal soul.
If you do that, he says in vs 2 Christ is of no value to you, you have discarded Him.
If you rely on the law for justification, he says in vs 3, you get the whole enchilada, you want it, you get it, you are under obligation to the whole law, you can’t just pick and choose.
We talked about this in detail when we talked about understanding God’s Promise and understanding God’s Law back in May.
Then Paul says in vs 4, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”
This is another controversial statement by Paul. There are some who read this passage and say “There it is, undeniable proof that a believer can lose their salvation.” Is that what is being taught here?
Let’s apply our principles we learned earlier; context and continuity of scripture (it always agrees with itself).
In context, what has Paul been talking about up to this point? He has been contrasting 2 different understandings, 2 different MEANS of salvation, these means of salvation could be labeled Law and Grace.
Salvation by means of the Law means relying on your own power to be righteous – it’s about what you can do to save yourself.
Salvation by means of God’s grace means relying on the righteousness of Christ and placing your Faith completely in Him and what He has done and what He can do.
Only one of those means of salvation will truly work. That is what most of Galatians has been about. Salvation is only through Faith alone, in Christ alone, by the grace of God alone.
Taking that into account, in our passage Grace is not equivalent to salvation, God’s grace is the means by which we receive salvation.
To fall away from grace is not to lose your salvation, it is to drive a wedge between yourself and the unmerited favor of God, to separate yourself from His grace.
Now lets think about to whom Paul is talking in this letter.
He is addressing the visible church in Galatia, which as our church probably does includes both believers and lost people who are in the church, they participate in the goings on of the church, as well as the false brothers, false teachers who are misleading the Galatians.
Now as a lost person, to separate yourself from the grace of God is to abandon the only means of salvation that exists, leaving you hopeless until such a time as you might return to it.
As a true believer in Christ, to separate yourself from the grace of God is to drive that wedge between you and God, to resist the work of the Holy Spirit by trying to substitute something else for the power of God working in your life, whether it be your own works, the church itself, or anything else.
Either way you are alienating yourself from Christ, pushing Him away, either turning your back on Him altogether, or simply falling away, separating yourself from God’s grace, hindering the work of His Holy Spirit in your heart and in your life.
If you are a believer, you cannot completely sever your bond to Christ. Those who cite this passage as support for the opinion that you can, are ignoring the authority and continuity of scripture.
Remember we said that scripture always agrees with itself? Well, if we have any question about this passage as far as what it means to fall away from grace, we only need to investigate what the rest of scripture has to say about the security of our salvation. If we can find scripture that plainly teaches that security, we can put our mind to rest about this passage.
Eph 1: 13-14 (NIV) 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession--to the praise of his glory.
It is clear in this passage that we are discussing salvation “the gospel of your salvation” “Having believed, you were marked...sealed”.
Sealed by the Holy Spirit, a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance
We know from our current study that our inheritance is eternal life, eternal life in resurrected and glorified bodies, eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
We are sealed until the redemption of those who are God’s possession
If you are a believer, you belong to God, you are His possession, Jesus has paid a price price for you. We linger here as aliens in a strange land for a little while,
But He is coming back, He is coming back for us and there will be judgement.
And if you are under the blood of Christ, you have His righteousness applied to your sin debt and there is no condemnation for you , you have crossed over from death to life, and on that day of redemption the transaction will be finalized, time will cease and we will be with Him in Heaven for eternity, finally perfected, finally Christ-like, finally free from sin.
All of this is GUARANTEED by the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you now, He is alive IN YOU! What other guarantee could we possible need?
O.K., so we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
But what about backsliding Christians, as a believer, can I do something so bad that Jesus will strip His robe of righteousness from me, will HE end the relationship, will He let go of His grip on my heart?
That question is answered in John chapter 6.
Jn 6: 37-40 (NIV) 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Jesus makes it very clear. You will not slip through His fingers, He will NEVER drive you away. He submits to the will of God the Father, and God’s will is that Jesus will lose NONE of all that the Father has given Him. EVERYONE who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life.
There is no qualifier here. This is an absolute statement. It does not say those who believe in the Son will have eternal life until they mess up, then they’re out. It says EVERYONE who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” What a glorious day that will be.
There is one more passage on this that I want to look at, and I must say it is my favorite.
Turn in your Bible to Romans, chapter eight, verse 29.
To get our context for the passage, we see in verse 28 that Paul is saying that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Then he goes on to explain what that means, to be called according to God’s purpose.
Lets looks at 29 and 30 first:
Ro 8: 29-39 (NIV) 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
This passage is awesome!
Don’t let the word predestined scare you here.
Look at what it says just before that.
For those God foreknew he also predestined.
God’s foreknowledge means that before you were born, before the beginning of time, God knew you. He knew your name, He knew everything that would ever take place in your life, He sees your entire life laid out before Him like a tapestry on the wall, from beginning to end.
He knew how you would respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He knew if you would ultimately reject Him, or if you would submit yourself to His Lordship. If you are a believer here today, or even if you aren’t but will be some day, He knew that you would believe in His Son Jesus, that you would KNOW (to believe is to know), you would KNOW that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, that He was resurrected, and that He has the power to forgive your sins and save your eternal soul from hell. He KNEW how you would respond.
And because He knew that you would accept Christ as your Savoir, He PREDESTINED you be conformed to the likeness of Christ. That’s sanctification, that’s the Holy Spirit working in your heart to make you more and more like Jesus as you yield to His leadership and direction.
And it goes even further. Those He predestined He called. Those He called He justified (that’s your acquittal from the punishment you deserve for your sins)
And those He justified He also glorified.
Glorified, past tense as if it has already happened. For us it is still in the future, our glorification. That is when Jesus returns and He finishes the work of sanctification, of making us like Him, making us CHRIST-LIKE.
But for God, it IS as if it has already happened. God exists outside of the boundaries of time. He can see all of history laid out before Him from beginning to end. He sees your life unfolded.
If your are a believer, if you are a Christian, it IS as if it has already happened. It is a foregone conclusion. You can bank on it.
This passage of scripture is worded so as to leave absolutely no wiggle room. There is no question what is being said here. I do not see any way around this one. If you belong to God, your future is settled. Paul goes on in the following verses to unpack this for us even more:
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Verse 33 says it is God who justifies.
That is really the question, who does the saving?
Do you save yourself by choosing to follow Jesus?
Do you have the power to save yourself? If it is up to us, if we must rely on ourselves to be saved, then the security of it would most certainly be in question.
But you do not have any power in yourself. You must choose Him, you must accept Him, but even your FAITH is a gift from God.
Eph 2: 8-9 (NIV) 8”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9not by works, so that no one can boast.”
It is God who saves! It is His power that saves you, reconciles you to God and removes your debt of sin and with it your eternal condemnation.
So how do we respond to the assurance of our salvation?
How do we respond to an ultimate future in heaven that is written in stone, that is secure, that we are predestined to attain?
Is it time to have a party, do whatever you want, laugh drink and be merry? Get loose, have some fun, let those morals slide, roll around in the filth of sin, after all, my ticket to heaven has been punched, I’m secure, my future is set, right?
Of course not. Some will say that this is the result of the doctrine of security of salvation. Some will say that a believer will feel free to take their security as a license to sin.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I am going to make a bold statement, but I want you to hear my heart on this, I want you to hear my conviction.
If you have that attitude, that you are assured a place in heaven so you can sin all you want, and you feel no conflict within, then I say to you that the Holy Spirit is NOT IN YOU! If He were, you would be under conviction for your sin, and you would be under constant torment from Him.
I am not saying that a Christian will not backslide, but I am saying that if you resist the efforts of the Holy Spirit to make you more Christ like and you try to go the other direction, the Holy Spirit will convict you and you will know it.
If you persist in your resistance, you can lead a very sinful life, even as a believer, but it has grave consequences. Though you have been acquitted of your sin guilt, and you are assured a place in heaven, sin always has consequences. Some can be physical, like lung disease that comes with smoking, liver damage that comes from heavy drinking, others can be emotional, relational and spiritual.
Your sin WILL damage your relationships with your loved ones, and your sin WILL damage your relationship with God.
Look at King David in the OT, his sin had far reaching and very negative effects that touched his entire family.
An attitude of licentiousness should not be typical for a believer.
Instead, Paul tells us in verses 5 and 6 what our response to God’s grace should be:
Gal 5: 5-6 (NIV) 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love
By Faith! If you posses that Faith in Christ that is a gift from God,
Then you EAGERLY await THROUGH the Spirit – Thats God’s Holy Spirit, and if you have that genuine Faith in Christ then the Holy Spirit lives within your heart,
And you eagerly await the righteousness for which we hope.
If you have that Faith, you want the righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
You are eager for it. You can’t wait for the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and change you from the inside out. You are eager for that to happen because you want what God wants. And God wants you to become more like Jesus. That’s why He sent Jesus, that’s why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. To live inside you and change you. To conform you to the image of Jesus Christ!
This other stuff that distracts us from Jesus, things that drag our focus away from Him and toward something else, that stuff is meaningless! Focusing on that stuff will take you nowhere!
Verse 6: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love
The ONLY thing that counts is faith!
How do you know if your faith is real?
Examine your faith this morning, ask yourself some questions:
What is your faith in? Have you placed your faith in Jesus and Jesus alone to save you, or is your faith in something else? Are you relying on what you can do, to be a good person, to make things right with God, or are you relying on, depending on, having faith in what Jesus has done and what Jesus can do? What is your faith in?
Is your faith genuine? Do you believe, do you KNOW who Jesus is? Do you know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for YOUR sins, laid down His life for you, and that He picked it back up again, resurrected on the third day, that He conquered death, sin, and Satan. Do you have Faith in Jesus as your Savoir? Do you KNOW that He has saved you and that He will Save you? IS your faith genuine?
And finally, How does your faith express itself. Scripture says that the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. We’re still talking about salvation here.
Does your faith express itself through love? Do you put the needs of others ahead of your own, like Jesus did and does? Have you stopped making your life all about you and started living for Jesus, Loving for Jesus? Would the people who know you best, ones who see you living your life not just on Sundays but on Mondays and Tuesdays and Saturday nights, how would they describe the expression of your faith? Is your faith obvious to other people? Does your faith impact other people?
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. That kind of faith IS obvious, that kind of faith can do nothing but impact people.
Does your faith express itself through love?
PRAY
