Text: Galatians 2:1-21
Title: How to get right with God.
Introduction
Of all the world’s great discoveries Galatians 2 records the greatest discovery of them all –
“How a person gets right with God”.
For Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul.”
This discovery that we find in Galatians 2 opposed what most people had and still believed to be the way to get right with God.
Before this great discovery told us in Galatians 2- people were certain that the only way to get right with God was by obeying the law.
This old belief still has a lot of supporters today even in the church!
How does a person get right with God?
….by being a good person
…by doing lots of good things
Before we look at the proper way a person gets right with God I think it’s important to understand why obeying the Law/being a good person/doing lots of good things is not the right way to get right with God- especially because most people are still convinced it does?
When a person believes that being a good person makes you right with God 3 things will end up happening to you.
The first thing that will happen to you is that you will end up living in fear.
1. You will end up living in Fear (v1-2)
“Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seem to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.” (v1-2)
“But I did this privately to those who seem to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.” (v1-2)
Notice that Paul did not publicly set before the leaders the gospel he preached to the Gentiles? Instead Paul insisted on doing it privately.
And we know why...For fear I was running or had run my race in vain.
The word vain used here means failing to achieve its end
For fear I was running or had run my race failing to achieve its end
The reason Paul was full of fear was because having grown up believing a person got right with God only by obeying the law he now found himself preaching a different way. Here is why you will end up living in fear if you believe a person can only get right with God by obeying the law/being a good person.
By knowing just how good the Bible says a person needs to be in order to get right with God.
“Be perfect just as your heavenly father is perfect.”
When the standard is perfection then the fear is we have all fallen short.
When the standard is perfection we can’t be good enough and that is a very fearful thing!
You will end up living your life in fear
If you believe being a good person makes you right with God then the second thing that will happen to you is that…
2.You will end up living in Slavery
“Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.” V4)
Literally there were people who followed Paul and spied on Paul 24 hours of the day in order to make sure he was obeying the Law.
Missionaries tell us that in some parts of the world this still actually happens
To Paul having someone spy on him was like a form of slavery
A. You are not going to like what I am about to say...
One of the purposes of the law is to spy on us. At this very moment the law of God is spying on you and me. The law of God knows everything you are thinking/ everything you are doing 24 hours of the day- 365 days of the year! Everything. You can never run away to a place where the law of God can’t find and spy on you. You can’t close the door and keep the law of God out! It sees everything. It knows everything and it records everything!
For the Bible says in Rev 20:12 that everything you and I do wrong is recorded in a book. Things you would never want anyone knowing are written in that book. Knowing all this is enslaving!
1.You will end up living in fear
2.You will end up living in slavery
Can it get any worse? Yes!
3.You will end up living in Hypocrisy
“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (v11-13)
The Peter Problem. Not always doing the right thing. He was still afraid of what other people would think about him. Like Peter we too can find ourselves being hypocritical. Not always being the person we should be .
Conclusion: Trying to obeying the Law does not bring out the best in us. Instead it brings out the worst in us.
The things I don’t want to do I do and the things I want to do I don’t do.
I’m fearful
I’m enslaved
I’m hypocrital
So how does a person get right with God?
“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.. So we too have put our faith in Jesus Christ that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the Law, because by observing the Law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:15-16)
A person gets right with God only through putting their faith in Jesus Christ.
People who promote obeying the law/good works have a hard time with this.They say
1.Putting your faith in Christ rather than obeying the law promotes a sinful lifestyle
“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? (v17)
As long as I believe in Jesus Christ then it doesn’t matter if I’m a good person or not.
You don’t have to be a good person or obey the law in order to be saved but you still need to obey the law.
The most law abiding people should be Christians.
If you profess to be a Christian are not a law abiding person then there is a good chance you might not be a Christian. Faith in Christ is supposed to help you to become a good person.
Another objection people who promote obeying the law/ good works rather than faith in Christ have is this
2.Putting your faith in Christ rather than obeying the law promotes self-centeredness
Whenever you promote obeying the law/good works you are being a blessing to others but when you promote faith in Christ alone you are only being a blessing to yourself.
A genuine faith in Christ will promote an eagerness to help others
“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (v10)
The Bible says faith without works is dead.
How do we know that faith in Christ Jesus works?
How do we know that faith in Christ Jesus is the only way a person gets right with God?
1. Faith in Christ Jesus gives me the forgiveness I need for my sins
“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.. So we too have put our faith in Jesus Christ that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the Law, because by observing the Law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:15-16)
We are not forgiven by God because of something we do. We are forgiven by God because of something that was done for us by Christ. What was done for us by Christ? Christ died on the cross in our place so that God could extend his forgiveness to us . Jesus purchased enough forgiveness by dying on the Cross to forgive every person who ever lived or ever will live.
2. Faith in Christ gives me the freedom I need to be real with God, myself and with others
This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.”( V4)
We can’t be free to be real until we are free from pretending to be someone that we are not.God does not want us to be a false brother. A false brother is a person who is pretending to be someone they are not.
How? My identity needs to be in Christ.My identity does not come from the law but from Christ.
If my identity is found in the law then I am a slave. If my identity is found in Christ I am a son of God!
3. Faith in Christ gives me the fellowship I need to change myself and change our society.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (v20)
Fellowship with Christ will change you. You will see yourself as someone who has been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. Christ lives in me.I live by faith in the Son of God
Faith = the abandonment of all efforts to save oneself.
Are you right with God?
