There is the story of the “good old boy” who came down out of the mountains one day. He was all dressed up and carrying his Bible. A friend saw him and asked, “Elias, what’s going on? Where are you going all dressed up like that?” Elias said, “I’ve been hearing about New Orleans. I hear that there is a lot of free-running’ liquor and a lot of gambling and a lot of real naughty shows.” The friend looked him over and said, “But Elias, why are you carrying your Bible under your arm?” Elias answered, “Well, if it’s as good as they say it is, I might stay over until Sunday.”
Now, obviously, that’s a joke. No one would really do stuff like that… would they? Well, actually they would. There are people who live one way at church and live entirely different the rest of the week. They do things throughout the week, that they wouldn’t dream of doing at a church building. They’ve bought into a strange theology. They don’t mind being religious, just not TOO religious … and just not quite all the time.
Paul tells us … he never bought into that kind of theology. In Galatians 1:10 he writes: “am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
What’s that mean? It means Paul made a choice between Jesus and something else and Jesus won. That also means - WE have a choice - a choice to please Jesus, or a choice to please the world?
John said it this way: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15
SO… MAKE A CHOICE!
The thing about making a choice is that if I choose FOR one thing, I have to choose AGAINST something else. As Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other....” Matthew 6:24
Now, the issue here in Galatians is – there was a theological conflict at that church. The churches at Galatia were pretty much uncircumcised Gentiles. And there was this bunch of circumcised Jews who tried to tell them that they weren’t Christians unless the Gentile believers got circumcised. In other words: They had to become Jews before they became Christians.
Now, the problem was, God had already said NO! Circumcision was NOT required anymore. Gentiles who believed/ repented/ confessed Jesus/ and were baptized - they didn’t need to get circumcised.
Later in Galatians 3:27-28 Paul told them “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (i.e. you don’t need to do anything else) There is neither Jew nor Greek (i.e. you don’t have to become a Jew 1st) there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
So Paul was saying you have to make a choice. You can choose God’s way of being saved… or you can listen to someone else’s way. But you’ve got to make a choice. But you need to understand… God’s way is the only way that will work.
As Paul wrote: “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8-9
There are false teachers out there (let them be accursed). There are people who try to get you to accept ANOTHER Gospel (let them be accursed). There are people who teach a Gospel contrary to the one that Paul preached (let them be accursed).
What do you mean accursed? It means – they are CONDEMNED BY GOD!
You see… this is serious stuff. This isn’t a theological dispute about what angels look like. This isn’t a squabble over what color of carpet you ought to have in the sanctuary. This isn’t a quarrel over whether you should sing hymns or choruses. THIS IS A FALSE TEACHING that perverts the hope we have in Jesus. It robs the blood of Jesus of its power. It distorts the message of Christ on the cross.
Here’s what’s going on. Most people believe they can be saved (loved by God) if they just follow the right set of rules. For example, the people Paul is condemning here in Galatians… they believed that those rules could be summed up in the Old Testament lawbooks. They believed that if you could just obey enough of the rules in the Old Testament, you were a shoe-in. And only people who did everything right would make it in the gate.
Making sure people were circumcised was just a small part of what they believed, but that’s how they got their foot in the door. That’s how they began to introduce their theology.
Nowadays, a lot of people don’t usually know enough about the OT to know those rules, so they tend to make them up as they go along. For example: According to a survey from last year - Roughly half of Americans believe they will go to heaven if they are “generally good” or “do enough good things” (2020) https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/wakeup-call-for-the-church-half-of-americans-say-good-deeds-get-you-to-heaven-poll-shows.html
Now, what are those GOOD THINGS? Well… they don’t know). And what constitutes “ENOUGH good things? They aren’t real clear about that either, but they’re pretty sure they’ll know what it is when they see it.
Michael Bloomberg, previous mayor of NY https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/michael-bloomberg-i-have-earned-my-place-in-heaven/437457/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR0HxuonfPAuO2vHR9RSK2Rkg34u1fLmmJtIOLmESoFVkP4mMAHYzW2cETw said it this way: “I am telling you, if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven.”
Now, notice what Bloomberg was saying there. HE’S EARNED salvation. He’s done enough good things that God HAS to accept him. Think about it this way: What Bloomberg was saying “I’ve Done Enough Things Right, so my RIGHTeousness (things that I MYSELF have done) that SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS has earned me a place in heaven”
Bloomberg believes that – God couldn’t keep him out if He wanted to. Bloomberg DESERVED to go to heaven.
Now essentially that’s what people (who say they’ll go to heaven because they’re good) that’s what they’re saying. Their good deeds have bought a seat in the choir.
But how do we know that’s not true? Well… the Bible says it’s not true. Romans 3:10 Paul writes: “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’”
But wait a minute – is it possible that Paul was maybe… wrong??? I don’t think so.
In Galatians, Paul goes to a lot of trouble to explain, he’s not just a nice Sunday School teacher. He was specifically chosen by Jesus to speak for God. “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I RECEIVED IT BY REVELATION from Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:12
Peter agreed “our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do THE OTHER SCRIPTURES.” II Peter 3:15-16
In other words, Paul spoke and wrote FOR Jesus, and what he wrote WERE Jesus’ words. They were NOT his own words… they were the words of Jesus.
Now, we have EXCELLENT human teachers in our adult classes here – Jim, David, Conrad, Don, Larry, etc., but when they teach they don’t speak FOR Jesus. They take the words OF Jesus and try to explain them to us. They are not inspired like Paul and Peter, and James and John.
So when a teacher or church teaches something that contradicts what we find in the Bible they’re teaching false doctrine and they risk being condemned by God. That’s why James warns teachers to be careful what they teach, because they will be “judged more strictly” (James 3:1) especially when it comes to the issue of salvation. Because God takes that kind of personal. Our salvation is why Jesus came and died on cross. Don’t mess with that.
So, when it comes to how we should be saved, teachers/churches should be VERY careful not to tell people THINGS that aren’t in Scripture. Essentially, if a plan to save people is NOT in Scripture… it’s another Gospel.
For example, we shouldn’t tell people that they can be saved by being good. Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Nowhere in the Bible do you read that a person is saved by their own self-righteousness. IT’S JUST NOT THERE
And people shouldn’t teach that you can pray a prayer and “ask Jesus into your heart.” The book of Acts is filled with stories of people who became Christians, but not once are any of those people who were led in a “sinner’s prayer.” IT’S JUST NOT THERE!
And Churches shouldn’t teach that babies ought to be baptized. Nowhere in the Bible do you read that Peter, Paul or John ever went and baptized a baby. IT’S JUST NOT THERE. That’s why we don’t that here.
ILLUS: When Rod Cameron was a missionary in Africa, he was approached by a man named John from an African town where he was ministering… who wanted his children baptized. Rod asked him how old his children were, the man responded “ages 3 and 5.” Rod thought on that a moment: “John, why do you want your children baptized?” John said “My wife and I have been reading the Bible and we believe that we need to have our children ready to go to Heaven.” “Well then, why don’t we just baptize everyone in the village? You’re a strong man, we’ll drag them down the river one by one and put them under water.” Puzzled, John asked “Why would we want to do that? They may not want to be baptized!” “That’s right,” said Rod, “you really need TO WANT to become a Christian to be baptized, and your children aren’t ready for that yet. Now, how about you and your wife? Are you ready to make that commitment?”
So, what does the Bible say we need to do to be saved? Well, let’s just look at what Paul wrote
We’re going to do a “5 FINGER EXERCISE.
1 – THE GRACE OF GOD… we are saved by the grace of God “… by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Without God’s grace nothing else matters. Without Jesus’ death and resurrection, you could believe, repent, confess and be baptized all day long, and it wouldn’t make any difference.
2ndly – BELIEVE - you must believe Jesus was God in the flesh and came to die for you. “though (Jesus) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). Only God was sinless enough to die in your place, but God can’t die… so Jesus emptied himself of His God-ness and became human so He could DIE in our place.
3rd – REPENT - you must accept that you’ve sinned and want to change and want to change. “godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation…”2 Corinthians 7:10
ILLUS: I once was speaking with a young man who wanted to become a Christian. I talked to him about faith (he said he believed) and then I talked to him about repentance. I explained that repentance means we must accept that we’ve sinned and that without repenting of that sin we’re lost. I then asked if he believed that he was a sinner and he seemed a bit shocked and said “Well, I’m not that bad a sinner.” I replied “Well, I’m sorry then. I can’t baptize you if you don’t believe you’re a sinner.” The young man looked at me in surprise and said “Okay. I’m a sinner.”
4th – CONFESS - You must be willing to confess that Jesus the Lord and master of your life. Romans 10:9 says “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” That means that you’re confessing that Jesus will now OWN you. Everything you have - every possession, family, home, car… etc. – it’s all His. You’ve turned it all over to Him.
5th – BE BAPTIZED you must be willing to let yourself be buried in the waters of baptism. Romans 6:3-4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
You see, it’s all about making the right CHOICE for Jesus. Jesus CHOSE us by volunteering to die in our place on the cross, and we CHOSE HIM by our Faith, Repentance, Confession and Baptism.
ILLUS: A preacher named Mike told of his conversion to Christ. He said his family was known throughout the community as the worst examples of humanity. The parents were irresponsible. The kids were troublemakers. They lived like animals, even eating food out of trashcans. And EVERYONE who saw them thought, “That’s just who they are. That’s all they’ll ever be. They’ll never change.” But Mike did. One day he heard about what Jesus had done for him - that Jesus had died for HIS sins, and that Jesus wanted to change his life - and MIKE decided that was what he wanted. So, he believed in Jesus, repented of his sins, and was buried in the waters of baptism for the forgiveness of his sins. He eventually became a preacher and converted several in his family – and led them to faith/repentance/ confession and baptism. Then one day, Mike was at the funeral of his brother-in-law. One of the women who was there (and who had not seen him since his conversion) spoke with him and she said that she was amazed at the change in his life. She said - she was surprised at what HE had made of himself. Mike responded: “Oh I really appreciate your compliment, but I really didn’t change myself. It was Christ IN ME that that changed my life.”
MIKE MADE THE CHOICE… AND JESUS MADE THE CHANGE.
Are you ready to make that choice?
