Freedom, Intriguing yet Elusive
(Galatians 2:11-14)
Theme: God’s plan of salvation is trustworthy.
Purpose: What do I want to happen in the hearer when I preach this sermon?
A. Increased insight. After I preach this sermon, the hearer should be able to see that:
1. The possibility of being saved from sin by faith in Christ intrigues the human mind because it is appealing.
2. However, because of our fallen state fully and consistently trusting in the gospel is elusive.
B. Changed attitude. After I preach this sermon, I want the hearer to determine to trust in the gospel as the only hope of being saved.
Behavioral
Objective: Trust God’s promise to save us based upon our faith and not upon our performance.
Need to be
Surfaced: We want to believe—trust God—but we just can’t seem to quite get there.
Solution to
be Offered: God has made a promise and he cannot break it.
Introduction. (Get attention, surface need, make a contract to deliver a solution.)
A. Justification by faith.
1. A very intriguing concept.
a. No lists.
b. No laws.
c. Just a system of love, grace and forgiveness for those who maintain faith in Christ.
2. But, no matter how intriguing the good news may be, it is still elusive.
a. Man has fallen.
b. Sin has entered into our psyche—our perception of the world.
c. Therefore, we cannot
(1) Fully
(2) Nor consistently
(3) Trust God to do what he says he will do:
(a) Forgive the unforgivable.
(b) Love the unlovable.
(c) Accept the unacceptable.
B. Peter obviously struggled with this very thing.
Galatians 2:11-14 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.
1. Freedom embraced and practiced: 12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.
2. Peer pressure causes a reversal: 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.
3. Peer pressure causes an avalanche: 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
4. The gospel calls for repentance: 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
I. Why is the Idea of Justification by Faith so Appealing?
A. It makes life simple.
1. All food is clean - Mark 7:19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body. (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
a. No more Kosher rules!
b. No more exorbitant prices for food.
(1) A shochet is a trained, ritual slaughterer.
(2) He is well versed in the laws of shechita (kosher slaughtering).
(3) He is able, through the use of a perfectly sharpened knife (called a challef), to sever the jugular vein with one stroke.
(a) Then the meat must be washed for 30 minutes.
(b) Then it must be rinsed—twice!
(c) Then salted with coarse salt to extract the blood.
(d) If this is not done within three days then some of the blood can coagulate and then it can never be removed and the meat can never be made kosher!
2. No more lists to memorize - Acts 10:9-12.
a. 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
b. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
3. No more socially awkward moments - Galatians 2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before that certain came from James, he ate with the Gentiles;
a. Church fellowship (i.e., potluck) was not very complicated!
(1) Eat whatever you wanted to eat (all food is clean).
(2) Sit with whomever you wanted to sit with (all people are clean).
b. Remaining ceremonially clean was simple!
(1) Mark 7:3-4 The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.
(2) Didn’t have to worry whether or not you:
(a) Touched a Gentile even unknowingly.
(b) Shook hands with someone unclean.
(c) Touched something unclean.
B. It Meets Our Needs Right Where we Are.
1. Paraphrase of the situation of a dear friend:
a. I am at a total loss to explain my behavior.
(1) I know what is good and right and honorable:
(a) That is exactly what I want to do.
(b) And the exact opposite of what I actually do!
(2) I know what is bad and wrong and shameful:
(a) That is exactly what I do not want to do.
(b) But that is exactly what I wind up doing!
b. So, by my confessing this dilemma:
(1) I confess that God’s law is good, right, just.
(2) I confess that sin resides in me:
(a) It is more than merely what I do.
(b) It is who I am.
c. What a wretched human being I am!
d. Who will rescue me from this mess that I have created?
2. Our past sins are forgiven:
a. Colossians 2:13-15 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code [ceiro,grafon], with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
b. The hand-written, promissory note was:
(1) Cancelled (blotted clean).
(2) Then taken away, destroyed.
(3) Then nailed to the cross.
3. The “system” of record keeping has now been removed:
a. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.
b. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
C. The idea that we are justified by faith and not by our performance is very intriguing:
1. It sure would make life simple, enjoyable almost.
a. No more worries about violating the fine print.
b. No more checking off lists, worrying if we’ve done enough!
2. It sure meets the human dilemma head on, doesn’t it?
a. Forgiving past sins is a huge favor, isn’t it?
b. But, what good does it do if we’re left under a system that still keeps track of our future sins?
II. Why is the Idea of Justification by Faith so Elusive?
A. It just doesn’t seem “right.”
1. Free Cell illustration.
2. It is not “fair:”
a. The prodigal son:
(1) Wanton disregard for the authority of his father.
(2) Reckless abandonment of all values he been taught.
(3) Degrading, sinful, self-indulgent behavior.
(4) Forgiven.
b. The older brother:
(1) Luke 15:28-32 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
(2) 29 But he answered his father, ’Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
(3) 31 "’My son,’ the father said, ’you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’"
(a) I refuse to dance!
(b) I refuse to celebrate!
(c) It is NOT FAIR!
c. The day laborers: Matthew 20:1-16.
(1) The hiring process:
(a) Early morning hires certain workers for $75.00.
(b) At 9:00 am he hires more “for a fair wage.”
(c) At noon he hires more “for a fair wage.”
(d) At 3:00 pm he hires more “for a fair wage.”
(e) At 5:00 pm he finds some guys standing around doing nothing and hires them too.
(2) Quitting time:
(a) At 6:00 pm he tells his foreman to call the men in.
(b) Pay them in reverse order starting with the last ones hired down to the first.
(c) Pay them all $75.00.
(3) The reactions:
(a) Those hired last are thrilled—a day’s wage for an hour’s worth of work!
(b) Those hired first are also thrilled—if those bums got a day’s wage we’ll certainly get a bonus.
(c) But, they too got only a day’s wage:
i) It’s not fair! They grumbled.
ii) We worked all day—and it is hot!
(d) Matthew 20:13-14 "But he answered one of them, ’Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
B. It doesn’t meet our felt need.
1. Peter had no small amount of pride in his orthodoxy!
a. Acts 10:13-16 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
b. Acts 10:28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
c. Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
Conclusion. (The purpose of the conclusion is to conclude, not merely to stop.)
A. Justification by faith—a very intriguing concept.
1. No lists, no laws just a system of love, grace and forgiveness for those who maintain faith in Christ.
2. It is intriguing because:
a. It simplifies life.
b. It meets us exactly where we are.
B. But, no matter how intriguing the good news may be, it is still elusive.
1. Man has fallen, sin has entered into our psyche—our perception of the world; Therefore, we cannot fully, nor consistently trust God to do what he says he will do:
a. Forgive the unforgivable.
b. Love the unlovable.
c. Accept the unacceptable.
2. And so justification by faith is elusive:
a. It just doesn’t seem “right” - it is not “fair.”
b. It doesn’t meet our felt need.
(1) It is our sins that have caused us so much difficulty.
(2) Therefore, I must do something about it!
(3) I refuse any suggestion that there is nothing I can do to help myself!
(4) The very idea is un-American!
