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SERMON:
A couple of months ago we
began a study of Paul’s letter to the Galatian Christians. Today we’re going to
close our study of the book of Galatians with a look at the last chapter of
that book.
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Now, if you haven’t been
here to hear about the Galatian congregations, the story is pretty simple. Paul
started these congregations on one of his mission trips.
Some kind of a medical
problem caused an extended stay in the Roman province of Galatia. While Paul
was there, he told people about how a man named Jesus made it possible for
people to know the true God. This Jesus made it possible for sinful, broken humans
to actually commune with the Holy God because this man took away the sins that
had separated God from man. Paul told the people about how in Jesus, God the
Son had become human, and had offered himself to suffer hell in the place of
sinners. In summary, Paul told them the Gospel message. Through Jesus, we stand
forgiven of all our evils.
Now, as Paul communicated
this message, followers of Christ grew and formed congregations. And then,
apparently as Paul’s medical problems were alleviated, he moved on. But he
continued to communicate with these groups of Christ followers that were living
in Galatia.
▬
The book of Galatians
that has been preserved for us to read was written by Paul as a response to
some troubling news that he heard about the Galatians. Apparently some new
people had come into contact with the congregations there and were leading them
away from faith in Christ.
These new teachers were
advocating a “different gospel”. Instead of simply trusting in Jesus for the complete
package of forgiveness that he offered, these new teachers said that full
forgiveness was something that a person had to earn for themselves. They said
that forgiveness was earned by, yes,
trusting in Christ, but also through observing certain religious
ceremonies. In other words, these new teachers were saying that Jesus didn’t do
enough to save sinners, and that sinners must add their own religious devotion to
obtain forgiveness from God.
Paul’s letter to the
Galatian Christians is a call for them to return to Christ. To abandon the idea
that we can earn forgiveness by our actions, and to trust in Jesus alone for
eternal salvation.
▬
In chapters one and
two Paul scolds the Galatians for so quickly deserting Christ and turning
to this new, and false, gospel of salvation by works. He defends the true Gospel
and his own ministry by showing that this message of his wasn’t something he
learned from ordinary religious teachers, but a message that was given to him
by the risen Jesus himself.
In chapters three and
four Paul proves from the Old Testament that forgiveness of sins cannot be
earned. No human being, Paul says, will stand before God on the last day and be
declared holy because of their own words and actions. But all who trust in
Jesus for forgiveness are clothed with HIS righteousness, and will be
considered as holy as the Son of God because of their faith connection to him.
In chapter five Paul
moves on to speak about how the Gospel of Jesus doesn’t give the Christian
license to sin, but instead the forgiveness that comes through Christ frees us
from the fear of punishment, and moves us to live lives that conform to God’s
will. Since the Gospel makes us spiritually alive, we then live our daily lives
to him—serving our Savior God instead of listening to our inner sinful desires.
In talking about how the
Christian lives on a daily basis, Paul eventually gets around to how the
Christian will live in the context of the church. How we treat our fellow
Christ followers. How the Christian lives and moves in the fellowship is what
Paul deals with in the final chapter of Galatians, chapter six.
▬
Now, as we’ve been
studying through this book, we’ve been using a theme to help us through. The
theme has been, “First Things First”. The idea is this, that when we
come to believe in Christ, he becomes our head, we become his body. And with
Christ as our head, the Spirit of God begins to shift our priorities. We begin
to change, putting God’s ideas and ways of living first.
In the back of the
sanctuary here at redemption we have a small sound mixer, or a sound board. On
this soundboard there are all kinds of little dials and slides that determine
what sounds are pushed forward, and what sounds are muted back. The whole idea
of the Christian life and putting “First Things First” is like those dials and
slides.
Imagine each area of life
has it’s own cluster of slides on this board. We can decide for ourselves which
ones we will push up, and which ones we will slide down. But God has his own
prescription for which ones need more volume, and which ideas, habits, and
behaviors need to fade away.
In this last chapter of
Galatians, God uses Paul to describe how we should set our soundboard at
church, and everywhere that we interact with the followers of Christ.
To begin with, let’s read…
Galatians 6:1-5 (ESV)
6 Brothers, if anyone is
caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a
spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For
if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test
his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in
his neighbor. 5 For
each will have to bear his own load.
▬
In examining God’s will
for the Christian’s life, Paul looks both out and in. Looking out, Paul says
that we should pay attention to our fellow Christians, putting their spiritual
condition FIRST. When we see them caught in some sinful behavior it is our
responsibility to do something about it. When we speak up to each other in
order to correct and guide each other by our God’s Word, Paul says we are
“bearing one another’s burdens”.
It’s great to help
someone pay off a debt, or find a new job, or move into a new home, etc., but a
God has a greater calling for us in Christ—to love each other’s souls. To watch
over the faith of our fellow Christians, and as far as it is in our power, to
prevent sinful behaviors from severing their faith connection to Jesus. Paul
says that when we bear each other’s sin-burdens like this we are“fulfilling the
law of Christ”. In other words, when we hold each other accountable and gently
guide each other back to the forgiveness that we have in Christ, then we are
truly LOVING one another. That is the so called, “law of Christ”.
We are to put the spiritual
needs of our fellow Christians first.
▬
But Paul also directs us
to look inward here. When we look at our own service to Christ, Paul says that
we are not to think too highly of what we’ve done for Jesus. When we Christians
get arrogant it usually comes from two sources. Either we evaluate our own
lives in COMPARISON to others, or we evaluate our lives on the basis of what
others SAY about us. Paul says that both of these are a bad idea.
C.S. Lewis wrote a neat
little book called the “Screwtape Letters”. The book is a fictional collection
of letters from a senior demon to a demon in training. In one chapter the
senior demon describes how to make the Christian’s time in the church pew serve
the devil’s agenda. The younger demon is to encourage his charge to look at all
the people around him and meditate on their faults and failings. This will
prevent him from getting anything out of church. And, constantly judging others
will prevent this Christian from doing any real self-examination.
This is what happens when
we compare our lives with those of our fellow Christians. As sinful human
beings we’re real good at justifying our own sins, and condemning others for
theirs.
On the other hand, as
sinful human beings we’re also real good at accepting praise for the things we
actually get right. But we have the ugly tendency to inflate the goodness of
those actions beyond what they deserve.
Again, Paul says, bad
idea. Instead, when we evaluate our own service to Christ it aught to be done
in a vacuum. In other words, we aught to evaluate ourselves on the basis of
what opportunities and strengths God has given us, and what we’ve actually done
with those. When we honestly do this, it’s hard to be arrogant. Which of us can
say we’ve always spoken up for Christ when the opportunity arose. Which of us
can say we’ve even seen each opportunity? How many of these have slipped by
while were focused on something inconsequential?
When we look inward at
our own lives, we are to put God’s standards first, resisting the temptation to
compare our lives to others, and ignoring the praise that may skew an honest
look at our own goodness.
In verse 5 Paul
says, “Each will have to bear his own load”. In other words, before God both COMPARISON
TO OTHERS, and PRAISE FROM OTHERS has no weight. Only what we have done with
what we have been given comes into play. That is, at least, when it comes to
evaluating how successfully we have been conforming to our Lord’s will.
Thankfully, it is not our
success in being more Christ-like that saves us from hell. What Christ did on
the cross, in our place, THAT is what washes our sins away.
▬
In verses 6-10 Paul
moves on to another area of interacting with our fellow Christians.
Galatians 6:6-10 (ESV)
6 Let the one who is taught the word share
all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do
not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also
reap. 8 For the one
who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who
sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in
due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good
to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
▬
Here Paul speaks about
how we interact with the Gospel message itself. When Paul says, “Let the one
who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches”, he’s
directing us to put the Gospel ministry first in our lives by supporting the
teachers who teach it.
We put this into
practical application when we pay our pastors and teachers. We don’t pay them
by the hour, for how could we put an hourly value on the word of God? Instead,
we simply supply what our called workers need so that they can keep leading us
into God’s Word.
Again, Paul look both out
and in. Looking out he says, the Gospel student should share all good things
with his Gospel teacher. Looking in, Paul says, let’s make sure that we’re
putting our efforts into planting Gospel behavior into our lives instead of
planting the seeds of sinful behavior.
Paul imagines the life of
a Christian like a field ready for seed. If we spend our energy following our sinful
desires, we’re planting seeds that will grow up and fill our lives with corruption.
A recently heard a
preacher say, “The price of a sin is never posted out in the open”. Sometimes
we think of sin like it’s not connected to anything. Like it won’t have
consequences if someone else doesn’t see it. But that’s just nonsense. Sin is
poison. Sin is acid. Every sin has a consequence. Even if nobody sees it, it
still destroys and eats away God’s will for our lives. Or to follow Paul’s
image, each sin, though it lies invisible in the field will grow up into a
noxious weed if left to do so.
The wisdom of the Holy
Spirit teaches us to plant good seed instead. Often, doing the right thing goes
unnoticed by others. Sometimes it even leads to judgment that comes from others.
Sometimes it leads to some kind of personal loss. We file our taxes honestly,
and don’t get as much money in our tax return. We hold our tongue from
gossiping, and fail to get attention for a juicy story. But Paul says, Don’t
worry! Doing the right thing is just like farming—you gotta wait for the good
stuff to grow up before you get to harvest it. But the harvest WILL be yours if
you don’t abandon the field.
Christians, let’s listen
to what the Spirit says through Paul, and not grow tired of doing our Savior’s
will. Eventually, we will see what is produced by planting to the Spirit. Maybe
it’ll be the respect of others who see our quiet character. Maybe it’ll be the inner
self-control that grows stronger when it is exercised. Maybe it’ll be the
praise that comes from God in heaven when he says,
“Well done, good and
faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you
ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:23 NKJV).
Either way, when we put
shoulder behind the Gospel message, or into cultivating Gospel behavior, we can
expect good things to come from it. That is the promise of God!
▬
In the final verses of
Galatians, Paul revisits the main reason he began writing this letter in the
first place—to counter the effects of the fake gospel of earning forgiveness
from God, and to hold high the grace of Jesus, which is our only hope.
Galatians 6: 11-18 (ESV)
11 See with what large
letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in
the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they
may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not
themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may
boast in your flesh. 14 But
far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither
circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who
walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one
cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
▬
Again Paul looks out, and
in. When he looks out he sees the false teachers that had filtered into the
congregations of Galatia. These false teachers were people who were not putting
“First Things First”. They were Jews who wanted to be associated with the name
“Christian”, but who didn’t want their more strict Jewish friends to persecute
them for it. So they tried to mix the Gospel of free forgiveness from Christ
with the work-righteousness teachings of Judaism. It sounds strange to our ears
today, but they were telling the Christian men in Galatia that they needed to
become circumcised if they really wanted God’s forgiveness. If these false
teachers could just win over the
Galatian Christians, they could brag about it to others, and they could avoid
persecution for being Christ-followers.
It’s a sad thing when
people let the opinions of others paint over the clear Word of God. It’s a sad
thing when people let fear of persecution lead them away from the grace of God.
That’s what Paul saw when
he looked out at the false teachers in Galatia. But when Paul looked in to his
own soul, he saw the faith that the Holy Spirit had worked in his heart by the
Gospel of Christ. He saw a heart that had been moved to lift Christ up over all
things. He expresses this fact by saying that as far as he was concerned the
godless world was dead to him, and he was dead to the godless world. Christ was
his boast! Christ was the source of his new spiritual life!
Paul couldn’t care less if
the world judged of his personal faith, because he knew that God cherished and
cared for him. Paul couldn’t care less what persecution came his way, because
he knew that in Christ, his final destination was the Father’s house in heaven.
Let’s absorb Paul’s
attitude and make it our own. We have the same great Savior after all. A Savior
who put us first. We’re dirty, floundering, back-sliding sinners. But he put
our sins on his holy shoulders, and declared us the Children of God. He put us
first. Let’s revel in that grace. Let’s live in it each day, lifting up our
successes to glorify God, and bringing our sinful failures to him to receive
cleansing.
Let’s put first things
first—and stand in the Gospel always.
Today we close our
meditation on Galatians with the final words the Spirit inspired Paul to write.
Words written both for the Galatian Christians, and for us…
“The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen” (Galatians
6:18 ESV).
