Sermon: Jesus Christ, Publicly Portrayed as Crucified Galatians 3:1-9
Truth Taught-The Galatians were justified by faith, the same way Abraham was
Introduction
When Paul preached the Gospel of free grace the Holy Spirit who had set him apart for this exact ministry followed through and when people heard that Jesus would forgive their sins God worked and they believed.
Here’s the example of the power Paul saw when God moved in his midst…
1 Thessalonians 1:4–8 (ESV)
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
This was a similar event that the Galatians had experienced and one in which they were going to turn away from. God sent His chosen Apostle to the rescue and these Judaizers would be overthrown and His people liberated through Paul’s ongoing ministry.
Please Stand
Galatians 3:1–9 (ESV)
3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
1. Paul’s Preaching was a Portrait of Christ Crucified (3:1)
3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Through the Apostle’s preaching, he had painted a master portrait of Jesus’ death on the cross. He had preached to them all aspects of the crucifixion and what it all meant to all who believed. He taught them of the perfect life Jesus lived free from sin and how He was completely obedient to the Father. He taught that Jesus went to the cross of His own accord and voluntarily gave His life away to save sinners. He taught them about the tomb and the resurrection. As He preached truth to them, it seemed that they were responding and believing. Paul painted a masterpiece of Jesus Christ, crucified.
Then as the Gospel was beginning to take hold Satan too was at work. He brought in false teachers. These Judaizers were graffiti artists. They were painting their obscenities all over this masterpiece of the Gospel of grace. They were seeking to paint over the truth and ruin the work Paul had accomplished in their midst.
He tells the Galatian Christians that it’s like they were under some sort of witch’s spell. They were being seduced by false teaching so quickly that Paul was literally exasperated and confused by their quickly turning to a different Gospel.
Sermon: We are Justified by Faith in Jesus Christ, Not by Works of the Law Galatians 2:15-21
Truth Taught- Sinners are justified by Faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and not by the works of the Law
Introduction
We enter now into the central assertion of the Epistle to the Galatians. The Apostle Paul lays out for us a wonderful argument as to why Justification is and can only be by faith in Jesus Christ without works. Paul’s exposition of Justification by faith alone begins in 2:15 and will continue through 5:12.
Galatians 2:15–21 (ESV)
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
1. Justification by Faith in Christ (2:15-16)
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Here the Apostle Paul includes himself in with the Jews. He, Peter, his fellow travelers, missionaries are all Jewish by birth or literally, Jews by nature. They were all born Jews. He writes, and not Gentile sinners.
Why were the Gentiles considered to be sinners by the Jews? They did not possess the Law of God nor did they observe it. They were unclean sinners.
Using the Law of God Lawfully: Why We Need the Ten Commandments Today (Part 2)
1 Timothy 1:8 (ESV) 8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
The Mosaic Law takes up a large portion of the Old Testament and was of vital importance to the Hebrews of old. Even though we who are in Christ are no longer under the Law (Galatians 5:18), there is much we can learn from this part of God’s Word. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” (2 Timothy 3:16).
I). Live By the Spirit and Fulfill the Law of God
Galatians 5:16–26 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Paul is telling us, in general, that because we who are born again have the Holy Spirit we are not under the Law because the Holy Spirit will lead us to obey God’s Law through love and not through a list of do’s and don’ts. If we are in step with the Spirit we are obeying God’s Law. Obedience becomes more automatic for Christians than it was for the OT worshipper. The HS manifests his fruit within us and when we are led by the Spirit we are manifesting…22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Let me say it simply like this for now…if you are led by the Spirit and He is manifesting Himself in your life and you are becoming more loving, kind and patient with others, you’re probably not going to kill them. Thou shalt not kill is so removed from us when we are loving and kind to others.
We must remember that Jesus’ work is not “to abolish the Law or the Prophets…but to fulfill them” (v. 17). The Messiah’s coming does not render the Old Testament obsolete. “To fulfill” is not to dissolve the authority and application of the old covenant revelation; rather, “to fulfill” means to fill up the Law’s intent and show the goal to which it leads. Jesus is saying that He achieves the purpose of the Law and the Prophets in the inauguration of the kingdom in His life and ministry and in its consummation at His return. The Law is valid under the new covenant when used “lawfully” (1 Tim. 1:8), but it cannot be followed rightly apart from Christ.
Sermon: One Gospel for All People Galatians 2:1-14
Truth Taught-There is only one Gospel message for all people,
whether Jew or Gentile
Introduction
The Gospel that Paul received from Jesus Christ was the same Gospel the other Apostles preached as well. The message is that the world stands condemned but God moves to save all who will come to Him by faith in His Son.
John 3:16–19 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Notice that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it. John tells us that the world was already condemned. Jesus came so save all who would believe. He tells us salvation is based on whether or not a person believes. If you believe then you are no longer condemned but if you do not believe you remain in your condemned state. The reason people do not believe is because light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
I’ve heard people say things like I can’t believe but John tells us the reason they refuse to believe is because they love their sin more than they love Jesus. Because they love sin they remain in their sin and are condemned for their sin. God does not keep someone in unbelief whose eyes have been opened to their sin and to their hope in Jesus. The rest of the Bible gives us more insight into some of the inner workings of God drawing sinners etc. Here, in John 3:16 all sinners are called to believe.
This is the Gospel all the Apostles preached. This is the glorious Gospel the Judaizers were trying to pervert by adding works to it. Praise God the Gospel has been preserved for us.
Using the Law of God Lawfully: Why We Need the Ten Commandments Today (Exodus) )
1 Timothy 1:8 (ESV) 8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
The Mosaic Law takes up a large portion of the Old Testament and was of vital importance to the Hebrews of old. Even though we who are in Christ are no longer under the Law (Galatians 5:18), there is much we can learn from this part of God’s Word. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” (2 Timothy 3:16).
I). Live By the Spirit and Fulfill the Law of God
Galatians 5:16–26 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Paul is telling us, in general, that because we who are born again have the Holy Spirit we are not under the Law because the Holy Spirit will lead us to obey God’s Law through love and not through a list of do’s and don’ts. If we are in step with the Spirit we are obeying God’s Law. Obedience becomes more automatic for Christians than it was for the OT worshipper. The HS manifests his fruit within us and when we are led by the Spirit we are manifesting…22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Let me say it simply like this for now…if you are led by the Spirit and He is manifesting Himself in your life and you are becoming more loving, kind and patient with others, you’re probably not going to kill them. Thou shalt not kill is so removed from us when we are loving and kind to others.
We must remember that Jesus’ work is not “to abolish the Law or the Prophets…but to fulfill them” (v. 17). The Messiah’s coming does not render the Old Testament obsolete. “To fulfill” is not to dissolve the authority and application of the old covenant revelation; rather, “to fulfill” means to fill up the Law’s intent and show the goal to which it leads. Jesus is saying that He achieves the purpose of the Law and the Prophets in the inauguration of the kingdom in His life and ministry and in its consummation at His return. The Law is valid under the new covenant when used “lawfully” (1 Tim. 1:8), but it cannot be followed rightly apart from Christ.
How does Jesus fulfill the Law?
