Is Jesus Enough?

(2/26/17 Galatians Series: Galatians 5:1-6)

ATTENTION: Quiz time! Which is true? 1) God alone saves us regardless of how we have lived our lives in the past. His choosing us has nothing to do with how hard we have tried to be good. 2) God looks around to see who would have just a tiny seed of good in them. When he sees a tiny seed of good, He chooses them, introduces Jesus to them and saves them so that they would become fully His.

I’m not going to pull postmodern on you and say “There is no right answer. Whatever you believe is right for you.” There is a right answer. And it is “1) His choosing us has nothing to do with how hard we have tried to be good.” But even though we may know that the right answer is 1), we act as though the answer is 2).  When?

1. When we think, “What have I done to deserve this, god? Why me?” What you assume is that if you’ve done good, then you deserve something good and if you’ve done bad, then maybe you deserve something bad. But you haven’t done anything bad to deserve this string of unfortunate events happening to you. So, it shows your underlying assumption that whether God saves you or not is dependent on you.
2. we would never say this aloud but we think, “but I’ve been better than that jerk of my neighbor. He lives like the devil and good things are happening to him. But what about me? Why aren’t you rewarding me when I’m so much better than Bob?” Again, God rewards those who have been good. Salvation is through our good works….
3. When we are insulted or ignored, we are so deeply hurt that we use that as a motivation, “I will show you. I will prove to you of my worth! That will teach you never to ignore me or pass over you.”

If we know truly that there is absolutely nothing good in us and God’s choosing us purely by God’s grace alone and not an ounce of good in us, then if people ignore us or slight us, we would think that’s still better than we deserve.

In these subtle ways, we show that God is not really in control, but He simply reacts to the choices we make. That makes God our bellhop or a mopping crew or a doting grandpa who will always go with what we choose, rather than the sovereign God who is in control of all things including our choices and eternal destination.

But what would be so amazing about grace if God was simply reacting to the good choice we have made? Shouldn’t we get some credit? After all, it was our goodness and our good choice that God decided to honor. No. that would be no gospel. ILL: You were floating down the river toward the cliff – a great waterfall along with all your friends. But seeing the danger, you begin to swim toward the land and you warn your friends to do the same or they will die. God, who is by the river, seeing that you are swimming toward him throws you a rope to save you. But your friends, who didn’t listen to you, all fell to their death. What God has done for you was certainly helpful and you would be grateful, but would you call it amazing grace? Any stranger, unless a sadistic maniac, would’ve done the same. Imagine the same scene. You are floating down the river toward the cliff. And the only way to go in the water was for you to have ignored numerous signs and broke the fence to get in the water. You think you are just going to have fun in the river and come out. You do not know you are headed toward the precipice. God and His Son Jesus are by the river and after a brief discussion, the Son jumps in. He takes you by your neck and hauls you in toward the Father. Unbeknownst to you, that river was radioactive. Anyone who goes into it would die in an hour. The Father has only one dose of antidote. And He gives it to you so that you would live but Jesus, His only Son, would die. You who ignored the signs, broke the fence, jumped into the river and never asked for help is saved and the One who saved you dies in your place. That was just nice gesture, was it? No. That is amazing grace. That is the gospel.

TRANSITION: Today, we arrive at Galatians 5. Paul does a quick summary of what he’s been saying thus far before he goes on to what living by the gospel looks like in the latter part of chapter 5 and chapter 6. as a way of reiterating the gospel, I just want to cover 5 verses. I’ll go verse by verse and further clarify the gospel as Paul did with the Galatians.

1. What NOT to do:
2. 1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

He tells them not to become slaves any more. Slaves to what? In a word, finding significance by self-reliance. In this case, the Galatians were trying to find their significance by becoming circumcised. They felt that they should have some kind of distinguishing mark on their body to stand out from the crowd… Paul says that’s enslavement. Today, where do we try to find our significance? One is by achieving. High achiever will set goals, organize, and methodically conquer their agenda. It’s not uncommon that I run into high achieving young people who get anxious if they seem to be behind their goals by a year or two – like”I want to get my master’s by the time I’m 25, I want to be married by 28, become a manager by the time I’m 30, have my first child by age 35 after I travel around the world…”  If they miss out on one of those goals, then they feel like a failure. Why? Because their value, self-worth – significance – come from having achieved those things. And who’s keeping score? Their friends… Now, those who are underachieving, secretly take pride in the fact that they are not in the rat race like the high achiever. They seem to be carefree on the outside, but on the inside, often, they are resentful and jealous of the high achievers. This can even happen in the same family between the siblings.

What is that? Bondage! Slaves to other people’s opinions, keeping up with the Joneses, find our worth in our performance, our appearance or status. But Jesus frees us from that bondage. Imagine if you didn’t give a rip about what people around you thought about you? How free would you be?

ILLUSTRATION: Imagine yourself be the quarterback at a Superbowl game with 1 minute left on the clock and you are down by 6. You need a touchdown. This next minute will determine your worth in life. Whether you are forever remembered as a Superbowl champion or just another quarterback who couldn’t rise to the challenge will be determined in the next minute. Your legacy rides on this. Versus “You know, this is just a game. I’m just privileged to be playing in this capacity. Win or lose, Jesus loves me and accepts me for who I am. My eternal destiny has no bearing on the outcome of the next minute. My identity is solidly in Christ whether I win or lose this child’s game in the next minute!”  

One is a slave and the other is a free man in Christ. My favorite saying before the calculus test to my students, “Whether you pass or fail, Jesus loves you regardless.” Paul is saying to the Galatians, don’t try to take it upon your shoulders. You can’t bear it. Give it to Christ. Let Him carry you…

1. Why NOT to do it.

What’s wrong with trying to find significance through self-reliance? V. 2  “2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.”  

So, what is the big deal about circumcision? Why is Paul so against the Galatian Christians getting circumcised? Circumcision was an Old Testament Jewish ritual that set the Jews apart from the unbelieving nations. Now, some over zealous Galatians want to become circumcised to go above and beyond their call of duty. But why is Paul making such a big deal about this? I mean, isn’t it good that they are trying to clean up their lives? Why can’t they do both? Receive Jesus and then abide by the law to make sure that they are accepted by God for good measure. It’s like going for extra credit on a test. You know you got a 100% on the test already because Jesus took it for you, now you just want to do the extra credit so to make doubly sure that you pass. But Paul is saying that if Jesus took the test for you and given you the 100%, then that’s great. You pass. But if you do the extra credit problems, trying to add to what Christ has done, then you fail. How can that be? That is why he says in v. 4, “you are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”

Why would this be true? Why is it that if we try to add our good works to what Christ has already done, we would be cut off from Christ and become forever lost?

Because our trying to earn our way to God through good works represents a rejection of Jesus. What we are in fact saying is that what Christ has done for us may not be enough and therefore, I need to add to it to make sure. ILLUSTRATION: When I first came to WA as a youth pastor, I gave a ride home to two sisters after a youth meeting. They lived rather far and they wanted to pay me for the gas. I refused, of course, telling them that I’m their pastor. I’m only glad to do this. And I meant it. I didn’t come all the way cross country to make a few dollars from teenagers by giving them rides. I was sent here to show Christ to the young people, I felt. But the sisters insisted that I take their money. We went back and forth and finally, as I was leaving, one of the sisters threw the money through the cracked window as I was driving off. How do you think I felt? “Yeah, 2 dollars for my service! I should give rides more often. I will be rich!” No. I felt insulted. What do you take me for? You think I did it for a few dollars? That’s what I’m worth? If you are going to pay me, then you should pay me for giving up on my engineering career and in a way giving up my seminary career as well – because you don’t need a seminary degree to be a youth pastor – pay me for all the sacrifices I have made to be here. Not just two stinking dollars!

That is what we do to Christ when we try to pay for what Christ has done for us. “Gee, thanks God for sending your Son, your only Son to the most agonizing death possible. Let me pay you for it. What will do? Circumcision? Good moral behavior? Come on! I don’t want to owe you anything because if I owe you, then you can tell me do whatever you want and I have to do it….” You see how trying to do “good” works to earn our salvation could actually be evil and wicked?

It’s either Jesus or nothing. It can never be Jesus AND something else. If it’s less than Jesus, it’s nothing. If it’s more than Jesus, it’s nothing. It’s Jesus alone that saves.

III. What then matters?

1. 5“Through the spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness” Why do we need to wait for righteousness? I thought we were already righteous before God because Christ declares us righteous. Yes, we are declared righteous, but we also wait to actually be made righteous. So that our once sin-sick inside will match the clothes that God gave us to wear called the righteous. But you see that righteousness does not come from within. It comes from without – from the outside. That’s why we wait for it. We do not work for it. We wait for it. The technical term for this kind of righteous we have is “alien righteousness.” It’s not innate. It’s alien as in it’s not our righteousness but it’s Christ’s righteousness that we are wearing.

Now, do you see a potential abuse of this central teaching of Christianity? The potential danger of this theology is losing control of people’s behaviors. 500 years ago, when Martin Luther was pounding on salvation is only by grace alone, through faith alone through Christ alone, the Catholics feared that if that message is preached, people will go haywire in immorality. That kind of make sense. Doesn’t it?  If God has done all the work, what is there for us to do? All we do is receive and believe? And our eternal life is guaranteed by simply believing in Jesus without any good works. Well, that’s not going to keep people in line. You have to tell them that there is good work to be done on their part. So, they added to the Bible and say things like, “yes, you must believe in Jesus, but you must also do good works, such as tithing, confession, attending mass, etc” in order to confirm your salvation. What are they using to control the people? Fear. If you don’t do right, then you won’t be saved and God will damn you forever. So like many modern Catholics, the Judaisers were using fear to control the Galatians. “Unless you become like a Jew, you won’t be saved!”

But Paul tells them “no.” Instead, He’s reminding them of the only true and right motive for a right living – love. Love for God.

1. 6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”As we said last week, the best evidence for our salvation is is not our experience or a ritual but a true inner change that enabled us to genuinely love others. That being said, it would be wrong for us to then go and try to love others in order to gain acceptance by God. Love is not something we conjure up from within. How do you love, genuinely love, those who are not loveable to you? God has to do it. The love Himself has to do it.

2 Cor 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

The way we become loving from inside out is by beholding – looking at and sitting in front of Jesus, drinking Him in. As Jesus flows in, love flows in. And how do we look at Jesus? Do we get a poster of His drawing and look at it? No. Mainly through the word of God. Written, preached, memorized…

ILL: Yesterday, working out at the Y listening to Desiring God conference. Jason Meyer, the pastor who replaced John Piper after he retired, was preaching and he said something that thrilled my soul. He said, so often we look in the mirror and we think, “Does God love me?” “Of course he does. I’m better than that person.” At other times, we look in the mirror, ”Does God love me?” “No. Look at me. I’m wretched. Ugly…” “Does God love me?” “Yes!” Throw down that mirror, raise up your arms and say “Yes! Look at Christ. Look at His love.”    

Why? Because Christ doesn’t love you like the world does or even you do. He doesn’t love you because you are lovely. He loves you because He is love. He loves you in spite of you not because of you. And he quoted…

Eph. 2:4 But3 God, being rrich inmercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even twhen we were dead inour trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in ChristJesus,

I wanted to shout when I heard it in the weight room even …