Please have a seat, and perhaps you could turn with me in your Bible to Galatians. I want to look at passages from chapters 2 and 3, page 1169.
! We've been thinking about the good news that we must never forget, this good news that comes from God, this good news that we are justified, not by our own record of righteousness, but by faith in the Lord Jesus.
This week we're thinking about how vital this message is, thinking about the vital news of real freedom in the good news of Jesus.
It's recognized, certainly in the Western world, that freedom is one of those basic human rights.
I'll take you back to the summer of 2020, in the months following the killing of George Floyd.
I remember the worldwide anti-racism protests.
And down in Bristol, down in the southeast of England, there was this famous scene where the statue of a chap by the name of Edward Colston, you can see it there, was toppled into the sea.
In 1721, the statue was erected with the inscription, you know, Edward Colston, great benefactor of the city of Bristol.
So, fast forward 300 years, and he's become the great villain.
And the question is, why the change?
Why was the statue toppled?
Well, the statue was toppled because he was somebody who had made his wealth through the trading of black slaves.
And that was seen as beyond the pale.
And so, he was toppled.
Today, we recognize freedom is a basic human right.
Many of us are perhaps familiar with how the U.S. Declaration of Independence begins, 1776.
We hold these truths to be self-evident.
That all men are created equal.
That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
That among these are life, liberty, there's the freedom word, and the pursuit of happiness.
Now, we take it as self-evident today.
But sociologists recognize, if you look back through history, since the earliest times, all known societies were actually slave societies.
So, what brought the change that means we think that freedom is something that's so essential and vital?
Why do we say, you know, any kind of slavery is wrong and should be toppled?
And it's really interesting to see that Christians and atheists both recognize that within Western society, it's the Christian worldview that accounts for that.
We come to the book of Galatians, written in the mid-40s A.D.
And we didn't hear this verse, but let me read it.
Chapter 5, verse 1.
Here's a great statement from Paul as he writes this letter.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
So, Paul writes this letter with this great cry of freedom that is a particular kind of slavery that Paul the Apostle wants to topple.
And it's the slavery of legalism.
It's the slavery of the idea that we need faith in Jesus plus our own good works if we are to be right with God.
And Paul says, down with that, that's false thinking.
And what he defends and what he celebrates and what he says is vital is that there is freedom in Christ.
So, we're going to take two key verses in his letter.
We read them both, Galatians 2.20 and Galatians 3.28.
We're going to explore two different aspects of God's gospel freedom.
And we're going to see how these themes connect with both the desires within our own hearts for freedom,
but also how it creates the path towards the kind of world and society and community that we're looking for.
So, the good news that we must never forget is that faith in Jesus brings us real freedom.
That we are no longer slaves.
We're not slaves to performance, and we're not slaves to lines of division.
So, let's think about this idea, first of all, this freedom that comes through faith,
this freedom that says we are not slaves to performance.
Some of you may be familiar with the Korean philosopher who now works in Germany called Byung Chul Han.
He wrote a little book that's become really popular called The Burnout Society.
And in that little book, he argues that modern life is creating anxieties and depressions.
He uses the image of being consumed by work.
We are never able to switch off.
There is the pressure of competition to find work or within a workplace.
We want more stuff.
And so, we recognize to get more stuff, we need to earn more money so we work harder and we work longer.
And there's a consumption because of work.
And then you add the message of our culture, which from a very early age says to us,
you can define and redefine yourself.
You can be and do anything you want.
And that sounds wonderful until we recognize the kind of pressure that puts on people.
And what if you can't?
What if you can't reach that standard?
What if you feel that you're stuck?
And then we come to life today in the digital world and we watch stories and there are reels and there are videos.
And we feel, again, a pressure, perhaps subliminal, sometimes more overt,
to be more adventurous, more beautiful, more witty and wise, more creative.
And so many people in our society, and that includes us as Christians, are discovering,
if I have to justify myself, if I have to prove myself, that's exhausting.
There's no peace in that way of life.
There's no security in that way of life.
There's no joy to be found there.
And so as we begin, I wonder, do you recognize something of yourself in that?
Have you or are you trapped on the treadmill of performance?
Remember Galatians chapter 5, verse 1.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
The church in Galatia needed to hear this message of freedom from a particular kind of performance.
So if you weren't here last week, just to very briefly remind you of the situation,
we have Paul the apostle writing this letter in great grief.
He's defending the true gospel against a false message that the church is being pulled towards.
There's a group of false teachers.
They're legalistic.
They're saying you need to add law keeping to faith in Jesus if you want to be justified.
If you really want to be a member of God's church, you need to prove yourself by your moral performance.
And this toxic teaching has spread through the church.
So even Peter the apostle has come under its spell.
He's become guilty in chapter 2, verse 11, onwards of hypocrisy.
So he knows.
Acts chapter 10, if you read your McShane Bible reading plan, you'll have read Acts chapter 10.
Peter has come to discover God shows no favoritism.
He knows the gospel.
Jesus is all you need for salvation, but his actions in a particular moment are denying those truths.
Because he says, unless you keep a diet like the Jews, I'm not going to share fellowship and hospitality with you.
And so Paul speaks and acts and writes in this kind of context because he understands
that any view of religion and any worldview that says you and I need to perform to be saved and to be accepted,
it cannot offer real hope.
It cuts us off from Jesus and it severs us from real joy.
Because if it is in any way about me or about you, how good is good enough?
What is the standard that we apply?
What happens to my salvation if I have a bad day or a really spectacular fail?
And one of the reasons that Paul writes this letter is to remind the church in every generation
that if we want to apply God's law to our lives and say, this is the standard,
and if I can just keep this standard, then God will be pleased with me.
We need to take that really, really seriously.
Because unlike our school or uni exams, God doesn't grade on a curve.
He doesn't say, well, 70%, that satisfies for a top-level mark.
Or if the exam is particularly difficult, let me lower the bar.
God doesn't do that with his law.
In fact, what the Bible says is that if we fail at even one point in law obedience,
then the whole law is broken.
If we don't love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength,
with all of our energy all of the time,
then the law is broken and we are guilty.
If we don't love our neighbor with the same energy and creativity and love that we apply to ourselves,
then we are guilty of breaking the law.
And remember who our God is.
God is holy.
He is perfect and he is just.
And so he will not accept our excuses.
Circumstances made me.
And he will not and he cannot sweep sin under the rug.
So if we try and make the basis of our salvation our performance,
we will always find ourselves failing.
Over the holidays, we watched David Attenborough's Wild London show.
I don't know if any of you saw it.
It's a really lovely show.
David Attenborough loves the city that he grew up in.
And there's this really nice scene with the hedgehogs.
We love hedgehogs.
They're very cute.
Hedgehogs are blind, almost blind.
And so there was this scene of this one hedgehog
desperately trying to get to the food that it needed
and trying to find its way to a mate.
But in London, as in all places, when you have gardens,
you have fences and you have walls.
And so this poor, blind hedgehog was trying to get to where it needed to go,
but was literally bashing its head against a garden fence.
No access and no hope,
except that the kind people of London have been creating hedgehog highways,
cutting out little holes at the bottom of their garden fences
so that hedgehogs can move from one garden to the other
and find the lady hedgehog and the food that they need.
And all is well that ends well.
Why am I telling you a story about hedgehogs?
Because the Bible would say to us
that you and I, by nature, are exactly like that blind hedgehog.
And that when we try to perform to enter the kingdom of God,
to find life with God,
we will come to recognize that we are spiritually blind,
we are bashing our heads against the wall of God's law
and our broken sin.
And what we need is someone to open the way for us.
And that's where the gospel comes in.
Because the gospel that Paul is talking about says,
listen, stop looking at your own performance.
The only performance that matters
is the perfect performance of the Lord Jesus
in His life, in His death, and His resurrection.
And the Lord Jesus, by His grace,
has created a heavenly highway for us,
a way back to God,
the means by which you and I,
simply by faith in Jesus,
are declared righteous,
just and accepted by God through faith in Him.
And on that basis,
faith saves us,
and faith is also how we live the Christian life.
And that's exactly the point that Paul makes
at the end of chapter 2.
Galatians chapter 2, verse 20.
I have been crucified with Christ,
and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body,
I live by faith
in the Son of God
who loved me
and gave Himself for me.
This is the key to living the Christian life.
Freedom comes
when we are in Jesus Christ.
When we understand
that He has died for us,
that He has loved us
and given Himself for us,
and that now by faith,
He lives in us.
In fact, He is our life.
Here's where the freedom of faith comes.
By faith,
we share
in what happened to Jesus.
So just as Jesus died on the cross,
so we die to the law
as the way to get right with God.
And we die to sin
because the power and penalty of sin
has been broken in our lives.
And we now die to self
so we can live to Christ.
We have a new identity.
We die to that idea of legalism.
I need to perform
if I'm going to belong to God.
And by faith,
we get the security we look for.
We are secure in Christ.
Martin Luther put it this way,
by faith,
you are so cemented to Christ
that He and you are one person
which cannot be separated
but remains attached to Him forever.
That's the gospel that gives us security.
Whatever is true of Jesus
is true of us.
Wherever Jesus has gone,
so we follow.
And by faith,
Paul says to us,
we have a new source
for living our lives.
We're not relying on our own strength.
Rather,
we rely on Christ in us.
And so the Christian
and the Christian church,
we sing,
Christ is our life.
He is my strength.
He is my peace.
He is my source of love and joy.
He is my holiness.
He is my hope.
So that to be justified
by faith in Jesus
is to be set free
from slavery
to the performance mindset.
It's to have freedom
to rest and trust
in Christ alone
for our salvation.
We are a burnout society.
And some of you have been there.
How can you and I
avoid spiritual burnout?
Only as we leave behind
that idea of performing
to be accepted.
Only as we believe
and trust
in the gospel
that says it's through faith
in Jesus Christ alone,
by God's grace alone,
that I'm saved.
Perhaps it might be helpful
at the start of the year
to perform
a spiritual health check.
How would you honestly answer
these questions?
Do you think God accepts you
only if you are good enough?
Do you believe that God
loves you more
if you have a good day spiritually?
Do you find it difficult
to admit sin and failure
to God and to others?
There are many more questions
that we could ask,
but we need to understand
that the temptation
towards legalism
is real.
It happened to Peter.
It happened to that church
in Galatia.
And you and I,
we need to always be coming back
to this good news
that we're justified
by faith alone,
to believe that gospel,
to preach that gospel
to ourselves,
and to live by faith
in Jesus each day.
This evening,
we're thinking
about the secure identity
that we have
as a child of God.
That's the answer.
So we have freedom
through faith,
so we're no longer
slaves to performance.
But secondly,
because we have freedom
in Christ,
we are no longer
slaves to dividing lines
that we see so often
in our society.
If we go back
to the protest movements
that we've been seeing
in the last few years,
what message does that
tell us about the society
in which we live?
Think about the
Black Lives Matter movement.
What does that say to us?
It says to us,
sadly,
tragically,
racism is real.
What did the Me Too movement
remind us of
over and over?
Violence against women
is real.
What did the protests
that we see
outside G8 summits
or in front of big business
say to us?
The inequality
of rich and poor
is real.
Our society
often seems better
at building walls
than we are
at building bridges.
whether that's
in person
or digitally.
That rise
in tribalism,
in hate,
we focus on
what divides us
more than what
brings us together.
And it's really
interesting that the
first century world
actually was not
so different.
When we turn
to Galatians chapter
three
and those end
verses,
Paul identifies
the big three
forms of division
and prejudice
in his day.
Hear what he says
in chapter three
verse 28.
There is neither
Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free,
nor is there
male and female,
for you are all
one in Christ
Jesus.
One of the most
amazing things
about the story
of the early church
in the first few
centuries
is the way
that they tore
down those
barriers in the
Roman world.
That this message
of freedom
in Christ
had explosive
power.
So here,
for the very
first time,
it seemed like,
women found
honor and protection
and they flocked
to the church.
Slaves that were
dispossessed,
they could become
leaders and they
could worship
with their masters
and so they loved
the message
of the gospel
and the culture
gap was bridged.
that Jew and Gentile
who normally hated
each other
would gather together
to worship
in one house
in one church.
And it was amazing
and as people saw
this radically
different community,
they were drawn
to ask,
what is it that makes
this place,
this people,
this message
so different
and so wonderful?
And that helps us
to remember
why the letter
to the Galatians
is so important
because this was
under threat.
The church
was wrestling
with this message.
What is the basis
for belonging
to God's church?
Is God's grace
powerful enough
to unite those
who are normally
divided?
Can a multi-ethnic
church of rich
and poor
of male and female,
can it really flourish?
Can it show
the beauty
of the gospel?
And Paul's answer
through this letter
and it's the message
of the whole Bible
is that yes,
it can flourish
and indeed
it must.
This is God's
design for His church.
But it's not easy
and that's what we see
in Galatia.
If God's design
for His church
were to be
sort of captured
in an artwork
in a canvas,
it wouldn't be
the canvas
of geometric shapes,
of nice,
clear,
crisp lines
of everything
black and white.
Perhaps it would be
more like,
I'm no art critic,
but you know
when you go into
a gallery,
perhaps a modern art gallery,
and you see those paintings
and you think,
a five-year-old
could have done that.
You know when you just get
that sort of mess
of color
and swirl
and it all kind of
blends in together
and it's messy
but you're kind of
drawn to it,
that's the church
by God's design.
It is messy
to figure out
how these people
can come together
but there's something
beautiful
in this kind
of community.
And Paul,
here in chapter 3
verses 26 to 29
shows how the gospel
has the power
to create
this new community.
Verse 26,
so in Christ Jesus
you are all
children of God
through faith.
All believers
are part of
God's family.
One father
would become
brothers and sisters.
That's a unifying principle.
Verse 27,
all believers
have a new
identification.
For all of you
who are baptized
into Christ
have clothed
yourself with Christ.
So all of these
Gentiles
who are becoming
Christians
for the first time,
they're getting baptized
and they're doing
that as a public
statement.
I now identify
with Jesus as Lord.
I'm not going to
worship Caesar
and the gods of Rome.
I identify
with Jesus as Lord.
And then Paul
uses this imagery
of being clothed
with Christ.
And that's an
interesting image
when in that day
when you moved
from childhood
to adulthood,
you literally
put on a new
set of clothes
to show
this new
identification.
new
identification.
And the new
identification
for the Christian,
what do we
clothe ourselves
with?
With Christ
himself.
He's the new
clothes we put on.
Verse 28,
all believers
have a new
identity.
There is neither
Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free,
nor is there male
and female,
for you are all
one in Christ
Jesus.
What is the
badge
that identifies
you,
that identifies
me?
When we introduce
ourselves,
we probably have
a whole list
of characteristics
and other people
will view us
through certain
lenses,
but what Paul
wants to say
in the gospel,
the badge
that identifies
us as a Christian
is,
I am in
Christ.
That's what
comes first.
That's what
should define us.
Now he's not
saying that
all of those
things cease
to exist,
our gender
or our
nationality
or our
social status.
He doesn't
say that we
should all
become exactly
the same.
He's not
saying the
church should
look uniform,
but what he
is saying is
that unity
in Jesus,
that's what
matters.
That's how we
should see each
other.
Not nationality,
not money,
not gender.
Of course,
those things
matter,
but they're
not primary.
And then in
verse 29,
he reminds us
that all
believers have
a new
inheritance.
If you belong
to Christ,
then you're
Abraham's seed
and heirs
according to
the promise.
So he goes
back to
Abraham.
To be in
Christ Jesus,
to have faith
in Jesus,
means we get
all of God's
blessings,
all that he
has promised
in the present,
but also
thinking about
future inheritance,
future glory,
life with God
that lasts forever.
That's true for
all who
will
believe.
And so as
Paul writes
to this church
that's wrestling,
and as we find
ourselves in the
21st century
in a society
wrestling with
these walls
that divide,
he introduces us
to the power
of the true
gospel
gospel that
can create
a gospel
community
that builds
bridges
and doesn't
build walls.
And so he
paints this
beautiful canvas
of a community
that is free
of pride,
that is free
of prejudice,
that is free
of hostility
and hate.
He calls them
back to the
gospel so that
the church
would be a place
where anyone
can find members,
where anyone
can find a
welcome and
hospitality,
where acceptance
and grace
is given
and received.
That's what the
gospel can do.
It's only what
the gospel can do.
Doesn't that sound
good?
Doesn't that sound
like a good vision
from God for a
local church,
for a church like
ours?
Doesn't that sound
like a good place
to invite people
into, people who
are hurting, people
who are lonely,
people who need
hope?
Now, of course,
we need to be
honest.
Christianity has
not always practiced
what it should
preach.
Of course, you
can look at
church history
and you can look
in our own day
and we recognize
Christians and
churches have
been guilty of
ugly racism
and prejudice
and we have to
own that.
But it is also
true that
Christians have
been responsible
for wonderful
acts that have
brought unity,
that have
brought love,
that has
brought separate
people together.
That the message
of the gospel
does have the
power to do
that.
And that the
gospel does
present for us
this wonderful
vision of a
community of
faith that is
set free from
the usual
prejudices that
we meet in
society.
community.
So how can we
make progress?
How can we look
to present this
light to one
another and to
the world?
Well, Paul would
say to us, we
must begin by
believing the
gospel.
It all begins
with faith in the
Lord Jesus.
Jesus, the
eternal Son of
God, who came on
God's great
redemption mission,
who came to
reconcile people to
God and to one
another.
It all begins
with trusting in
Jesus, this one
who came from
God, the Son of
God, who gave up
his freedom, gladly,
willingly, in love
to save us.
He was betrayed.
He was beaten.
He was arrested.
He was crucified
as the way to
break our chains
of sin that lead
to death.
As the way to
grant forgiveness
from God, to give
us peace with God
that we can
experience the
freedom of God's
grace to know
God's love poured
out in our hearts
so that we can
share that with
others.
So it begins
with Jesus.
And then, but we
live out the
gospel by faith
in Jesus.
With his help, we
welcome strangers
just as God
through Christ
has welcomed us
when we were
strangers and
enemies to him.
we practice
hospitality, knowing
that God welcomes
us every day to
feast on his
goodness and
mercy.
We show patience
to one another
because God
every day is
showing patience
to us.
We grant
forgiveness as
those who have
known and
continually know
that God
graciously forgives
us.
And we love
sacrificially as
we remember
what Jesus, the
Son of God, did
for us on the
cross at
Calvary.
Freedom in
Christ means we
are not slaves to
those lines that
divide.
Now imagine what
kind of community
the gospel of
freedom in
Christ is able
to produce.
Think about why
our world needs
this, why we
need this, why
we need to stay
close to the
gospel.
Because you and
I need grace.
And the gospel
produces a community
where people are
shown grace.
Because our
acceptance is not
based on our
performance.
It would be a
community that
would focus on
what unites us,
what would draw us
together.
We belong to
the Lord Jesus.
Not what divides
us culturally,
socially,
politically.
Faith in Jesus
comes first.
The gospel would
produce that kind
of community where
anyone can belong.
Anyone could walk
through these doors
and they should
find a welcome
that comes from
God himself to
discover God's
love in us,
in our words,
and in our
practice.
this is the
way.
This is the
way of Jesus.
This is the
freedom that
Jesus calls us
into.
And this is the
gospel that Paul
writes to defend.
And it's the
gospel that the
Lord Jesus wants
you and I to
pursue in our
own lives and
as a church.
as a church as