Well, good morning, church, and happy Mother's Day. It's good to see you all this morning.
Would you turn with me to Galatians chapter 6, verses 11 through 18. We've come to the end of our series in Galatians today.
Galatians 6, verses 11 through 18. Let me pray for us as we come to God's Word.
Father, what a thing to sing that all of our wealth is in the cross. Lord, the cross to our human eyes looks like weakness and defeat.
Lord, so many things we'd love to hold up as our trophies of accomplishment and boast.
And yet, truly, Your cross is where real wisdom and real power are found.
So, as we come again to this mighty book of Galatians, as we come again to Your living Word,
help us to see Christ in all of His beauty, the crucified and risen One.
Lord, that we might behold Him, worship Him, become more like Him, and serve Him to the glory of Your name. Amen.
All right, Galatians 6, 11 through 18. Paul writes this,
And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, even upon the Israel of God.
From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with Your spirit, brothers. Amen.
All right, well, as Paul brings this letter to a close, he takes up the pen and starts writing with his own hand.
In the first century, most letters were written by dictation. In other words, Paul would speak,
and one of his associates would write it down, and that was the letter that they would send off.
And often at the end of his letters, Paul would take up the pen from his scribe and write a final word.
Often it was sort of a short word of blessing or a short word of greeting.
But here in Galatians, this final writing from Paul is much fuller and much more emphatic.
He says,
Now, some have speculated that maybe Paul had really bad handwriting, or maybe he had bad eyesight,
and that's why he had to write his letters so large.
So, you know, if your penmanship isn't so good, well, perhaps you're in good apostolic company, you know.
But I actually think the real reason Paul is writing with such large letters is because he really wants to drive these final words home.
It's as if he's writing an email, and he kind of comes to the end, and he hits, you know, all caps and just starts typing away.
Don't miss this. This is bold. This is underlined. This is all caps.
See with what large letters I'm writing to you.
And what does, what does Paul want ringing in our ears and in our minds as he draws this passionate letter of Galatians to a close?
Well, no surprise.
It's nothing less than the heart of the gospel itself.
One more time, Paul wants to highlight the wonderful good news of what Jesus has done
so that we might not be taken captive by a false gospel,
by a false gospel that says circumcision or any other human work could possibly justify us before God.
In fact, Paul ends by drawing a contrast,
a contrast between legalism and the gospel,
so that we might spot this deadly legalism before it takes us captive,
and so that we might rejoice and rest in the peace and mercy and grace that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring.
So I wonder, having listened to us teach Galatians for the last three, four, five months,
can you tell the difference?
Can you tell the difference when a message or a community or your own heart, perhaps,
is operating out of one of these two radically different principles?
Can you tell the difference when you're living out of legalism and works righteousness
or when you're living out of the gospel?
Well, Paul's going to help us one last time in these final verses.
First, first thing he emphasizes is that there's a difference in what you boast in.
There's a difference in what you boast in.
A legalistic heart boasts only in the flesh,
whereas a gospel-shaped heart boasts only in the cross of Jesus Christ.
In verses 12 and 13, Paul highlights that the teachers who are troubling the Galatians only, what?
Want to make a good showing in the flesh.
That is, they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
But by contrast, Paul says in verse 14,
far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, a legalistic heart is going to boast in what our human efforts can accomplish.
That's what's going to excite it.
That's what's going to energize it.
And it's all going to be about our ego and our pride.
Look at what I've done.
Look at what I deserve.
But the gospel-shaped heart stands not on a resume,
not on a list of accomplishments,
but it stands before the cross of Jesus Christ.
And before the cross, we realize that our human efforts and our human good works
can never be good enough to reconcile us to a holy God.
After all, if the labors of our hands could reconcile us to God,
if obedience to the law could justify us,
then why did Christ have to die?
Well, the answer that Paul's been saying again and again in this book is clear.
He says, our works could never atone for our sins,
and that's exactly why Jesus came and died in our place.
At the cross, the wrath of God that stood over our sins was fully absorbed by Jesus,
who took our sins upon Himself and paid our penalty of death in full.
So the gospel doesn't say,
God helps those who help themselves.
The gospel says,
God rescues the helpless by His grace alone.
And that's why our boast is not in ourselves or in our righteousness.
Our boast is in the cross of Jesus Christ,
because at the cross, the battle was won,
and the debt was paid.
And at the cross, the final verdict was cast
that declares sinners righteous.
You know, imagine that you're out at sea,
and a storm rises up,
and your little ship's being battered by the waves,
and the sun suddenly goes dark behind the clouds,
and then your boat capsizes,
and you're flung overboard,
and you're floundering in the waves,
trying to keep your head above water,
but the current's pulling you down,
and you know you're lost.
But suddenly, you hear a helicopter overhead,
and a diver plunges down into the water after you,
ties a rope around your waist,
pulls you above the water in the waves,
secures your lift into the helicopter,
and you're brought to safety.
Now, when you get back to land,
what will be your boast?
Wow, I did a pretty good job back there.
My backstroke practically saved my life, right?
Of course not.
Your boast isn't going to be in yourself.
Your boast is going to be in your rescuer.
Friends, that's the message of the Bible.
That's the good news.
The triune God has rescued us through the cross.
We were dead in our sins,
and God made us alive with Christ.
So the cross, not ourselves,
will always be our boast.
That's why we talk so much about the cross at Trinity,
because it is the center of everything.
So we ask ourselves,
is it your boast today?
Or are you still trying to stand on your own righteousness
and your own good works?
Perhaps today is the day
when you finally admit
that before a holy and perfectly good God,
you're actually like a person sinking in the waves.
And with every stroke to save yourself,
you sink simply deeper down.
Friend, call upon Christ.
He's descended into the waters
of death and hell on the cross
to save all who place their faith in Him.
Everyone who calls upon Him will be saved.
He died and rose again on the third day
to atone for all your sins
and to secure a perfect and complete salvation.
And He'll lift you above the storm of sin and judgment
and carry you to safety,
to eternal life in His righteousness.
And for those of us who are Christians,
who have placed our faith in Christ,
isn't it true that we sometimes slip back
into that old form of boasting?
Surely we do.
Pride comes lurking in.
Our old sinful nature wants to steal the glory
that only Christ deserves.
Ah, look at what I've done,
our old self says.
God sure is lucky to have a follower like me.
Brothers and sisters,
let us return to the foot of the cross.
Let our pride be washed away again
by the cleansing waters that flow
from Calvary and the crucified one.
Let's be freed from that self-centeredness
and that selfishness,
not so that we might think very little of ourselves,
but that we might stop thinking about ourselves at all
and focus on God
and His great love for us
and focus on serving and loving those around us.
It was my sin that held Him there,
we sing,
until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything,
no gifts,
no power,
no wisdom,
but I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
So that's the first contrast
that Paul wants to drive home in all caps,
the big difference between the gospel and legalism
is what we boast in.
And the second contrast is this.
Paul emphasizes the difference here
between whose opinion matters most to us.
Whose opinion matters most.
You see, in the legalistic,
works, righteousness, heart,
it's human opinion that takes center stage.
But in the gospel-shaped heart,
only God's opinion finally matters.
Again, in verse 12,
Paul's opponents are
those who want to make a good showing in the flesh.
They want other people to notice and applaud.
But listen to what Paul says in verse 14.
He says,
By the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the world has been crucified to me
and I to the world.
What the world thinks,
the world's opinion, Paul says,
has lost all power over me.
Let them applaud.
Let them jeer and mock.
It doesn't matter to me anymore.
Only God's opinion matters now.
After all, what does the cross show us?
What does the cross show us?
It shows us that the fallen world
cannot possibly give us a reliable standard
by which we live our lives.
Why so?
Because when the King of glory
walked among us in the flesh,
the embodiment of perfect wisdom
and love and truth and righteousness,
what did the world do?
The world crucified Him.
That was the world's opinion of Jesus.
Here's the summit of the world's opinion.
Perfect righteousness, truth, glory, love, and justice.
Let's kill Him.
Now, I don't know about you,
but that doesn't seem like a very reliable system
to base your life on, does it?
Right?
You see, when Christ was crucified,
the fallen world was exposed as a sham.
Its spell was broken.
It comes to us in waves and says,
think this way, act this way,
believe this way, value this way,
love this way,
and then Christ was crucified.
And the house of cards came down
and we saw it for what it really was.
No longer does the world's opinion
of what is wise or beautiful or just or true
hold any persuasive power
when we stand before the cross.
For there, before the crucified and risen Jesus,
there is where we behold the fullness of wisdom
and power and truth and love.
And we live only on the basis of His opinion now.
Can you imagine,
can you imagine living a life
that isn't blown and tossed
by the approval or disapproval of the world?
Can you imagine living a life
that isn't thrown around
by the latest fad of thinking,
by the latest, you know,
trend of popular opinion?
Can you imagine being able to rise above the game
of people-pleasing,
of flattery,
of favor-currying,
and peer pressure?
Can you imagine not having to ride
the rollercoaster of elation
when people like and approve of you
or of devastation
when you get disapproval and rejection?
You know, trying to live your life
on the opinion and approval of the world
is like trying to build a house
on a floating dock
in the middle of a storm.
Part of my growing up,
I lived near a small lake
in upstate New York
and you could swim out
to this little, like, floating dock
that was big enough
for maybe, like, four or five kids, right?
And, of course,
we'd always get that thing
really rocking back and forth
and then you'd fall off, you know.
Imagine a little dock like that
in the middle of a storm.
Just rocks back and forth
and back and forth
and, you know,
basing your life
on the opinion of the world
is like trying to build a little house
on a dock like that.
You think you build up a wall here,
you think you secure a door there,
the whole thing rocks again
and it all falls down.
How many of our lives are like that?
But through the cross of Jesus Christ,
you don't have to build your life
on the fleeting opinions of the world.
My hope is built
on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
You see, by the cross of Jesus,
Paul can say, you can say,
the world's been crucified to me
and I to the world.
So, Christian,
do the opinions of the world
take up too much real estate
in your heart?
Are there certain aspects
of following Jesus
that you're afraid
or embarrassed to maybe profess
or believe
because you're worried
of how the world will respond,
what your friends,
your colleagues,
your neighbors will think
if you really followed Christ
in this area of your life?
Are you blown and tossed
by the opinions of the world?
Come, let us reason together,
God once said
through the prophet Isaiah.
Though your sins be like scarlet,
I will make them white as snow.
Friend, consider all
that the triune God has done
to prove to you
His love and faithfulness.
The Father gave His only Son
on the cross
to grant you eternal life.
He's demonstrated
His love for you
in a measure
beyond human comprehension.
And if that's how much
God loves you,
if that's the lengths
God has gone to save you,
then surely here is a God
that you can trust.
All His words are true.
All His ways are good.
His kingdom may run counter
to the cultures of this world,
but His kingdom
is the only place
of lasting and true flourishing.
Surely, this God
would only be giving you
His words and His ways
for your flourishing.
When Christ died on the cross,
God's love was displayed
for you in undeniable glory.
So now,
how could the world
hold anything
that could charm us?
I mean, think about it.
Has the world ever loved you
like Jesus loves you?
I mean, I know how fun it is
to flip through YouTube
and see all those fun videos
of like people telling me
how I can be fit
and happy and wise
and wealthy
and all these things, right?
But no one has loved us
like Christ.
And only His ways are good.
So why would we now look?
Why would we now look
to the world's opinions
to tell us how money
or sex
or power
should really be used?
Why would we look
to the world's opinions
to determine
whether we're living
a full and robust life?
Now, surely,
every culture has echoes
of God's common grace,
and we're grateful
for those echoes.
God has not led Himself
without a witness
in any human culture.
But we should not rest content
merely with those echoes.
Let us press on
to the fountainhead.
From God,
the one from whom
these streams of goodness
and truth
and beauty flow,
let the opinions
of Almighty God,
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
be the lens
through which we can really know
what is true
and good
and beautiful.
Now, of course,
living
for the opinion of God
rather than for the opinion
of the world,
it won't always be easy
in this life.
It may bring difficulty.
It may even bring conflict.
You see,
Paul realized
that the false teachers
in Galatia
were preaching circumcision
so that they might not
be persecuted
for the cross of Christ.
Now, what does that mean?
Well,
in context,
you see,
in the first century
Roman Empire,
Judaism was a religion
that had legal status
and legal protection
because it was so ancient
and so old.
But many Christians
were persecuted
because Rome
considered Christianity
this sort of new
and dangerous ideology.
They didn't understand
that Christianity
was simply the fulfillment
of the Old Testament.
And given that context,
it would have been
very tempting
for Gentile believers
to want to come back
under the Old Covenant
and get circumcised
because then
they might not have
to face persecution
from the Roman authorities.
So, a big draw
of this false gospel
in the first century
was that it allowed you
to kind of skirt out
of persecution
and ostracization
and all this stuff.
And friends,
it is very much
the same today.
Most false gospels
are shaped
in part,
consciously or unconsciously,
to avoid
tension and conflict
with the world around us.
But notice what Paul says
in verse 17.
From now on,
let no one cause me trouble.
That is,
let no one question
this truth
that I am bringing to you.
For I bear on my body
the marks of Jesus.
What are these marks
of Jesus
that Paul is talking about?
Well, I think pretty obviously
they were the scars
that Paul had acquired
through being persecuted
because he proclaimed
to all that he meant
that the crucified Jesus
was the world's true king.
In 2 Corinthians,
Paul recounts
how he faced
many physical beatings
and hardships
for the sake of the gospel.
The false teachers
wanted the Galatians
to mark their bodies
with circumcision
so they could avoid persecution.
But Paul says,
don't you see?
A willingness
to suffer for Christ,
those are some of the only
true outward marks
of the gospel.
So, brothers and sisters,
don't be afraid
to face hardship
or rejection
for the name of Christ.
Yes, we might be ostracized,
we might be ridiculed
for following Jesus as Lord,
but you need not be afraid.
If we suffer with Him,
what does the Bible say?
We will be raised with Him.
What did Jesus Himself say?
He said,
blessed are you
when others revile you
and persecute
and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely
on my account.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward
is great in heaven,
for so they persecuted
the prophets
who were before you.
Seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness.
God's opinion
is the only opinion
that matters.
So, the first contrast
is about what we boast in.
Second contrast
is about whose opinion
matters most.
Finally, the third contrast
is about how real change happens.
A legalistic heart
tries to change
from the outside in,
but a gospel-shaped heart
changes from the inside out.
In verse 13,
Paul points out,
he says,
even those who are circumcised
do not themselves
keep the law.
You see,
this was the great irony
of the false teacher's position.
They were saying,
well, you have to get circumcised
and keep the law
to be saved.
But in reality,
even though they were circumcised,
they couldn't keep the law,
they couldn't keep the whole law.
They were just like everybody else,
stuck in the old patterns of life.
Outward circumcision
could never create
an internal change.
So, look at what Paul says
in verse 15.
He says,
for neither circumcision
counts for anything
nor uncircumcision,
but a new creation.
What really counts
isn't external markers,
but internal regeneration.
That's what it means, really,
to be a Christian.
Circumcision could never make you
a redeemed child of God.
And the same thing is true today.
External symbols and signs
don't make you
a Christian,
a child of God.
We're going to celebrate
baptism in just a minute,
but baptism doesn't
cause you
to be a Christian.
We celebrate the Lord's Supper
every month.
The Lord's Supper
doesn't cause you
to be a Christian.
Rather,
these things
are beautiful,
powerful,
signs and seals
of what God does
through faith
from the inside out.
What matters
is a new creation.
Through the Holy Spirit,
by faith in Christ,
have you been made alive
spiritually,
internally?
Has your old heart of stone
been replaced
with a heart of flesh?
Have the eyes of your heart
been opened to see
the gravity of your sin
before a holy God
and the wonder
of God's grace
and forgiveness
freely offered
through Christ
as your substitute
and Savior?
Have you been
born again?
That's what matters.
Not whether you're Jew
or Gentile
or male or female,
college-educated
or self-educated.
Have you been
made a new creation?
Have you been regenerated?
Have you been born again?
Did you know that
nearly every major writer
in the New Testament,
Paul,
John,
Peter,
James,
they all describe
genuine Christianity,
real Christianity,
what it means
to be a Christian
at all
as being
regenerated,
born again,
being a new creation
in Christ.
We sometimes think
that born again
is sort of this label
for weird Christians,
right?
There's like the born again
types over there
than there's us
serious types over here.
The New Testament
knows no such distinction.
Every single writer
practically in the New Testament
says,
real, genuine Christianity
is being made new.
In fact,
this is how Jesus himself
talks about
what he came to do.
He didn't come
to give us more rules.
He didn't come
to give us more examples.
He didn't come
to give us more
ethical principles.
That's not ultimately
why Jesus came.
He came to give us
new hearts.
It's not circumcision
that matters.
It's not your uncircumcision
that matters.
It's a new creation.
And that's where
real change comes from.
Not from outside in,
but from inside out.
Now, you see,
it wasn't just
in first century Galatia,
but it has really been
throughout much
of Christian history
that there have been
those who have said,
you know,
if you really believe
that salvation
is by grace alone,
through faith alone,
in Christ alone,
if you really believe that
and preach that,
then you know
you're just giving people
no incentive at all
to obey God.
If you preach
that kind of message,
people will just be content
to stay in their
old sinful patterns.
That's how people
will critique
the biblical gospel.
But what this critique
misses,
completely misses,
is that adding
more law
or requiring
more obedience
to be saved
or more requirements
and rituals,
that doesn't make us
holy either.
Only an internal
change of heart
can begin
to bear the fruit
of a holy life.
And this internal
change of heart
doesn't come from us,
from the outside.
It comes as a gift
from God
to all who believe
in Christ.
Real change
only happens
when our loves
begin to be reordered
and reshaped
by God's love
from the inside out.
Pastor Matt
mentioned this writer
a few weeks ago.
A guy named
Thomas Chalmers,
who was a Scottish
pastor many years ago,
he wrote an essay
called The Expulsive
Power of a New
Affection.
Big words.
Preachers in the,
you know,
19th century,
they liked long titles,
you know.
I should have called
this sermon
something cool like that,
but I just call it
some stuff about
the end of Galatians.
The Expulsive Power
of a New Affection.
What does he mean?
He means that when
you have a new affection,
a new love,
that's what has
the expulsive power,
the power to drive out
the old loves.
What makes a greedy
person generous?
What makes a fearful
person confident?
I mean, think about that.
You can tell
a fearful person
stop being afraid
a hundred times over,
and it won't move
their fear one inch.
Right?
But when the fearful
heart catches a glimpse
of Jesus Christ,
the lover of their soul,
standing sovereignly
amidst the storms
of their life,
the one who calmed
the storms and said,
peace be still
to the wind and the waves.
You see,
let the fearful soul
feel the embrace of Christ
in all His power and love.
And then the words,
don't be afraid,
suddenly begin to melt
the cold hands of fear,
and the warm confidence
of being a child of God
begins to rise in the soul.
Whom shall I fear?
says the heart
who sees the God
of heavenly hosts,
the one who commands
the armies of heaven,
that God,
seeing that God
bow low
to take up
our sinful flesh,
bearing away
our sins on the cross,
rising again
in victory
over all the worst
that hell and death
could possibly
throw against us?
Indeed,
whom shall we fear?
That's the expulsive power
of a new affection.
Change comes
not from outside in,
but from inside out.
So here are the contrasts
that Paul puts in bold
at the end of his great letter
to the Galatians.
We boast in the cross,
not in our flesh.
We live for God's opinion,
not the world's.
And we change
from his power
inside out,
not from the outside in.
And what's the result
of all this?
Well, interestingly,
look at verse 16.
And that's for all
who walk by this rule,
peace and mercy
be upon them
and upon the Israel of God.
In fact,
the way that last phrase
should be translated
is,
even upon the Israel of God.
Paul isn't distinguishing
two groups here.
He's saying,
this is the real people of God.
That's what Paul's saying.
The people of God
is no longer defined
by circumcision
or any external marker,
but only by faith
in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And in this community
defined by faith,
what is there?
What reigns?
Peace and mercy.
You see,
where the gospel reigns,
there is peace
and there is mercy.
Peace because we no longer live
under the condemning
voice of the law,
and mercy because
we have been forgiven.
And a community like that,
a community,
a church that lives
in peace and mercy,
will be a community
that extends
peace and mercy.
Friends,
being a people of the gospel
means being a people of peace
and not violence.
Being a people of mercy
and not hatred
and bitterness.
That's a place
where the gospel reigns.
And what makes that possible
is what Paul's been talking about
throughout this entire book.
Grace.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit,
brothers and sisters.
May our church
be a church
of grace.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And then our Lord Jesus Christ
will get all the praise
that He deserves.
Let's pray together.
O Lord,
as we come to the end
of this book of Galatians,
Lord,
as it seems,
like Luther said
so many years ago,
we've been just hammering
the gospel into our heads
week after week.
O Lord,
would it descend
from our heads
into our hearts,
and would you give us
a fresh taste
by your spirit
of how sweet
and good
and lovely
is our Savior,
Jesus Christ?
Would we be a church
that lives by His grace,
that lives in peace
and mercy,
that boasts
in the cross?
Would we be a church
where we say,
oh,
the world
is crucified to us
and us to the world?
And out of that place,
Lord,
where we no longer need
the opinions of the world,
would we be equipped
by Your Spirit
to truly love
this world
that You have loved so much
and to go forth
to serve
and to proclaim
Jesus is Lord.
We ask all this
in Your mighty name,
Jesus.
Amen.