This afternoon, I have the privilege of giving the eulogy at a funeral.
And this man that has died, he has lived a compelling, compelling life for Christ.
He's the father of a sister from our church.
Many of us don't know who this man is.
But I have found myself asking, what am I all about?
And I found myself wanting to ask us as a church, Christ the King Church, what are we all about?
You may answer that question, well, I'm all about the Packers, or I'm about the Bears, or I'm about my family, my kids, my grandkids.
I'm all about my health.
I'm all about my city.
I'm all about my career.
But Christ the King Church, really, what are we all about?
Are we about this old historic building?
Are we about helping people in need?
Is that all we're about?
Are we all about having close, meaningful relationships with one another?
What are we all about?
We're all about the gospel.
And that is the whole point of the entire book of Galatians.
If I were to summarize the book of Galatians in a sentence, it would be this.
The gospel of Jesus Christ alone frees us from slavery to sin in order to live together for God.
That's what Paul's getting at.
That's what God is getting at.
The gospel alone frees us from slavery to sin in order for us to live for God.
And so I know on the title of this sermon, I have Galatians, a retro view, five walkaways.
It's just going to be four walkaways.
So four walkaways from our four plus months of simmering in the book of Galatians.
Let me name you these four walkaways.
First, our first walkaway is our one true gospel.
We've got to be clear on the gospel.
It is God's power unto salvation.
Our second walkaway is being aware of our old gospel enemy, legalism.
Our third walkaway is our new gospel identity, believing what God says about you, not what the world says about you.
And our fourth walkaway from Galatians is our new gospel community.
In Christ Jesus, we have a new social value system.
The summary of Galatians, again, is this.
The gospel alone frees us from slavery to sin in order to live for God.
And so here's the deal.
We as a church moving forward, we must keep in step with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In other words, we must be all about the gospel.
So let's focus in on this first walkaway.
We want to avoid the mistake of which James 1.22 warns us not to forget what we've seen in this book, but to apply it.
So our first walkaway moving forward is being clear on the one true gospel.
If you looked at the beginning and the end of the book of Galatians, you're going to notice something.
In verse 4 of Galatians chapter 1, Paul is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he says, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.
That little phrase, who gave himself for our sins, that's a way of summarizing the gospel.
The good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ.
And you notice what the gospel does.
For those who believe, it delivers us from this present evil age,
which is just another way of talking about the world.
Now, if you flip to the back of Galatians, Galatians chapter 6,
in verses 11 through 16, particular verses 14 through 15,
we read Paul saying this,
But far be it for 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.
Now, I find it very interesting that Paul begins and ends this letter to the Galatians
by talking about the gospel, Christ crucified,
and that it delivers us from this present evil age, the world.
This book, from beginning to end, is all about Christ crucified,
the power of God, and what that does for us,
what God has done for us.
At the heart of the gospel is Christ's substitutionary death for sinners on the cross.
He gave himself up for our sins.
Christ crucified on our behalf.
And all the way through, from beginning to end,
everything in the middle of this book of Galatians,
is all about the gospel.
Now, Billy started the service earlier on.
He read a passage from 1 Corinthians 1,
in which Paul talked about the gospel as God's power in wisdom.
Paul in Romans 1.16 describes the gospel as God's power unto salvation.
And we start picking up on that all the way through Galatians.
So let me just give you a quick tour de force.
In 1.6 and 7, there is only one true gospel that actually saves people from sin.
1.11, we learn that it's not man's gospel,
but this good news of Christ crucified,
this is God's good news to fallen humanity.
This is a message from God.
And 2.5, the truth of this one true gospel,
it must be protected and preserved.
And 2.7, this gospel is entrusted to be proclaimed to the nations,
uncircumcised and circumcised.
2.14, our conduct is either in step with this gospel,
or it's out of step with this gospel.
And 2.15 through 21,
this gospel justifies all who would believe.
This week, I was listening to WNBI,
and I heard Colin Smith,
he is a Scottish preacher serving at the Orchard Church in Arlington Heights.
I can't give you a Scottish accent.
I wish I could,
but here's what he said.
We don't obey in order to come to Christ.
We come to Christ in order to obey.
The gospel declares that a sinner is made right with God
based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Not our works.
And so when we read 2.20,
that the gospel announces that sinners have been co-crucified with Christ
and co-risen with Christ,
we've been united with Christ.
At the heart of that is Christ's death and resurrection.
It's all about the gospel.
And 3.8,
The gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham,
quote,
In you shall all the nations be blessed.
This gospel is a big gospel.
God's plan for the fullness of time realized in Jesus.
And 3.15 through 18,
we learn that God's blessing to all nations promised to Abraham
would come through one of Abraham's offspring,
quote,
Who is Christ?
Gospel.
Christ crucified is God's good news of blessing to all nations.
3.13,
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.
Redemption is another way of talking about what the cross does.
In 3.26,
we learn that in Christ Jesus,
you are all sons of God by faith.
Adoption is another way of talking about what the cross of Christ has done.
4.4-7,
again,
talks about redemption
and combines it with adoption.
We're justified.
We're redeemed.
We're adopted.
All because of the cross of Jesus Christ.
We can cry out,
Abba, Father,
by the Spirit in us
because of the cross of Jesus Christ.
4.28,
adoption.
5.1,
for freedom Christ has set us free.
That's redemption language.
5.13-24,
because of the gospel,
we no longer walk by the flesh,
we walk by the Spirit
so that we can fulfill the law of God.
Gospel.
6.2,
we bear one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ.
The gospel sings to our hearts
as we serve one another.
It's because of the gospel.
It's the new creation rule by which we walk.
Galatians,
from beginning to end,
is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It just doesn't start and end with the gospel.
It is packed full of gospel.
It's all about the one true gospel of Jesus Christ.
And let me just let you know,
it's only that gospel that can save sinners.
You can't add works to the gospel,
nor can you remove the cross of Christ from the gospel.
If you add to it or remove from it,
you don't have a gospel anymore.
There's only one true gospel,
and you can sum it up with just two words,
Christ crucified.
So our first walk away
is this huge emphasis
on the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and it just doesn't get us into the kingdom.
It helps us live out
being citizens of the kingdom.
So now we turn to the second walk away.
Wouldn't it be great
if we as a church,
back to the first walk away,
wouldn't it be great
if moving forward
for weeks and months
and years,
Lord willing,
ahead,
we are gospel-centered
like Galatians is?
Now to the second walk away,
the old gospel enemy.
Throughout this letter,
Paul repeatedly warns
of a false gospel,
a distorted gospel.
And so let me just tell you up front,
a distorted gospel
is a dud of a gospel.
It can't do anything.
Here's a nice thought.
Just imagine a hot August summer day
in Kenosha.
You're walking down 73rd Street.
It's the street I live on.
You're sweating up a storm
because it's like 90-something degrees out
with Wisconsin humidity.
I'm on my front porch.
I see you walking by.
You're a sweat hog.
I've got compassion on you.
And I say to you,
hey, would you like a cold glass of water?
And you're like,
absolutely.
I'm so sweaty and hot.
I'm so weary.
I say, well, come up onto my stoop.
And I run into the house.
30 seconds later,
I am back
and I hand you
a tall,
cold glass of water
packed full of ice
brimming with water.
And it even has that kind of
perspiration on the outside of the glass
because it's so humid.
You know what I'm talking about?
Your mouth is so parched.
And as you bring that glass up to your lips,
I happen to mention to you,
oh, by the way,
I just put a drip of my dog's blood
in that glass of water.
What would you do?
Would you knock that baby back?
You'd be like,
you'd throw the glass against my house.
You'd be like,
what are you thinking?
I'm not drinking that polluted water.
It's not good for me.
Legalism pollutes the one true gospel
into something else.
A corrupted gospel is a contrary gospel.
A distorted gospel is a dud of a gospel.
It's blood water.
You don't want it.
There's no power in it.
Legalism.
Legalism corrupts the one true gospel
of Jesus Christ into something else.
A legalistic approach to religion
has no power to justify you.
It has no power to redeem you.
There's nothing in it that brings you about
the adoption,
the spirit dwelling,
a new creation,
making you a citizen of the Jerusalem from above.
It's got no power to do that.
In fact, it only just condemns you.
The legalism of the first century in Galatia was this.
Jews were insisting that Gentiles,
in order to become Christians,
had to first become Jews.
Jews.
That means men had to be circumcised.
That was what's going on with a little powwow
we read about in chapter 2, 1 through 10.
There was also this insistence
that in order to be a true Christian,
you needed to observe Jewish dietary restrictions.
You had to eat kosher.
That's the big deal of what we see going on in 2.12.
And then there was this kind of insistence
that you need to observe Jewish holy days.
Make sure Yom Kippur is on your calendar
and you observe it.
We see that reference in 4.10 through 11.
But what you need to understand,
that's not the gospel.
You're not justified by works.
The good news of Jesus Christ
is not what we must do.
You're not justified by your works.
You're not redeemed through circumcision.
You're not adopted by eating kosher.
And you're not indwelt by the Spirit
by observing Jewish holy days.
When we try to sneak our own works
into our standing with God,
we are actually trying to broker
our own salvation.
That's not good news, brothers and sisters.
That's our old gospel enemy.
That's legalism.
If the pure, true gospel
is a cup of cold glass water
to the soul on a hot summer day
in this present evil age,
legalism is the drip of dog blood
that changes its very essence.
The essence of legalism
is a salvation dependent
upon the obedience of man.
It's a man-centered salvation
and it doesn't save.
The essence of the gospel
is that salvation
depends solely on the finished
substitutionary work of Jesus Christ,
Christ crucified.
It's a God-centered salvation.
It's by grace alone.
And today,
there's all sorts of legalisms,
both major scale and minor scale.
The health and wealth gospel,
the prosperity gospel,
is actually a kind of legalism.
It's saying that if you want
to experience the riches
and the health today
that Jesus died for,
then you just need to believe more.
It puts salvation on you.
It's no salvation.
There's a kind of Pentecostalism
that says in order for you to be saved,
you must speak in tongues.
In order for you to be saved,
you must speak in tongues?
In order for you to be saved,
you must believe in the finished work
of Jesus Christ.
There's no salvation in provings
by speaking in tongues.
It's no salvation.
There's some Christians out there
that says in order to be saved,
you must be baptized.
Baptism doesn't save you.
Being united to Christ
in His death and resurrection
saves you.
That's what baptism symbolizes.
There is a little phrase
that you need to be aware of.
Maybe it's in your own thinking
or when you hear a bubble up
from somebody else,
it goes something like this.
Real Christians don't
fill in the blank.
Real Christians don't
watch R-rated movies.
Real Christians don't
let their kids play video games.
Real Christians don't
drink alcohol.
Real Christians don't
smoke or chew
or go out with girls who do.
watching an R-rated movie
is not going to save you
or unsave you.
Your kids playing video games
is not going to save them
or unsave them.
Drinking alcohol
is not going to save you
or unsave you.
Dating a girl
who chews tobacco
Now if you're united
to Christ
if you've been born
of the Spirit
it informs
the movies you watch.
It informs
how you
the video games
you play.
It informs
what foods
you take in.
Romans 14
out of love
you don't want to
cause anybody
to stumble
by drinking alcohol.
It's not worth it.
It doesn't save you.
The finished work
of Christ
saves you.
Real Christians
homeschool their children.
Real Christians
eat only
what's in the Bible.
Ezekiel bread.
Jesus declared
all foods clean.
Eat whatever you want.
That's the real
biblical sense.
Amen.
Real Christians
give 10%.
Real Christians
invest in gold.
Real Christians
pay in cash only.
Real Christians
never go into debt.
Your salvation
isn't dependent
on any of that.
Your salvation
informs these things.
How you
educate your children.
What kind of foods
you eat.
Your giving.
Your investments.
How you manage
your money.
Whether you go
into debt or not.
But certainly
only the cross
of Christ
saves you.
Remember that
Colin Smith quote?
We do not obey
in order to come
to Christ.
We come to Christ
in order to obey.
Legalism says
we obey
in order
to come to Christ.
Here's how
this shows up.
one of you
sins.
And you're
a total mess
about it.
How could I
do that again?
And instead
of running
to the finished
work of Jesus
Christ
and finding
a cup of
cold water
for your soul
you start
doing things
like this.
I'm just going
to read my Bible
more.
I'm going to pray
more.
I'm going to
give more.
I'm going to
go to church
more.
I'm going
to atone
for my sin
by these
works.
And Jesus'
blood has
covered it
all.
Brothers and
sisters
your works
cannot save
you nor do
they keep
you saved.
It's only
the finished
work of
Jesus Christ.
Here's what
you need to
understand as
we move
forward together.
We learn
from Galatians
chapter 5
that we
have our
bodies
if you're
a Christian
our civil
war.
You have
the flesh
that internal
power in
you towards
self-centeredness
and then there's
the spirit
at work in
you who
wants you
to live
for God
and they're
in conflict
with one
another.
Here's what
you need to
know about
your flesh.
Your flesh
loves legalism.
Give me
rules.
Because your
flesh loves
to be
self-righteous.
justified.
A corrupt
gospel
is a
contrary
gospel.
A distorted
gospel
is a
dud of
a gospel.
Man-centered
legalism
cannot save
nor keep
you safe.
It just
further
condemns
and confuses.
Do you
remember this?
Run,
John,
run,
the law
demands,
but gives
us neither
feet nor
hands.
A far
better
news the
gospel
brings.
It bids
us fly
and gives
us
Holy Spirit
wings.
As long
as we're
in this
side of
glory,
we will
need to
be aware
of in
fighting by
faith the
corrupting
influence of
legalism,
the flesh,
and the
world.
we have
an old
gospel
enemy
seeking to
corrupt
us.
Let's
move
forward
sobered
by that.
But here's
where I want
to bring
you now.
Here's how
we fight
that
legalistic
pull on
our flesh.
It's with
the third
walk away.
And it's
the one
I've been
looking forward
to most
to preaching
this morning.
It's our
new gospel
identity.
Let's
just pretend
we all
go out
to your
car and
we open
up the
hood.
And as
we're
looking at
the
battery,
we can
help that
on the
battery
terminals,
you know
those little
metal
stumps
that are
sticking
out.
It looks
like
Frankenstein
stumps
but sticking
out.
Well,
those battery
terminals,
they're just,
we're looking
in your
battery together
and they're
just white
with corrosion.
You're kind
of just
grossed out
by it.
Like,
do I
actually
touch that?
Well,
here's what
that corrosion
does.
That corrosion
can actually
build up
and it can
block that
vital connection
between the
positive terminal
and the wire
that goes to
starting your
car.
And when
that corrosion
blocks that
vital contact,
you're not
going to be
able to
start your
car.
Legalism is
like the
corrosion on
the contact
point between
the gospel
and a
Christian's
understanding
of themselves.
it can
short God's
glorious work
in which
he's done
in you
and you
begin to
think of
yourself
in the
old way.
Do you know
how to clean
a corroded
battery terminal?
You pour
Coca-Cola
on it,
baby.
Coca-Cola
has this
mild acidity
to it
and it
cleans out
that corrosion
like
zippity zap.
The book
of Galatians
teaches us
that the
gospel
is the
acidic
solution
to clean
up legalistic
corrosion
in your
heart.
And we
do that
by looking
at our
new identity
in Christ.
The gospel,
the gospel
helps
clean up
any kind
of corrosion
so that
gospel
contact
is true
and vital
in you.
So let me
tell you
three
beautifully
gospel
truths
about your
new identity.
Christian,
you are
justified.
You are
justified
now
and
forever.
In
Galatians
2.16
Paul talks
about being
justified
and here's
what that
is.
When you're
justified,
the moment
you believe
in Jesus,
it's like
all of a
sudden you're
in a
court of
law
and God
the Father
passes a
verdict over
you and
he says
of you,
this one
is righteous
in my
sight
based on
the finished
work of
Christ.
here's
what that
means.
At that
moment you
believe all
of your
sin,
past,
present,
future,
was put
on Christ.
This is how
God thinks
about it.
It was put
on Christ
on the
cross and
all of
God's
wrath,
rightly
hovering over
that sin,
was poured
out fully
on that
sin so
that there's
no more
wrath of
God for
that sin.
it's all
poured out
on Christ
which means
this,
the moment
you believe
you are
fully forgiven
of all
your sin
past,
present,
and future.
Isn't that
good news?
It's a
legal declaration.
It's done
in God's
court of
law.
But that's
just half
of it.
What God
does in
that act,
he also
declares
you righteous
in his
sight.
all of
Christ's
obedience
in the
33 years
he lived,
all of
his right
feelings,
right thinking,
right believing
and stepping
out,
all of
his obedience
which pleased
his father,
God,
in the moment
you believe,
transfers all
that righteousness
into your
account.
So in
that one
act by which
God justifies
you,
you're fully
forgiven and
fully accepted
based upon
the finished
work and
Christ's
righteousness
imputed to
you.
Isn't that
good news?
That's who
you are
forever.
That doesn't
change because
it's based on
the finished
work of
Jesus Christ.
Justification
is the
gospel
solution
to the
corrosion
of legalism.
when you
want to
kind of
atone for
your own
sin by
your works,
you're
justified.
It's
done.
That's the
first beautiful
truth of
who you
are.
The second
is this.
Christian,
you are
redeemed
now.
Redemption,
we see it in
3.13 and
4.4 and
5.5.1 for
freedom,
Christ has
set you
free.
This redemption
language is
actually pictured
in the slave
market of
slaves being
purchased and
set free.
And what
Galatians is
clear to say
over and over
again is that
if you put
your faith in
Jesus, you
who were once
enslaved to
sin have been
set free.
You're no
longer under
slavery to
sin, the
flesh, the
law, the
world.
Do you know
how Christ
redeemed you?
Do you know
how Christ
sets you
free?
Christ sets
us free by
paying a
ransom price.
And that
ransom price
he paid for
our freedom was
the blood he
shed on the
cross.
It's been
poured out
on full.
You've been
fully purchased
from slavery
to sin.
You are no
longer a
slave to sin
anymore,
Christian.
In fact, it
was for freedom
that Christ has
set you free.
5.1.
You've been
redeemed,
freed from
slavery to
sin to live
for God,
now and
forever.
So, when
you like me
are having
thoughts, and
you're being
tempted in
your flesh to
do something,
you know what
you say?
I've been set
free.
The gospel
has set me
free from
this.
Christ died
so this
would not
rule me
anymore.
I'm arguing
from what
Christ has
done and
what's true
for me.
It's time
for you to
start making
the same
argument.
This
redemption,
this gospel
redemption is
God's gospel
solution to
the corrosion
that comes in
with our
flesh.
church.
The last
beautiful gospel
truth of your
identity is
this.
Christian,
you're adopted.
You're a part
of God's new
family now and
forever.
In Galatians
4, 4-7,
there is this
combination of
talking about
we have been
redeemed from
slavery,
from the world,
in order to
be placed
into the
family of
God.
You were a
slave,
now you are a
son or daughter
and it's all by
the finished work
of Jesus Christ.
We are
redeemed from
and adopted
to God's
family.
And what that
means is the
moment you
believe you are
given all the
rights and
privileges of a
legitimate son
and daughter of
the God of
the universe.
So when
through Jesus
Christ, God
becomes your
heavenly father,
there's this
all sorts of
promises that
you are brought
into as a
member of his
family.
Promises like
this.
God says, I'm
never going to
leave you.
Many of you in
this room have
had fathers who
left you.
God, your
father will never
leave you, never
forsake you.
He's in it.
promises like
this.
He's not going
to ruthlessly
punish you.
He's not going
to lose his
temper on you
and punish you
out of anger.
God doesn't do
that.
Our heavenly
father doesn't do
that to us as
children.
He does
discipline us in
love for our
good so that we
can share in his
holiness because he
loves us.
He promises us
to love us
always.
He promises us
to work all
things out for
our good no
matter what our
circumstances are.
God, our
heavenly father,
because he loves
us and he's
sovereign over all
things and he's
powerful.
He's working it all
out for our good
and that good is
becoming like his
son, Jesus.
You belong to
God, sons and
daughters through
Christ.
And because your
sonship rests in
Christ's finished
work, your
sonship is forever
settled.
Can I just make
this statement?
You've got to
hear it.
Brothers and
sisters, you
will never, never
be disowned by
your heavenly
father.
Never.
Because your
sonship or your
daughtership has
been sealed by the
blood of Jesus.
He's the
guarantor of it.
But,
you know,
pour that gospel
solution on
your heart when
things get tough
and you start to
be afraid and
you're like,
is God for me?
Yes, he is.
Do you remember
Al Franken?
He was a former
Minnesota senator,
fell from respect,
but before that he
was a cast member
on Saturday Night
Live.
And when he was
on Saturday Night
Live, he did a
skit in which he
was the character
Stuart Smalley.
And Stuart Smalley
was incredibly
insecure.
And this skit
about Stuart Smalley
always had Stuart
facing a mirror,
talking to himself,
and speaking daily
affirmations to
himself.
I am an attractive
person.
I refuse to beat
myself up today.
I'm entitled to my
share of happiness.
I am fun to be with.
It was a tongue-in-cheek
jab at the self-talk
of the self-help
movement of the day
and put its finger
on everybody who's
struggling with their
identity.
So let me ask you
a question.
What's the difference
between you and
Stuart Smalley?
The difference is
this.
The difference is
who is telling you
who you are
in the basis
of that.
In the
Saturday Night Live
skit, Stuart
Smalley spoke
on his own
authority
and based
his identity
on a distorted
view of himself.
In the book
of Galatians,
God is speaking
to you,
brothers and
sisters,
in all of
his authority.
And if you are
in Christ,
he is saying
on the basis
of the finished
work of my
son Jesus,
you are justified,
you are redeemed,
you are adopted.
it's all
true.
Proverbs 30
verse 5 says
all of God's
words prove
true.
And he is a
refuge to all
who trust in him.
When we
remind ourselves
that we're justified
and redeemed
and adopted,
it is not
some Stuart
Smalley
self-help
talk.
when we
remind ourselves
of being
justified
and redeemed
and adopted
in Christ,
it is
gospel talk.
It is
renewing our
minds on the
truth of what
Christ has done
for us.
So when your
thoughts of
past sins
condemn you,
you say to
yourself,
by God's grace,
I've been justified
by the blood of
Jesus.
When your flesh
tempts you,
you remind
yourself,
the cross
has redeemed
me from this.
When your
circumstances
stand against
you,
when you start
questioning God's
intention for you,
you remind
yourself that
he is now
your heavenly
father and
you're adopted,
you're his adopted
son or daughter.
Do you know
what God
intends to
happen when
you renew
your mind
on this
truth?
When you
remind yourself
of these new
categories of
self-understanding
and identity
that I am
justified and
redeemed and
adopted,
here's what
happens.
These truths
are designed
to become
the primary
defining reality
of your life.
Who you are
in Christ
becomes more
important than
your gender.
who you are
in Christ
becomes more
important than
your age.
Who you are
in Christ
becomes more
important than
your income,
your social
status.
It's more
important than
your ethnicity.
Your new
gospel identity
is so important,
it informs
your gender,
it informs
your age,
income,
social standing,
ethnicity.
in August
of 2017,
I'm guessing
you remembered
the full
solar eclipse
of the sun,
do you remember
that?
It's when the
moon's orbit
brought it
between the
earth and the
sun and it
blocked the
brightness of
the sun
from sight.
It was a new
governing reality
for a little
while.
The solar
eclipse is
temporary,
but the
gospel eclipse
is permanent.
When Christ
comes into
our life,
our new
position in
him eclipses
all that
had been
primarily
defining us
before.
Hey,
it may be
true that
you're a
male or
female.
It might be
true that
you're black
or you're
white,
that you're
rich or
you're poor
or somewhere
in between,
but those
things don't
shine nearly
as brightly
anymore because
they've been
eclipsed by
the gospel.
And the
gospel doesn't
make things
dark.
The gospel
outshines
everything else.
Our new
gospel identity.
Brothers and
sisters,
can we move
forward together
reminding
ourselves of
who we are
in Christ?
We love
each other
well when
we say,
remember who
you are,
brother.
Remember who
you are,
sister.
I'm feeling
the limits
of time.
I want to
be attentive
to your
attention span,
but I've
got one
more walk
away I
want to
emphasize.
It's really
important.
We've been
given a new
gospel identity
in Christ,
Christ, and
that translates
into a new
gospel community
in Christ.
We learned
from Galatians
1 and 6
that the
cross delivers
us from this
present evil
age.
It delivers
us, crucifies
us to the
world.
Now the
world is
comprised of
all the
non-Christians
who are living
according to
their flesh
for things
other than
God, and
the world
creates its
own
atmosphere.
It creates
its own
culture.
It creates
its own
currents.
If you are
in Christ,
you've been
delivered from
this present
evil age.
You've been
delivered from
the world.
So what that
means is,
though we are
in the world,
we are no
longer of the
world.
We are of
Jesus in
the world.
now, here's
what you need
to understand,
brothers and
sisters.
The moment
you personally
believed in
Christ, you
were transferred
from the
kingdom of
darkness into
the kingdom
of his
beloved son.
You were
transferred from
one community
who were living
apart from God,
running from
him, and you
were transferred
into a new
community who
had been born
again, who
had new
identities, seeking
to live for
God by the
power of the
Holy Spirit.
God is
gathering for
himself by
the gospel of
Jesus Christ, a
people from all
over the world,
from every tribe,
tongue, and
nation.
In fact, we can
say this, you,
brother, sister,
have more in
common with a
tribesman in
Africa who is a
believer in Jesus
Christ than people
from your own
family who don't
know Jesus yet.
Because what
unites you more
is far more
important than
anything else that
might differentiate
us from each
other.
So throughout
Galatians, we
pick up on this
theme that Christ's
death has begun a
whole new era in
salvation history.
We pick it up in a
passage like Galatians
1 through 5 that
now has all this
kind of spirit talk
about it.
Salvation history is
a way of understanding
how God relates to
humankind in the big
picture.
Creation, fall,
redemption,
consummation.
And Christ's coming
inaugurated a new
way in which God
related to mankind
through Christ.
That new era was
prophesied in passages
like Jeremiah 31,
Ezekiel 36,
Joel 2,
when God would
establish a new
covenant with a new
people in whom he
would cause his
spirit to dwell in
in order that they
would obey him.
That should ring a
bell.
Galatians 5,
we live out our
freedom as God's
new people in the
power of the Holy
Spirit that we
would obey him.
Brothers and
sisters, we are
delivered from the
world to be part of a
new covenant community.
A new gospel
community.
God didn't save you.
He didn't justify you
and redeem you and
adopt you and dwell you
by his spirit, make you
a citizen of the
Jerusalem above.
He didn't make you a
new creation of a new
creation so that you
would be an island unto
yourself.
He saved you to be part
of a new people.
The new gospel community
Paul describes throughout
Galatians is described
as 329, Abraham's
offspring.
426-31, citizens of the
Jerusalem above.
Not children of the
slave but children of the
free woman.
514, these are the
people called to
fulfill the law by
walking according to
the Spirit.
616, when he blesses
all who walk according
to the new creation
rule, he says these
people are the new
Israel of God.
God's new people.
A new covenant
community.
A gospel community.
The church.
Those delivered from
the world and placed
into God's household.
God's new people.
Got to hang in here
with me.
This new people is
comprised of all and
any who have believed
in Christ alone for
their salvation.
We are all one new
people of God in Christ
indwelt by his Spirit.
And so let me now get to
some implications of
that.
The gospel gives each
of us a whole new
identity.
Do I have an amen?
The gospel gives us a
whole new corporate
identity.
We are a new people.
The gospel of Jesus
Christ is what unites
us.
And it's more important
than gender, ethnicity,
income, education,
culture, employment,
neighborhood, even your
political party.
All the things that
once divided us
when we are of the
world, they no longer
can divide us.
They must no longer
divide us.
Because what unites us
in Christ is far more
important.
It eclipses everything.
In the first century,
there are these dividing
lines between Jew and
Gentile, slave and free,
male and female.
You read about this at the
end of Galatians chapter
three.
If you are part of the
majority culture,
if you are living in a
higher social status,
here's what this means
for you.
If you're white middle
class,
it means that your
white middle classness
is not to govern your
interactions with other
people anymore as the
primary thing by which you
understand yourself.
The primary thing by which
you understand yourself
is the cross of Jesus
Christ.
If you are part of a
minority culture,
lower social status.
Your social status is not
nearly as important as you
being united in Christ.
Christ.
So here's what the gospel
does.
It humbles those in a
high worldly position and
elevates those in a low
worldly position and puts
us all on the same equal
footing under the cross.
So we don't ignore our
culture, ethnic, gender
differences.
It's just the cross eclipses
everything.
We are all justified.
We are all redeemed.
We are all adopted,
spirit and dwelt, new
creation, citizens of a new
Jerusalem.
And it's all because of what
Christ has done for us.
We are a new gospel
community.
And we've been given a whole
new social value system.
Our identity now informs how
we relate to one another in
the gospel.
We live out the gospel by
keeping in step with the
truth of the gospel by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
We've been called out from
the world.
We've called into the family
of God.
We are new creations who live
by a new rule.
Love your neighbor and it's
completely countercultural.
So we must be loving one
another regardless of our
similarities and differences
socially.
Our tendency as human beings
is to, of the flesh,
gravitate to those who are like
us in the flesh.
They're the people we're most
familiar and comfortable with.
But the gospel changes all of
that stuff.
Instead of allowing our flesh
to gravitationally pull us in
the flesh to those like us
socially, the Spirit compels us
to move towards other people
unlike us, but we are united
with in Christ.
It's a gospel social system.
Value system.
What is striking to me about
Galatians 5, 13 through 6, 10
is that the conflict between the
flesh and the Spirit gets
played out in the context
of relationships.
We must be constantly, as we
move forward as a church,
given the uniqueness of where
we're at, we love where we're at.
We love the people who our God
is bringing.
We must be constantly working
to maintain the unity of the
Spirit and the bond of peace
because we are all one in Christ.
We are a gospel community in
motion, walking by the Spirit.
Here's what's going to result
from that we're trusting God
for.
We're going to experience deeper,
richer gospel relationships with
people who we're united to in
Christ, but we are different from
culturally.
That is richness.
It's got to get played out in
specifics.
There's going to be greater peace.
We're not going to be biting and
devouring one another because of
our differences.
We're going to be restoring one
other, caught in trespasses,
regardless of you, rich or poor.
Bearing one another's burdens.
It's going to culminate in a
corporate boasting in the cross
because only God does things like
that.
When it unites a people who are
different from each other
culturally and unites them in such
a way that the gospel eclipses
everything.
It becomes our governing reality as a
people.
We are God's new people, brothers and
sisters.
A new gospel community that has been
brokered by the blood of Jesus.
Galatians is all about the gospel.
The gospel of Jesus Christ alone
frees us from slavery to sin so that
we together can live by the spirit for
God.
Paul begins this letter by issuing a
curse on all those who distorted the
gospel and made it a dud.
And he closes with blessing all those
in 616 who have embraced the new
gospel rule and have been united in
Christ Jesus.
Look at that.
Look at that blessing.
As for all who walk by this rule,
all of what God has done for us in
Christ Jesus, peace and mercy be upon
them and upon the Israel of God.
So Christ the King Church, as we move
forward from the book of Galatians, may
we never forget our one true gospel.
It alone saves our old gospel thread.
It will corrupt.
We've got to fight with the gospel.
Our new gospel identity, you've been
justified, redeemed, adopted.
That's who you are in our new gospel
community.
The gospel has given us a whole new
social value system.
If someone asked you, hey, what's
Christ the King Church all about?
Two words.
Christ crucified.
It's changed everything.
Will you pray with me?
God in heaven, I know this is a lot of
information to share.
God, would you cause the gospel truths to
find their marks in the hearts of our
brothers and sisters?
God, would you continue to do a work in
us that causes us to boast in the cross
alone?
God, would you add to our numbers of
people from various backgrounds so that
together with one voice we can cry out,
God, would you?
Oh, praise be the Lord.
He has died on our behalf and our lives
are His.
In the name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.