Transcription
[Music] Have your Bibles. Go and take them out to the book of Galatians. Turn the book of Galatians in the New Testament. Uh, that's what we're going to spend most of our time today in the book of Galatians. Uh, we're glad that you're worshiping with us. If you're joining us online, again, we're glad that you are joining us, uh, via the World Wide Web, the interweb, whatever all that is. That doesn't make sense to me how that all works, but I'm thankful for it.
Today, uh, super excited. The, the video that played right before I did the announcements, Reset, is the new series that I'm going to be kicking off next week. And, and this is really kind of, it's bigger than a series. A series just kind of, well, this is going to be this topic for the next six weeks or eight weeks or whatever. Reset is a series, but it, but it's really bigger than that. It is an attitude. We've been in this kind of funk, right? 2020, I think it'd be safe to say that 2020 has just kind of been this, this funk. And we're, we're seven months into it right now. And we're seeing some signs of hope. But, but really, we really, we really need a reset, spiritually, emotionally, financially. Like, we need a reset. A lot of times, that's the beginning of the year in January. You have your New Year's resolutions, and that's kind of the natural reset. You're going to start working out again and all those things and eating right. That lasts like a week and a half. Uh, this is, this is for all of us. Super excited about this series. I hope that you'll make a priority to to join us live or to join us online as we kick that off next week. There's some cool things that we're going to be launching with that. So, so it's going to be a great time and look forward to that.
How many of you have ever had, maybe when you were growing up in high school or college, the, uh, the dream, really the nightmare, that you walked into class and the teacher handed out the test and you didn't remember anything about it? You may have ever had that nightmare before, right? So, so I have this nightmare. Maybe it's because I'm a preacher and I speak, you know, in front of people all the time. I have about once a month this nightmare that I'm speaking at some big conference or whatever in front of thousands of people and literally I'm introduced and walk out and I'm like, I got nothing, right? It's just this fear that I have. But I had the same thing growing up in school. She'd hand out the tests, I didn't remember anything about it. Honestly, it wasn't even a nightmare. That was the reality a lot of times for me. She would hand out the test, I didn't know anything about it. I would just kind of, kind of wing it.
But we have that fear because we live in a performance-based society, right? I'm going to to get this test, I need to do well on this test so I can make good grades. If I make good grades, then my parents will be happy with me. If I make good grades, I can go to the right college so I can get a good job. When I get a good job, if I do good at my good new job, I can make lots of money and I can move up. Like everything is based on performance. It's what I call the performance trap. And a lot of times because we live in such a performance-based society, that creeps into our spiritual lives as well.
And so Paul, this morning, is writing to the church in Galatia. And basically, what's happening, just to give you a little bit of background, is these Galatians have accepted Jesus as their savior, saved by grace through faith. And then this group called the Judaizers had come in and kind of secretly, you know, underhandedly, kind of infiltrated and taught that you may be saved by grace, but you're sustained by works. You're sustained by the law. And the Galatian church had begun to embrace this again, in kind of a sneaky way. They'd come in and begin to teach this and basically kind of fed on their ego. They're like, this is a deeper truth than what you've known before. And if you'll listen to what we're saying and buy into what we're saying, you'll be more spiritual than other people are.
So when we pick up in Galatians chapter three, we're going to start in verse one. He says, "You foolish Galatians." Right? They're very prideful. They're, they're thinking, hey, I'm doing so, I'm deeper than everybody else. And he's like, no, you're not deeper, you're foolish. Who has hypnotized you? Before whose eyes Jesus was vividly betrayed as crucified? In other words, Paul was saying, I have, I have painted this picture. I have shared so clearly about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ, that it's almost like you were there. And he says in verse two, "I only want to learn this from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh? Did you suffer so much for nothing, if in fact it was nothing? So then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. And then understand that those who have faith are Abraham's sons. Now the scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham, saying, 'All the nations will be blessed through you.' And those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith."
So if you read the book of Galatians, at the very end of chapter two, Paul just finishes up and basically says, if we gain righteousness through the law, if we can gain salvation through works, then Jesus died in vain. So Paul, basically, and he's frustrated. I think you can probably sense that. When you call somebody a fool, you're probably frustrated. He's frustrated with the church because I think he's talked about this before and he's having to come back to it again. It's kind of like, you know, as parents, sometimes, maybe you're like me, anyone get frustrated with their kids, right? I think that's pretty much universal. How many times do you have to tell a teenager to do something, right? Millions of times, ten times, five times. I love our youngest son, Josh. He's such a nice kid, just, just always in a good mood. But he has, he tricks us. He's really good at this because we'll say, Josh, go clean your room. And he'll smile and he'll come up and hug Becky. Yes, ma'am. Oh, yes, ma'am. I love you so much, Mom. Yes, absolutely. Ten minutes later, I walk up to his room. No, Josh, room isn't clean. An hour later, I go upstairs. No, Josh, room isn't clean. He's not listening. He's just really nice about being defiant, right?
And so what's happening here is Paul has gotten on to the Galatian church. He said this before and they're continuing to fall into this false teaching. And so he's frustrated. And so he's asking these questions. It's almost like a lawyer and the Galatian church is on the stand and he's asking some questions. And I want to ask the questions today because what is happening, falling into the performance trap, is not something that is unique to the Galatian church. It's something that that we fall into in the American church because we're so performance-based.
So he starts off, he says, "How are you saved? Faith or works?" Verse one. "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" Again, we live in such a performance-based society that this question can be asked of us as well. Were you saved by grace through faith? And our answer would probably be yes, right? We trusted in Jesus to save us by His grace through faith. But yet, we fall back into this performance trap of trying to earn God's favor. Everything is about performance again.
My boys, they're starting back to school. They started back to school last week in per, in person. Uh, pretty exciting. We got them out of the house. It was awesome. Uh, and so they're going back to school. Caleb, our oldest, is a senior. And so we've been, you know, constantly hyping on senior, over and over and over and over. You got to make good grades. You got to make good grades. You got to do good on the, you know, ACT and the SAT. You got to do good on your tests so you can get into the right college. Quick, if you get in the right college and get the right job and you make lots of money and be really successful, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I've even, I've told Caleb, decisions that you're going to make over the next five years will impact the rest of your life. And then on top of that, he plays sports and he would like to play college sports. It's like, Caleb, you have to do this. You have to do this. You gotta perform this way. You gotta impress your coaches. You gotta work really hard. Same thing with our eighth grader. You know, you're, you're an eighth grader now and some of his classes, uh, uh, impact his GPA in high school. There's honors classes. So Josh, you gotta be really good because he's gonna impact your grades. You know, it's your whole future. And so over and over and over, what am I doing? I'm telling my boys, performance, performance, performance, performance. And then I tell them, hey, it doesn't matter what you do. I just want you to know I love you. You think they're confused? When everything they hear out of our mouth is performance, and then as their dad, and it really is my heart, hey, I love you no matter what. But for them, as teenagers, and where they are emotionally, it's like, yeah, you say that, Dad, but I'm not sure that that's really the truth.
Same thing's true as adults. Work. It's all about sales. What was my quota this month? Did I reach it? How much did I sell? What are my numbers? How many, how much? If you want to advance, you have to understand how these things work. Outside of being a politician, you have to perform to advance, right? And we just know this. It's just built into us. Everything in life is about performance, except for when it comes to your relationship with Jesus Christ.
And he asks the question, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" And Paul answers this in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. Again, Paul is writing to another church, the church in Ephesus. He says, "You're saved by grace through faith." And I love this. What does this say? "And this is not from yourselves. It is God's gift, not from works, so that no one may boast."
So, so can I just stop here? Can we camp out here for just a second? I just want this to be so crystal clear. You cannot do anything to gain God's favor. You cannot do anything to save yourself. You cannot be good enough. You cannot read your Bible enough. You cannot pray enough. You cannot serve enough. You cannot be moral enough to gain God's favor because God's standard is perfection, and you fall short, and I fall short. That's the beauty of the gospel. You're saved by grace through faith. That's belief. That belief that we talk about so much. It's not from yourselves. It is God's gift so that no one may boast.
If you and I were sitting in a coffee shop right now having a conversation, and I asked you the question, "Do you think you'll spend eternity with God when you die?" If your answer is yes, my follow-up question would be, "Why do you think that?" If it's anything besides, "I have believed in faith that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that He died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and rose again," your answer's wrong. There's going to be a lot of people, the book of Matthew says, are going to stand before Jesus one day and they're going to say, "Lord, Lord," and He's going to say, "Depart from me, for I never knew you." And if you've read that verse before, what do they do? They get out their resume and they're like, "But God, I did this for you, and I did this for you, and I was moral, and I read my Bible, and I was a good person, and I went to church, and I did all these things." And Jesus says, "Depart from me, I never knew you." Because it's not about your performance. It's not about what you do. It's about what Jesus did.
You cannot earn God's love. You don't seek God's love. You don't work for God's love. Man, some of us are on that, that treadmill, and we're trying and trying and trying because we want to earn God's love. We want God to look on us with favor. We want to seek God's love, like, I'm looking for Him. I'm looking for Him. I'm hoping I can find Him. He'll love me. We're working for God's love. You don't seek or earn or work for God's love. And here's what's so freeing about that. Whether you're closer to God than you've ever been, or you feel further away from God than you've ever been. If your life is awesome, and man, you're in God's word and just eating it up and it's so exciting, it's so life-giving. Or whether your life is a train wreck, if your marriage is a wreck, if your family is a wreck, if you're addicted to something and you feel far, far, far away from God. Listen to me. God could never love you more than He loves you right now. That is the beauty of the gospel and the beauty of God's grace.
And so Paul says, "Listen, let me ask the first question. How are you saved? Was it by grace or by works?" Well, you were saved by grace. You did nothing for that. So then there's the follow-up question. How do you grow in your spiritual life? When he asks the question in verse three, "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?" Right? He's taken a shot again at the Galatians because they had become so prideful, thinking that they knew something deeper. Do you ever get spiritually prideful? Like you finally get something in the Bible, you're like, I'm pretty spiritual. I got this thing figured out. I'm pretty deep. Go ahead, ask me a question, right? We get kind of prideful. Or, or we compare ourselves to others. We're like, hey, my mess compared to his mess, my mess is way better, right? So they had become spiritually prideful in this, this belief that was against the teaching of God's word. And Paul takes a shot at him. He's like, "What are you doing?" Right? You're saved by grace, but they're thinking that they're sanctified or set apart by works. And Paul says, "No."
Right, and this is difficult. It's really confusing because we talk about discipline. Like when you get saved by grace through faith, you didn't do anything. Like we're really good at saying, saved by grace through faith. And so we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. We're saved by grace through faith. And then what do we immediately do? We tell you the stuff you're supposed to do. You need to read your Bible. You need to pray. Are you serving? You're not serving. Oh, you need to serve. You need to give. You need to, you need to love your neighbor. And we do these things. It's almost as if we do these things, we're saved by grace, but we're sustained by works. God's love initially is a free gift, but to keep God's love, I have to earn it. That's the way we live. That's the way we think.
And what does that do? That puts immense pressure on us. It would be like me giving you this really, really great job, and you didn't earn it, and you don't deserve it. It's just out of the kindness of my heart that I gave you this great job with all this responsibility and a really, really great salary. And what is your response to that? You want to work really hard to keep that job. Think about the pressure you would feel all the time. I have to work hard to keep this, this free gift that Matt gave me, this job that I don't deserve. I want to work really hard to make him proud. I want to work really hard to keep this job. The pressure that you would feel. I think a lot of times as followers of Jesus Christ, that's the same thing that happens. We, we receive this free gift, and then we think we need to work really hard to keep it. Saved by grace, they thought, kept by works. It's how they were living.
And this is why so many Christ followers live under so much spiritual pressure. We think we have to keep a certain level of godliness to keep God happy. It's like living for that father that never would approve. There are a lot of counselors that make their entire living off of the daddy complex. I mean, I had this dad, it was never enough. I had this father that never would have approved. I'm working and I'm working and I'm working to try to gain their favor, hoping that they might love me. This huge weight. But, but what does Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6 say? Again, Paul's writing, this time to the church in Philippi. And he says, "I am sure of this, that what is this word? That what's that say? He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." It doesn't say, "Matt, who started a good work, Matt, who has to work really hard to carry it to the day of completion." God started it, and God's going to finish it. We're not saved by faith or belief and then transformed by works. God does the saving. God does the transforming. He began it, and He's going to finish it. I don't live the Christian life. I allow the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life through me.
And here, here's a powerful statement. God cares way more about who you're becoming than what you're doing. Saved by grace, the work of the Holy Spirit. We grow spiritually by grace, the work of the Holy Spirit. And then how are we empowered to live the Christian life? He, he asks another question in verse 5. He says, "So then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by what? Hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness."
Now, I'm a guy. I hope there's not any confusion about that, right? I'm a dude. I, I am a guy. And guys are notoriously fixers, right? Can I get an amen from the wives? Wives, do you ever go home and you just want to talk to your husband about a problem, and you really just want them to listen? But what do they want to do? They want to fix it. I do that all the time. Becky's talking, I'm like, "Well, this is what you got to do." She's like, "I don't give a rip what I'm supposed to do. I just want you to listen. Quit trying to fix everything." We're fixers, and we're doers. And God made us this way. We do projects. We like to figure things out. We like to go to Home Depot. Can I get an amen, men? I go to Home Depot at least one time a weekend, usually more. It's not even close to my house, like 10 miles from my house. I like to just go in there like, I just, if you feel led to this, I'm just gonna throw this out here. I want like $2,000 just to go into Home Depot and just buy stuff. Like nothing I need. I just want tools. And I don't even really build stuff. I just want them just in case, right? Just in my garage. Am I look at this like, out on display? Have you ever used that? No, but I got it. And if I do need to use it, it's there, right? We're doers. And we're, we're fixers.
And this creeps into to my Christian walk because I'm a doer. I think that I'm gonna make it through tomorrow because I'm a doer. I think that I'm gonna live the Christian life and be successful in that because I'm a doer. I'll make it through this challenge that I have before me because I'm a doer. I'll kick this addiction because I'm a doer. I'll overcome this habitual sin because I'm a doer. I'll try harder. It will work this time. Why? Because I'm a doer. And that's not just men. Ladies, I know that you do the same thing.
But this statement will change everything. The power to live the Christian life is not about doing. Listen, it's about surrendering. It's not about picking yourself up by your bootstraps. It's not about trying harder. It's not about gritting your teeth and I'm gonna make it. It's laying everything down. It's surrendering everything and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through me. God isn't working on your behalf because of what you're doing. God is working on your behalf because you are His child, and He's a good Father, and He loves you. God gives me His Spirit to live and work in me, not because of what I do, but because of what Jesus did. Right? He saved me by His Spirit. He sustains me by His Spirit. He empowers me by His Holy Spirit. Again, not because of what I do, but because of what Jesus did.
In 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3, he talks about His divine power. Who is He talking about there when He talks about His divine power? Who is this? Who is the power? Who is the dunamis? It's the Holy Spirit. "His divine power, the Holy Spirit, has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness." It's not us figuring it out. Everything for life and godliness is not about us trying harder or working harder or being a doer. It's been given to us freely through the Holy Spirit. The power to live the Christian life is the Holy Spirit. Again, it's us surrendering and allowing God to work through us. The same thing that saves us, the Holy Spirit, is the same thing that empowers us, the Holy Spirit.
So what about you this morning? Have you been caught up in the performance trap? Has it been about what you can do for God, trying to to live a certain kind of life so that God will approve of you, to do certain things to try to earn God's love? See, this idea that God lays out in His word is not a pressure. It is so freeing. Quit doing and just surrender to Him. Quit trying harder and allow God to live through you. I'm not trying to earn God's love or work for God's favor. God doesn't love me because of what I do, but because He's God. And God doesn't save me because of what I've done, but because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Have you accepted that today? Have you come to that place where you've realized, and maybe you're a seeker, maybe you're watching us online because you're trying to figure all this out, because you have this void, this emptiness that nothing seems to fill? Or maybe in the room, you're here because you're trying to figure this thing out. And I'm just telling you, stop trying. Let it go. Surrender. Accept that free gift of grace that God gives through His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to this earth, who lived a perfect life, the only person ever to do that. He was 100% God, 100% man. He went to the cross as payment and penalty to pay the penalty for my sins and your sins and the sins of the world. He was buried, but didn't stay in the grave. Amen. But He rose again, and He ascended to the right hand of the Father, and He's going to come back one day. What? To judge the living and the dead, and to take His church with Him to the new heaven and the new earth. Do you know Jesus in that way? Have you embraced that? Again, it's not about what you do.
You might be here today and you're like, "Well, I've kind of believed that, and I've tried real hard." It's not grace plus. It's not what you do. It's not how often you go to church. Do you take the sacraments? Have you done this thing? It's about what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. It's grace, and it's free. It was costly to God, but it's a free gift to us. You can know Jesus today in that way. You can know Jesus as your Savior and your Lord today. You can be forgiven today. All the pressure of trying to perform can be lifted off your shoulders, and you can totally surrender to Jesus.
If you've never done that, I want to lead you in a prayer right now. I'm going to ask that everybody would bow their heads, both in the room and online, and I just want to pray for you. I'm going to guide you through a conversation. Just say, "Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you that You took my sins on the cross. Thank you that You conquered death. Thank you that You want to not just save me, You want to be my Lord. You want to give me a hope and a future. Jesus, thank you that I don't have to perform for You. That You love me just because of who You are. So come into my life. Forgive me for my sins. Be my Savior and be my Lord. God, today, I'm giving all of me to all of You. In Jesus' name, amen."
Now, here's what's awesome about that. There's nothing magical about what I said. I was just guiding a conversation. But if that's the conversation that you just had with God, it's not something you do every week because again, that's performance-based. If you're like, "Well, I have to get saved over and over and over. Well, I did something bad. I need to get saved again." Then it's performance-based. We're saved once. We're forgiven once. All your sins, past, present, and future, were nailed to the cross with Jesus Christ. You've been forgiven. That's the pressure of performance being taken off of you. Jesus was enough.
And if you prayed that prayer today, the God of heaven looked down, has been wanting to have this conversation with you, and forgave you, wiped your slate clean, made you a new creation. And not only that, adopted you into His family as His sons and His daughters. What an awesome thing. If you made that decision today, whether you're in the room or online, one of the ways that you can respond to us is just text RESPONSE to 21000, and we'll get in touch with you today. We'd love to have a conversation with you about this decision that you just made. If you're in the room, some of our pastors are going to be in the back in just a minute, and they would love to to answer any questions you may have or to pray with you. We're super excited about that decision that you made.
For the rest of us, maybe you know, I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I was saved by grace through faith. I believe that it's a free gift. But I have absolutely put the pressure of works on my back to try to win God's favor. And my prayer is for you today that you've been set free. My prayer for you today is maybe you walked in with a huge burden of trying to be godly enough, and maybe the Holy Spirit is showing you today, it's not a burden. It's not a weight that you need to carry. Stop doing and surrender and allow God to live the Christian life through you.
Father, we love You. God, we thank You for Your Word and the truth of Your Word and the power of Your Word. We thank You for Your grace, God, that I don't, I don't have to live with the pressure of trying to to live up to some standard to try to earn the love of a Father that never wants to give His love. But God, You freely give Your love. You freely give Your grace because You love us. And You proved it by sending Your Son, Jesus, to this earth. So Father, we thank You for that. God, help us to live in that grace. Help us to grow in that grace. Help us to be empowered by Your Holy Spirit in that grace. We thank You for that. In the name of Jesus, the powerful name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.