Wierd thought today. We are about to recognize the 5 year anniversary of the hitting of Hurricane Katrina. The video clips from New Orleans are popping back up again on the news. Pictures in my own mind of working in the shelters and rebuilding houses are pretty vivid again.
For some odd reason, it brought back the story of the man who was on his roof as the flood waters rose. He was crying out to God to save him. A boat came, a helicopter came...yet he would not take their offer of help. You know the story.
I was reading this morning in Psalm 22 and there was a repeated phrase that struck me, "Let Him deliver him; let Him rescue..." I was just wondering if there have been times in my life when I was crying out to God for deliverance and God sent it. However, in my own stubborness, I would not let God work out my rescue.
Wow! I hope this makes me more discerning and humble next time.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Do my attitudes and actions match?
Do you ever wonder why that just at the moment when you feel that you are not doing so well in displaying Christ...God puts another opportunity in your journey to let you try? And sometimes you know that you blew it (at least in your heart)...but what God let other people see was His grace.
I spent Friday and Saturday with our basketball team in Columbia. Friday night, we played with 5 guys...at least for the firsts 3 minutes of the game. That is when 'The Rev' (Billy Graham) got hit in the face and was put out of the game because the blood in his eye may him unable to see. Of course there was no foul called. We played the last 29 min. of the game with 4 players (against the other team's 12)...and at times against 2 stripes and a score keeper who refused to count all of our baskets. But we finished the game (eventually with only 3 players)...losing only by 6.
Saturday morning...with 6 kids (one of whom still cannot see very well)...still battling a hostile environment against an older team...I honestly thought that I crossed the line of a good witness a few times. I felt really bad about it all afternoon. But then showed up for the 4:00 p.m. game to have a parent from another team compliment me and our team on how we displayed a great Christian witness. I still had to repent and thank God for allowing something good to be seen, even in my horrible attitude.
We played the 4:00 p.m. game...at one point down by 16 points. We had a lot of frustration. But because of what had been said earlier to me, I felt the need to challenge out team to display character (really challenging myself). There was visible animosity left from the morning game. But we ended the game with only 4 players on the court...a 7 point win...and what I thought was our first decent witness. And just when you think the story ends...there is more.
I drove the 2 hours home Saturday night in order to preach Sunday morning. I left immediately after the service to drive the nearly 2 hours back to the northeast side of Columbia to play for the championship against the team we had played on Friday night. Less than a mile from the gym, I received a call from one of our players saying that they were at the gym and the other team had forfeited...4 hours earlier (but without a call to me or anyone from our team who had paid for another night of hotel).
My wife who was traveling with me on this venture asked me if I need a few minutes to 'chill' in the van before going in to get a 'clarification'. Honestly, I was so ticked...(the time and gas of a 300 miles round trip...with meals for 4 people). But as I walked in, there was the coordinator holding out the championship plaque...greeting me with a sincere apology. Now what do I do? All my team are standing there with their parents...and grand parents. I simply asked why I had not received a call and calmly expressed my disappointment due to the expense and time invested by out team (and their families).
He again apologized...and one of the grand parents said that it was all right because they had a great time at the hotel the night before. And then the coordinator said that he (and a local college coach) had watched our team for two of our games. They were so impressed with our effort, play, and attitudes that the coach was planning to follow-up with some of our kids.
So what was I to do? Take a crazy picture on the playground outside with our team...holding up their championship plaque...then get back in the van for the 2 hour drive home...confess my bad attitude...repent...and then stand in amazement at how God could show Himself (protecting His name) even when...
Well, it really challenged me to think about how much glory God could get out of my life if I actually had the Christ-like attitude that I know He really desires from me (even in adversity).
I spent Friday and Saturday with our basketball team in Columbia. Friday night, we played with 5 guys...at least for the firsts 3 minutes of the game. That is when 'The Rev' (Billy Graham) got hit in the face and was put out of the game because the blood in his eye may him unable to see. Of course there was no foul called. We played the last 29 min. of the game with 4 players (against the other team's 12)...and at times against 2 stripes and a score keeper who refused to count all of our baskets. But we finished the game (eventually with only 3 players)...losing only by 6.
Saturday morning...with 6 kids (one of whom still cannot see very well)...still battling a hostile environment against an older team...I honestly thought that I crossed the line of a good witness a few times. I felt really bad about it all afternoon. But then showed up for the 4:00 p.m. game to have a parent from another team compliment me and our team on how we displayed a great Christian witness. I still had to repent and thank God for allowing something good to be seen, even in my horrible attitude.
We played the 4:00 p.m. game...at one point down by 16 points. We had a lot of frustration. But because of what had been said earlier to me, I felt the need to challenge out team to display character (really challenging myself). There was visible animosity left from the morning game. But we ended the game with only 4 players on the court...a 7 point win...and what I thought was our first decent witness. And just when you think the story ends...there is more.
I drove the 2 hours home Saturday night in order to preach Sunday morning. I left immediately after the service to drive the nearly 2 hours back to the northeast side of Columbia to play for the championship against the team we had played on Friday night. Less than a mile from the gym, I received a call from one of our players saying that they were at the gym and the other team had forfeited...4 hours earlier (but without a call to me or anyone from our team who had paid for another night of hotel).
My wife who was traveling with me on this venture asked me if I need a few minutes to 'chill' in the van before going in to get a 'clarification'. Honestly, I was so ticked...(the time and gas of a 300 miles round trip...with meals for 4 people). But as I walked in, there was the coordinator holding out the championship plaque...greeting me with a sincere apology. Now what do I do? All my team are standing there with their parents...and grand parents. I simply asked why I had not received a call and calmly expressed my disappointment due to the expense and time invested by out team (and their families).
He again apologized...and one of the grand parents said that it was all right because they had a great time at the hotel the night before. And then the coordinator said that he (and a local college coach) had watched our team for two of our games. They were so impressed with our effort, play, and attitudes that the coach was planning to follow-up with some of our kids.
So what was I to do? Take a crazy picture on the playground outside with our team...holding up their championship plaque...then get back in the van for the 2 hour drive home...confess my bad attitude...repent...and then stand in amazement at how God could show Himself (protecting His name) even when...
Well, it really challenged me to think about how much glory God could get out of my life if I actually had the Christ-like attitude that I know He really desires from me (even in adversity).
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Friends, Foes, Partners, and Statistics
I know this may come as a complete shock...but I realize that not everyone likes me. There are those who actually do not like me, some who tolerate me, a few who like me, and a few who are my friends. And as this goes for me, I am sure that it is the same for the church that I pastor.
There are those who do not like our church, some who like our church, and some who are friends of our church. However, it is my understanding from God's Word that just as I am supposed to love people (no matter what their affection for me)...we should also love other local bodies of believers (churches) regardless of their affinity for our own ministry. Further, it has become so apparent in this current world culture that one church or even a group of church will never reach the world with the Gospel alone. We not only need to love other individuals and churches, but we need to partner wherever possible for the furtherance of the Gospel and God's Kingdom.
This requires that each of us do our part...not trying to do the part of another. It means that we celebrate what God is doing in and through others. But for this to be effective in a world that sees through hypocrisy...it must be genuine, even when we wish the seeming success of others could have been our own.
It was rather confusing this week for me to read about my own denomination claiming to have had greater success in this past year than in any in the last 50 years for reaching people with the Gospel and seeing them profess Christ through baptism. Don't get me wrong. I am very excited to be partnering with a movement that is striving to reach the world...including the 3.5 million people in South Carolina who do not have a relationship with Christ. And I agree with the article that states that newer churches tend to be more effective...thus the need to plant more church. Just look at the fact that over 1/2 of the top 20 SCBC churches for baptisms are less than 12 years old.
But here is what I do not quite understand. We utilize the statistics of these churches in order to make us look increasingly effective. However, it was not that long ago when a major event in our state was cancelled due to animosity over the fact that two of the top 15 churches' pastors speaking. And there are so many church planters who cannot plant SBC churches because local association pastors will not step up and sponsor them...even in name. I frequently hear some pastors of established churches talking about how we do not need new churches or how the contemporary models are irreverent.
As a church planter who came from an established church that dropped sponsoring us when it became unpopular, I have my own emotional struggles at times. God delivered me from any animosity toward those who do not like us...or me for that matter. Truth is...we need established churches and new churches. That is why our five year old church helps and partners with both. God has helped me appreciate more all of my pastor brothers more...and their churches.
But what does the lost and unchurched culture think? We cannot have it both ways. We cannot publically criticize our brother pastors (and church planters) and their churches (and their church plants)...and then claim their statistics. The lost and unchurched see right through it, making us more ineffective and that 3.5 million number will continue to grow.
So with that little frustration vented, Praise God for Perry and Newspring Church...Don and FBC Spartanburg...Perry and Brookwood Church...David and Rock Springs Church...Artie and Cornerstone Community...Don and Northside Church...the ones who have Baptist in the name and those without it in the name. And by the way...Thank God for Jeff Doughty and Total Praise Church (our Church of God brothers) and Covenant Presbyterian and Bethesda Methodist and my Church of Christ friends who are shining the light of Jesus at the local coffee shop. I wish I had more friends and partners like you.
There are those who do not like our church, some who like our church, and some who are friends of our church. However, it is my understanding from God's Word that just as I am supposed to love people (no matter what their affection for me)...we should also love other local bodies of believers (churches) regardless of their affinity for our own ministry. Further, it has become so apparent in this current world culture that one church or even a group of church will never reach the world with the Gospel alone. We not only need to love other individuals and churches, but we need to partner wherever possible for the furtherance of the Gospel and God's Kingdom.
This requires that each of us do our part...not trying to do the part of another. It means that we celebrate what God is doing in and through others. But for this to be effective in a world that sees through hypocrisy...it must be genuine, even when we wish the seeming success of others could have been our own.
It was rather confusing this week for me to read about my own denomination claiming to have had greater success in this past year than in any in the last 50 years for reaching people with the Gospel and seeing them profess Christ through baptism. Don't get me wrong. I am very excited to be partnering with a movement that is striving to reach the world...including the 3.5 million people in South Carolina who do not have a relationship with Christ. And I agree with the article that states that newer churches tend to be more effective...thus the need to plant more church. Just look at the fact that over 1/2 of the top 20 SCBC churches for baptisms are less than 12 years old.
But here is what I do not quite understand. We utilize the statistics of these churches in order to make us look increasingly effective. However, it was not that long ago when a major event in our state was cancelled due to animosity over the fact that two of the top 15 churches' pastors speaking. And there are so many church planters who cannot plant SBC churches because local association pastors will not step up and sponsor them...even in name. I frequently hear some pastors of established churches talking about how we do not need new churches or how the contemporary models are irreverent.
As a church planter who came from an established church that dropped sponsoring us when it became unpopular, I have my own emotional struggles at times. God delivered me from any animosity toward those who do not like us...or me for that matter. Truth is...we need established churches and new churches. That is why our five year old church helps and partners with both. God has helped me appreciate more all of my pastor brothers more...and their churches.
But what does the lost and unchurched culture think? We cannot have it both ways. We cannot publically criticize our brother pastors (and church planters) and their churches (and their church plants)...and then claim their statistics. The lost and unchurched see right through it, making us more ineffective and that 3.5 million number will continue to grow.
So with that little frustration vented, Praise God for Perry and Newspring Church...Don and FBC Spartanburg...Perry and Brookwood Church...David and Rock Springs Church...Artie and Cornerstone Community...Don and Northside Church...the ones who have Baptist in the name and those without it in the name. And by the way...Thank God for Jeff Doughty and Total Praise Church (our Church of God brothers) and Covenant Presbyterian and Bethesda Methodist and my Church of Christ friends who are shining the light of Jesus at the local coffee shop. I wish I had more friends and partners like you.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
A Blogging Slacker
What's the point of having a blog is you don't...well...BLOG? It could, I guess become a place to journal your thoughts - to be able to look back on the journey. But it's been over 2 months since my last entry. Some people asked me to upload my sermons to they could read them. But now they are available at our church website (www.connectionfellowship.org) where they can be watched and heard.
Life has been crazy. I began keeping up a bit with facebook...in addition to emails...
So what's the point? I guess as I prayed this morning I realized that NOT blogging every day or every week is NOT a sin...so I should not necessarily feel bad or sorry about it. I'm not even sure who (if anybody) reads it. Of course, no one is going to read it if you don't write it.
I am a bit envious of my friend Chris who writes on his facebook wall (seemingly) every morning that 'blog is up'. I know that it is an incredible tool. Maybe I'll take bit more time to invest in it. But God certainly is giving me liberty to not beat myself up for lots of 'stuff' that is the most important priority.
Is there anything God needs to give you liberty about letting go of so that you can focus on the most important things? I have not been blogging frequently...but I have been writing notes to my wife more frequently...of course you can't read those.
Life has been crazy. I began keeping up a bit with facebook...in addition to emails...
So what's the point? I guess as I prayed this morning I realized that NOT blogging every day or every week is NOT a sin...so I should not necessarily feel bad or sorry about it. I'm not even sure who (if anybody) reads it. Of course, no one is going to read it if you don't write it.
I am a bit envious of my friend Chris who writes on his facebook wall (seemingly) every morning that 'blog is up'. I know that it is an incredible tool. Maybe I'll take bit more time to invest in it. But God certainly is giving me liberty to not beat myself up for lots of 'stuff' that is the most important priority.
Is there anything God needs to give you liberty about letting go of so that you can focus on the most important things? I have not been blogging frequently...but I have been writing notes to my wife more frequently...of course you can't read those.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Full Adoption
Connection Fellowship
June 14, 2009
Full Adoption
Galatians 4:1-9
If you have your Bible this morning, I would invite you to turn again to the Book of Galatians as we continue our series of messages entitled, “Living in Freedom”. In this letter to the churches of what is now modern Turkey, the Apostle Paul has been refuting the false teaching that has infiltrated the churches. Jewish legalists who were telling these new believers that they needed convert to being Jews and follow their religious rules in order to be right with God.
After laying out the issue in chapter one, Paul defends his God given authority and then spend chapters 2-4 laying out the case for GRACE, and not LAW. In a sense, chapter 4 is redundant by addressing the same issue…just utilizing more illustrations. But there are two things I want you to understand this morning, as we focus just on the first 9 verses:
(1) If we don’t get the point that our relationship with God is based singularly on faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross as payment for our sins and not on our works…your belief system (or doctrine), your foundation is based on a faulty human foundation and not on God’s perfect plan.
(2) The freedom that God desires and intends for us to live in is not just a status that comes from being made right with God by Christ dying for us, but it is also an experiential freedom that comes from God living in and through us.
[Galatians 4:1-9]
TEXT
1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
Paul’s illustration of a child was familiar to his readers. But it may not be so evident to us. In their context, children of the most powerful and wealthy were raised by servants or slaves…almost as slaves themselves. Although everyone (including those in charge of him) knew that the child was the rightful heir and would one day not be subject to their supervision…they served the purpose of raising them to the point that they would be able to handle receiving their inheritance. But through the entire process, they understood that they were subject to the authority of the Father until the date he set to turn over control of his assets to the son.
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law,…
God’s purpose for the Law was to guide the Jewish people until the time He had set in eternity past for His Son to come into the world (fully human and fully God) to provide the only acceptable sacrifice for the eternal redemption of mankind.
God sent the Son so we might have the status of Sonship.
Rules were never meant to bring eternal life or to make us more tolerable to God. He is not focused on changing your behavior…He is focused on changing your heart, the core of your worship. That’s what He desires and deserves. As MacArthur reminds us, rules may keep us in line, but “rules don’t change the heart.”
So how does He change us so that we can live in real freedom and live the transformed life that He desires for us? Look again starting in verse 5:
5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
We not only receive the gift of salvation by being redeemed (or bought out of slavery to sin) and become a child of God. We also are given full adoption as sons. This may not mean much to us, but it did to the Galatian people. In their culture, adoption not only meant possibly being brought into the family…but it meant that you were given the full inheritance rights and allowed to enjoy them…as a mature son. And as a mature son, we are no longer under the bondage of legalistic rules, but rather we have received the person of God Himself (the Holy Spirit) into our hearts to guide us…and to confirm in our spirit that we are truly a part of the family of God by crying out for us the most intimate of Fatherly addresses…Abba Father (or Daddy).
God sent the Son so we might have the status of Sonship. But He sent
the Holy Spirit so we might have the experience of Sonship.
In verse 8, Paul reminds them that because of their faith in God’s gracious gift, they have received the status of a right relationship with Him. In verse 9, he asks them why, knowing that they have received this gift and an intimate fellowship with their Creator, would they return to something that brings no life, but only bondage?
In our church, we need to focus on helping people connect with God’s grace and then encouraging them to engage in the process of having their heart and life transformed as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives. We must be careful not to promote standards that are perceived as some check-off list for good standing with God. Instead, we are to paint a picture, in word and deed, of what we the Bible teaches a life transformed and surrendered to Christ looks like as we actively follow Him. The truth is that any standards we would set would be so far short of full surrender to God.
One of the most beautiful pictures of grace and love in our culture today is painted when children are adopted by into a family. They are received into the family and into the home. But, I’m told that there is an even greater moment when the reality of their status reaches that child’s heart and they, with sincerity and passion, say those personal, intimate words to their new parents: “Mommy” and “Daddy”.
God is not and will never be satisfied with a simple change in your spiritual status…that comes from accepting Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. That is the place to start. And if you have never accepted Christ personally…I want to encourage you to do that today.
But for followers of Christ, the message today is this: God wants you to live in more than just the status of being His child. He desires for you to live in the freedom of experiencing following Him and enjoying the intimate relationship for which you were created…that He has provided…not by rules…but by His Grace.
Why don’t you take a few moments and allow Abba Father
to speak that reality into your heart and life right now.
June 14, 2009
Full Adoption
Galatians 4:1-9
If you have your Bible this morning, I would invite you to turn again to the Book of Galatians as we continue our series of messages entitled, “Living in Freedom”. In this letter to the churches of what is now modern Turkey, the Apostle Paul has been refuting the false teaching that has infiltrated the churches. Jewish legalists who were telling these new believers that they needed convert to being Jews and follow their religious rules in order to be right with God.
After laying out the issue in chapter one, Paul defends his God given authority and then spend chapters 2-4 laying out the case for GRACE, and not LAW. In a sense, chapter 4 is redundant by addressing the same issue…just utilizing more illustrations. But there are two things I want you to understand this morning, as we focus just on the first 9 verses:
(1) If we don’t get the point that our relationship with God is based singularly on faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross as payment for our sins and not on our works…your belief system (or doctrine), your foundation is based on a faulty human foundation and not on God’s perfect plan.
(2) The freedom that God desires and intends for us to live in is not just a status that comes from being made right with God by Christ dying for us, but it is also an experiential freedom that comes from God living in and through us.
[Galatians 4:1-9]
TEXT
1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
Paul’s illustration of a child was familiar to his readers. But it may not be so evident to us. In their context, children of the most powerful and wealthy were raised by servants or slaves…almost as slaves themselves. Although everyone (including those in charge of him) knew that the child was the rightful heir and would one day not be subject to their supervision…they served the purpose of raising them to the point that they would be able to handle receiving their inheritance. But through the entire process, they understood that they were subject to the authority of the Father until the date he set to turn over control of his assets to the son.
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law,…
God’s purpose for the Law was to guide the Jewish people until the time He had set in eternity past for His Son to come into the world (fully human and fully God) to provide the only acceptable sacrifice for the eternal redemption of mankind.
God sent the Son so we might have the status of Sonship.
Rules were never meant to bring eternal life or to make us more tolerable to God. He is not focused on changing your behavior…He is focused on changing your heart, the core of your worship. That’s what He desires and deserves. As MacArthur reminds us, rules may keep us in line, but “rules don’t change the heart.”
So how does He change us so that we can live in real freedom and live the transformed life that He desires for us? Look again starting in verse 5:
5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
We not only receive the gift of salvation by being redeemed (or bought out of slavery to sin) and become a child of God. We also are given full adoption as sons. This may not mean much to us, but it did to the Galatian people. In their culture, adoption not only meant possibly being brought into the family…but it meant that you were given the full inheritance rights and allowed to enjoy them…as a mature son. And as a mature son, we are no longer under the bondage of legalistic rules, but rather we have received the person of God Himself (the Holy Spirit) into our hearts to guide us…and to confirm in our spirit that we are truly a part of the family of God by crying out for us the most intimate of Fatherly addresses…Abba Father (or Daddy).
God sent the Son so we might have the status of Sonship. But He sent
the Holy Spirit so we might have the experience of Sonship.
In verse 8, Paul reminds them that because of their faith in God’s gracious gift, they have received the status of a right relationship with Him. In verse 9, he asks them why, knowing that they have received this gift and an intimate fellowship with their Creator, would they return to something that brings no life, but only bondage?
In our church, we need to focus on helping people connect with God’s grace and then encouraging them to engage in the process of having their heart and life transformed as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives. We must be careful not to promote standards that are perceived as some check-off list for good standing with God. Instead, we are to paint a picture, in word and deed, of what we the Bible teaches a life transformed and surrendered to Christ looks like as we actively follow Him. The truth is that any standards we would set would be so far short of full surrender to God.
One of the most beautiful pictures of grace and love in our culture today is painted when children are adopted by into a family. They are received into the family and into the home. But, I’m told that there is an even greater moment when the reality of their status reaches that child’s heart and they, with sincerity and passion, say those personal, intimate words to their new parents: “Mommy” and “Daddy”.
God is not and will never be satisfied with a simple change in your spiritual status…that comes from accepting Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. That is the place to start. And if you have never accepted Christ personally…I want to encourage you to do that today.
But for followers of Christ, the message today is this: God wants you to live in more than just the status of being His child. He desires for you to live in the freedom of experiencing following Him and enjoying the intimate relationship for which you were created…that He has provided…not by rules…but by His Grace.
Why don’t you take a few moments and allow Abba Father
to speak that reality into your heart and life right now.
Get Your Belief System Straight
Connection Fellowship
June 7, 2009
Get Your Doctrine Straight
Galatians 3:1-29
For the past few weeks, we have been talking about Living in Freedom as we study the Book of Galatians. Yesterday I played golf. For me, golf does more than provide a few hours of recreation or fellowship. It provides sermon illustrations. And for this series…it proved a testing ground for my own response to this teaching.
(1) God wants us to live in grace and not under legalism – so I took a mulligan.
(2) The best defense for the Gospel is a changed life - I didn’t cuss this time (out loud).
(3) We are to die daily to our selfish desires – so I died to the idea of ever going pro.
And when I gave up on ever playing golf professionally and grasped the reality of my inabilities, I began to enjoy the recreation and fellowship that God provided through this round of golf so much more. It was so liberating!
Let me ask you a question. How have you been doing at living in the freedom God desires and provided through Christ? Have you laid aside any legalistic, non-biblical expectations of yourself or others? Has the reality of your changed life in Christ made a difference to anyone? Did you follow through on what God showed you last week about surrendering and dying to any attitude or thing?
As we come to Galatians chapter 3 this week, Paul sounds a bit parental. He tries to convey to these dear people how they can live in the freedom of God’s grace and not by the legalism of the Jewish Law. And he approaches it like a the greatest Teacher…Jesus…with lots of questions. And here is what he says:
“What are you are basing your life on?
Get your doctrine straight…It is so liberating!”
TEXT
1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched [duped] you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? [You have experienced it & seen it lived out!]
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
[Did you start this Christian journey by the Law or by faith?]
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? [You received the gift of salvation by grace through faith, but now you think that there is something you can do to earn it in the flesh?]
4 Did you suffer [experience] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
[Does God, who transformed you life, do all this by works or by faith?]
6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
[The Scripture says in Gen. 15:6 that even the father of the Jewish nation was declared right with God because of his faith, not works.]
7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
[You cannot say I follow the true Jewish faith and still depend on works.]
8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
[God told Abraham – Gen. 12:3 – that this good news would bless all people, not just the Jews. This message of faith and the promise of the Savior-Messiah would come through the Jews, but would be for all the people…not just those who convert to Jewish traditions.]
10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” 11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”
[If you want to live by Law, you have to keep it all to perfection in word, action, and attitude. And no one can do that…we all know it!]
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
[Christ delivered us from this impossible system, bearing our curse so we could enjoy the blessing of God’s covenant promise to Abraham.]
15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.
[They understood that covenants were not like contracts. They were permanently binding…even among men. How much more with God?]
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
[The covenant did not end at his death. And God provided for the completion of it through Abraham’s descendents, all the way to Christ.]
17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
[The Law was given 430 years after God’s covenant was last restated to Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. If Law was the means to a relationship with God, then it would do away with God’s faith covenant of salvation through the Messiah. That makes no sense. You would be following a Law based on a faulty beginning and a faulty God. If God is faulty, then the Law, that He gave, is also faulty. So why then the law?]
19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
[It was for the sake of defining transgressions until the promised Messiah would come. Remember, when the Law was given, the Jewish people were struggling. They were wondering in the wilderness after a long captivity in pagan Egypt. Not unlike many in culture today, they were struggling to find their faith…and it was easily misplaced.]
20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.
[This is a one-way covenant that God Himself made and delivered. And He works for the good of both parties…sinful man and His holy glory.]
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
[Does God contradict Himself with Covenant and Law? No way! If keeping Law could provide life, then a right relationship with God would come by keeping that Law. But rather, what it did was show men that there was no other hope – in ourselves – so when Jesus Christ came, it would be made evident to those who would themselves and believe.]
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.
[This is a picture of a corral, keeping the Jewish people on the right path until their faith could be revealed in the physical reality of Jesus.]
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
[Like a traditional schoolmaster, who was hired to keep watch over and teach the children until they were mature, the Law was to keep the Jews on track and lead them to recognize the promise completed in Christ. But it no longer serves that purpose, for Christ is now the guide for life.]
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
[Remember, Paul is writing to believers, and is not making a universal declaration that everyone is right with God. But those immersed in Christ…by faith…are now identified as a child of God. In God’s eyes, we are ‘clothed’ in Christ and when He looks at us, He sees His Son. And seeing His Son, there are no longer distinctions among believers concerning His faith covenant…now delivered to the entire human race.]
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
[No matter your nationality, your status in society, or your gender, all of you are recipients of the covenant of salvation through faith in Christ. Some today have used this text to say that in the New Testament there is no longer heterosexual or homosexual. But that is not what it is saying at all. No, under the old Law system, there were all kinds of distinctions between people in how they relate to God…but no more. All approach God by the same WAY, TRUTH, and LIFE…Jesus Christ…by faith.]
UNDERSTANDING
You might say, “I’m not a Jew,” or “I never tried to keep some religious system to get to heaven. So, what does this all mean for me?” Glad you asked!
Everyone follows some belief system, whether established by a religion, a country, a church, or even yourself. God would have us know that there is only one WAY to a right relationship with Him...and it has never changed. It is by faith alone in Christ alone [Martin Luther]. Anything belief system that would contradict or attempt to add to this central truth is not of God. Don’t be duped!
Freedom comes from following Christ…not Christians. [J.D.M.]
And why is there such liberty for our lives when we get this central doctrine or belief straight? First, because we no longer live in bondage to a performance based process of trying to please God or others. Second, our identity & security in Christ becomes the anchor for our life. So we are no long tossed about by any little thing that comes our way. If you are struggling with the bumps of the journey, I want to encourage you to search God’s Living Word to help you understand His Character and Promises so you can live in the freedom God desires and has provided for you.
CONCLUSION
A friend has challenged me for the past four months with this question: “What would happen in our community if everyone person came to the reality of the freedom that comes from a relationship with God through faith in Christ.”
What would be different? What would it look like? I have asked God to give me a vision for what it would look like and an inescapable passion to see it happen. But I want to leave you today with an even more personal question that God asked me while I was struggling once again this week with my friend’s challenge:
“How can I bring this reality in your community, your church, or your family… or use you to impact the world if you are not living in this freedom each day?”
How would my life and your life look different if we were to live
each day by faith in the liberty and reality of our identity in Christ?”
June 7, 2009
Get Your Doctrine Straight
Galatians 3:1-29
For the past few weeks, we have been talking about Living in Freedom as we study the Book of Galatians. Yesterday I played golf. For me, golf does more than provide a few hours of recreation or fellowship. It provides sermon illustrations. And for this series…it proved a testing ground for my own response to this teaching.
(1) God wants us to live in grace and not under legalism – so I took a mulligan.
(2) The best defense for the Gospel is a changed life - I didn’t cuss this time (out loud).
(3) We are to die daily to our selfish desires – so I died to the idea of ever going pro.
And when I gave up on ever playing golf professionally and grasped the reality of my inabilities, I began to enjoy the recreation and fellowship that God provided through this round of golf so much more. It was so liberating!
Let me ask you a question. How have you been doing at living in the freedom God desires and provided through Christ? Have you laid aside any legalistic, non-biblical expectations of yourself or others? Has the reality of your changed life in Christ made a difference to anyone? Did you follow through on what God showed you last week about surrendering and dying to any attitude or thing?
As we come to Galatians chapter 3 this week, Paul sounds a bit parental. He tries to convey to these dear people how they can live in the freedom of God’s grace and not by the legalism of the Jewish Law. And he approaches it like a the greatest Teacher…Jesus…with lots of questions. And here is what he says:
“What are you are basing your life on?
Get your doctrine straight…It is so liberating!”
TEXT
1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched [duped] you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? [You have experienced it & seen it lived out!]
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
[Did you start this Christian journey by the Law or by faith?]
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? [You received the gift of salvation by grace through faith, but now you think that there is something you can do to earn it in the flesh?]
4 Did you suffer [experience] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
[Does God, who transformed you life, do all this by works or by faith?]
6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
[The Scripture says in Gen. 15:6 that even the father of the Jewish nation was declared right with God because of his faith, not works.]
7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
[You cannot say I follow the true Jewish faith and still depend on works.]
8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
[God told Abraham – Gen. 12:3 – that this good news would bless all people, not just the Jews. This message of faith and the promise of the Savior-Messiah would come through the Jews, but would be for all the people…not just those who convert to Jewish traditions.]
10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” 11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”
[If you want to live by Law, you have to keep it all to perfection in word, action, and attitude. And no one can do that…we all know it!]
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
[Christ delivered us from this impossible system, bearing our curse so we could enjoy the blessing of God’s covenant promise to Abraham.]
15 Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.
[They understood that covenants were not like contracts. They were permanently binding…even among men. How much more with God?]
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.
[The covenant did not end at his death. And God provided for the completion of it through Abraham’s descendents, all the way to Christ.]
17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
[The Law was given 430 years after God’s covenant was last restated to Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. If Law was the means to a relationship with God, then it would do away with God’s faith covenant of salvation through the Messiah. That makes no sense. You would be following a Law based on a faulty beginning and a faulty God. If God is faulty, then the Law, that He gave, is also faulty. So why then the law?]
19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
[It was for the sake of defining transgressions until the promised Messiah would come. Remember, when the Law was given, the Jewish people were struggling. They were wondering in the wilderness after a long captivity in pagan Egypt. Not unlike many in culture today, they were struggling to find their faith…and it was easily misplaced.]
20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.
[This is a one-way covenant that God Himself made and delivered. And He works for the good of both parties…sinful man and His holy glory.]
21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
[Does God contradict Himself with Covenant and Law? No way! If keeping Law could provide life, then a right relationship with God would come by keeping that Law. But rather, what it did was show men that there was no other hope – in ourselves – so when Jesus Christ came, it would be made evident to those who would themselves and believe.]
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.
[This is a picture of a corral, keeping the Jewish people on the right path until their faith could be revealed in the physical reality of Jesus.]
24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
[Like a traditional schoolmaster, who was hired to keep watch over and teach the children until they were mature, the Law was to keep the Jews on track and lead them to recognize the promise completed in Christ. But it no longer serves that purpose, for Christ is now the guide for life.]
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
[Remember, Paul is writing to believers, and is not making a universal declaration that everyone is right with God. But those immersed in Christ…by faith…are now identified as a child of God. In God’s eyes, we are ‘clothed’ in Christ and when He looks at us, He sees His Son. And seeing His Son, there are no longer distinctions among believers concerning His faith covenant…now delivered to the entire human race.]
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
[No matter your nationality, your status in society, or your gender, all of you are recipients of the covenant of salvation through faith in Christ. Some today have used this text to say that in the New Testament there is no longer heterosexual or homosexual. But that is not what it is saying at all. No, under the old Law system, there were all kinds of distinctions between people in how they relate to God…but no more. All approach God by the same WAY, TRUTH, and LIFE…Jesus Christ…by faith.]
UNDERSTANDING
You might say, “I’m not a Jew,” or “I never tried to keep some religious system to get to heaven. So, what does this all mean for me?” Glad you asked!
Everyone follows some belief system, whether established by a religion, a country, a church, or even yourself. God would have us know that there is only one WAY to a right relationship with Him...and it has never changed. It is by faith alone in Christ alone [Martin Luther]. Anything belief system that would contradict or attempt to add to this central truth is not of God. Don’t be duped!
Freedom comes from following Christ…not Christians. [J.D.M.]
And why is there such liberty for our lives when we get this central doctrine or belief straight? First, because we no longer live in bondage to a performance based process of trying to please God or others. Second, our identity & security in Christ becomes the anchor for our life. So we are no long tossed about by any little thing that comes our way. If you are struggling with the bumps of the journey, I want to encourage you to search God’s Living Word to help you understand His Character and Promises so you can live in the freedom God desires and has provided for you.
CONCLUSION
A friend has challenged me for the past four months with this question: “What would happen in our community if everyone person came to the reality of the freedom that comes from a relationship with God through faith in Christ.”
What would be different? What would it look like? I have asked God to give me a vision for what it would look like and an inescapable passion to see it happen. But I want to leave you today with an even more personal question that God asked me while I was struggling once again this week with my friend’s challenge:
“How can I bring this reality in your community, your church, or your family… or use you to impact the world if you are not living in this freedom each day?”
How would my life and your life look different if we were to live
each day by faith in the liberty and reality of our identity in Christ?”
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