Living in the Grace of God: Confused and Complicated

March 22, 2015

Living in the Grace of God

Confused and Complicated

Gal. 3:1-14

Introduction

(Advance Slide #1)

I think we have all seen pictures or video of men walking tightropes across Niagara Falls.

(Advance Slide #2)

• Who would do that?
• Let’s say you’re there watching this and the one walking across turns to the crowd and says I’ll be carrying you across on my back.
• It would take an unbelieveable amount of faith to allow the person to carry you.

(Advance Slide #3)

• Let’s say that he has you on his back and half way across you say, “That’s enough, you’re not doing it right...I’ll take it from here.”
• What would your friend’s and families think?
• “He’s lost his mind!”

This is the reaction Paul has when he hears that his beloved Galatians were leaving God’s grace to go back to the law.

• Twice in the text this  morning he refers to them as ‘foolish.’

(Advance Slide #4)

• He is not doing this to be mean, but they seemed to have lost their ability to think straight!

The text that we will examine today has been said to be the “theological argument of Paul.”

• This argument begins in 3:1 and will run through 4:31.
• Within this text Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions.

(Advance Slide #5)

• In each of these rhetorical questions Paul’s thesis can be found.

Vss. 1-5 express Paul’s essential argument

• From there he goes into scriptural/historical arguments.

(Advance Slide #6)

Text

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Galatians 3:1-6

In the previous chapter there was the key word...justified and how it was tied to faith.

• In this chapter righteousness will be seen as a key word.
• It too will be tied to righteousness.

(Advance Slide #7)

Faith of works..which is it? - vs. 1-5

Paul identifies the Galatians as “foolish” - meaning that they were senseless or dull-witted.

• As I stated before something was making them not think straight.
• Paul begins by directly asking the Galatians this direct question.
• “Who has bewitched you?”
• Who has exerted influence over you to change what you’ve seen, received, what you’ve experienced?

Paul asks a series of 5 questions (1 of which is not theological in nature)

• In each of these they did not require a response because the answer was right there:

(Advance Slide #8)

• You SAW God through Jesus Christ the Son.
• You RECEIVED God through His Holy Spirit.
• You EXPERIENCED miracles through God the Father.

Paul has them thinking and now uses history and scripture to make them think even more.

(Advance Slide #9)

The faith of Abraham - vs. 6-9

“hearing with faith” - living in the grace of God means that we listen to the word of God with faith.

• “...just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”
• There is the connection between righteousness and faith.

Paul explains to them that those who are faithful are “sons of Abraham.”

• In case they are wondering what that means for them Paul goes back to the covenant God made with him.
• “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” - Gen. 12:3
• ALL the nations...would be blessed!
• Paul is showing the extension of the covenant blessing through Abraham through Jesus to them.

Paul now equates the faith and righteousness of Abraham into a way of living!

(Advance Slide #10)

Righteous living by faith - vs. 10-14

Using scripture and Paul explains that those that rely on works are cursed!

• “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” - Deut. 27:26
• There are two important actions in this passage:
• ‘abide’ - in all the things written in the Book of the Law.
• ‘do’ - doing them...the things written.

The law doesn’t require faith...you just do it! - vs. 11

• In contrast the righteous, those living in the grace of God, “live by faith” - Hab. 2:4
• In Jesus they can share in the blessing made to Abraham.

Lesson

(Advance Slide #11)

What does this have to do with us and us living in the grace of God?

• If we are not already like the Galatians we could quickly become like them.

(Advance Slide #12)

Have you been deceived?

• Have we become ‘foolish’ in our thinking.
• Are we senseless?
• Maybe there is a force that has ‘bewitched’ us into not thinking straight.
• What do you mean?
• Give examples

(Advance Slide #13)

Have you forgotten the gospel?

• This could stem from us forgetting about the gospel.
• We neglect our experiences of hearing, believing, accepting the gospel of grace!
• Paul argues their knowledge through their experiences.
• DANGER - experiences can be counterfeited and they can be misunderstood.
• Subjective experience must be balanced with objective evidence, because experiences can change, but truth never changes.
• Paul balances the subjective experience of the Galatian Christians with the objective teaching of the unchanging Word of God.
• We should too

PRAYER

Conclusion

I would like to share with you a story of a man who was once extremely devoted to God.

(Advance Slide #14)

• He was obedient, faithful and walked with the Lord daily,
• In fact God called him “a man after His own heart.”
• God blessed him with a beautiful wife and several healthy children.
• After many years of devotion to the Lord he made a very foolish decision.

He faced temptation and did not even put up a fight.

• He committed adultery with another man’s wife...and tried to cover it up becoming a murder.
• As a result of his sin, great trouble came into his life.
• His sins did not just impact him, they affected his entire family. Even though he made SEVERAL FOOLISH DECISIONS, the Lord still loved him!
• Why? His grace!

Do you realize that if you are one of God’s children and you have made some foolish decisions of you own, that He still loves you as well?

(Advance Slide #15)

• Why? His grace!