Oct 27, 2024 "Justification by Faith" (Galatians 2:11-21)

Galatians 2:11-21 NIV

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles ¹⁶ know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”^[b]

 

We know Peter was bold and faithful. He made many mistakes, he always came back to Jesus and was willing to learn. After Jesus' death, Peter was one of the first to speak boldly about Jesus being the risen savior. Peter was also the first to say that many Jewish laws towards food should be abandoned and all food were made clean.

 

However, after meeting with some people from James' group, Peter started to shun Gentiles and promoted circumcision as well as many other Jewish customs.

 

We are called to love others to bring joy to God and not to receive acceptance from others. We do good works to please God and not to gain grace or salvation.

 

Paul confronts Peter for changing the message to please others. Those Christians who were promoting Jewish traditions and salvation through actions were preaching a message very different from what Paul preached and what Peter originally preached.

 

We need to be careful not to tolerate sin and yet we cannot despise others because they are sinners. We still need to associate with those who are not saved. We still need to love those who are sinners.

 

As Christians, we should not return to sin. This is a problem. We cannot allow salvation to work in us and return to our old lives. Justification of faith is a call to freedom from sin.  

 

We may be influenced by our old traditions and beliefs, but we must allow for grace to work in us. We cannot judge others because of their differences. We are accepted by God because He loves us and it has nothing with what we have done.

 

Are we allowing God's grace to break down barriers and allow us to love others?  

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Aug 4, 2024 "The Courage to Be"(Galatians 2:15-21)

 

The Courage to Be 

Galatians 2:15-21

The Problem to be, Define to have, to do, and to be

 Dr. Paul Tillich, a theologian, in his book concludes the importance of God revealing Himself to you to understand who you really are. And that revelation occurs in your doubt, and this needs much courage to undertake.

we need to look at defining ourselves through having, doing or being. In other words. I have children, I perform fatherly duties, I am a father. Simple, but being is much more involved than our word choices. The best example of being is “I am” which is found in Exodus.

Exodus 3:14 King James Version

14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

Exodus 3:14 English Standard Version

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

His personal name was “I am” this was the personal name of God, but the humour was still there in that there is an absurdity that the creator who created everything could be named. More importantly the “I am” as a name also states that there is nothing above this name. God’s existence in not conditional on anything else. No one could ever rightfully claim the name, “I am”. That is except for Jesus.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am’” (John 8:58 ESV).

Jesus and God are fully aware of who they are. It is important to point out that these are not titles that they use, but their genuine and perfect definitions of who they are.

Dr. Eric Fromm was a psychoanalyst, he posits three states of how we might go through life defining ourselves.

I am what I have.

To

I am what I do.

To

I am what I am.

Defining ourselves by having, doing and being.

	To have →	To do→	To be*→
Ex.	I have a math degree.	I do math.	I am a mathematician.
	I have a wife.	I perform my duties.	I am a husband.
	I have faith.	I practice my faith.	I am in faith.

Taking the first example, we can say, “I have a math degree; therefore, I am a mathematician.” You are defined by what you possess; however, our possessions can be lost, lose value or validity. Others might be skeptical of your claim of being a mathematician if you cannot do math. The same is true for Christians who say I have faith; therefore, I am a Christian. If that is as far as it goes, we probably classify them as nominal Christians.

James 2:14-17 English Standard Version

James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

The next stage is doing, or “I do math; therefore, I am a mathematician.” We like this better because we are doing something, It might seem tempting for Christians to say, “I practice my faith; therefore, I am a Christian.”

However, Galatians 2:16 has this to say,

Galatians 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified[b] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Also, Paul reminds of us if our righteousness could be obtained through the law, what was the point of Jesus dying on the cross.

Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

We might be able to say we are followers of Christ, and our actions would define us, but we are certainly not justified by our actions.

This is one of the problems with defining yourself by doing is that you have to keep up those actions and you are constantly proving to yourself and others through your actions who you are.

The mathematician has his degree and has done math and continues to do math. He is aware that he is not the greatest mathematician, he has made mistakes and makes mistakes, and has flaws that need to be fixed, but he also purposely, willfully and confidently lives a life as a mathematician.

1 John 1:8-10

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 2: 10 -11 ESV

10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Going back to the light, as Christians we need to look at ourselves and become aware that we have sin and have sinned. In fact, if we walk in the light because we love the light, we will be very aware of our failings.

This can be painful and really shakes our confidence when we see who we really are. We may even question who we are or what we are doing in God’s kingdom.

Only God knows and understands our hearts. That is why we need that Jesus help to be healed.

Hebrews 4:13 (ESV)

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

It takes courage to see how truly repulsive we are in the light and still accept that God loves us. We also have to accept it is Christ in us that allows us to be.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Jesus is the great “I am” and lives in us. We need to accept that he loved us before we knew him.

Romans 5:8 English Standard Version

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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Galatians 2:11~14_Pastor Matthew Hong_September 21, 2014

Galatians 5 Flesh vs Spirit_June 15, 2014