Sermons by Jeff Cottone (Page 31)

Up to this point, Galatians has focused on how we are not living “under the law”. Here, Paul shifts the focus: we now live “in the Spirit”. Life in the Spirit is 1) a life of love, 2) a life of conflict, and 3) a life of fruitfulness.

Paul describes the Christian life 1) as a race that must be finished and 2) as a race with obstacles and hindrances. One particular hindrance which Paul focuses on here is that of false teaching and false teachers. Teaching the truth is a responsibility of the church, and so learning & obeying the truth is our responsibility as Christians. The truth of the gospel is not only to be believed, but to be lived out.

Paul warns the Galatians that if they let themselves be circumcised, they 1) make Christ of no value to them, 2) are obligated to obey the whole law, and 3) have been cut off from Christ and have fallen away from grace. In this context, circumcision wasn’t just about circumcision but was representative of another gospel, a false gospel, no gospel at all – the gospel of self-salvation through self-righteousness. In seeking to add to Christ, they are denying Christ…

Paul compares two mothers, two sons, and two covenants to show that those who are in Christ are children of God, while those who are under the law are slaves with no place in the family and no share in the inheritance. If the gospel makes us sons and daughters of God; if in the gospel God adopts us into his family by his grace and gives us a share in all the rights and privileges of the children of…

The Gospel has brought us out of slavery and bondage to sin, and liberated us into the freedom of being children of God and having God as our Father. Why then would the Galatians consider leaving the freedom of the gospel, and turning back to the slavery of the law? Jesus, the Son of God, became a slave so that we, slaves, could be set free and become sons and daughters of God.

In this section of the letter to the Galatians, Paul continues his argument against the Galatian false teachers by showing 1) the priority of the promise and 2) the purpose of the law. Since the promise came first, it’s gracious nature could not be altered by the giving of the law, which was meant to prepare the people for the fulfillment of that promise – Jesus Christ. The law was never meant to give life, or justify sinners, but rather…

Paul continues to show the Galatians the folly in turning away from the Gospel, by showing them three things they lose when they turn from seeking their justification by faith in Christ to seeking it through their own works: 1) Faith, not works, brought the Spirit of God to them; 2) Faith, not works, brought them into the family of God; 3) Faith, not works, brings the blessing of God. The law leaves us in the weakness of our own…

“There are two undeniable facts of Scripture: the first is that God is righteous. The second is that we are not…  something is wrong between us and God” (John Stott). The ultimate question, then, is: what is the solution to the problem that exists between us and God? This passage compares the wrong, but common attempt to solve the problem, with the way of the gospel. The glory of the gospel is that God justifies by his grace sinners who put their faith in Christ. 

Paul confronts Peter because Peter is acting hypocritically. He was not acting in line with the gospel, by treating Gentile Christians as not fully accepted by God through faith. The gospel reminds us that there is no “1st-Class Christian” and “2nd-Class Christian”, but we are all one in Christ – fully accepted by God and equal in our status before him, not because of anything we do or anything we are, but only because of the righteousness of Jesus, credited to us…

On the Road to Damascus, Paul met Jesus, and learned about grace. “Paul was fighting against God. He neither deserved mercy, nor asked for it. Yet mercy found him” (John Stott). If God’s mercy could find Paul when he was Saul, then it can find any of us. In this section of Galatians, Paul tells his story – his own conversion to Christ, and his commission from Christ to preach the gospel.

It’s easy to slip into a “Jesus plus” way of thinking and living: believing that there is something I bring to the table that makes me right with God and earns his favor. We as sinners have a gospel-aversion. The gospel tells us that our right standing before God is a free, undeserved gift that we can only receive, never earn. In Galatians, Paul is calling us back to the gospel of grace.