June 9, 2011
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FREE AT LAST [1]
Freed By Grace
Galatians 1
06/01/2011INTRO
* consider all the religions of the world, tirelessly, endlessly trying to make peace with God. They have no concept of grace, of a God who makes peace with us. Grace is a revolutionary, radical concept. Our prideful, sinful, rebellious hearts think we can work our way to God. Grace says “No”, you cannot work your way to God & that is why He comes to rescue you. If we miss grace, we miss the whole point of the Bible and of the Gospel
* Background info...
> date: AD 50
> author: Paul
> theme: Freedom
> reason: Written to affirm the centrality of Grace in the church, & to counteract legalistic tendencies creeping into the church. Judaizers had infiltrated the church and were false teachers that taught that in order to be saved you had to believe in Christ AND keep all the Jewish rules & regulations (lookup Acts 15:1,8-11)
* Judaizers were basically LEGALISTS, and what they taught THEN is alive and well TODAY (in a different form). There are tendancies in the church today that CREEP in and try and ADD to the gospel of grace & undercut the foun dation of salvation
* Each of us are recovering legalists. Secretly we think there is something we can do to be accepted by God. That if we read our bibles & pray God will love us more, & if we don’t He will love us less.
1. LEGALISM DEFINED...
A. WORKING IN OUR OWN POWER.
* Trust in Christ, PLUS...
* Saved by grace, PLUS living by our own strength
B. WORKING ACCORDING TO OUR OWN RULES.
* do “this” to be accepted by God (man made rules)
* we obey Gods commands, but abandon our man-made rules
C. WORKING TO EARN GOD’S FAVOR.
* earning “credits” from God
* Gods pleasure in you is NOT based on your performance for Him
* vs 8-9 if ANYONE says the Gospel is anything but GRACE let them be CONDEMNED!
* Martin Luther: “Wherefore, God assisting me, my forehead shall be more hard than all men’s foreheads.... Yea, I am glad even with all my heart, in this point to seem rebellious and obstinate. And here I confess that I am and ever will be stout and stern, and will not one inch give place to any creature... let this be the conclusion of all that we will suffer our goods to be taken away... Let this be the conclusion of all, that we will suffer our goods to be taken away, our name, our life, and all that we have, but the Gospel, our faith in Jesus Christ, we will never suffer to be wrested from us. Let every Christian here be proud and spare not, except he will deny Christ.”
* How do we address this performance based mentality that creeps into our hearts and minds?...2. LEGALISM DESTROYED...
A. TRUTH #1 THE GOSPEL IS FREE (vs 3-5)
* Grace is Paul’s theme... 1:3, 15, 2:9, 21, 5:4, 6:18
* Grace = Gods unmerited favor. The Gospel is free, salvation is free, mercy is free!
* Gods pleasure in us is NOT based on our performance for Him, instead Gods pleasure in us is based on His performance on our behalf...
* vs 4c GOD THE FATHER HAS INITIATED OUR SALVATION
> vs 13-14 “I, I, I...”
> vs 15-16 “but when GOD... pleased...”
> vs 11-12 THE GOSPEL IS NOT INVENTED BY MAN
> vs 12 THE GOSPEL IS REVEALED BY GOD
* vs 4a GOD THE SON HAS ACCOMPLISHED OUR SALVATION
> Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation. The gospel is not about what man can do, its all about what Christ HAS DONE. Jesus Paid it ALL.
> WE INSULT THE GOSPEL WHEN WE ADD TO GRACE.
> WE MISUNDERSTAND THE GOSPEL WHEN WE CHEAPEN GRACE
- Gal 2:14 there is a way of life that is IN LINE w/ the Gospel
- we don’t suggest that b/c of grace we can live in sin, not a license to sin, not lawlessness
- Faith produces works
> WE MAGNIFY THE GOSPEL WHEN WE TRUST IN GRACE
B. TRUTH #2 THE GOSPEL IS FREEING (vs 4)
* Rescued from the power & dominion of the world. A gospel of rescue, freedom from bondage
* We dont get saved and leave grace behind, we live by grace, we pray by grace, we read our Bible by grace
* BY HIS GRACE, WE ARE FREE FROM SIN IN THIS WORLD
* BY HIS GRACE, WE ARE FREE TO SHARE WITH THIS WORLD
> Why was Paul saved?... (vs 16) so that he would be a proclaimer of Grace among the nations!
> Why are we born in a nation where the Gospel is so readily available? By His grace, to rescue us, and to PROCLAIM it to the nations.CONCLUSION
* if you have been trying to work your way to heaven... if you have been trying to keep all kinds of man made rules to make a way to God... I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU, God has made a way to you!
* God has come to you in the person of Jesus Christ, not based on what you have done, but based on His grace, and he can rescue you and give you peace with God.
* Grace is not CHEAP, but it is FREE
* Grace is available in Jesus... ALONE, not Jesus PLUSResources:
David Platt's Galatians Sermon Series (primary)
Mark Driscoll's Galatians Sermon Series
John MacArthur's Galatians Commentary
Warren Wiersbe's book "Be Free"
