gospelTag Archive -

Discipleship Minute: Don’t Work It Out!

February 9, 2012 in Discipleship Minute,Radical Christianity with 0 Comments

Jesus_crossThe Cults Say: Get to Work!!

A few years ago I was sitting in the Phoenix Airport listening in to a conversation between two cultists. They were talking about their hope of heaven. As they talked I was thinking that what they were saying isn’t that much different from a lot of so-called evangelicals today. It’s all about working hard and measuring up.

What do you say?

Here’s my question for those who tell me that telling people that eternal life is a free gift given to all who trust in Jesus is “just too easy”: What sets your gospel apart from the works-based message of the cults?

“He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” –Jesus Christ, John 6:47

Please, Don’t Turn Back! (Galatians 4:8-20)

August 18, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door with 0 Comments

Series 38 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

Please, Don’t Turn Back!

Galatians 4:8-20

“So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16, NET Bible)

In 49 AD a delegation of Judean religious teachers came to the predominately Gentile church at Syrian Antioch and started teaching the Christians that those who were not circumcised as followers of the Law of Moses could not be saved from their sin by simple belief in Jesus (Acts 15:1). They were part of a conspiracy to undermine the Gospel of grace sending emissaries of the lie to the daughter churches planted by the church at Antioch (Acts 15:23).

The most vulnerable to the lie were the fledgling assemblies of the Roman province of Galatia. Paul and Barnabas had planted these churches on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). Paul’s response is swift and strong. He will not tolerate this false gospel—that works are essential to salvation—to take root in the lives of these new Christians and churches. On the eve of the Jerusalem Council, Paul writes his most passionate letter, reminding the church of the real basis of our salvation.

In the first section of the epistle proper (1:11-2:21) Paul defended his apostleship. Now, in 3:1-4:31 the Apostle clarifies the implications of justification by faith and why it’s true. He begins by defending the doctrine of justification by faith (3:1-18): believers receive the Spirit by faith, not by works of the Law (3:1-5); Abraham was justified by faith, not by works of the Law (3:6-14), and the Law cannot invalidate the promise of justification by faith because it came 430 years later (3:15-18). But this defense of justification by faith raises a question: If God originally gave the promise, then why did God add the Law. “The Law,” Paul answers, “was temporary (3:19-25) and inferior (3:26-4:7). All it can do is condemn and enslave!”

He closes this section with a personal appeal (4:8-31). “Please stop this insanity of returning to the slavery of works-righteousness. It’s alienating you from me and robbing you of your joy in Christ!”

Works-righteousness—whether it be to please pagan gods or to measure up to the Law—

always enslaves, alienates you from the grace community, and steals your joy in Christ!

I. Paul appeals to his Galatian readers: Please don’t turn back to the slavery of works-righteousness. You’re just exchanging slavery to pagan gods with slavery to the Mosaic Law. These legalists are alienating you from me, and robbing you of your joy in Christ. I’m so perplexed by your insane attraction to legalism (4:8-20).

A. The Appeal: The Galatians were in danger of exchanging one enslaving system of works righteousness for another, and Paul fears that the legalists are going to undermine the entire work in Galatia (8-11). In spite of their status of sonship (4:1-7, “known by God” v 9), the Galatians are returning to the slavery of works-righteousness.

Note: This is a startling indictment against following the Mosaic Law to become righteous. The impact of forgetting the Law’s purpose to expose sin and using it as a path to righteousness enslaves in the same way pagan gods enslave their followers!

Note: Paul observed the Jewish liturgical calendar sporadically and voluntarily for the sake of reaching lost Jews (1 Corinthians 16:8). But he never followed any part of the Law to appease or impress God.

B. The Question: Paul begs the Galatians to live like he lives and had lived among them—free from the bondage of the Law. He then asks them to explain why telling them the truth about the grace of God in Christ has caused them to turn against him after they had received him warmly in Galatia (12-16).

Note: “I urge you to become like me” (v 12) is the first imperative in the book of Galatians!

Note: On Paul’s 1st missionary journey he showed up in Galatia with some type of disfiguring  or loathsome disease. Whether this is the thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), malaria, or some other physical problem we can’t know. Nevertheless, they received him and his message of the gospel of Christ with enthusiastic joy.

Note: The only other time Paul says “please” to his readers is 2 Corinthians 10:2, when he begs them not to believe the rumors about him. This is one of the most personal appeals of Paul in the Bible. “I became a Gentile like you, now please become free from the Law like me!”

Note: His rhetorical question in v 16 is best translated by the NET Bible and is meant to be a rebuke: “So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

C. The Answer: Paul identifies the source of the problem—smooth talking, manipulative, power-hungry legalists. He then speaks frankly as their spiritual father. “I may not be there with you, but I’m the one who truly loves you. My dear children, it’s like trying to rebirth you so that the life of Christ in you can grow! I’m not trying to be harsh. It’s just that your behavior perplexes me.” (17-20).

Note: Paul contrasts the pure motives of his zeal for the Galatians with the self-serving motives of the false teachers of legalism.

Note: “My little children” appears only here in Paul’s writing.

Note: The dual metaphor of Paul repeating his labor pains to birth Christ until the life of Christ can grow in their hearts is a wonderful picture of the pain and goal of disciplemaking, church leadership, and ministry in Jesus’ name. We suffer to see Christ birthed in others and to nurture that life to maturity. See also Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:3, 5; Colossians 1:27, 3:11.

II. The grace vs. works debate isn’t just theological; it’s personal! True undershepherds of Christ want what’s best for His sheep: Christ formed in you.

A. Legalists want your allegiance to and admiration of them. Shepherds want your allegiance to and admiration of Christ Jesus.

B. Legalists want you to work hard to measure up to their standards. Shepherds want to work hard to see Christ formed in your life.

C. Legalists forsake you when you fail to perform for them. Shepherds chase you down and beg you to receive their love in the name of Christ Jesus.

“God will and can be known in no other way than in and through Christ.”

–Martin Luther

 

 


 


 

Not Law But Faith— Three Striking Differences! (Galatians 3:26-29)

July 29, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Ed's Sermons with 0 Comments

Series 33 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

Not Law But Faith—

Three Striking Differences!

Galatians 3:26-29

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). 

In 49 AD a delegation of Judean religious teachers came to the predominately Gentile church at Syrian Antioch and started teaching the Christians that those who were not circumcised as followers of the Law of Moses could not be saved from their sin by simple belief in Jesus (Acts 15:1). They were part of a conspiracy to undermine the Gospel of grace sending emissaries of the lie to the daughter churches planted by the church at Antioch (Acts 15:23).

The most vulnerable to the lie were the fledgling assemblies of the Roman province of Galatia. Paul and Barnabas had planted these churches on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). Paul’s response is swift and strong. He will not tolerate this false gospel—that works are essential to salvation—to take root in the lives of these new Christians and churches. On the eve of the Jerusalem Council, Paul writes his most passionate letter, reminding the church of the real basis of our salvation.

In the first section of the epistle proper (1:11-2:21) Paul defended his apostleship. Now, in 3:1-4:31 the Apostle clarifies the implications of justification by faith and why it’s true. He begins by defending the doctrine of justification by faith (3:1-18). He will make three points: believers receive the Spirit by faith, not by works of the Law (3:1-5); Abraham was justified by faith, not by works of the Law (3:6-14), and the Law cannot invalidate the promise of justification by faith because it came 430 years later (3:15-18).

But this defense of justification by faith raises a question: If God originally gave the promise, then why did God add the Law. “The Law,” Paul answers, “was temporary (3:19-25) and inferior (3:26-29). The law’s relatively short-lived purpose was and is to remind the nation Israel and every person that works-righteousness is absolutely inadequate. But it does point all to Christ:

The Law exposes our sin and leaves us hopeless—to turn us to faith in Christ.

(more…)

From Persecutor to Preacher: Galatians 1:13-24 (audio)

June 10, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Ed's Sermons with 0 Comments

Series 10 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

Galatians 1:13-24

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. It’s a powerful little book. We’re studying it this year at Church of the Open Door.

How do you explain Paul?

Paul offers two powerful lines of evidence to authenticate his apostleship and his bold teachings on grace: His dramatic and unique interaction with the Lord Jesus over many years apart from Judean influences, and his dramatic and unique transformation by grace through faith.

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from my exposition of  Galatians 1:13-24:

From Persecutor to Preacher

 

Where did this grace stuff come from? Galatians 1:11-12 (audio)

June 7, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Ed's Sermons with 0 Comments

Series 8 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

Galatians 1:11-12

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. It’s a powerful little book. We’re studying it this year at Church of the Open Door.

Where Did This Gospel Come From?

Paul begins the epistle proper by defending his apostleship. His first line of defense is the source of his gospel of grace. It came from Christ Jesus Himself.

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from my exposition of  Galatians 1:11-12:

Where Did This Gospel Come From?

 

Galatians 2:11-21: No Turning Back!

June 7, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Grace Works! with 0 Comments

Series 19 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

No Turning Back

Galatians 2:11-21

“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21).

In 49 AD a delegation of Judean religious teachers came to the predominately Gentile church at Syrian Antioch and started teaching the Christians that those who were not circumcised as followers of the Law of Moses could not be saved from their sin by simple belief in Jesus (Acts 15:1). They were part of a conspiracy to undermine the Gospel of grace sending emissaries of the lie to the daughter churches planted by the church at Antioch (Acts 15:23).

The most vulnerable to the lie were the fledgling assemblies of the Roman province of Galatia. Paul and Barnabas had planted these churches on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). One historian describes the inhabitants of Galatia: “Fickleness is the term used to express their temperament. Their religious tendencies were marked by passion, ritualism, and mysticism.” (Lightfoot, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians)

Paul’s response is swift and strong. He will not tolerate this false gospel—that works are essential to salvation—to take root in the lives of these new Christians and churches. On the eve of the Jerusalem Council, Paul writes his most passionate letter, reminding the church of the real basis of our salvation.

In the first section of the epistle proper (1:11-2:21) Paul defends his apostleship. He begins by vindicating his gospel. The source of the gospel he taught was divine, not human. Paul received his gospel and the commission to preach it directly from the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (1:11-24). When Paul did consult with the apostles fourteen years into his ministry (2:1-10), they affirmed his refusal to circumcise Titus to make Judaizing legalists happy. That would have undermined the Gentiles’ understanding of the gospel. He then tells them about the time he confronted Peter’s hypocrisy and uses that report to introduce the theme verse of the letter (2:16) and one of the most concise statements of sanctification by grace in the New Testament (2:20):

Don’t turn back to works-righteousness!

You’ll only confuse others and fail miserably.

(more…)

The Joy of Cooperation: Galatians 2:6-10

June 7, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Ed's Sermons,Friendship,Radical Christianity with 0 Comments

Series 15 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

The Joy of Cooperation

Galatians 2:6-10

“Those who seemed to be something added nothing to me, gave me the right hand of fellowship, [and] desired only that we should remember the poor.”

(Selected from Galatians 2:6-10).

In 49 AD a delegation of Judean religious teachers came to the predominately Gentile church at Syrian Antioch and started teaching the Christians that those who were not circumcised as followers of the Law of Moses could not be saved from their sin by simple belief in Jesus (Acts 15:1). They were part of a conspiracy to undermine the Gospel of grace sending emissaries of the lie to the daughter churches planted by the church at Antioch (Acts 15:23).

The most vulnerable to the lie were the fledgling assemblies of the Roman province of Galatia. Paul and Barnabas had planted these churches on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). One historian describes the inhabitants of Galatia: “Fickleness is the term used to express their temperament. Their religious tendencies were marked by passion, ritualism, and mysticism.” (Lightfoot, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians)

Paul’s response is swift and strong. He will not tolerate this false gospel—that works are essential to salvation—to take root in the lives of these new Christians and churches. On the eve of the Jerusalem Council, Paul writes his most passionate letter, reminding the church of the real basis of our salvation.

In the first section of the epistle proper (1:11-2:21) Paul defends his apostleship. He begins by vindicating his gospel. The source of the gospel he taught was divine, not human. Paul received his gospel and the commission to preach it directly from the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (1:11-24). When Paul did consult with the apostles fourteen years into his ministry (2:1-10), they affirmed his refusal to circumcise Titus to make Judaizing legalists happy because that would have undermined the Gentiles’ understanding of the gospel. They added nothing to his gospel, but they did heartily endorse his ministry, as long as he didn’t forget the poor:

Cooperating with others who teach the gospel of Christ enhances its impact!

(more…)

The Danger of Compromise: Galatians 2:1-5 (audio)

June 7, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Discipleship,Ed's Sermons with 0 Comments

Series 14 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

Galatians 2:1-5

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. It’s a powerful little book. We’re studying it this year at Church of the Open Door.

Don’t compromise the gospel of Christ!

In the first section of the epistle proper (1:11-2:21) Paul defends his apostleship. He begins by vindicating his gospel. The source of the gospel he taught was divine, not human. Paul received his gospel and the commission to preach it directly from the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (1:11-24). When Paul did consult with the apostles fourteen years into his ministry (2:1-10), they affirmed his refusal to circumcise Titus to make Judaizing legalists happy. That would have undermined the Gentiles’ understanding of the gospel:

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from my exposition of  Galatians 2:1-5:

The Danger of Compromise

 

The Danger of Compromise: Galatians 2:1-5

June 7, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Ed's Sermons,Grace Works! with 0 Comments

Series 13 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

The Danger of Compromise

Galatians 2:1-5

“To whom we did not yield submission even for an hour,

that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Galatians 2:5).

In 49 AD a delegation of Judean religious teachers came to the predominately Gentile church at Syrian Antioch and started teaching the Christians that those who were not circumcised as followers of the Law of Moses could not be saved from their sin by simple belief in Jesus (Acts 15:1). They were part of a conspiracy to undermine the Gospel of grace sending emissaries of the lie to the daughter churches planted by the church at Antioch (Acts 15:23).

The most vulnerable to the lie were the fledgling assemblies of the Roman province of Galatia. Paul and Barnabas had planted these churches on their first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). One historian describes the inhabitants of Galatia: “Fickleness is the term used to express their temperament. Their religious tendencies were marked by passion, ritualism, and mysticism.” (Lightfoot, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians)

Paul’s response is swift and strong. He will not tolerate this false gospel—that works are essential to salvation—to take root in the lives of these new Christians and churches. On the eve of the Jerusalem Council, Paul writes his most passionate letter, reminding the church of the real basis of our salvation.

In the first section of the epistle proper (1:11-2:21) Paul defends his apostleship. He begins by vindicating his gospel. The source of the gospel he taught was divine, not human. Paul received his gospel and the commission to preach it directly from the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (1:11-24). When Paul did consult with the apostles fourteen years into his ministry (2:1-10), they affirmed his refusal to circumcise Titus to make Judaizing legalists happy. That would have undermined the Gentiles’ understanding of the gospel:

Submitting to legalistic pressures to add works to grace

undermines the gospel of Christ!

(more…)

Repentance (audio)

June 7, 2011 in Bible Teaching,Church of the Open Door,Ed's Sermons with 0 Comments

Series 12 / 56 Galatians: Grace in Your Face

Selected Scripture

Galatians is the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. It’s a powerful little book. We’re studying it this year at Church of the Open Door.

What’s the big deal about repentance?

Much of the debate and confusion about the doctrine of salvation could be avoided if we were more careful to define our terms. The word repentance is one of those terms we use assuming that everyone agrees to its meaning. I know there are differing views on its meaning, translation, and relationship to eternal salvation. But I feel usage, context, and an understanding of the history of this troublesome term should determine our definition of repentance.

Here’s the link to the sermon, study notes, and discussion notes from my exposition of  the biblical usage of the word, repentance:

Repentance

 

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