The Truth Hurts But So Does Hell
Galations
Message
by Dave Carlsen
May 7, 2006
Paul is addressing the most pressing questions of this new church:
Truth * Freedom * Conflict
1st Word: TRUTH
The Truth matters immensely but NOT all Truth is equal…
Can mean everything to where you are; where you need to head; how you will be rescued
I will handle TRUTH with care.
The God of the Bible; is first and foremost True.
Truth Matters!
1:3-5 Even his greeting to the church is rich in meaning…sets the tone…Greetings Church, we have a relationship because…GOSPEL.
#1 TRUE: God saw fit to give his Son to rescue us from our sins
1:1-2 Even before that; Paul’s identity speaks to what is TRUE…NOT from man but from God
#2 TRUE: God raised Jesus from the dead and this message is not from any man but directly from Him.
Remember Paul’s context…His “version of the truth” went through a radical transformation. He had based his life on a faulty system and part of his miracle story is the complete reorientation to what Truth was.
Skips pleasantries and starts the spanking…and what he says is TRUE.
1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all.
#3 TRUE: The saving plan of God is found in a relationship with Him; not simply an idea or a movement but a Person.
Any system of belief that relies on human effort to be saved from our fallenness runs counter to God’s plan and the reality of the situation.
1:9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
#4 TRUE: The gospel is eternal and must never changed/distorted. Or literally there will be “Hell to Pay”.
Basic Truth is laid out in this first section
God chose to rescue us from sin by sending His son to die in our place, raise him again, conquering sin and death. Because of what Jesus did, we can now be in relationship with our Creator forever and these truths are not from any man but from God and will never change.
An accurate understanding of the gospel truth is no less pressing for us; here; today.
Not tempted by circumsicion? You fill it in… If you add anything to Christ, you lose Christ.
1 Cor. 1:18 … is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The New Testament is relevant only if we grasp the fundamental meaning of the radical claims of the gospel while at the same time understanding that we can never completely fulfull them. ~manning; Importance of being foolish pg 25
…enter the “poor in spirit” ; who get the kingdom of heaven and live in a constant state of awe.
5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Word #2…
I will live every day in the reality of my FREEDOM.
I will live every day in the reality of my FREEDOM…
1. From the Law
Freedom…
from endless frustration available to “just trying harder” (to keep the rules; to be more spiritual; to be a better person, father etc…)
the tyranny of perfection by human effort (released from guilt / shame that accompany failure)
to know that we are favored by God…ACCEPTED!
Free access to God through Jesus Christ (no longer “law breakers”)
Christianity isn’t a religion full of rules but a relationship that frees us from the rules.
Paul has been called the Moses of the Christian church
Chpt 4 Makes a good case for the Moses image: You can hear the pleading in his tone
why are you going back to slavery? (9)
“follow me …[out of bondage] (12)
Where did your joy go? (15)
Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? (21)
then from their own history….Hagar and Sarah; Promise NOT “Rule keeping” means that WE are the child of promise! We get the inheritance
3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
I will live every day in the reality of my FREEDOM…
2. To Serve others…
5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
1 Cor. 10:23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
As we talked about a few weeks ago, we are free to love others, because we’ve tasted real Love from God. When we understand our freedom from bondage, we are able to experience the freedom of loving and are able to love freely.
I will not stop engaging in the CONFLICT.
For the Christian this battle that rages will not cease this side of heaven.
The combatants are called the “flesh” and the “Spirit”…they are in “irreconcilable antagonism”
In the Blue Corner:
The Flesh: (19-21)
The works of the flesh are plain…obvious.
(while the flesh, our old nature, is secret and invisible; it’s works, those things that erupt in word and deed, are public and evident to those around us).
Not meant to be an exhaustive list (see “and the like” v.21) meaning that the list goes on…endless creativity for going astray/pleasing ourselves.
Focus on four categories…Sex, religion, society and drink (or Substance…we have invented even more).
With this list is a solemn warning. God’s kingdom is one of righteousness, self control and holiness. Those who live like this (the verb indicates habit; lifestyle; NOT a one time fall…difference between a bad day and a bad decade)….WILL NOT INHERIT the Kingdom of God.
And in the Red Corner:
The Fruit of the Spirit: (22, 23)
The Christians attitude and conduct to:
God (Love Joy Peace)
Others (Patience Kindness Goodness)
Self (Faithfulness Gentleness Self-Control)
…Against such things there is NO LAW.” (5:23) In light of the rest of the book…this becomes paramount
Result of the fight… struggle…civil war…a war with the Self.
5:17… “so that you cannot do what you want to do.”
So too in Rom. 7:18-19 For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.”
22 “I delight in the law of God in my innermost being” (I WANT to but don’t)
In 5:16-end the Spirit mentioned 7 times by name.
Shows Him as the Sanctifier…the one who is in the relentless process of forming us/shaping us/molding us into the very image of Christ…holy/pure/unspotted.
5:16 “Live by the Spirit” (then we won’t gratify the desires of the sinful nature.)
5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”
2 Commands that seem to hold the key to victory in this struggle.
Maintain the proper attitude toward each “person” in this battle:
The Flesh: Crucify it
The Spirit: live by it & keep in step
The Flesh (our willfull and wayward self) is to be nailed to the cross…
All crucifixtion are and must be…
W/O pity- (crucifixtion was cruel, unpleasant. Wasn’t done to nice people but the worst of criminals)
We must come to grips with the fact that our flesh, our natural state is NOT an unfortunate child who, with the right kind of reform could really become something…
-it is and always will be death…not only that but will produce and spread death to others.
Painful- Death hurts. This is hard because we know the fleeting pleasure of sin (Heb. 11:25) but like Moses we must deny it knowing where it leads.
Decisive- although crucifixtion was a lingering death, it was a certain death. Once started, it WAS finished.
“True Christians…do not succeed in completely destroying it (that is the flesh) while here below; but they have fixed it to the cross, and they are determined to keep it there till it expire.” John Brown
5:24 “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature…”
*tense of the verb Paul uses…something decisive at the moment of conversion.
I've been trying to negotiate peace
with my own existence.
She's gotta stockpile full of weaponry;
she breaking every cease-fire agreement.
Whole thing is full of decay
just as sure as I'm made of dust,
and into rust I know the beast is falling.
(Welcome to Struggleville; VOL)
Conclusion:
1. Know and Guard the TRUTH.
2. Live out your FREEDOM.
3. Don’t give up fighting the GOOD fight. (zealous for the right things)
4. Figure out what it means to live by and keep in step with the Spirit of God.
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