Galatians 3:1-7

Gal 3:1-7

While I was home this past year, we got to know some new friends. We sharing with each other how amazing the difference is between living a religious life, and knowing Jesus, and having a personal relationship with him. There is such a huge difference between a religious life, where everything in your “spiritual life” is about what you do and don’t do, versus a personal relationship with God, where He is active in your life and you can see and feel the Holy Spirit at work within you, leading you, guiding you, convicting you of sin, and helping you understand truth! Today Paul is going to explore this idea more deeply.

Let’s open our time in prayer:

Review:

Chapter 1 – Paul defending his apostleship. He received the message from God himself, not from Peter, not from the apostles, not from any other man, but from God. The message he received was a mystery, it was something that had been hidden and no one understood it before! The message was that salvation is by faith, apart from the law. That Gentiles can be saved simply by faith, they don’t need to be circumcised or keep the law.

Chapter 2 – Paul receives approval for his message – Paul went to Jerusalem to verify his message and to be accountable to the leaders. They approved his message and confirmed what he was preaching was from God. Agreeing that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved.

But, when Peter came to Antioch to visit, he ate and fellowship-ed with the Gentiles while he was with them, but when the Jews from Jerusalem came, he turned his back on them and refused to eat with them. Instead of supporting Paul’s message, with his actions he was saying that only those circumcised and who were following the law were right with God. He compromised the message and confirmed what the false teachers were saying.

Paul finished chapter 2 by clarifying once again that salvation, or being right with God DOES NOT COME from keeping the law. The law was a cruel master. Instead of bringing hope, it only brought condemnation. And as long as we are under the law, we will be under it’s consequence. Another way to look at it is that as long as we are under the law we are in the courtroom with the law as our prosecutor. Every offense, we are guilty of the penalty. If we steel, God will yell stilman, send the police after us, and put us in the cell. That’s the old master. The law is a cruel and hard master.

But, if we are made right with God through faith in what Jesus did, instead of being in a court room, we are part of God’s family, and are living in his house. Now if we steel, our father, who loves us, will discipline us for that, but he will never kick us out of the family, or throw us in prison. He loves us, and our actions will hurt him because he loves us, but it will never cause him to stop loving us, or cause him to kick us out of his family!

Uncle Bill said last week, “Salvation is not freedom from a master, it’s transferring from a hard cruel master (law) to Jesus.”

Gal 2:20 We have been executed… crucified with Christ. We are dead to the old master. Uncle Bill said, “You can’t throw a dead body in jail.. his penalty has been paid!”

Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but it’s the life of Jesus living in me. Therefore I should live, trusting what God has done.”

Paul ended chapter 2 with these words, “for if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die! (2:21)

Our Salvation Began by Faith

Gal 3:1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.

Paul had shared the message of salvation with the Galatians. He had made it absolutely clear to them that Jesus’ death paid the penalty for their sin. That believing that Jesus was their lamb, that Jesus took their place, they could be made right with God. Paul had made it so clear, he says it is as if they had seen a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross in their place! They had understood it, and they embraced it. But now, just like Peter changed his actions, they are being tempted to do the same. The false teachers were telling them that Jesus isn’t enough! Paul calls them fools to listen to these false teachers.

Gal 3:2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

I want to ask you all this same question this morning. Did you receive the Holy Spirit because of something you did? What is your assurance of salvation? How do you know if you are right with God?

Is it because you came to church today? Is it because you do good things, and don’t do bad things? How do you know you are right with God? How do you know if you have done enough? You will never know as long as you are trying to be made right with God by what you do.

Have you experienced the Holy Spirit working in your life? Have you received the Holy Spirit because you earned it, or because God was happy with what you have done?

NO! Paul says, “Of course not! You received the Holy Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ!” Em tasol! No gat narapela tok ya! Bilip long dai na kirap bak long Jisas em tasol! Hangamap long em tasol. Em olsem dispela wanpela rot God i makim!

Jesus has done it all. There is nothing left for you to do

We keep our Salvation by faith

Gal 3:3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

If you did nothing to be made right with God, why do you think you can do something to stay right with God? Again Paul says, “You are a fool if you think that.”

What made you right with God? It was Jesus death on the cross! It was his work, and that work is finished! All you did was believe in what He has done!

If that is how we received salvation, if that is how we were made right with God to begin with, then why do think you can do anything now to stay right with God?

This was what my Christian life was like when I was younger. I grew up in a very religious home. We understood the gospel and knew it was Jesus death that made us right with God. But, I never understood that living out my Christian life was Christ also. You can’t be a Christian without Christ. And you can’t live the Christian life without Christ. Christ IN THE Christian IS the Christian life. Christ is the source of life for the Christian. But, for many years I thought I had to do do my best to live like a good Christian. I had to do all the right things and that God would be happy with me because of all the good things I was doing. It wasn’t until I began to understand that godliness is God Himself living through me. If what I am doing is not God at work through me, it is not a work of God. In fact, if it is not God doing the work, then it is godless, because it is me trying to do it without God.

How foolish! You started your new life in the Spirit. You started through faith belief in what Jesus did and because you believed, you received the Holy Spirit. He is now at work in your heart, teaching you, guiding you, even convicting you of sin. So, what makes you think there is anything you can do without Him, on your own to continue to be made right perfect with God? Without God Himself doing the work through you whatever you are doing is godless because you are trying to do it without God !

The Holy Spirit’s work in you is proof of both

Gal 3:4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

Think about what you have experienced because of your faith, because you believed in what Jesus did on the cross for you. What has that done for you?

• You know your sins are forgiven and you are right with God. Remember when you first understood what Jesus did for you on the cross. How excited you were to know your sins were forgiven and that you were now able to be right with God.

• Remember how it felt to know your salvation didn’t depend on what you wear, or whether you chew buai or not. Remember how freeing it was to know God accepts us and loves us “even though you are still a sinner.”

If you haven’t experienced this, don’t wait any longer. You can experience this joy and freedom today! Jesus paid for all your sins. Past, present and future. He asks you to recognize that you are helpless to save yourselves. That you need someone outside yourselves to make you right with God. Then simply believe that Jesus died in your place. You are right with God, not because you are good, or because you do good things, but because of what Jesus did! When you believe that, God declares you right with Him.

• Some of you have experienced freedom from the fear of the evil spirits or your ancestral spirits. Because you are now in God’s family, you no longer need to live in fear!

• While Israel lived by Moses law, many of you have lived by your ancestral laws. Taboos for women, customs that you had to do to insure your garden grows, or to help your children stay healthy. But, now you know It’s only God who takes care of those things.
• Did following those ever bring lasting peace or freedom from fear? No. It’s the same with trying to live by the law. Its a cruel master. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

• I remember when we taught a group of friends in Goroka. We were sitting on the floor in our house. A husband and wife were sitting next to each other. When she got up to go get some food, she stepped over her husbands legs. She stopped and declared, “I don’t have to worry about that anymore! I can step over his legs, and it’s OK. I am free from that!

Paul says, Have you experienced all that for nothing? Surely not. You were made right with God by faith. You are forgiven and continue to be made right with God by faith. What you have experienced is proof that you don’t need anything more!

Gal 3:5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

Why does God do these things in our lives? Does he give us freedom from fear because we do good things? Does he give us freedom from these things because we say the right things, or perform the right ritual? That’s what you used to do with your ancestor beliefs. That’s also what many church teach regarding the sacraments of the church.

None of what you did brought you freedom from fear. You still lived in bondage to what you believed. You still lived by the taboos and the fear. You followed all your traditional beliefs, and instead of bringing peace, it only produced more fear.

The same is true with lotu. Following all those rituals and doing all those things the lotu tells you need to do, still leaves you empty! It doesn’t remove the guilt, or the shame. Please understand what Paul is saying here, trying to obey the law will never make you right with God.. trying to do anything more than what Jesus did will never make you free from the penalty of sin, it only produces more bondage and more guilt!

Paul referred to miracles that the Galatians experienced. Think about what God has done in your life. We haven’t experienced raising the dead or healing from some great sickness.

• But, you were once lost in darkness, you lived in fear… but through your faith, your belief in what Jesus did, you now have freedom from fear. That’s a miracle in your life!
• You no longer have to live by all those things that kept you in bondage. That’s a miracle!
• You now see how God is the one that provides your food. God is the one who keeps you safe! These are miracles we experience!
• What about the changes you have experienced in your life? How has the gospel affected how you treat your wife/husband, children, parents? When you think about where you were and where you are, that’s the miracle of the Holy Spirits work in you!

So many are still lost in darkness living in fear! it’s a miracle that God has brought you out of that, and put you in His family now!

You experienced this, not because of something you did, but because you believed in what Jesus has done! You are right with God today, not because of something you did, but because of something you believe! Jesus died in your place and took upon himself all your sins, and your faith, your belief in his sacrifice in your place means you were executed, therefore you can no longer be put in prison for your sin.

Gal 3:6-7 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Remember the story of Abraham. When did God tell him these words? Genesis 12 1 1There was no law… no 10 commandments, that came later! Abraham’s family were all idol worshippers, they worshipped the things of this earth, the sun, the moon the stars. That was their gods. In Genesis 12 we can read the story of how God chose Abraham while he was still an idol worshipper. He spoke to him and told him to leave his family, leave the idol worship, and follow God to a place God would show him. God promised him that He would make Abraham a great nation, and that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him.

Abraham believed what God said, and left his family and his country and set out, not knowing where God would lead him.

After 10 years, Abraham still didn’t have a son and in Genesis 15 we can read the story of how Abraham was struggling with seeing how God would fulfill his promise. So, God told Abraham to go outside and to look up at the stars and count them, if he could. God said “that’s how many descendants you will have!”

The Bible tells us that when Abraham looked up at the stars that night, and heard what God said, He believed. Then, because he believed God’s promise, God counted him as righteous.

It doesn’t say that Abraham BECAME righteous, or became sinless / without sin. It says God declared him to be Right with God. In that moment, because of his faith, his belief in God’s promise, God took Abraham out of the courtroom where his sin condemned him to die, and put him into God’s family, where all his sin is forgiven, not because of what he had done, but because of his faith!

And Paul tells all of us, “The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.” Just like Abraham, we can become children of God, by faith! This is what God was talking about when he made his promise to Abraham back in Genesis 12. “all the families of the earth would be blessed through him. The real children of Abraham are not those descended through physical birth. God says, the real children of Abraham are those who are born into God’s family by faith, the same way that Abraham entered God’s family! That’s you and me! Everyone who believes that Jesus died to take your place. Jesus died for your sins. When you believe that He took your place, and you hangamap your thinking on God’s promise, God will take you out of the courtroom and place you in his family. Because by faith, when Jesus died, you died. You no longer have to listen to the old master. Your dead body can’t be thrown in prison. The court has been paid. You are now part of Gods family!

Our Salvation Began by Faith

How do you know that you are right with God? Is it because of something you are doing? If it is, you are in trouble. You are still standing in the courtroom, and if you are caught stealing, God will yell, “stilman” and send the police to lock you up.

You need to follow Paul’s example in Gal 2:19 “For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.” Our salvation, being made right with God does not come from what we do, it comes from what Jesus has done, and our belief / faith in His finished work!

We keep our Salvation faith

What do you believe is keeping you right with God?

The same way that we received our right standing with God, is how we keep it. It is only a work that God can do!

If what you are oing is not God at work through you, it is not a work of God. In fact, if it is not God doing the work, then it is godless, because it is you trying to do it without God.

you can’t live the Christian life without Christ. Christ IN THE Christian IS the Christian life. Christ is the source of life for the Christian.

The Holy Spirit’s work in you is proof of both

Have you experienced these things? If not, you can today! talk to one of us?

• Freedom from fear of the Spirits
• Freedom from bondage to your cultural taboos
• Freedom from lotu pasin to be made right with God… or trying to keep you right with God

In the same way Abraham became a child of God, you and I can also become children of God and the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

Are you a child of God today? Have you put your faith, your belief in what Jesus has done? Your lotu pasin won’t bring freedom, it won’t make you right with God. Only Jesus will do that!

If you are saved, do you struggle trying to do what is right in your own power and in your own strength?

You are God’s child. He loves you. He will never yell stilman and try and lock you up! But, he will discipline for sin. But He has also given you the Holy Spirit, to poke you when you are doing something wrong, to guide your thinking to avoid things that don’t please Him, and to help you understand His word.

Remember the work God has done… the miracles He has done in your life. Nothing He has done in your life is because you deserved it, earned it, or did anything to receive it! Celebrate it and praise Him for what He has done!

Learn to listen to Him and follow what you learn in God’s Word.

What motivates you to live for God? IS it because you are standing in the courtroom trying to do all the right things and you don’t want the judge to condemn you? Or is it because you are God’s child.