The Heart of SOLUS CHRISTUS
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
January 24, 2018

Well tonight we move on to our 4th of the
5 SOLAS that came out of the Reformation.

Tonight we look at SOLUS CHRISTUS
Namely the belief that the means of our salvation is CHRIST ALONE.

And at the outset I would say that of all the 5
I think this one is the one that is the least understood.

Most of the time when you mention SOLUS CHRISTUS,
Most people think that it is referring to
The simple belief that Jesus is the only Savior.

Certainly that is included in SOLUS CHRISTUS
And certainly that is true.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

There is no doubt that we would maintain that
There is no other Savior than Jesus.
(and throughout the study of this 4th SOLA, we’ll examine some of those passages)

Yes, there are some liberal theologians and even religious non-believers
Who would embrace pluralism and the faulty notion
That there are many roads all headed to the same destination.

But honestly, in most evangelical circles
I seldom run across people that hold that obviously unbiblical belief.

BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT THE DEBATE
REGARDING SOLUS CHRISTUS CENTERS AROUND.

The argument here is NOT in seeking to prove
That Jesus is the only savior.
The argument centers on the fact that
Jesus is all that is needed for salvation.

Rome would tell you that Jesus is the only savior, but they will not uphold that the work of Christ is all that is needed to be saved.

Let me read to you another excerpt from the Council of Trent

1992 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life: [Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529]

Now take note of what is said there.
• First we see that Christ is called “a living victim” which of course nullifies the
effectiveness of His death and requires Him to continually sacrifice Himself.
This is the heresy of the Mass.

But the statement I really want you to grasp is this:
• Regarding justification, “It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who
makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy”

The belief is that what Jesus did,
Grants us the ability to now be righteous and live righteous,
Which we are expected to do in order to please God.

Where Jesus is important to them is because
According to them it is Jesus who gives you the motivation
And even the ability to live righteous.

I actually find this to be a common misunderstanding of the gospel.
Growing up in legalistic religion I have found that
There are many evangelical believers who do not understand
What SOLUS CHRISTUS means.

They tend to just affirm Jesus as the Only Savior
And think they have it covered.
AND THAT IS A SHAME.

So at the very outset tonight I want to just cut to the heart of the matter
And tell you what SOLUS CHRISTUS means.

HERE IS THE HEART OF IT ALL:

Solus Christus does not refer to what Christ has done IN me.
Solus Christus refers to what Christ has done FOR me.

Let me put it another way:
Christ did not come to MAKE us righteous.
Christ came to BE our righteousness.

If you misunderstand this you will misunderstand the gospel.

Now that is certainly not to disregard the work of sanctification which does occur IN us.
• We certainly affirm that Christ is at work within us.
• We certainly affirm that the Holy Spirit is working out our salvation.
• We understand the reality of “Christ in you” the hope of glory.
• We understand that God is transforming us into the image of Christ.

But that has to do with sanctification,
And a process that will never be perfected in this life.

In regard to justification (which is what the SOLAS refer to)
We don’t focus on Christ in us. We focus on us “in Him”.

Rome (and legalistic religion throughout the ages) has sought to make Jesus
• Our supreme MOTIVATION for righteousness, (because He is judge)
• Our supreme EXAMPLE for righteousness (because He was perfect)
• Our supreme POWER for righteousness (working in us)

And the weight and expectation for all salvation
Has depended upon you taking advantage of the work of Christ
And being righteous.

THE REFORMERS SAID NO!
They affirmed that even in my sinful condition I am declared holy,
Apart from my own righteousness,
And only because of what Christ has done for me.

R. Scott Clark said,
“The heart of the gospel is not about us. The heart of the gospel is Christ for us (Christus pro nobis). This was the essence of Paul’s message: that Christ came for us, to do for us what we could not and would not do. He obeyed. He was crucified. He was raised. He is ascended. He is returning. The medieval church turned the gospel into a message about what Christ is doing in us, by grace, in sanctification, and about what we must do to do our part in order to benefit: cooperate with grace. The good news is that we have no part, not in this story. We’re recipient. We’re beggars; we’re not contributors to the story.”
(https://www.monergism.com/topics/five-solas/solus-christus)

Martin Luther said,
“I must listen to the gospel. It tells me not what I must do, but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me.”
(ibid)

John Calvin said,
“Hence also it is proved, that it is entirely by the intervention of Christ’s righteousness that we obtain justification before God. This is equivalent to saying that man is not just in himself, but that the righteousness of Christ is communicated to him by imputation, while he is strictly deserving of punishment. Thus vanishes the absurd dogma, that man is justified by faith, inasmuch as it brings him under the influence of the Spirit of God by whom he is rendered righteous. This is so repugnant to the above doctrine that it never can be reconciled with it. There can be no doubt that he who is taught to seek righteousness out of himself does not previously possess it in himself. This is most clearly declared by the Apostle, when he says, that he who knew no sin was made and expiatory victim for sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21)”
(From Institutes of the Christian Religion, III. xi, 2, 21-23)

I am not saved because He has made me righteous.
I am saved because He has become my righteousness.

And still just by way of introduction I can tell you how a proper understanding of this doctrine can have a profound effect on your life.

Don’t raise your hand, but I would wonder if anyone in here has ever struggled with assurance of salvation?
• Let me just tell you that I struggled with it for years.
• And because of that struggle and victory over it I can tell you now where a lack
of assurance comes from.

It comes directly from a misunderstanding of SOLUS CHRISTUS

Now, even in the years when I doubted my salvation,
I would have absolutely affirmed and even fought to the death
That Jesus is the only way of salvation.
That was never an issue.

The problem where my theology was bad
Was in how much of a savior Christ was.

I knew Him to be the only Savior, the question is what percentage of the saving is up to Him, and what percentage was up to me?

Now, I never actually debated it like that,
But looking back now, that was precisely the issue.

Because even in my desire to love and trust Christ
It was the presence of legalism which was the root cause of my doubt.

Do you remember what Paul said about legalism?
Galatians 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Remember we said that legalism nullifies grace
And renders useless the death of Christ.

Let me tell you how it worked in my life.
(And I give a lot of credit for this to the legalistic Baptist doctrines that I grew up under)

Baptists love moralism and we love to pretend that
Somehow morality and salvation are linked.

AND FOR ME MORALITY BECAME THE TRUEST BASIS OF SALVATION.
I felt the most saved when I was the most moral,
And I even used morality as a basis of whether or not someone else was saved.

In short, I judged everyone by their level of righteousness.

Now Jesus taught us the problem with that.
Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”

What does that mean?
• Well, for example, I could follow Jesus and my love for Jesus would cause me
to want to be at church every time the doors were open. I just loved being
there.

• And in my commitment I could even pass judgment on those who weren’t
there. “I just don’t know if they’re saved, because I can’t understand
them not wanting to be at church.”

And that mindset served me well so long as I was faithful to attend.
The problem was I just set up for myself a standard of salvation.

In my heart I built a standard that said,
“Saved people never want to miss church.”

And then, inevitably there would come a day,
When I didn’t feel like coming,
And my own standard would condemn me.

“What’s wrong with me that I don’t want to go to church tonight, I must not be saved.”

And that is just one example, but it happened in many areas.
My own judgment standards actually
Only condemned me over and over and over.

Let me tell you what I was doing, and I think this will help.

I WAS TRUSTING IN MY FRUIT (my inward righteousness) FOR MY SALVATION INSTEAD OF IN JESUS FOR MY SALVATION.

Does that make sense?
• So long as my fruit appeared to be legitimate, I was doing great.
• But on the days that I failed, and my fruit was absent, I doubted and struggled.

It was evidence of a misunderstanding of SOLUS CHRISTUS
• What I was actually believing was that Jesus saved me to make to me righteous.
• And on the days that I felt righteous I had no problem.
• But on the days when my lack of righteousness was revealed to me, I was overcome with doubt and anxiety.

That’s not to minimize the importance of fruit, so long as you understand that the presence of holiness is not the fruit, the desire for it is.
I was a victim of legalistic religion and I failed to understand that the work of Christ was not to make me righteous
(which let’s face it, if that was His work, He was unsuccessful),
But that the work of Christ was to be my righteousness.

Now, even when I fail, I don’t despair as though the work of Christ in me has failed.
I can still rejoice because of the work of Christ done for me.

There’s a great song about this that we sing from time to time:
“When I look all around me And all I can see Are my mountains of failure and sin I will hope in the One Crucified in my place Jesus Christ the Redeemer of men
When I’m standing accused And I’m guilty as charged And I’ve nothing that I can defend I will trust in the righteousness Given to me By Jesus my Savior and Friend
When I measure my heart By Your holy decrees All my motives and deeds I despise I will claim all Your sacrifice Purchased for me By Your death I will stand justified
I look up to the Cross Where I see my Sin-Bearer Hanging there in deepest agony I look up to the Cross Where Your cleansing blood flows And I feel a great weight lift from me”

And I just share that with you because it has been my observation that
The rise of moralism and legalistic religion in the church
Has really done a number on the truth of the gospel.

What I want to make sure you understand is that
Salvation is only possible because of what Jesus did for us.

We are NOT saved because we take advantage of the work of Christ and use it to finally live righteous lives and become pleasing to God.

We ARE saved because even in our wretched beggar state, Christ saved us apart from any help of our own.

When we say that we are saved by Christ Alone,
We are not saying that Jesus is the Only Savior (though He is).
When we say that we are saved by Christ Alone
We are saying that Christ Alone saves us without any help from us.

He did for me what I COULD NOT and even WOULD NOT do for myself.
• And I stand saved, not because I am now righteous.
• I am saved because He is righteous and He has imputed that righteousness to me.

And that thought is where I want to start our study.

And to do that, we are going to look at 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Now, allow me to briefly set the stage.

• In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 we find that passage where Paul talks about that right
now we are present in the body and absent from the Lord.

• He admits that right now we dwell in a tent, but what we really long for is our
heavenly building.

2 Corinthians 5:4 “For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”

• And Paul even says that the reason we have this yearning or desire is
because God placed His Spirit in us which causes us to desire this.

2 Corinthians 5:5 “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”

• And so, because we long to be with the Lord and because we know that
someday we will be with the Lord, Paul says that right now our goal is
please Him.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

So in those first verses Paul admits that
• Though he longs to go and be with Christ,
• He knows that he has been left here for a purpose
• And it is a purpose which he wants to fulfill well.

And incidentally, that purpose is missions.

• In verses 11-17 Paul actually reveals that he is on that mission and his sole objective is to fulfill it in a way that pleases God not man.
(2 Corinthians is letter Paul wrote in defense of his ministry)

• He’s not particularly worried what men think about how he ministers since his sole objective is to please God.

For time’s sake I want you to skip down to verse 18
Where Paul reveals this mission he is on.

READ: 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Now hopefully you picked upon the key word of the passage.
It is “reconciled” or “reconciliation”

Paul uses that word 5 times in this passage.
It is all about how God reconciles man to Himself.

And first and foremost I would remind you that
RECONCILIATION IS SORELY NEEDED.
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”

Man has been estranged from God because God is holy and man is not.

And I suppose this separation would be less severe
Were it not for the fact that GOD WILL NOT TOLERATE SINNERS
As He currently does FOREVER.

Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”

So, the obvious point is that sinful man must be reconciled to Holy God.

That is really the heart of salvation.
And that is the heart of the 5 SOLAS

We ask: HOW CAN SINFUL MAN BE RECONCILED TO A HOLY GOD?

Well Scripture Alone says that it is by Grace Alone through Faith Alone
In Christ Alone for the Glory of God Alone.

And what we want to look at here specifically is
The role Christ had in that reconciliation.

There are 4 points here tonight, and we will hit them quickly.
#1 THE MAKER OF RECONCILIATION
2 Corinthians 5:18

We see it right off the bat.
It is a tremendous testimony to SOLA GRATIA

“Now all these things are from God…”

WE AFFIRM AGAIN THAT
Salvation begins with the will of God not the will of the sinner.
• Salvation did not occur because sinful human beings decided they needed to approach God and ask for forgiveness and beg Him to save them.

• If God didn’t originate salvation it would not occur, namely because sinful man could care less.

God instigated it.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

And Paul said that God did this for him personally.
God first “reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Now already Paul has identified the means of this reconciliation.
For Paul says that God “reconciled us to Himself THROUGH CHRIST”

And we’re going to talk more about that in a moment.
But all that God did in regard to reconciliation was done through Christ.

But Paul notes that after God RECONCILED him,
God then COMMISSIONED him into service.

After being reconciled Paul says that God then “gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

And again we note where that came from.
It also came from God.

SO THE MAKER OF RECONCILIATION IS OBVIOUS TO US.
• God is the instigator.
• He reconciles men and He commissions men with “the ministry of reconciliation”

Well that in itself brings up a question.
WHAT IS THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION?

The Maker of Reconciliation
#2 THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
2 Corinthians 5:19

There again we cannot escape SOLA GRATIA or SOLUS CHRISTUS
“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself”

God alone was doing it through Christ alone, it’s inescapable.

The “ministry of reconciliation” is this:
“He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Paul didn’t reconcile anyone
The church didn’t reconcile anyone
Paul merely went and proclaimed to people that
God was reconciling men to Himself through Christ.

That is the whole ministry in a nutshell.
(And it is a pretty fitting discussion as we are here in Missions Month.)

We don’t save people.
We don’t reconcile people.
We don’t regenerate people.
We don’t justify people.
Our job is simply to go and proclaim to the world
That God is reconciling men to Himself through Jesus Christ.

That was the sum total of Paul’s ministry.

And that leads to the third point.

The Maker of Reconciliation, The Ministry of Reconciliation
#3 THE MESSENGERS OF RECONCILIATION
2 Corinthians 5:20

It only makes sense doesn’t it?
• If God committed this message to us, then it stands to reason that we would go and preach it.

And that is what we do.
“Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ”

We go and proclaim Christ.
As we preach it is as though “God were making an appeal through us”
There is SOLA GRATIA again.

Even in this ministry where we go out and preach,
Even that would be for not, if God didn’t actually do that to.
And you understand that.

So, because this is our ministry, and because this is the way God wants it, and because God actually makes His appeal through us

HERE WE GO…
“we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Incidentally, do you want a good “one liner” for evangelism?
Do you struggle with a good question or statement to make?

There it is.

In that one statement is the accurate assessment that
• Man is sinful,
• Has become estranged to God,
• He needs to be reconciled,
• That this reconciliation is found in Christ.

Paul does that because he knows
That is why God has chosen to leave him in this tent
Instead of taking home to heaven and letting him dwell in his building.

And all of that really sets the stage.
God wants men to be reconciled and God has commissioned us to preach it.

But none of those fully answer the question of reconciliation.

That is the final point.
#4 THE MEANS OF RECONCILIATION
2 Corinthians 5:21

Here is how reconciliation occurs.
“He made Him who knew no sin”

Here we examine what is called:
THE ACTIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST (and it is very important)

Namely that He lived a sinless life.
• He didn’t just drop out of heaven one day, die on a cross and skirt back up to heaven.
• He lived here for 33 years and He lived here in perfect obedience.

The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

And if you won’t take his word for it,
Then listen to the voice of God the Father.

Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

We even saw this displayed during His temptation in the wilderness.

What we are talking about when we talk about Jesus Christ
Is absolute perfection.

He never sinned, not even once.
• He never broke a single command.
• He never had an evil thought.
• He never sinned in His anger
• He never had a lustful thought
• He never held bitterness in His heart
• He never coveted someone else’s possession
• He never blamed God
• He never cursed God
• He never did anything that was even close to sinful in the eyes of God

When God looked at the man Jesus Christ, God saw nothing against Him.
He “knew no sin”

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin”

Now first let me tell you what that does not mean.
It does not mean that Christ became a sinner on the cross.

The previous phrase “who knew no sin”
Completely rules that possibility out.

Christ did not become a sinner.
He remained pure and sinless throughout His life and death.

We even have testimony of this from the one who died next to Him.
The thief on the cross boldly stating that this man has done nothing worthy of death.

Christ did not become a sinner.

WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN?

The answer was given centuries earlier by the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 53:1-6 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

And this is precisely what Paul is referencing.
The One who was totally pure and sinless in every way
Actually took upon Himself the sin of God’s elect.
He bore our sin.

He was sinless, He was pure,
And yet He was treated as though He was a sinner.

• When you look at the suffering of the cross…
• When you look at the torment…
• When you look at the grief…

That is what God’s justice demanded should happen to you and I.

It was the punishment for sin.
But God took the sinless pure Savior and imputed our sin to Him.

1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

He took the fall for sin He did not commit

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,”

Now we could go into again the debate of who Christ actually died for,
But go back and listen to those sermons on the actual atonement.

If you say that it is for everyone, then you have to a universalist.
The reality is that Christ did this on behalf of the elect,
Those who are saved.

It was done on behalf of the elect who needed to be reconciled to God.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

It was in fact the trade of the century.

He was treated as though He committed my sin
And I am now treated as though I fulfilled His righteousness.

He became sin
We become righteous

Now again, Christ did not become a sinner on the cross, He was merely treated as though He was.

Even so I am not now perfectly righteous, I am merely treated as though I am.

And now when I read verses like “You shall be holy as I am holy”
Or “You shall be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect”

I no longer have to hang my head in shame.
Because of what Christ did in bearing my sin and sharing His righteousness, I am now viewed as holy. I am now treated as perfect.

I am treated perfect not because I am righteous.
It is not what Christ did IN me.
It is what Christ did FOR me
And apart from any help FROM me.

That is what we mean by SOLUS CHRISTUS
And we’ll discuss it more in the weeks to come.

A Day in the Life of Jesus
Luke 4:31-44
January 28, 2017

To get started this morning
I want to draw your attention to the phrase at the end of Luke 4.

Luke 4:43-44 “But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”

The important phrase there is the phrase “kingdom of God”

It’s a phrase that Luke will record 32 times in his gospel,
And it is the fundamental theme to Jesus ministry.

In many ways proclaiming the “kingdom of God” was synonymous with proclaiming the gospel.

In fact, in Luke 16:16 it is called; “the gospel of the kingdom of God”

Luke really picks up on the fact that
Jesus was committed to preaching this gospel of the kingdom.

He came to “preach the kingdom of God”
• Every miracle He worked was to demonstrate the powerful effects of the
kingdom.
• Later when He called the disciples He would send them to “proclaim the
kingdom of God”
• And Jesus would even give them miraculous ability so that they could say,
“the kingdom of God has come near”

I think the first thing we would want to know is
“What is this kingdom?”

Well, clearly, it is the kingdom that is promised to Messiah throughout the Old Testament.

We don’t have to read many of them, but some are helpful.
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

Or you could read all of Isaiah 11 & 12 which speak of this coming kingdom and the King who will reign over it.
Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

This kingdom is referenced again later in Isaiah
Isaiah 60:18-21 “Violence will not be heard again in your land, Nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. “Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. “Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.”

The marvelous thing about Jesus is
He came proclaiming that the kingdom of God was here!
Luke 17:20-21 “Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Now certainly the full effect of the kingdom was not yet realized,
• For Jesus was not yet sitting on David’s throne,
• The wolf was not dwelling with the lamb,
• All the people were not righteous.

So in one sense the total fulfillment of the kingdom was not yet here.

Even later, during the Olivet discourse Jesus would say:
Luke 21:31 “So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.”

And again at the last supper
Luke 22:16-18 “for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”

So we can see that the perfect fulfillment is still yet to be realized.

So what then did Jesus mean?
When He went around preaching the kingdom of God and offering the kingdom of God and even telling the Pharisees as we read earlier “the kingdom of God is in your midst”?

VERY SIMPLY THIS.
The entrance into this kingdom is now available.

John MacArthur described the kingdom as “The sphere of salvation that those who respond in repentant faith to the preaching of the gospel enter.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series; Luke 1-5, Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 2009] pg. 297)

What is clear to us is that
• One day Jesus will return and His physical kingdom will be an absolute reality.
• He will reign upon the earth.
• All those who oppose Him will be destroyed.
• His kingdom will be a kingdom of perfect peace and perfect righteousness

And entrance is offered to anyone who repents and submits to the King.
• No one in their fallen sinful state is fit for the kingdom of God.
• We are all rebels by nature
• We are all insurrectionists by choice
• We have all become enemies of God

Jesus came to lead us to repentance and pay the debt against us
That we might be granted access into that kingdom.

So today, entrance into this Kingdom is offered to all.

Today,
It is a spiritual access whereby we enjoy fellowship with God and joy in Christ with full pardon and blessing.

Someday
We will enjoy it in an absolute physical sense in all its perfection and glory.

BUT IF YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF IT THEN,
YOU MUST ENTER IT NOW.

And you enter it through
• Humbly acknowledging your sin,
• Running to Christ for forgiveness,
• Pledging your loyalty to the King whom you believe will one day rule this world.

Does that help you understand Christianity a little better?

By submitting to Christ we are defying the god of this world
And declaring that as rebels to his cause,
We will pledge our loyalty to the rightful king.

We are committing treason against the prince of the power of the air
In faith that our king will in fact return and reign.

And that is what Jesus is asking us to do.
He is going everywhere proclaiming His kingdom
• Asking men to repent of their treason
• Defy the god of this world
• To proclaim allegiance to Him as the rightful King
• Believing that He will do what He said He will do.

AND IN ORDER TO MAKE THAT DECISION EASIER FOR US,
Jesus takes every possible opportunity to demonstrate to us
That He most certainly can take back this world.

And that is what we see taking place in Luke 4.

We see Jesus putting His power and authority on full display.
• He DOESN’T do this because His main goal is to heal people.
• He DOES this because He wants everyone to know that He is more than
capable of conquering the enemy and establishing His own kingdom.

AND THE INTENT is that as you see His power,
You become convinced that He can do what He said,
And you forsake the god of this world and pledge your life to Him too.

That is the message that Luke continually highlights.

And in the remainder of Luke 4,
That is precisely what Luke is showing you.

3 things
#1 HIS AMAZING CLAIM OF AUTHORITY
Luke 4:31-32

After Jesus was tempted we read:
Luke 4:14-15 “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.”

• Jesus instantly went on a preaching mission,
• Hitting synagogue after synagogue.
• We even read that after a stint in Galilee,
• He came to His hometown and did the same.

Luke 4:16 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.”

Based on His normal pattern then it should not surprise us that as He comes down to Capernaum He is still doing the exact same thing.
He is entering the synagogues on the Sabbath and He is preaching.

“He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;”

And because of that story from Nazareth it is not hard for us to guess what He is preaching.

He is preaching that He is the rightful King
Who can in fact deliver the oppressed and the captives from their sin
And who can usher in the favorable year of the Lord.

He is preaching that same gospel message of deliverance.
• He is preaching good news to the poor
• He is preaching forgiveness to prisoners
• He is preaching sight to the blind
• He is preaching rest to the oppressed

That little hostile revolt in Nazareth hasn’t slowed Him in the least.
He is still preaching the gospel.

And this gospel is summed up
at the end of chapter 4 (as we read earlier) as
Preaching “the kingdom of God”

He is offering men access into God’s kingdom.
And we looked at that message in some detail a couple of weeks ago.

When Jesus preached this message in Nazareth they were skeptical.
Remember, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

It was the old “Who does He think He is?” type response, and of course Jesus confronted their lack of humility.

Well here we get Capernaum’s response.
(32) “and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.”

Luke says they were “amazed” and we will look at that in a moment,

BUT FIRST I want you to see WHY they were “amazed”
And it was because “His message was with authority.”

That is another way of saying,
He made some really remarkable claims about His own ability.

Take for a second the Sermon on the Mount.
• We have Jesus over and over making statements like, “You have heard, but I say…”
• And in those statements He totally redirects the way they have read the Old Testament Law for years.
• In that sermon He revealed that the giving, praying, and fasting of the Pharisees was nothing but a hypocritical joke. (That is, He totally judged the motives of their hearts and then told everyone about it)
• He called men to ask Him for righteousness if they wanted it.

They were really startling claims like no one had ever made before,
And that is why at the end of the Sermon on the Mount we read:
Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

I mean, who walks in and in one sermon completely exposes every other religious leader and changes the way you read the Old Testament Law?

THAT’S PRETTY BOLD.

But that’s not all.
This guy claims to be able to forgive sin.

Remember the paralytic story we read a couple of weeks ago about the man lowered through the roof and Jesus told him he was forgiven?

Remember the response of the Pharisees?
Luke 5:21 “The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

THAT WAS A BOLD CLAIM.
I can absolve you of your debt before God.

Or we could go to Matthew 21 and see that Jesus had the audacity to:
• Enter Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt
• Drive out all the money changers in the temple
• Healed people in the temple
• And then embrace their worship as though He were God

And so the Pharisees confronted Him:
Matthew 21:23 “When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

And even that isn’t all.
• We’ll find in Luke 9 that He has so much authority that He gives it to His
disciples.
• In Matthew 28 (in the Great Commission) He will say, “all authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to Me”

I just want you to realize what is being said when the crowd says that “His message was with authority.”

He was making claims in regard to His own ability
That no one had ever made before.

And the Bible says that the response of the crowd
Was that “they were amazed”

And this is important.
There are several different Greek words which are translated “amazed”.

We saw one of those words in Luke 2:33 speaking of His father and mother.
Luke 2:33 “And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.”
(that word means “to marvel” or “to wonder”)

We saw a different word in Luke 2:47 speaking of the teachers in the temple.
Luke 2:47 “And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.”
(that word means “to stand aside from” or to be taken back)

There is even a different word used when Peter and James and John saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain.

None of those are the words used here.

The word used here is a word that literally means “to strike out”

For example,
• When Zek was about 1 year old I remember Lynda Gilcrease volunteering to
keep him on a Saturday and she told us that in one day she was confident
she could potty-train him.
Ken’s immediate response was, “Lynda, you’re out of your mind!”

He was “STRUCK” by what she said, and in his mind it was so outlandish that he couldn’t believe she said it.

That is what the word means.
Some have said it is better translated ASTONISHED

So here is the mood.
Jesus is preaching in their synagogue and He is making some remarkable claims.

Things like:
• I can give grace to the poor
• I can give forgiveness to criminals
• I can give sight to the blind
• I can give rest to the oppressed
• I can give eternal life

And the crowd is literally struck and astonished
That He would make such claims.
(Jesus, You’re out of Your mind)

NO ONE EVER MADE CLAIMS LIKE THAT
Nazareth tried to throw Him off a cliff for saying it.
Capernaum is really just sort of caught in a holding pattern.

They really are just kind of blown away.
• Can this guy really do what He says?
• Can He really forgive sins?
• Can He really usher in God’s kingdom and rule over the world?
• Can He really grant me access into heaven?

No doubt more than one person
Wanted Him to put His money where His mouth was.

Well, that’s precisely what happens next.

His Amazing Claim of Authority
#2 HIS AMAZING CONFIRMATION OF AUTHORITY
Luke 4:32-41

Now I put these together, not because each story is not remarkable in its own right but because Luke puts them together.

From a literary standpoint I think Luke really wants you to read them all together in a rapid fire fashion so that you will sort of be amazed at how quickly and easily He was able to confirm His claims.

It’s not that we aren’t amazed at each miracle,
It’s just that it is important that you get the bigger point.

The pressure was on Jesus to prove His claims,
And He didn’t just give some small piece of proof,
He absolutely knocked it out of the park.

So Luke records here 3 events, which all happened on the same day.
He deals with:
1) AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT (33-37)
2) A HIGH FEVER (38-39)
3) A DESPERATE CROWD (40-41)

All of them serve the same point for Luke.
They prove that Jesus can absolutely deliver
On the amazing claims that He has made.

But let’s quickly look at all 3 of these.
THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT

So Jesus is preaching in this synagogue and making some bold claims in regard to His own authority.

And Luke says “a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon…cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!”

First I think it is beneficial to recognize that we have here a man in church who is possessed by a demon
And where it not for the preaching of Jesus, no one would know it.

• This man is not insane and out of his mind like the Gaderene Demoniac.
• This man is not mute or crippled or often thrown into the fire like some of the other demonic encounters we see in the gospels.
• This man has the appearance of sanity and health and normalcy.

He is “possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon”

What does that mean?
This man, by reason of his oppression, is “unclean”

Which is another way to say, he is IMPURE.
His life is tangled in things that DEFILE.

IT IS IMPORTANT POINT OUT
That his defilement must not have been external
Because he was freely participating in the worship of the synagogue.

His defilement must have been more along the line
Of what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 15.

Matthew 15:19-20 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

• This man is merely defiled in heart.
• This man has wicked and carnal thoughts and desires.
• And those wicked thoughts and desires are the result of the spirit which
controls him.

I just think you need to see that because it seems as though most people today have this view that if you have a demon you’ll look like a zombie, foam at the mouth, talk with a sinister voice, and do other crazy things.

What we see here is that that isn’t always the case.
This guy was in church.

Furthermore, this demon was content to sort of sit in silence without making a fuss or making himself obvious.
• His first request to Jesus is “Let us alone!”

This demon simply desires to corrupt and defile this man from within
And silently and stealthily influence those around him.

And the only thing that brings this spirit to the forefront
Is the confrontational preaching of Jesus.

Jesus is preaching that people are poor and need mercy.
Jesus is preaching that people are guilty and need forgiveness.
Jesus is preaching that people are blind and need sight.
Jesus is preaching that people are burdened and need rest.

In short, Jesus is preaching right at this man’s heart.
And the demon is forced to defend his ground.

“Let us alone!” – He doesn’t want that sin confronted any more.
“What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?” – which is to say, why are You picking on me?
“I know who You are – the Holy One of God!”

This demon does not want to give up his turf.

(35) “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.”

• Even though this demon was correct in his facts about Jesus,
• Jesus refused to be announced by a demon (Paul was the same in Philippi)
• That would be far too confusing to those whom Jesus was seeking to reach.

So Jesus makes this demon be quiet, and then He makes the demon leave
And the demon did throw him down,
But ultimately “came out of him without doing him any harm.”

Now, let me point out, that this occurred FOR ONLY ONE reason.
Jesus was putting His power on display.
• Nothing is said about this man repenting of sin.
• Nothing is said about this man placing his faith in Jesus.
• This was purely done for Jesus to put His power on display.

Jesus was proving the claims He had made.
And it worked.

(36-37) “And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.”

After He rebukes that demon it says “amazement came upon them all”
That is a different word and this one means “amazed” or “wonder”

Now they know He can do it, they are just blown away
Because they didn’t really think He could.

And now they ask, “What is this message?”
• He doesn’t just claim authority.
• He has authority.
• Even the demons have to obey Him.

Well there is your first picture of the power and authority of Jesus.
The evil servants of the enemy have to do what He says.

I once heard someone say, “The next time you think you’re important try giving orders to someone else’s dog.”

Well, Jesus could.
Now that is just the first, and we can hit the next two rather quickly.
THE HIGH FEVER

(38-39) “Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.”

Luke ties the events together, because after that amazing display of authority, Jesus marches right out of the synagogue and right into Peter’s house.

When he gets there Peter’s “mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever”
(and of course this was before ibuprofen)
THIS WAS SERIOUS.

And with seemingly no effort whatsoever
Jesus just tells the fever to leave and it leaves.

And she felt so good “she immediately got up and waited on them.”

That is remarkable authority.
I think it is even more remarkable in our day because have so many people running around claiming to be able to do this kind of thing who can’t do it at all.

BUT JESUS DID, AND IT WAS EASY.

THE DESPERATE CROWD (40-41)

(40-41) “While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.”

This is what you call escalation.
Furthermore it proves that the first two
Weren’t just some sort of parlor trick.

These people literally bombard Jesus (who could blame them).
• They’re bringing sick people and demon-possessed people
• And they are coming at Him rapid fire.
• And it didn’t matter the sickness…
• It didn’t matter the degree of sickness…
• It didn’t matter the rank of the demon…

There were no stipulations, there were no limitations,
Whatever the problem Jesus instantly fixed it all.

And I think you can see Luke’s point.
All of those claims to authority were not just empty claims.
He can do it.

This guy really is offering to you a kingdom.
He really is offering to you access into the very kingdom of God.

In order to enter that kingdom
• You are going to have to rebel against the god of this world.
• You are going to have to forsake the prince of the power of the air.

And in this world that puts you at great risk.

But all the while Jesus says, don’t worry about him, I can handle him.
He cannot stop me from ushering in My kingdom.
I’m just asking you to trust Me.

That is the goal, to get you to believe His authority is real.
• He wants you to trust Him.
• He wants you to submit to Him.

THAT IS THE ESSENCE OF FAITH
Do you remember the story of the centurion with the paralyzed slave?

Luke 7:2-9 “And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, ” Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

That man simply believed in Jesus’ authority
and Jesus called that the greatest faith He had ever seen.

That is what we are driving for here.
Jesus is offering forgiveness and freedom and grace and sight and entrance into the kingdom of God, but you have to trust that He can do it.

And based upon His power, you absolutely should!

His Amazing Claim of Authority His Amazing Confirmation of Authority
#3 HIS AMAZING COMMITMENT TO THE GOSPEL
Luke 4:42-44

Here I just want you to see the heart of Jesus.
• It was not about the miracles.
• It was not about the healings.
• It was not about casting out demons.

He was on a different mission.
• He was offering the gospel of mercy to people.
• He was offering people entrance into the kingdom.

Those miracles were just to prove He could,
But don’t miss the main point.
BECAUSE SO MANY DO.

Our world is filled with people who think the main goal of Jesus
Is to deliver you from every hardship – NO!

The goal of Jesus is to save you
• From the snare of the devil,
• From the evil inclination of your own heart,
• From the penalty of your sin,
• And from the wrath of Holy God.

That is by far your bigger problem.

Do you want the sad part?
Capernaum missed the point.

Matthew 11:23-24 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Despite this miraculous display, Capernaum refused to trust.
Instead they ignored His great authority and sealed their doom.

This is not an optional reality.
• Jesus is the king.
• He has a kingdom.
• He will return to reign in that kingdom.
• And if you don’t submit to Him and enter it now, you will not be allowed to enter it then.

You must trust Him and submit your life to Him.

The Exclusivity of Faith – Part 4
Galatians 2:11-21
January 21, 2018

Tonight we are going to wrap up our study of Sola Fide.

We have looked at:
THE NECESSITY OF FAITH – “without faith it is impossible to please [God]”
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FAITH – “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
THE EXCLUSIVITY OF FAITH – which is what we are currently examining.

We are seeking to answer the question as to how important that word “Alone” is to our understanding of justification by faith.

And in order to do that we have TRAVELED BACK TO
A CONTROVERSY that threatened the early church.
In fact it was a controversy so intense that it actually sparked
The first ever church council and doctrinal statement.

The controversy is summed in
Acts 15:1 “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Being challenged there is NOT the doctrine of justification by faith.
• Certainly these Jewish loyalists would have agreed that the Gentiles must exercise faith in God if they were to be saved.

What IS being challenged is the doctrine of justification by faith ALONE.
• Because these Jews wanted to require circumcision in addition to faith as a requirement for salvation.

That was the battle.
Our desire has been to see how the apostles weighed in on the matter.

We first listened to Peter who maintained that:
LEGALISM TESTS GOD

After all, God gave the Holy Spirit to these Gentiles
Apart from them having ever been circumcised,
To require it now would be to test God’s judgment
In regard to His dispensing of the Holy Spirit.

Certainly no one desires to do that.

Then we listened to James who maintained that:
LEGALISM TROUBLES GENTILES

For James looked at Amos 9:11-12 which revealed that even in the consummation of the ages, when Messiah reigns upon His earthly throne, God will save men from all walks of life, but God refers to these saved men as “Gentiles”.
The indication here is that God will save them
Without ever requiring them to become Jewish.

And so James wants to know, WHY would you impose an additional criteria upon people which God does not require in order to make salvation that much more difficult?

It is foolish.

And upon the statements of Peter and James
The church unanimously determined to uphold the doctrine of justification by faith alone and spread the word to the Gentiles.

Now, the one person we desired to still hear from on the matter
Was the apostle Paul.
He certainly spoke at the council, but his specific sermon is not recorded.

That being said, it’s not hard for us to know how Paul felt,
For his entire letter to the Galatians addresses this very issue.

And we said last week that Paul’s stance is clear.
LEGALISM TRASHES THE GOSPEL

We started really by way of introduction
Just to get Paul’s opening thoughts on the issue.

That is, we wanted to see just how essential this issue really is?

After all, I think we can agree that there are some issues which are essential to Christianity and some which are not.

We are not going to divide the church over things like musical preference, or structure, or even over issues like baptismal views or eschatology.

That is to say,
• Even though I may not agree with a Presbyterian like RC Sproul about infant
baptism, I still regard him as a brother in Christ and a member of the church.
• Even though I may not agree with another brother’s view regarding the timing
of the rapture or the millennium I still regard them as a brother.

They are matters which are important,
And for sure matters about which we cannot both be right,
And matters which we should seek to be accurate about,
BUT THEY AREN’T MATTERS WHICH DICTATE SALVATION.

What we wanted to know from Paul is where does the doctrine of justification by faith alone stand in that area?
• Is this a secondary issue, or a primary one?
• Do we maintain fellowship in spite of disagreement, or is this doctrine a hill on which to die?

And if you were confused I think Paul settles the issue quickly in chapter 1

Galatians 1:6-9 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

So I think Paul made it pretty clear here that
This is one of those essential doctrines which we cannot compromise.

This is a fellowship breaker.
This is (as RC Sproul stated) “about whether you’re saved or not”

Now the next question we asked is:
WHY IS PAUL SO UPSET ABOUT THE DISTORTION OF THIS DOCTRINE?

And the answer is given during an event in which Paul confronted Peter.

Galatians 2:11-12 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.”

• We saw how after the great victory in Jerusalem, Peter came to Antioch (the Gentile hotbed) and began to exercise his gospel liberty by eating with Gentiles.

• But when some of the present-day legalists arrived, Peter feared them and began to pull himself away.

• It seemed really like a minor issue, and one that quite honestly, we might not have ever even gotten concerned about.

But Paul saw the effect of this one man’s seemingly insignificant decision
Galatians 2:13 “The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

And when Paul saw that, he knew he had to confront this legalistic action
And explain why legalism is so dangerous.

We started looking at his first point last week.
These are the effects of legalism.

#1 THE CHURCH IS DIVIDED
Galatians 2:14

In one quick moment Paul saw that the church became divided upon racial lines and to Paul this was unacceptable.
In fact this is an absolute heresy!

Paul wrote on this very topic to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:13-22 “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

The point is that the blood of Jesus
Is 100% sufficient by itself to save the vilest sinner
And transform him into a child of God.

And amongst children of God there is NO DISTINCTION

Paul will later say:
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

THE POINT IS THAT
When we act like there is benefit in any work of the flesh,
Rather it be circumcision, baptism, or who you eat with,
We are taking away from the sufficiency of the death of Christ.

That was actually the message that Peter was now preaching.

By holding himself aloof,
• He preached to everyone that it was still beneficial to be Jewish,
• And therefore all the Jews separated as well,
• And any lost Gentile would be drastically confused as to how to be saved.

And so we understand why Paul said:
(14a) “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel…”

To Paul it wasn’t just about Gentiles getting their feelings hurt,
It was about Peter distorting the gospel.

Through his action (however small) he was preaching a false gospel.

He was dividing the church by maintaining that
There is still additional value found in human works like circumcision.

SO PAUL CONFRONTED HIM HARSHLY

(14b) “I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Paul has Peter over a barrel.

Peter, are you saved by being Jewish?
If Peter answers no: Then why are you magnifying Judaism?
If Peter answers yes: Then why do you live like a Gentile?
(i.e. in freedom from the Law)

Peter was dividing the church and he was doing it with a distorted gospel.
You can see how dangerous this is.

But that’s not the only thing legalism does.
The Church is Divided
#2 SINNERS ARE DESTROYED
Galatians 2:15-16

Of course we bear in mind here that Paul is still addressing Peter,
But he is doing so in front of everyone.
Both Jew and Gentile alike are listening to Paul’s confrontation.

And here Paul simply gives Peter a theology lesson.

(15) “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

“We are Jews by nature”
In other words, he is reminding Peter of their prestigious past.

1) We are God’s chosen people
2) We have the Law
3) We have the covenants
4) We have the patriarchs
5) We even have Jesus in the flesh.

A Jew had an inside track to the word of God.

Romans 3:1-2 “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”

In the world, Jews had an advantage when it came to finding God,
For God had revealed Himself to them greater than to anyone else.

“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;”
We had an advantage. We were special.

And then comes a very important word to our text.
(16) “nevertheless”

In short Paul just brought up an obvious advantage,
And in one word rendered it useless.

The Jews may have had an inside track,
But that inside track was still not enough.

WHY?
“nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus”

Sure the Jews had the Law, but the Law could not save.
We may have been Jews with an advantage but we still needed Jesus.

Paul reminded Peter of this precious doctrine that Peter knew very well.
The only way for man to be saved is by faith in Jesus.
There is no other way.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

And that being the case Paul even continues and reminds Peter
That they had both acted upon that precious truth.

(14) “even we believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law;”

Still speaking with a hint of sarcasm Paul says, “even we”.

“Even us prestigious, all important, chosen Jews believed in Jesus, because we saw that He was the only way of salvation.”

And through Jesus we were “justified”.

Even at the Jerusalem council Peter said:
Acts 15:11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

Peter had figured out that Jesus was the only way of salvation,
And Paul is simply reminding him of that here.

And then Paul throws the ultimate reminder on him.
“since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

It is the same thing Paul told the Romans.
Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

No one, not even in the Old Testament,
Was ever saved by works of the Law.

AND THAT IS THE FIRST DESTRUCTIVE EFFECT OF LEGALISM.
It teaches people that they can please God through works,
And that is impossible.

Therefore all it does is DESTROY SINNERS
(because they inevitably trust in their works as a means of pleasing God)

By insinuating that there was value in being Jewish,
Peter was misguiding Gentiles as to the way of salvation,
And also giving false assurance to Jewish non-believers.

Peter was promoting legalism,
AND THAT NEVER HELPED ONE SINGLE SINNER GET SAVED.

It instead deceives them into FALSE ASSURANCE,
Thinking they are saved when they are not,
And works only to secure their destruction.

For what is more dangerous than a lost person who doesn’t know it?
What is more deceptive than to convince a lost person that the’re saved?

If you want to see the horrid effects look to the sermon on the mount.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Those were people who had convinced themselves that they were saved
Because of something they had done.

And even Jesus had a tough time convincing them they were lost.
Their legalistic routine had actually secured their destruction.

That is what legalism does.
Instead of saving sinners, it secures them under wrath and destruction.

The Church is Divided, Sinners are destroyed
#3 JESUS IS DISPUTED
Galatians 2:17-19

Here, Paul asks Peter a question.
(17) “But if while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin?”

FOLLOW PAUL’S THOUGHT HERE.
We believe that a man is saved by faith apart from works.
Therefore we don’t concern ourselves with the old Law.

In fact Jesus taught us this.
Matthew 15:11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

Matthew 15:15-20 “Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

Of course that was an incident
Where dietary restrictions were seemingly broken by Jesus.

The point is that in following Jesus,
We look like sinners to the legalist people of the world.

What Paul wants to know is if we are.

ARE WE SINNING AGAINST THE LAW BY FOLLOWING JESUS?
• We don’t worship on Saturday…
• We eat unclean meat…
• We don’t worship in the temple…
• We cut the hair on our temples…
• We eat with Gentiles…

Are we sinning against the Law by following Jesus?

And if so, “is Christ then a minister of sin?”

DO YOU SEE PAUL’S POINT?
Has Jesus only made us all bigger sinners?

Because Peter withdrew from the Gentiles,
It made it appear that eating with the Gentiles was wrong.

However, this was something that Jesus had taught him was ok.
(Remember the Cornelius event?)

Acts 10:9-16 “On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.”

Jesus specifically taught Peter that eating with Gentiles was ok.
Therefore Paul is asking Peter if Jesus actually encourages sin?

“May it never be!”
Jesus never taught sin, condoned sin, tolerated sin, endorsed sin, encouraged sin, or even tried sin.

We are not sinning against the Law by following Jesus.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

You do not sin against the Law by following Jesus,
You would be sinning against the Law by failing to follow Jesus.

And that is Paul’s point to Peter.
“Peter you are making it look like Jesus told you to do something that is not ok.”

And then Paul goes further.
(18) “For if I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”

Paul reminds Peter of what salvation really is.
“through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”

The Law did not save us, but rather, the Law condemned us.
Romans 7:7-12 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

The Law showed up and showed me that I was a sinner.
This then led me to look for salvation, which I found in Jesus.

“through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”

But Paul’s point here is:
“If I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

In other words.
I figuratively destroyed the Law as a means for salvation.
If I now return to the Law for salvation,
Then in essence I am saying that I was sinning to follow Jesus.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?

If I follow Jesus for a little while,
And then revert back to that old form of legalism,
Regardless of what I say, my life indicates
That I thought following Jesus was sinful.

That is what Paul is revealing to Peter.
“Peter, you are accusing Jesus of teaching sin, and also saying that following Jesus is sinful. Otherwise, you would not have so quickly run back to your former way of life.”

AND THAT IS YET ANOTHER INEVITABLE EFFECT OF LEGALISM.

It DISPUTES the integrity of Jesus.

You cannot follow Jesus and legalism,
For they do not go in the same direction.

Is this not what the Pharisees deduced?
They chose legalism, and so they had no choice
But to condemn Jesus as A SINFUL LIBERAL
Who disregarded God’s Law.

• He ate with sinners and tax collectors…
• He ate with unwashed hands…
• He healed on the Sabbath…

And because they chose legalism,
They condemned Him as a demon-possessed, law breaking blasphemer.

That is what legalism does.
It destroys sinners and it disputes Jesus.

Jesus certainly did not promote legalism.
If you do, then you must dispute Jesus as the Savior.

The Church is Divided, Sinners are destroyed, Jesus is disputed
#4 GRACE IS DISREGARDED
Galatians 2:20-21

And here we have that famous quote by Paul.
As he stood in the midst of the assembly, in full view of Jew and Gentile.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

And one more time Paul reveals
Why we no longer seek to be saved by the Law.

WHY ARE WE NO LONGER UNDER LAW?

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live”

When we trust in Christ, we are united with Him.
That means that His death became our death,
And the Law no longer had jurisdiction over a dead person.

Now we “live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave Himself up for [us].”

That is the true gospel of God.
And Paul has just reminded Peter of the utter danger of legalism.
It is contrary to the true gospel of God.

The true gospel is that I am justified before God because of faith.
• When I trusted in Christ I shared in His death
• And then I shared in His resurrection

My sin was imputed to Him
His righteousness was imputed to Me
I don’t live by my works, I live by faith in what He did.

And then Paul gives the final point.
“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
If you must earn your salvation by works of the Law:
• Then what is grace?
• Then why the cross?

Those who seek to live by legalism and endorse legalism,
Really have no need for the cross of Jesus.

AND THIS IS YET ANOTHER INEVITABLE EFFECT OF LEGALISM.
• Not only do sinners remain in their sin…
• Not only is Jesus eventually viewed as an enemy of the Law…
• But eventually grace and the cross vanish as unimportant…

And think about it.
When Peter left the Gentiles to join the Jews, what looked the most important at that point?

The cross of Jesus, or the circumcision of the Jews?
That is the effect of legalism.

And can there be anything worse
Than diminishing the sufficiency of the cross?

That is why Paul refused to just ignore Peter’s act,
And that is why Paul is writing this letter to the Galatians.

Paul will even return to this thought near the end of his letter.
Galatians 5:2-4 “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

That is to say, if you embrace legalism
You are throwing both the cross and grace right out the window.

Legalism, even in it’s smallest forms, cannot be tolerated,
• Divides the Body
• Distorts the Gospel
• Destroys Sinners
• Disputes Jesus
• Disregards Grace

Legalism cannot be allowed to endure.

And there you have Paul’s take.
• Peter said: Legalism Tests God
• James said: Legalism Troubles Gentiles
• Paul said: Legalism Trashes the Gospel

And so perhaps now you understand even better why we say that
Justification is not just by faith, but by FAITH ALONE.
• Certainly Martin Luther thought so…
• Certainly RC Sproul thought so…
• But more than that, even Peter, James, and Paul thought so.

And with that, I think we’ll bring SOLA FIDE to a close, and next time we’ll begin looking at SOLUS CHRISTUS – Salvation through Christ Alone.

The Unwelcome Prophet
Luke 4:22-30
January 21, 2018

Last time we met we looked at the beginning of this story,
And we chose not to complete it because
It is such a rich explanation from Jesus as to why He came.

He came to:
• “Preach the gospel to the poor”
• “Proclaim release to captives”
• “Proclaim…recovery of sight to the blind”
• “Set free those who are oppressed”
• “Proclaim the favorable year of the Lord”

In short, Jesus is a Savior for all who are in the most desperate condition.
• The “poor” there referred to literal beggars who cower in the shadows.
• The “captives” referred to criminals who had been captured at spear point.
• The “blind” referred to people who had no ability to find deliverance on their own.
• The “oppressed” referred to broken and bleeding and even people who had been run through.

While there are distinctions to be made in that list,
The more important message relates to what their commonalities
Namely that they all dwell in a HOPELESS SITUATION.

They are helpless, hopeless, condemned, broken, and afraid
They have made such a mess out of life by reason of their sinful decisions
That all they really have to look forward to is a sure and certain judgment.

These AREN’T people who need help in their own efforts,
These are people who are so broken that
They need someone else to do it all for them.

Jesus said those are precisely the type of people that He came to deliver.
• He came to give mercy to the beggars
• He came to forgive the debt of the prisoner
• He came to give discernment to the blind
• He came to give relief to the burdened

IN SHORT JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS.

And if you are convinced that you are one of those sinners, then Jesus is hands down the best news you’ve ever come across.
• Beggars who know they are beggars love mercy
• Prisoners who know they are guilty love pardon
• Blind men who know they are blind love healing
• Burdened men who know they can’t fix their problem love relief
• Sinners who know they face judgment love salvation

The problem comes when beggars or prisoners or blind men or the oppressed or sinners refuse to come to grips with who or what they are.

Perhaps you remember the story of when Jesus healed the actual blind man…
John 9:39-41 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

The explanation of Jesus there makes the point.
• These Pharisees were blind, but didn’t know it.
• It was the goal of Jesus to make them blind (i.e. convince them of their
blindness) that they might run to Him.

And according to Jesus, if they would come to grips with their blindness,
They “would have no sin” (because they would have run to Jesus for forgiveness)
But because they refused to come to grips with what they were
Their “sin remains.”

This is echoed by Jesus in the Beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

The Greek in those cases is in the emphatic indicating that Jesus is saying “theirs alone!”
• Only those who are poor in spirit receive the kingdom.
• Only those who mourn over sin receive comfort
• Only those who are submissive inherit the earth
• Only those who hunger for righteousness receive it

A prerequisite for salvation is a proper acknowledgement of what you are.

Listen to this statement by Jesus.
Mark 2:17 “And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• That DOES NOT MEAN that there are some people who are righteous and
don’t need salvation,
• It simply means that there are some who think they are righteous and
who think they don’t need salvation.

That person renders themselves disqualified for salvation
Because Jesus saves sinners and sinners only.

The required mindset that we are referring to here is: HUMILITY
“Humility is when you believe you are what God says you are.”

The proud, by contrast, argue with God about His assessment of them.

And you are aware of the common Old Testament truth.
“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble”

So long as people refuse to acknowledge their own sin,
They render themselves unable to respond to Jesus.

And that is really WHAT THIS STORY in Luke’s gospel IS ABOUT.
It is about a people so arrogant
That after hearing the greatest revelation Jesus ever made about Himself,
And the greatest offer Jesus ever gave to anyone,
Instead of embracing Him, they tried to throw Him off a cliff.

The scene reeks of pride, it stinks of arrogance and self-sufficiency.
And only serves to further emphasize the point
Luke has been making over and over and over again.

It is not the worldly important that are coming to Christ,
It is the insignificant, down and out, poor, overlooked beggars
That are being saved.

People like:
Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, the shepherds, Simeon, and Anna

But the important and noble people like the chief priests
And the people from His own hometown are missing out altogether.

It is an important concept to grasp
If you are to understand who this Jesus really is.

So, we just heard Jesus give the most amazing revelation about Himself.
Luke 4:16-21 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Now let’s look at this unbelievable response.

4 things
#1 DOUBT EXPRESSED
Luke 4:22

“And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

The immediate response of the crowd certainly seems positive.
• “all were speaking well of Him”
• They were “wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips”

What you have here is
A VERY COMMON RESPONSE to the preaching of Jesus.
He was a good preacher and people were blown away by Him.

Remember the end of the Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

In short, no one ever preached like Jesus.
• Priests and Prophets and Scribes typically said, “Thus sayeth the Lord”
• Jesus shows up and says, “I say unto you…”

His preaching was authoritative
And it blew the mind of those who heard it.

HOWEVER, it didn’t take long for the insinuation of His sermon to set in and then the mood quickly begins to sour.
• Jesus just offered mercy to beggars
• Jesus just offered forgiveness to prisoners
• Jesus just offered sight to blind men
• Jesus just offered release to burdened men

And it is beginning to sink in that HE WAS TALKING TO THEM!!!

And it begins to produce some of those
“Who does He think we are?” type of responses.

And they even articulate as much:
“and they were saying, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’”

It quickly moved from “Who does He think we are?”
To “Who does He think He is?”

Who does He think He is to come into our synagogue and insinuate that we are nothing more than oppressed, guilty, blind, beggars?

• They don’t like the insinuation of guilt.
• They don’t like the insinuation of helplessness.
• And they voice it!

It reminds me of the similar response Isaiah received
When he confronted the sin of his contemporaries:
Isaiah 28:9-10 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.'”

(incidentally, the Hebrew there is all mono-syllables which indicates they were basically responding to Isaiah by saying, “na-na-na-na-na…blah-blah-blah-blah-blah)

The people of Jesus hometown don’t want to hear it either.
Jesus gave the most gracious revelation the world had ever received,
And the people of Nazareth are offended by it.

So we see their doubt expressed
#2 DESIRE EXPOSED
Luke 4:23-24

(23-24) “And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.”

You have to love the ability of Jesus to get right to the point.
The people did not have to tell Him what they were thinking,
He knew exactly what they were thinking.

And basically here it is.
We didn’t call You here to get all preachy, we called You hear to work miracles like You’ve been doing everywhere else!

Have you ever been in a witnessing or evangelistic situation where you confront someone’s sin and offer the gospel only to have them respond, “JUDGE NOT!”

Or, some who are little more versed in the Bible will say, “Why don’t you get the stick out of your own eye before you start judging me!”

That is exactly how Nazareth is responding to Jesus?

“Physician, heal Yourself!”
• We didn’t ask You hear to make some sort of insinuation about how we are sinners and need to be saved,
• We don’t have to hear that from You.
• Why don’t You just focus on Your own problems.

They weren’t interested in facing their sin.

What they wanted was a miraculous show.
“Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'”
That is what we want.
• Turn water into wine…
• Heal a sick girl…
• Raise someone from the dead…
• Cast out a demon…

But don’t come in here and lecture us about our need for salvation.

And Jesus reveals that this sentiment is precisely why
It has taken Him so long to return to Nazareth.

“Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.”

It simply means that familiarity breeds contempt.
They didn’t want some kid who grew up before them to come back and start judging them.

What Jesus reveals is that Nazareth was a town of extreme arrogance.
They had no desire to have their sin confronted,
Or to be convicted of their poor condition.
They didn’t think they needed it.

It is the exact attitude that rejects Jesus throughout the gospels
And throughout the world even today.

Doubt Expressed, Desire Exposed
#3 DISAPPOINTMENT EXPLAINED
Luke 4:25-27

“But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

What we have is Jesus now giving a very pointed illustration
To explain to the people of Nazareth
Why their selfish desires will not be fulfilled.

They didn’t want their sin confronted, they only wanted miracles.
Jesus appeals to two O.T. stories to reveal why they are out of luck.

THE FIRST DEALS WITH ELIJAH AND THE SIDONIAN WIDOW.
You can find the story in 1 Kings 17,
But I’ll give you a quick rundown of it.

• Elijah was the major prophet of Israel in the days of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
• Ahab was noted as the most wicked King Israel ever had,
• It was also noted that he was so because of the influence of pagan Gentile wife (Jezebel) who just happened to be a Sidonian as well.

• When you read the story of 1 Kings 17 along with James 5 you learn that in response to the severe irreverence and idolatry of Israel, Elijah called for a drought on the land.

• The drought (no doubt symbolizing a spiritual drought) was severe and there was no relief for anyone.
• So long as the people of Israel refused to repent, Elijah refused to pray for their relief.

• In the midst of this drought God first supernaturally provided for Elijah by a stream in the wilderness and by feeding him with ravens, but when the brook dried up Elijah actually went into Sidon where he took up residence with a widow there who was preparing to die.

1 Kings 17:8-16 “Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. “For thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.”

If you keep reading in the story
You will also see that Elijah raised her child from the dead.

So while widows were starving in Israel,
Elijah saved the life of this one Sidonian widow.

The other event Jesus referenced is very similar in nature. It is ELISHA AND THE LEPER NAAMAN
It is found during the ministry of Elijah’s successor Elisha.
You can read about it in 2 Kings 5

• During Elisha’s day the nation which heavily afflicted Israel was the nation of Aram,
• The captain of the army of Aram was a man named Naaman who happened to be a leper.

• After raiding an Israeli village and taking a small girl captive, the girl revealed how there was a prophet in Israel who could heal Naaman of his leprosy.

• Naaman goes to Israel where Elisha tells him to dip in the Jordan river 7 times and he will be cleansed. (Eventually Naaman consents and he is healed)

2 Kings 5:14 “So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.”

And according to Jesus, just like with Elijah and the drought,
There were many lepers in Israel who did not get cleansed,
But this one Aramean leper did.

WHAT COULD THE POINT POSSIBLY BE?

If your immediate response is:
• “Oh those poor widows in Israel that Elijah overlooked.”
• Or “Oh those poor lepers in Israel that Elisha overlooked”

YOU ARE TOTALLY MISUNDERSTANDING THE SITUATION.

In order for that Sidonian widow to be delivered by Elijah
• She had to trust his word,
• Believe in the deliverance of his God
• And obey his command.

She did and so God also delivered her.

In order for Naaman to be cleansed of his leprosy,
• He had to listen to Elisha,
• Do what he said,
• Trust Elisha’s God for deliverance.

He did and so God cleansed him.

THE POINT IS NOT
That these prophets refused mercy on the children of Israel,
But that there were no widows nor lepers in Israel
Who would trust God.

There was not a single widow in Israel who would have obeyed Elijah
There was not a single leper in Israel who would have obeyed Elisha
ONLY A FILTHY SIDONIAN WIDOW
ONLY A WICKED ARAMEAN CAPTAIN

Those filthy, pagan, sinful, hopeless beggars received deliverance,
But the Israelites who refused to humble themselves did not.

NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND JESUS POINT?

There is only one type of person who receives the benefits of God.
The hopeless, sinful, pathetic, broken, blind, beggars.
And more importantly, those who admit that they are so!

Jesus just revealed to the self-righteous people of Nazareth
That there would be NO DEMONSTRATION OF MIRACLES FOR THEM
Because they lacked the necessary humility and faith.

Matthew’s gospel records it like this:
Matthew 13:53-58 “When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”

These people refused to see what they were,
And therefore failed to receive what Jesus offered.

And understand, this was not a new phenomenon,
This is how God has ALWAYS RESPONDED to human pride.

Psalms 34:18 “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalms 51:16-17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Isaiah 66:2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

God has always been willing to save the broken and the oppressed,
• Even if they were from Sidon, even if they were from Aram.
• Even if they were prostitutes, even if they were tax collectors.

The ones who were not acceptable
Were the ones WHO REFUSED TO SEE their own pathetic condition.

Matthew 21:28-32 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”

It is the simple fact Jesus revealed over and over and over.
Jesus will save any sinner,
But they must come to grips with their sinfulness.

The people of Nazareth only wanted miracles
And Jesus revealed that they were about to be disappointed.

Doubt Expressed – Desire Exposed – Disappointment Explained
#4 DEPRAVITY EXHIBITED
Luke 4:28-30

Now it is only fair at this point to reiterate that up until this point
We have yet to see or hear anything from the crowd.

All we have heard from them is their statement: “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

All of the inference about them being stubborn and arrogant
Came from Jesus exposing their heart.

The people of Nazareth had every chance to prove Him wrong.
All they had to do was acknowledge their spiritual poverty
And ask Him for salvation.

All they actually did was CONFIRM the depravity that Jesus just exposed.

(28-29) “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”

Can you see how badly they hated the confrontation of their sinful state?
They were “filled with rage”

It reminds of when Stephen confronted the Jews in the Sanhedrin.
Acts 7:54 “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.”

The Bible says that in that instant they actually rush at Stephen,
Drove him out of the city, and stoned him to death right there.

That is exactly what the Jews of Nazareth had in store for Jesus.
“they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”

• They hated the insinuation that they were poor beggars in need of salvation.
• They hated the insinuation that they were like the stubborn Jews of Elijah’s day or the stubborn Jews of Elisha’s day.
• They hated the insinuation that they were less appealing to God than the filthy Sidonians or the filthy Arameans.

And so they set out to murder Jesus.
Of course, Jesus is sovereign and His time had not yet come so:
(30) “But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

Jesus didn’t come to Nazareth to die.
That was planned for later.

Jesus merely came to Nazareth to expose a very important reality.
• It doesn’t matter how religious you are…
• It doesn’t matter how enamored with Jesus you are…
• It doesn’t matter how much you desire supernatural things…
• IF YOU ARE NOT HUMBLE YOU ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE

And again I remind you that
Humility is when you agree that you are what God says you are.

What does God say you are?
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

• I don’t care if you grew up in church…
• I don’t care if you have Christian parents…
• I don’t care if you are heavily involved in community projects…

Jesus visited city after city and village after village.
He spoke to crowd after crowd after crowd.
And I can’t remember one single time
That He ever asked someone for their resume.

The overwhelming story of the gospel writers (especially Luke)
Is that when Jesus came it was the humble who were saved
It was the self-righteous who hated Him.

Again:
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

And so this morning, our message is obvious.
Until we come to grips with what we are before God
We are in no way a candidate for salvation.

You can scream “Judge Not!” until you are blue in the face,
But every time I hear someone say that to me,
All it does is confirm to me how far they are from salvation.

Proverbs 15:12 “A scoffer does not love one who reproves him, He will not go to the wise.”

Can I let you in on a little secret in that regard?
• I’m a believer in Jesus Christ.
• My soul objective is to be like Christ and to honor Him in how I live.
• And because that is my desire, I ABSOLUTELY INVITE YOU TO JUDGE ME!

That doesn’t mean I desire false accusation (like the devil brings)
But if you come up to me and confront sin in my life,
I may not enjoy it, but I will thank God that you have done it.

In fact, I don’t know any true believers who walk in humility that ever get up in arms when a brother comes up and says, “Hey man, you can’t do that.”

Those who are humble, relish the confrontation of their sin
Because their desire is sanctification.

Proverbs 9:7-8 “He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.”

Proverbs 17:10 “A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool.”

AND THAT IS THE UNMISTAKABLE POINT FROM LUKE.
The people of Nazareth wanted nothing to do with Jesus
Because they did not want to embrace how sinful and wretched they were.

AND NOW WE BRING THE POINT TO OUR OWN HEARTS.
Are you willing to own up to your sinful condition?

If you say “yes” then I have to ask you,
How you respond when people do expose it?
• Are you quick to reply, “Don’t judge me!”?
• Are you quick to say, “Physician, heal yourself!” (Take the log out of your
own eye)

Because if you are, it may be that YOU ONLY THINK
You own up to your sinful condition,
BUT IN REALITY you are still filled with pride and arrogance.

Salvation must crush your pride because God is opposed to the proud.

And if you are in agreement with God about your spiritual condition,
Then GOOD NEWS!

Jesus came to give grace to the poor, forgiveness to the prisoners,
Sight to the blind, and rest to the oppressed.

The Exclusivity of Faith – Part 3
Galatians 1:6-9, 2:11-21
January 14, 2018

I realize it has been a real hit or miss dilemma in regard to any recent continuity in our study of the SOLAS, but now that the holidays are behind us, we can regain some continuity.

What we are talking about in our current study of SOLA FIDE is
“The Exclusivity of Faith”

We have seen “THE NECESSITY OF FAITH” since “without faith it is impossible to please” God.

We have seen “THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FAITH” since “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

What we are looking at now is “THE EXCLUSIVITY OF FAITH”
Namely saying that if you try to bring anything to God in addition to faith,
God will not accept it.

That is to say, we are upholding that
Man is not only justified by faith, but by faith alone.

And in order to discover that,
We are looking at the responses of the apostles.

Namely their response to a debate that broke out in the early church regarding whether or not Gentiles had to be circumcised to be saved.

Acts 15:1 “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

The result of this accusation was the convening of the Jerusalem Council
Which provided for us the first church confession.

While gathered at Jerusalem both Peter and James arose to speak, and we have already looked at what they had to say.
#1 ACCORDING TO PETER: LEGALISM TESTS GOD
Acts 15:6-11

You will remember that Peter’s basic argument was this:
• God saw their faith
• God saw their heart
• God obviously thought they were saved
• Because God gave them the Holy Spirit
• And God did all that without them ever being circumcised

Therefore, for you to now say that they aren’t saved
Is to call God’s testimony into account.

You are questioning whether or not God actually overstepped His bounds in giving them the Holy Spirit.

That is what legalism does.
It tests the work of God.

#2 ACCORDING TO JAMES: LEGALISM TROUBLES GENTILES
Acts 15:13-21

And you will remember that James turned to Scripture
• Only to find that in the end times, God will have saved a multitude of Gentiles
• And He will have done so without ever making them Jewish.

So if God is willing to save Gentiles as Gentiles,
Why would you make an additional requirement on them?

You are only making salvation (which is already costly)
That much more difficult on those whom God is saving.
Why would you want to make it harder?

Legalism only troubles those whom God is saving.

Tonight I want us to look at Paul’s argument.
Now for Paul we don’t look at his statements at the Jerusalem council,
For Paul’s specific words are not recorded.

But that’s ok, because we have an entire book
Regarding Paul’s thoughts on the matter, it is called Galatians.

We are going to look at two main passages which reveal Paul’s stance on the issue of legalism, and also spell out for us the dangers that it holds.

What you will find is that like Peter and James,
Paul absolutely believes in justification by faith alone
And that he categorically refutes legalism.

#3 ACCORDING TO PAUL: LEGALISM TRASHES THE GOSPEL
Galatians 1:6-9

“I am amazed…” he says.

That word “amazed” translates THAUMAZO
Which means “to marvel” or “to wonder”

It is a word that Paul only uses one other place in his letters.

2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed — for our testimony to you was believed.”

Paul said that when Jesus returns
All those who have believed in Him will marvel at Him.

Paul actually says that the only other event in human history
That can cause him to marvel as much as he is right now
Is the return of Christ.

Can you see how perplexed he is by the Galatian’s defection?
“I am amazed…”

Later he will write:
Galatians 4:19-20 “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you — but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”

Paul writes as one whose mind is literally blown.
He can’t fathom what the Galatians are doing.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel”

THE GALATIANS WERE DESERTING GOD.
Some would assume at most they were only deserting Paul’s gospel,
But that was not it.

They were deserting “Him who called” them.

They weren’t just deserting the truth, they were deserting God.

How?
They were abandoning “the grace of Christ”

That is where the Galatians were.
• They were throwing grace out the window.
• They were throwing Christ out the window.
• They were throwing God’s salvation out the window.

And Paul can’t believe it.
Why would you so quickly determine to throw Christ aside?

AND YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS.

Paul is not disappointed in the Galatians
Because they weren’t doing enough FOR God.
Paul was disappointed because
They were trying to do enough WITHOUT God.

Do you understand what a slap in the face it is to God for you to try and earn what He has already provided?

He sent His Son in human flesh to pay the ransom for our sin.
It was a gracious gift of salvation.

But instead of just letting Him do it, the Galatians were saying,
“I appreciate your help, but we’ll take it from here.”

And when you or I try to earn God’s favor through various religious works, we are doing the same.

The Galatians are deserting God
And Paul just can’t believe it.

They are deserting God “for a different gospel”

“different” translates HETEROS
(HOMO is same – HETERO is different)

It is not the same gospel message.
It may sound a lot like what I preached, but it is different.

Paul says in verse 7 “which is really not another”

It may have many of the same concepts as the true gospel,
But it is not like the true gospel.

If you add anything to or take anything away from the true gospel,
Then it is not the gospel.

Think of it like a recipe for a fine dessert.
• There is only one way to make that dessert.
• If you add to or take away, it is not the same.

It may taste close, it may look close, but it is not the same.
And the gospel is something that cannot be changed, or you lose it.

And these men had come into Galatia with an altered gospel,
And Paul is blown away that the Galatians would accept it.

“only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”

Do you see their gimmick?
They first DISTURB, and then they DISTORT

They came in disturbing the Galatians
By convincing them that they still were not pleasing to God
Then they distorted the gospel to satisfy that need.
It is a dangerous circle, but always the circle of the false prophets.
They accuse, they manipulate, they threaten, they guilt
And then they offer a false gospel to sooth that guilt

The Galatians were believing this false system of salvation.
• They were accepting it.
• They were leaving God.
• They were abandoning Christ.
• They were deserting from the true gospel.

And Paul can’t believe it, he is shocked!
If you wonder why this letter is so direct and fiery, that is why.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!”

Now you might be familiar with language like that in the Old Testament.
We hear a lot of the curse there.

But that is not common in the New Testament.
In fact being accursed is reserved for people
Who have heard the gospel and rejected it.

Hebrews 6:7-8 “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

The cursed are those who know better and reject.

And the other cursed people are found here.
Those who distort the gospel.

“accursed” translates ANATHEMA
It was in reference to an offering devoted to God for destruction.

Joshua 6:17 “The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.”
(And you’ll remember Achan’s sin of stealing some of it)

Jericho was ANATHEMA
Devoted to God for destruction.

The main use of the word was of an offering devoted for destruction.

You sinned, so you presented a lamb to God – why?
So the lamb could be destroyed that you might be forgiven.

You never presented a lamb to God with hopes of it being given back.
It was devoted to God for destruction

And Paul says if anyone – and I mean anyone
Me, an angel from heaven, anyone

Preaches a different gospel, let him be devoted to God for destruction.

In 2 Peter 2, Peter reminds that
• If God didn’t spare sinning angels
• And if God didn’t spare sinners in Noah’s day
• And if God didn’t spare Sodom and Gomorrah
• Then God won’t spare false prophets either

2 Peter 2:9-10 “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.”

Jude agreed
Jude 12-13 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

These men (or even angels) who distort the gospel
Are absolutely unredeemable.
They are already handed over for destruction.

And just to make sure we didn’t hear Paul wrong:
(9) “As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

WHY SO SEVERE?
Because if you lose the gospel, you lose salvation.

THIS WAS THE PASSION OF THE REFORMERS
IT MUST BE THE PASSION OF OUR DAY.

WE LIVE IN A DAY where distortions to the gospel are overlooked…
Tolerance is the virtue of the day…

In fact, let me share with you a current example.
• We’ve talked some about the battles of past reformers, let me tell you about the battles of current reformers.

As many of you know, especially those of you who attend the video Bible study on Wednesday nights, RC Sproul went home to be with the Lord on December 14 of this year.

RC Sproul will forever be remembered as probably the most intelligent and instrumental voice of reformed theology of our day.

• In my mind he rightly takes a seat among the greatest theological minds the world has ever known.

• I do not expect to see a table in heaven where men like Luther or Calvin or Zwingli or Edwards are seated that RC Sproul is not seated there with them.

• I have nothing but respect and admiration for this modern day reformer.

• John MacArthur called him “This era’s great reformer”

What is also true is that if you listen to RC Sproul for any time at all
You will know that his drum had one main tune.

Certainly he spoke on many subjects and many thoughts,
But he always spoke on one main thought
And that was on the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

He loved to talk about the imputed righteousness of Christ
And that it is imputed by faith alone.

In order that you may understand how easily tolerance of the distortion of the gospel can occur even in our day,
I’ll share with you one of RC’s stories.

• If you watched any of his funeral online, especially the segment given by John MacArthur then you are already aware of this great battle.

• It centered around the response to a document signed which was called “Evangelicals and Catholics Together”

• It was signed by many leading theologians from both Protestants and Catholics with the main goal of unity.

And it seems that in this unity one main goal was to forge an agreement
That evangelicals would stop evangelizing Catholics.

“In view of the large number of non-Christians in the world and the enormous challenge of our common evangelistic task, it is neither theologically legitimate nor a prudent use of resources for one Christian community to proselytize among active adherents of another Christian community” (22–23).
Cited in:
https://www.gty.org/library/articles/A149/evangelicals-and-catholics-together

The problem obviously with such an agreement is that it assumes that Catholicism then is doctrinally true, that Catholicism’s gospel is sound and that those who believe what it teaches are in fact saved.

But that is a stretch to say the least.

In fact, let me read to you some of the statements from The Council of Trent (finished in 1563) written as a rebuttal to the Reformation.

Here are the Council of Trent’s own words:
• If anyone says that by faith alone the sinner is justified, so as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification…let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 9).
• If anyone says that men are justified either by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ alone, or by the remission of sins alone, to the exclusion of the grace and love that is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and is inherent in them; or even that the grace by which we are justified is only the favor of God—let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 11).
• If anyone says that the righteousness received is not preserved and also not increased before God by good works, but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not a cause of its increase, let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 24).
• If anyone says that the guilt is remitted to every penitent sinner after the grace of justification has been received, and that the debt of eternal punishment is so blotted out that there remains no debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened—let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 30). (meaning if anyone holds that Jesus totally sets people free from eternal punishment and that it is a lasting freedom)
• If anyone says that the Catholic doctrine of justification set forth in this decree by this holy Synod derogates in any way the glory of God or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not rather that the truth of our faith and the glory of God and of Jesus Christ are rendered more illustrious—let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 33). (which is to say if anyone argues with our statement here and says it steals God’s glory)
(ibid)

Obviously then you can see that Catholics and Protestants
DO NOT preach the same gospel
And the fact that so many evangelicals would sign off on an agreement
To unify and stop evangelizing those in a false religion is concerning.

In response to this agreement, 3 of the signers of “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” document; namely J.I. Packer, Bill Bright, and Chuck Colson met with 3 men who took issue namely John MacArthur, James Kennedy, and RC Sproul.

Here is MacArthur’s account of that 7 hour debate.

Speaking at Sproul’s funeral, he said:
“He was without question the force in that room for the truth…He actually got on the table; up on the table, and pointed a finger at an adversary and said, ‘I don’t think you get it, this about whether you’re saved or not.’ As affable; as irrepressibly charming as he was, he was a defender of the faith, even when he was looking in the eyes of a very cherished friend, he never wavered on the gospel.”
https://youtu.be/hikyZE5Mj9k?t=6m30s

I share that story to make the point again that
The things we are discussing here are not various nuances to the gospel,
THEY ARE THE GOSPEL.

To maintain that justification is by faith but not by faith alone
Is to ultimately trash the gospel.

And you must know that fighting for this truth is always at the forefront for men, even in our day, LOVE TOLERANCE of the sake of peace.

Now consider Paul:
Paul was very tolerant and agreeable in so many areas
• He could quit eating meat
• He could live like a Jew or Gentile
• He could go out of his way not to be an offense

But the preservation of the gospel was a hill on which to die.
• It was a truth worth fighting for
• It was a truth worth losing friends over
• It was a truth worth losing ministry colleagues over

Above all else, the gospel must be preserved.

And as we have said repeatedly,
This became the motive for the Protestant Reformation.

The reformers learned that many things could be compromised
But salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
For the glory of God alone was not one of them.

Legalism Trashes the gospel.
LET ME SHOW YOU HOW.

Turn from Galatians 1 to Galatians 2:11
This entire message from Paul is inspired by an event in which Peter exhibits tremendous hypocrisy about the gospel, and it opens the door for Paul to make a tremendous explanation regarding the effects of legalism.

(11) “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”

Now we are all aware of Peter.
• One moment the hero, the next moment the goat.
• One moment confessing Christ, the next moment rebuking Him.

In the passage we studied a few weeks ago, we just saw Peter standing before the counsel and giving brilliant testimony as to how God used him to bring salvation to the Gentiles.

Well, according to Paul, after that event, Peter then traveled to Antioch.
This was in the region of Galatia.

Since Gentiles were now part of the family, Peter was going all the way.
But when he got there, it eventually led to an altercation.

Paul says, “I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”

Some translate it that Peter was “self-condemned”.
The idea is that deep down, whatever Peter did,
He knew that it was wrong when he did it.

Paul was God’s agent of conviction to openly confront Peter’s condemning action and pull him back onto the straight and narrow.

WHAT WAS IT THAT PETER DID?
(12) “For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.”

And so now we have a clearer picture.

When Peter came to Antioch, he came with proper motives.
• These were brothers,
• These were free,
• These were made clean by Christ,
• So Peter could openly and freely fellowship with them.

In fact, “he used to eat with the Gentiles;”

No doubt this spoke of casual fellowship,
But also of the partaking of the Lord’s supper with them.

Formerly such action was strictly forbidden, as Gentiles were seen as unclean, But now, because of the blood of Christ,
There was absolutely nothing wrong with Peter’s actions.

In fact, God had personally taught this lesson to Peter.

Acts 11:9 “But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘ What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’

Acts 11:17 “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

And all Peter was doing was walking in his new found freedom.

BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED
“the coming of certain men from James”

It is probably better understood that these men
Merely said James had sent them, but that he actually did not.

In fact, even James was aware that there were some people who pretended to act on his authority

Acts 15:24 “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,”

No doubt it was men like this who came to Peter.
• They were legalists.
• They were Judaizers.
• They were outward Jewish zealots, and they wore their religion on their garments.

They were the Christian version of the Pharisee
(Not true Christians, just as the Pharisees were not true Jews).

But they walked around in their outward legalism,
Putting their piety on display, and no doubt
Looked down on anyone who was less holy than they.

And their condescending attitude eventually got to Peter.

“but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof,”

The Greek text indicates here that Peter’s action
WAS NOT A SUDDEN BREAK, but a gradual one.

Peter knew what he was doing was wrong,
And therefore did not immediately do it,
But did it stealthily so as not to attract attention to himself.

• He gradually began to pull away from the Gentiles.
• Declining their invitations…
• Eventually skipping their love feasts…
• Until he began to “hold himself aloof,”

Just like a scene from a school play ground in which someone seeking popularity is seen talking to the wrong type of kid, Peter pulls away and joins the crowd.

Paul even tells us why he did it.
“fearing the party of the circumcision.”

Paul says Peter did it because he feared them.

It is important to note that the Judaizers claimed to be Christian,
And so they would have had NO PHYSICAL THREAT over Peter.
That could not possibly have been what Peter feared.

Rather, Peter feared the loss of status, or being verbally maligned by them.

And because Peter feared their verbal jabs,
He pulled away and fell into their same ways of legalism.

NOW LET’S ANALYZE THE SITUATION

Is it that big of a deal?
• I mean, it’s just eating meals.
• And certainly there are no commands that say who you have to eat with.
• Why worry about such a little, insignificant event?

• Well, that insignificant little decision by Peter was legalism on display, and Paul points out the effects it had.

THIS IS PAUL’S STATEMENT ON
HOW LEGALISM TRASHES THE GOSPEL.

1) THE BODY WAS DIVIDED (13-14)

Peter made a small, sly, and secretive choice not to eat with Gentiles,
But to separate from them.

Surely no one would notice, and it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

“The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy”

It was just one little choice,
And now the Church has been split right down the middle.

HOW BAD IS THE SPLIT?
“with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

WHY DID PAUL MENTION THAT?
• It was not to get Barnabas in trouble, but to reveal the scope of the
division. Barnabas was “The son of encouragement.”
• Barnabas accepted everyone (Remember John Mark)
• Barnabas was as easy to get along with as anyone in the world.

So when he falls into the division, it is a serious division.

One little choice by Peter to follow legalism,
And the entire church at Antioch was split right down the middle.

One appearance of legalism and the church
Which Jesus purchased with His own blood is now divided.

BUT YOU’LL NOTICE, it’s not just that a few Gentiles
Might have gotten their feelings hurt.
Paul gives another reason for being so upset.

“But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel”

This is the real issue at hand.

Peter never verbally preached a sermon,
And there is not one recorded by any of the other Jews either.

But, by pulling away from the Gentiles,
Peter was preaching.

HERE IS WHAT PETER’S SERMON SAID:
Regardless of the work of Jesus on the cross,
There is still an obvious advantage to being Jewish.

His action attacked the sufficiency of the work of Jesus.

His action said that the blood of Jesus on the cross
Could not make a Gentile equal with a Jew.

AND THAT IS WHY PAUL IS LIVID!
• In fact, Paul says that Peter “stood condemned”
• Paul said that “I opposed him to his face”

THE POINT IS, this was huge to Paul!

And I realize that there is so much more here which needs to be discussed,
But we’re out of time and there is too much left to cover.

What I want you to see is that we are looking at an incident
Where just the slightest entrance of legalism occurred
And Paul is already UP IN ARMS that the entire gospel is being maligned.

Paul, a man who could overlook all sorts of wrongs and offences,
BUT HE COULD NOT OVERLOOK THIS,
Because it distorted the gospel of justification by faith alone.

Do you see how important justification by faith alone was to Paul?

Next time we’ll finish his thought.