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.
