Galatians 2

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0:00 Let's keep looking at Galatians. I'm having fun with Galatians. I hope you are too. I'm encouraging you to read through Galatians as we go through it. I'm trying to do a chapter a week. So last week we finished up chapter one. This week we'll look at chapter two. We won't work through the whole thing because as we've said before, Paul's writing is usually pretty dense, but I want to go just to the end of chapter two, starting around verse 15. And just a reminder here a little bit before we read the text for this morning about what's

0:34 happening in Galatia. Remember, Paul has made a trip through Asia Minor. Galatia is not one town like Corinth or Philippi or Thessalonica. It's a region in which he has started at least three churches. Galatia is the region where one of the towns, actually several of the towns got together and stoned Paul and left him for dead dramatically. And he went back to them after he was resuscitated and continued to preach the gospel there.

1:05 So he started several churches in Galatia. And what's happened is that you can imagine that they get this gospel from this itinerant preacher Paul. He stays with them for a while. They find out now that there is a new king of all kings above all kings that was just for Israel at one time. But now the Gentiles are welcomed into it. And they've accepted by grace. Now they have to figure out how do we continue to live? How do we handle the questions? How do we know when we're doing the right things?

1:35 And they don't have a New Testament to consult. And so they send someone with a letter to Paul and he writes a letter back. And that's how we have this letter to the Galatians. And they're specifically asking some questions about do we have to be Jewish in order to be part of the people of God. And I just want to read a couple of verses here from chapter two. And then we'll go back and think through them. Chapter two, I'm going to start at verse 15 and go through the end of the chapter if you're reading along with me. We ourselves are Jews by birth, not Gentile sinners.

2:09 Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by works of the law because by works of the law, no one will be justified. He said the same thing like three different ways in two sentences. Thanks Paul. But if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners. Is Christ then a servant of sin?

2:41 Certainly not. For if I should, for if I rebuild what I would tore down, I proved myself to be a transgressor for through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God for if justification were through the law, then Christ

3:14 died for no purpose. So this section here versus 15 through the end of the chapter says a lot of stuff. It has that famous, I do not live but Christ lives in me. Sorry, but the first idea here in verse 15, we ourselves are Jews by birth. I want to think for just a minute and then we'll go to a section in Romans here. I think for just a minute about why it was a big deal to be Jewish, like Jewish identity.

3:51 You think about, for me, the easiest notion of Israelite identity is to remember them in the desert and then crossing over the Jordan into the Promised Land, but especially in the desert. There when they're in that exile or that period in between Egypt and the Promised Land, moving around in the desert. And they have this camp and they're the people. There's a couple million of them, they were slaves, but their God rescued them miraculously.

4:28 Anybody who wanted to go with them could, right? Anybody who had the courage to walk along the Red Sea under the guard of Moses could walk along the dry ground along the Red Sea. Anybody who wanted to cast their lot with Israel, there were Egyptians who left Egypt with the Israelites because they had recognized that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was bigger, better, stronger than the gods of Egypt. Anybody who wanted to cast their lot with this God could, but there was unique benefit

5:00 to being associated with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob over and against the gods of the world, right? And it's clear it's there where they're walking across the Red Sea on dry ground. Anybody who wants to go after Moses lifts up his staff and trusts him can go in so that when they follow through the Red Sea, they survive and the ones unassociated with the

5:31 God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the ones who do not cast their lot with Moses and his God are drowned in the Red Sea. And there are several times, right? There's even a battle where God emphasizes this, where the Israelites are fighting an enemy country who is much more equipped for battle than they were, they were just slaves. And for the times, for the moments when Moses lifts up his hands with his staff, they succeed. And when he gets tired and drops his hands, they are losing in battle to demonstrate that

6:06 the capability, there is great benefit to being associated with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The beauty isn't that they are Israelite, it's that Israelites are gods. And so throughout the whole story of the Old Testament, the question is, will the Israelites believe that their benefit in the world is tied to being gods or being their own? Are we special because we belong to God or because we are Israelites?

6:41 No, Israelites are special because they belong to God. And whoever is interested in belonging to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, these are the Israelites. And there is special benefit to being born in the family. Why? Because God is gracious. Somebody could cast their lot with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but there are some who are born to parents who had already cast their lot with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

7:11 They are brought up and taught. We are the people of God in the world. We have protection from enemies. We have provision for the future. We have a fresh start when we make mistakes. We have purpose and direction in where we are going. In fact, this world is not enough for us. There are special kids who are brought up in two parents who have already cast their lot with God. And so they know from the time they are little that they belong to the God, that what is

7:45 special is being connected to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is one of the core tenets of the whole narrative of Scripture. That there is a God and by His grace and wisdom, He has associated Himself with the group of people in the world. And that group of people then has the provision, protection and care of the God of the universe. And Paul starts out Galatians chapter 2 verse 15 by reminding people that he knows we ourselves.

8:22 He is talking about himself and the people writing like his buddies that he is with. We ourselves, even he is probably grouping in because of the earlier part of this passage, Peter with him because he is trying to help them see the logic behind the position that he is arguing through this whole letter. But he says, we ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. He is saying there is a special group that gets to be Jews just because we are raised

8:54 in the family. But the benefit of the family is not the natural, it is what it means. It means that they are connected to the God. This idea of being naturally Jewish, Paul brings up a couple of times. It is a big piece in Romans chapter 11. I will just read you here a quick section in Romans chapter 11 starting at verse 21.

9:39 Or if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you writing to Gentiles. None then the kindness and the severity of God, severity toward those who have fallen. But God's kindness to you provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off and even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in. For God has power to graft them in again.

10:12 For if you were cut off by what is nature, from what is by nature, a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree. How much more will these? Paul has this idea that there is a group of people who have been associated with God for generations. Who have understood that their provision, protection, worth and future is tied to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for generations. And they have built traditions around this.

10:43 And that this group of people have defined their identity in the world as those that belong to God. And this is why it is so seismic what Jesus does and what Paul is about to get to. Is because Jesus shifts the affiliation with the God of the universe from the nation of Israel to the reign of God, to the kingdom of God, to cry.

11:20 This is why when Jesus walks around in Jerusalem and in Galilee, when he sends out the 72, when he sends out the 11, when he teaches his parables so consistently, he says, tell everyone that the kingdom of God is at hand. If you would like to know, this is how the kingdom of God works. Because Jesus is doing something different. In God, the God of creation in life, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for all the

11:50 world. If they'd like to know how to get to them, they go and look at Israel. Israel, just like each of us, repeatedly, sullied to the name of God. So that all the world, if they would look to find the God of creation in life, looks to Israel and sees nothing particularly special.

12:23 And God in his wisdom and at just the right time sends his own, the second person of the Trinity, the son of God, down into the flesh to say, now, I will be lifted up and all instead of looking Israel, we'll look to the Christ so that I'm establishing a new kingdom in the world. A new reign under which Paul's about to say, all may come. And it's a seismic shift, actually.

12:54 Okay, we ourselves were Jews, not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. This is important and it's like much debated, actually, in first century Israel before then and today. How do you get in to Israel? Of course, all right, we're going back to, I said, it's easiest to understand it first

13:32 when they're in the desert on the move in the camp. The Egyptian who wanted to go with Israel, go, man, just cast your law, abandon the way of life that you lived before, follow the way of life of Jesus, well of Moses and of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All the way of the Israelites.

14:04 Okay, and then now that turns into whole customs and obligations. So there's a way to live now that perpetuates you and the moment when you've got to start the circumcision for the mark of the covenant is the real question. Grown men are doing the circumcision before they cross into the Jordan River because they had abandoned it in the desert, but they are committed to the way of God over and against the way of the Canaanites. There are choices that they make to continue in the way of God to demonstrate their submission

14:38 that they've given their life to the way of God, to trust God with their future. If you'd like to follow me in the future, trust me in this way. But the question is how did they get in? Did they get in because they would trust? Did they get in because they did trust? No, they got in because God said whoever would like to come may come. Egyptian and Israelite alike walk through the Red Sea. And so it has been true always that the people of God come into the way of God by this amazing

15:14 gift of grace. You are welcome into the people of God, regardless of what you've done or what you may do, regardless of what you have been or who you may be. You are welcome in the people of God.

15:49 Regardless of how you vote, you are welcome in the people of God. Regardless of how you dress, where you work, you are welcome in the people of God. You are welcome in the people of God. Paul gets to that. He says, oh, but this is the part I want to get to.

16:25 All are welcome in the people of God and always have been. But there is something in that crossing over, there is some kind of explanation or something. The question we asked is when was the last time you had to explain yourself to someone? Explain the choices that you made, explain the actions that you took, explain the things that you said when was the last time you had to explain explanation for yourself.

17:00 Paul says, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. That is what I am saying, that the Egyptian can come in because he is invited, not because he will make the right choice in the future. But this word justified is a real kicker. Paul uses the word more than anybody else, 27 of the 35 times.

17:32 Thank you, Ben. Paul uses the word more than anybody else. Paul writes a lot of the New Testament and he is the one doing a lot of the explaining about how it is that we live. This idea of justification, there is a legal sense and a relational sense. There is a quittle or vindication and there is a belonging and a connection, a right standing. There is a legal and a relational sense. Basically, Paul at different times is using the word in both ways.

18:04 There is a reason to go down the rabbit trail of both of them to really kind of try and understand how Paul is thinking about the nature of justification, but we don't have time and we don't all care equally about that conversation. What is interesting to me is that Paul assumes that his readers will know that they must be justified at all.

18:35 That I mean that there is something for which they must answer or explain. I wonder if you feel that way about yourself. I wonder if there, like I mentioned earlier, are choices you have made in your life that

19:05 you feel like at one point you will have to answer for. I wonder if there are words that have been spoken that you feel like at some point will require explanation or maybe are beyond explanation. Of course, each of us has made mistakes.

19:40 One of the kickers about being human is you can't go back and fix them. We can make the best out of the mess and sometimes even we can make good out of what was bad, but it doesn't negate or undo the problem in the past. This is consistent through the story of Scripture from the first ones, Adam and Eve, to their

20:15 children, Cain and Abel, through Noah and Abraham and Ruth and out into the future, through Christ and Paul, Augustine and Luther and down into us today. This has been consistent all throughout the story of Scripture that there is a God in the world and the God will hold people to account for the choices that they made because the God is deeply in love with human creation and set against wrong that has been perpetrated

20:52 against the ones that he loved. If you and I have been wounded or hurt, God does not sit still on that, meaning he will meet out justice on the wrong that has been done against you. Praise God. You don't have to do it. And also to the degree that you have wounded others, the justice of God comes for you.

21:37 This is why Paul talks about justification. This is why Paul talks about justification. Because the new Christians, the Gentiles who have converted to the way in Galatia are going, okay, we get the gospel, but now what? We keep making mistakes. We keep living our life. We know we were brought in by grace just like the ones in the beginning.

22:07 How do we stay in? We're not in the desert. Should we get circumcised? Should we keep the festival seasons? How do we know that we are Israelite yet? That meaning how do we know that we are the people of God in the world, that we belong to the reign of God in the world if it's not keeping the rules? And so he goes, we know that you have been justified by grace, verse 17. But if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we were two found to be sinners in

22:42 Christ, then is Christ a servant of sin, certainly not. If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor for through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. This is kind of complex, but it's the line of argument Paul always takes. He says, how do you want to know that you belong to the people of God? You go back to the gift of Christ, that Christ brought you in by putting to death the part

23:15 of you that deserved it and raising to life something new. This is a similar line he says in Romans 6 when they go, man, if we keep getting grace every time we sin, why don't we just keep on sinning in order that we get more grace? And Paul's answer is you can't. The part of you that sins was put to death on the cross and a new part of you was raised to life when Christ was raised to life. Meaning in you is a person who will live forever in perfection with God.

23:50 And that comes through the person of Jesus, through his death and resurrection. And so Paul here when the Galatians are saying, how do we know that we belong to the people of God if we're not keeping his commandments and his like, is Jesus still raised? How do you know you belong to the people of God? Because Christ's work is accomplished and his work was for you. Man, I am a mess. Yeah, you are a mess.

24:20 I don't deserve the provision, the protection, the love, the future that God gives. That's true. How do I know I have it? Because he is raised from the dead for you. He's like, leave it on gift. You are brought in by gift. You stay in by gift. To the degree that you move, this is the last part, to the degree that you move and start counting your participation in the people of God on your actions.

24:52 Then you say that you can earn your place with God. And that means if you could earn your place with God, why should Christ die at all? You just earn it and don't count on him. So he says to the degree that you start assigning yourself, I belong to the people of God because of the choices that I've made. Now you've left actually the people of God. Now you're something else, some phariseical community that is apart from the blessings, the provision, the protection and the future of God.

25:26 So the answer for us today and in the weeks to come is to be reminded over and over and over again that God's grace is enough for us. And for all of us. God's grace is enough for all of us. That the marker of the people of God is the person of Christ. Yeah, let's pray. Hey Lord, thank you for the gift of your son Jesus and his cross.

26:04 Teach us to rely on your grace this morning and every morning to come. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.