The Virtue Signaling Pharisees

Moore's Corner Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

00:06

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

00:13

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

00:19

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

00:27

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

00:36

Turn to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, and in this section we are going to look at the

00:42

Apostle Paul making a statement followed by a series of rhetorical questions that basically are meant to reinforce that statement that the

00:53

Galatians were acting foolishly. This is really a continuation from chapter 1 where you remember

01:03

Paul was surprised and credulous. He was marveling that they were turning away from Christ so easily.

01:13

But here's the thing, that's not how the Galatians saw it. Paul understood they were falling away from Christ and the gospel.

01:22

They didn't see it that way. Why? Because they had been bewitched.

01:27

That's what Paul says. Who has bewitched you? So before we read this passage, there's a word

01:34

I want to define because that's what's happening here. The word is apostasy.

01:41

What does that mean, apostasy? Well, it basically means a turning away or a falling away from the faith.

01:50

A falling away from the truth of the gospel and the word of God. So it's important to understand that people can do this in two basic ways.

02:02

A person can fall away in a very blatant way where they would openly proclaim,

02:08

I reject Christ. I'm not a Christian anymore. I don't believe that anymore.

02:15

Sometimes that happens, but it is much more common, however, to do what the

02:21

Galatians were doing. They were falling away or had fallen away, but they still claimed to believe in Jesus.

02:31

Well, how is that possible? Well, it's pretty simple. They considered themselves Christians, but they were holding on to a false form of Christianity.

02:41

They would have said they believe the gospel, but it wasn't the true gospel.

02:46

So the Galatians, the problem, they had been deceived by the false teachers.

02:53

And they no longer believed the things that they did before. This is a very, very important issue, a very relevant thing.

03:04

Because, understand, in order to fall away, there has to be something to fall away from.

03:10

Okay, so they started out believing the right things, but over time they started to change, turn away from the truth.

03:18

Look at Galatians chapter 3, starting in verse 1. Paul writes, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes

03:31

Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only

03:37

I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

03:47

Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

03:56

Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?

04:01

Therefore, he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

04:12

Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

04:23

So they initially, here's what happened, they initially received the truth of the word of God from the apostle

04:30

Paul. They believed in the true gospel of salvation by grace through faith, apart from works.

04:37

But over time, their beliefs started to change. And with them, they had fallen for the lie of legalism.

04:49

That's the problem with the Galatians. Now there are many other problems, other reasons people can fall away.

04:57

But the Galatians, for them, it was legalism. So I've already defined one term, apostasy, which is what?

05:04

Right, a falling away from the true faith, from the true gospel. So what about this term, legalism?

05:12

And I think there's a lot of confusion about this term today. And I've noticed that this is a very common thing for people to kind of hurl accusations of legalism.

05:24

You know, you've heard this, right? That guy, he's a Pharisee. Who's heard that?

05:30

He's a Pharisee or that guy, he is a legalist. We've all heard that being thrown around.

05:38

So we want to know what these terms mean. And if somebody uses that term, we want to make sure it's being used correctly.

05:44

So before I explain what legalism is, some of you already know. But before I explain what legalism is, let me first explain what legalism isn't.

05:55

Here is one of the ways that I've noticed the term today is being misused. Let's say there's a

06:01

Christian who believes every word of the Bible. And he or she wants to see standards upheld.

06:10

They are firm in their doctrine. They know what the Bible says. And they're not going to compromise in order to fit in with their surroundings.

06:19

A faithful believer like that, if they're firm in what they believe, they will be called today a legalist.

06:30

But that's not what legalism is. Legalism is believing that you are saved by keeping the law.

06:38

Just think about the term legalism. Well, legal refers to law. Talking about the law of Moses here.

06:45

So legalism is the idea that you are saved through the works of the law.

06:50

Or you need to do the works of the law in order to stay saved. But is that true?

06:55

Is that how you're saved? Is that the gospel? That, well, you need to believe in Jesus and you need to keep the law.

07:03

That's how you're saved. That's not true. Somebody says it is true. That's what they're preaching.

07:09

That is legalism. So the truth of the gospel, we see this in the book of Galatians.

07:16

Salvation is 100 % by grace and you are saved through faith.

07:25

100 % by grace, 100 % faith in Jesus Christ.

07:30

Not the works of the law. Not by doing good and all of the rest.

07:35

Paul made that so clear in the last chapter. He said by the works of the law or through the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

07:44

Now, on the other hand, if you love God and you have a true saving faith, there's going to be works, right?

07:51

Someone who really loves the Lord is not going to be happy living in sin. So we reject the opposite of legalism, which is license.

08:01

Where you, well, I believe and then you kind of go out and live like the devil and you don't care. So legalism is thinking that you are saved through the keeping of the

08:10

Mosaic law. Paul rejected that. And we reject that this morning, don't we? Amen? Do we reject that?

08:18

So I go through all of that because we have to understand the terms. A lot of confusion around there.

08:24

And I'm sure the Galatians were confused. They're hearing these teachers telling them this. They were using

08:29

Bible verses. It sounded right. It's very simple for people to be deceived.

08:36

So that's what Paul had to contend with. The false teachers known as the Judaizers.

08:42

The Judaizers were legalists, misleading the people in the

08:48

Roman province of Galatia who were young in the faith. They were causing many of them to stumble, if not completely fall away.

08:58

Now here's the thing. That's kind of the bad situation that's going on. Here's something that should give us hope.

09:05

The fact that Paul is writing to these churches tells me he hasn't lost hope.

09:12

He hasn't given up on these people. He hasn't lost hope. Paul was a faithful shepherd who cared about the flock.

09:20

And because he cared, he wanted to go out and seek and save those who were being devoured by the false teachers.

09:29

So let's look at Paul's statement and then the questions that he asks. And of course, the overarching point is the point of the whole letter.

09:39

The true gospel, that justification before God, is by faith alone. It is not by works.

09:46

Paul begins chapter 3 by saying what? Go ahead and look at it. Galatians 3 verse 1.

09:52

What does he say? Oh foolish Galatians.

09:58

Now if that sounds like an insult, well, it's not a compliment.

10:05

But this doesn't refer to their lack of intelligence. Rather their lack of obedience.

10:12

But still, I think if a preacher got up and spoke to a congregation or a group of people and called them foolish,

10:20

I suspect some people would be offended. Right? I'm sure some of the Galatians didn't like hearing it either.

10:27

But the question is, is this true? I mean, is this accurate? Were they acting foolishly?

10:35

So let me ask you that question. Were they acting foolishly? Well, you're not sure.

10:42

Well, you need to hear this sermon if you're not sure. You know the answer is yes.

10:48

Why? Why was it so foolish? They were exchanging the gospel of grace for a system of bondage.

10:56

And I think there does come a time for that kind of blunt language in order to get through.

11:04

Why? Because the churches were at risk. These churches were at risk. People's souls were at risk.

11:12

And lest somebody say, well, Paul's saying they're foolish. You know, I don't think Jesus ever would have said that to somebody.

11:20

Well, in Luke 24, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, do you remember what Jesus said?

11:26

Same Greek word. He calls them foolish. He says, oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken ought not the

11:34

Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory. So Jesus did say it to just for the record.

11:42

But that's the statement. Oh, foolish Galatians. And then Paul starts in with his questions, which are rhetorical, meant to kind of back up his statement.

11:54

What's the first question? Who has bewitched you? The second question.

12:00

Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

12:06

Third question. Are you so foolish? Fourth question.

12:12

Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Number five.

12:18

Have you suffered so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain. And then the final question.

12:23

Therefore, he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it through the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

12:32

So you can kind of tell by these questions. The answer is is obvious. So the answer.

12:38

Let's go through these. The answer to the first question is pretty simple. Who has bewitched you?

12:46

Well, who who was it? Right. The Judaizers, the false teachers. And this word was spent just a moment on this word bewitched.

12:55

That's that's an interesting term that Paul would use. Who has bewitched you? It's like they cast a spell on the church members.

13:05

Now, obviously, they didn't literally cast a spell. But if you think of a magician today, what do they do?

13:13

How does how does a magician perform his tricks? Well, it's all through sleight of hand, right?

13:19

They get you to look over here so that you don't see what they're doing over here.

13:25

So they divert your attention. I think that's what Paul is saying. The false teachers were diverting their attention, getting the focus off of Christ and putting the focus on keeping the law.

13:39

So instead of emphasizing the issue of sin and the need for Christ atoning death and his resurrection for our justification, the full pardon of sin.

13:49

No, that wasn't the focus. The focus was on thou shalt do this. Thou shalt not do that.

13:56

So the focus shifted. And, you know, law keeping a legalistic message is actually quite appealing to a lot of people.

14:06

Now, the license, the opposite, that message is appealing to, hey, believe in Jesus, get eternal life and go live however you want.

14:15

That's appealing in another way for some people. But, yeah, legalism can be an appealing thing. It appeals to the flesh.

14:22

Why? It appeals to people's pride. Look at me.

14:28

Look at me. I'm a good person. I'm following the rules. And people can see the things that I'm doing.

14:37

Wow, he's a really good person. I'm loving my neighbor. I'm one of the good people.

14:42

Look at me. Legalism applies or it appeals to the flesh.

14:50

Today we're familiar with the term virtue signal, right? You've all heard of this, virtue signaling.

14:56

If you think about it, the Pharisees and the Judaizers were kind of like the original virtue signalers.

15:03

What did Jesus say about the Pharisees? All their works they do to be seen by men.

15:10

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website,

15:20

MorrisCornickChurch .com. We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.