A Real Cause for Boasting

ReCAST Church of Mattawan

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Welcome to the podcast of Recast Church in Madawan, Michigan where you can grow in faith community and service

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We're currently studying Galatians in a series called off the chain finding freedom in Galatians.

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Here's Pastor Don Filsack Already is anybody with me on that like it just seems like the summer flew and oh my goodness

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It's November and we're looking to turkey time here Um, I plan on moving through the book of Galatians over the course of the summer and here it is

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November And we're just concluding it now But I hope you've enjoyed the journey through the book of Galatians I know that it can be somewhat repetitive and in all honesty

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It is Paul just just slamming wave after wave against the rocks of our notions of self -sufficiency

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Against the notion that we can obtain salvation by works and he's like pulling no punches

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He just wants to keep hammering away that it's by grace. It's by grace. It's by grace and that's been enriching to me

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I've grown With a deeper understanding a deeper appreciation for the grace of God found in Jesus Christ through my personal study of Galatians And I hope that you guys

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I've been able to bring you along to some degree in that as we wrap this book up this morning Paul's letter to the

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Galatians has served as a constant reminder to me that all that I have of value

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Comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ Everything that really matters everything that is truly significant in the broad scope of eternal things of cosmic things

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Really centers on the cross of Jesus Christ and that's that's hit me wave after wave as I've studied this book

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Through faith in that sacrifice through faith in the cross of Christ We have been crucified with Christ this book has told us and through faith

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The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and through the Spirit of God in our lives

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We walk closer with God in our day to day and moment by moment And so our lives are transformed ultimately as a result of coming in contact with Jesus Christ crucified

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Buried and raised again three days later and here in this final text in Galatians Paul is going to wrap things up with a bunch of different kinds of summary statements of what he's already said

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But he is not going to let these false teachers who have moved into Galatia off the hook He's gonna basically in these last few verses

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He's going to use this as an opportunity to take out a nail and nail the coffin shut on the notion of works based righteousness works based salvation and a works based life

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And that's really the goal in these in this last text Paul is also equally in this last text going to give us a good cause to boast and although he's a bit

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So a bit sarcastic in this that he wants to leave us with something to boast about It points to the only thing that truly matters in the big picture of life

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The only thing that's really worthy of boasting or bragging about and that's bragging on Jesus Christ and his sacrifice

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And so I want you to open your Bibles to Galatians 6 And we'll be looking at verses 11 through 18

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The very end of this text if you take the Bible that's in the seat back in front of you out That's page 835. It's easy to find there and If you if you don't own a copy of the

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Bible, I want you to take that one with you That's a free gift from us to you. I know it's just a paperback. But at this point

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If you need a copy of the Bible take that one follow along as I read The very words of God to us as filtered through the

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Apostle Paul See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand

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It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised and only in order that They may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law

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But they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh But far be it from me to boast

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Except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ By which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world for neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation and As for all who walk by this rule peace and mercy be upon them and upon the

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Israel of God From now on let no one cause me trouble for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus The grace of our

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Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits brothers Amen Let's pray

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Father, I thank you I rejoice in the opportunity to talk about your grace to talk about your goodness to talk about the cross

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Father even just for an opportunity to practice what this passage is saying in boasting in your cross in Talking up the work of Jesus and his great sacrifice.

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I am convinced that we cannot overdo our Enthusiasm and our rejoicing over the cross of Jesus Christ and his great love poured out for us there

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Father, I pray that that would be the very nature of the way that we sing songs this morning the way that we bring worship Before your throne father that we would see

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Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father seated exalted high and lifted up above us

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Because of his great work because of the nature of him being God who came in flesh

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Father, I pray that you would be with our worship allow us to bring honor and glory to you through everything through the praise that we offer in Worship and through the hearing of your word and through hearts that desire obedience to you.

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I ask this in Jesus name Amen, and have your Bibles open in front of you I want to make sure that you've got a

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Bible there page 835 if you came in late I'm wearing Galatians 6 11 through 18 and I just need you to be checking up and making sure that what

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I say is accurate so You can have that Bible open there and I need that. We know that verse 11 marks the the final bracketed section of the book of Galatians Because there's really a shift we see right away in verse 11 in the way that this is being written and really the last verse last eight verses are written because most of Paul's letters were

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Dictated to a scribe to a secretary and they would write the words down a technical word

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Your $10 word that for the morning is a man you insist That's the individual who would be the secretary the personal scribe to Paul who would write stuff down for him

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But here at the end here in these last eight verses He picks up the pen himself and writes in his own handwriting this conclusion

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He writes with large letters. He says you see that right in verse 11 see with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.

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Now. Why did Paul write with large letters? Well, how many of you could guess that the text doesn't tell us you agree with that?

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I mean, it doesn't say I write with large letters because blank so Where there's a gap in our

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Understanding how many of you are aware that scholars love to just debate those kinds of things to the nth degree so you could read

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You could read pages and pages almost volumes on why did Paul write with large letters now? Some would some would assume and I kind of wonder about this to some degree

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Some would say that Paul had an eye issue that he struggled with his eyesight as a matter of fact earlier in the book of Galatians He says

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I know you would have given me your own eyes if you could pluck them out of your head and give them to Me in the context of his own infirmity, so he's talking about I came to you with illness when

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I came to Galatia I was ill I had some kind of infirmity And I know you would have given me your own eyes if you could have well that kind of sounds like maybe he had some

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Struggle with his eyesight, but there's another there's another thing that could be happening here And that's other scholars believe that he wrote with bigger the letters here at the end for emphasis

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Which was common in that day and age now you couldn't just click the bold or the underline button on word or whatever

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You know whatever word processor you use So whether whichever one is the case

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Regardless he picked up the pen for emphasis right he's writing in his own script

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He's writing with his own hand to emphasize this, but ask yourself. Why does he tell you?

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Why does he tell us he's writing with large letters the key could you see it on the page like why would you ever say?

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While you're writing something in a letter hey notice that I'm writing with really big letters Obviously you're writing with big letters because I can read it well that highlights the cultural context in which these letters were read aloud in Various congregations remember this letter was written to a variety of churches that Paul had started through South Central Turkey the the

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Roman province of Galatia And so he's writing to all of the churches in Galatia that he

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Got planted and got started and there were five at least five of them that we know of from the book of Acts So this letter would have gone to the congregation imagine this so we're a congregation in Galatia I stand up as the pastor and with a new fresh letter from Paul And I read it it's in its entirety to you now

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You don't get a chance to look you're not looking at the scroll But I'm reading it to you, and I'm telling you know the end these last eight verses have

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Paul's very own handwriting on them He wrote this in large script to emphasize this to us so Imagine what it would have been like can you can you put yourself in that context?

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Think back to some of the things that Paul has addressed throughout the book of Galatians those of you have been here for a while Would that be were there some awkward things stated in this letter that he would have been directly at basically

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Addressing people in the congregations in Galatia. Hey you false teachers you out there who are teaching falsely listen up I mean would it be where there be some awkward, but well

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Can you imagine sitting in listening like would any of you be on the edge of your seat? Listening from the

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Apostle Paul who's now removed from you, but was once in your midst planting a church there I think we would probably all be kind of listening.

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We'd be interested in what the dude had to say And he pulls no punches here at the end So we're looking at the last eight verses of this entire letter and in verse 12

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He claims that the false teachers He's been addressing throughout this letter all along have been have had a subversive agenda

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That they've been subverting things now remember that Paul went to Galatia started these churches

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And then some false teachers moved in and began to tell them that they need works You need the

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Old Testament law in order to be acceptable to God and in order to improve in your life

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And he is has written this entire letter to say no the law You are you are basically dead to the law alive to the

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Spirit the Spirit of God is alive in you and you follow the Spirit and it's been an intense journey

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Hopefully for you as it has been for me as we've studied through this book but They've had a subversive at agenda, and they've been forcing circumcision on the

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Gentile believers now We know that circumcision has come up, and we're not talking about a medical process or a medical procedure

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We're talking about a religious ritual here the way in which a young Jewish man was brought into the

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Old Covenant So when you hear circumcision in the New Testament you've got to understand that it carries that notion of the starting the the starting effort towards becoming a good

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Jew and If a young man was not circumcised He was by no means considered to be a

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Jew until he underwent that procedure And so you've got to understand to me we in our culture We think of it as primarily a medical procedure or something like that And so you've got to remove that from your mind and distance yourself from that understanding and yes

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I know it might even just be awkward for many of us that meant I'm talking about circumcision Paul's talking about circumcision Just get past that for a second and understand what we're talking about is a religious ceremony of initiation into the

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Jewish faith The phrase he says make a good showing in the flesh carries the meaning a little bit of a double meaning there obviously you carry

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Circumcision in your flesh if you're a man, but carries the meaning Really of making the flesh more important than it is in other words

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What he's trying to highlight is that there is a way in which we can live this life with a main primary focus on the external

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The way that I look to others the way that I act to others to the way that I dress before others

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Are you getting what I'm saying? There is a way in which we can walk in our Christian faith you guys relating to this Are you understanding what

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I'm talking about? There's a way that we can act religiously on the outside being focused on the externals without a focus on The thing that matters the most our heart

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So we can act in certain ways, but the actions and the way we're acting and when

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I say act I mean hypocrisy play acting and there's a way we can play act before others and try to Jump through all the hoops and look right and act right when in fact our heart isn't right

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Would you agree with me on that and Paul has been addressing that all throughout this book? And he's saying they're trying to make a good showing in the flesh.

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That's what he means by that There's an external conformity and they are most concerned There are some out in the church today that are most concerned that you match certain standards on the outside But they are not as concerned with your heart

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Just that you look like them that you act like them and that they are forcing Circumcision doesn't mean they're holding men down with a knife

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But how many of you know that there's a type of spiritual oppression that occurs that can honestly be called force that never needs physical hostility

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You don't need to physically arrest somebody pull them to the ground in order to force somebody to do something in a spiritual context

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Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not like it's an overstatement for Paul to call it force without there being physical force applied there is such a thing as spiritual force and Emotional force and that is something that can easily be abused

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There is a psychological harm that can be done by churches by religious people even by us

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That amounts to forcing people so imagine a church for example that says just just for example

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That says you can't get to heaven unless you confess to a priest before you die Imagine that there was such a church that exists.

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You cannot get to heaven unless you have You've confessed your sins before a priest now

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Could it be said in some sense that you are being forced to confess if you are attending that church?

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Would that not be fair to say that? because in a spiritual understanding if you're gonna come under that leadership and you're gonna come under that authority then you are

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I Mean you're saying Doesn't everybody want to get to heaven? Really? I mean in the end and it's so there's a there's a force that's being applied there

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Even though they have not physically dragged you to the confessional the psychological weight of that teaching

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Forces many to go to the priest in confession Is that a good illustration?

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Are you getting that? We need to be very careful about the force of our teaching and now you might tune out and go.

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I don't teach much You know Don that's for you But you are teaching people.

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Did you know that you are educating people around you? And as a matter of fact, I would dare say that many many people are watching you and some people you don't even know are watching you are watching you and Particularly those who know that you are a

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Christian those who know that you attend a church on Sunday morning They they are curious about your lifestyle

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I would guarantee that everyone in this room has someone who is Watching you and learning from you and you don't even know it as a matter of fact

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I read a book not too long ago that contains some interviews of Non -christian neighbors who had

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Christian neighbors You're getting that so I live next door to a Christian and I'm not a

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Christian, of course I mean, how does the interview go with whether or not that person is a genuine Christian or not? I don't know

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But one thing stuck out consistently that they are watching and they are wondering they are

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Curious they have questions Some even went so far in these interviews to confess disappointment that although most

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Sundays in the summer they are out mowing their lawn or working in their yard Obviously not going to church that their neighbor has never invited them to their church

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That was actually going on in this survey in these interviews saying I just kind of wonder why haven't they never invited me to church?

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Why haven't can you imagine that? Can you imagine that being said of you from from your next -door neighbor who says they see me they see me

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They know that I'm not going to church. They see me out mowing. They see me out, you know Doing stuff in on Sunday morning out for a jog or whatever, but they've never invited me to come to their church

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I mean, can you imagine that there's actually people out there like that? I mean sometimes we're scared, right? We're scared to enter that conversation.

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We're afraid that oh, they might think poorly of us and they're they're just going why aren't you aren't you asking? That's pretty intense.

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Really if you think about it and that that's that's reality. So we are communicating We're communicating all the time we're teaching people, but what are we teaching?

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It's very possible that we're teaching everybody around us that we are better than them Is that is that possible that our lifestyle might be conveying that or the way that we act or the things that we say and we

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Are inadvertently in that for the sake of you know, trying to jump through some hoops or act in a certain way

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We might be communicating to them that we're elite That you need to quit. Here's just some examples that you need to quit smoking before you come to church

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You need to clean up your mouth before you come to church that you need to dress a certain way before you come to church

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Or are we ultimately teaching and communicating the gospel of grace that says?

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Come as you are because we are all messed up All of us in the family of God are messed up and we all just need grace

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We all need to come to the foot of the cross come as you are and let God deal with you where you are You See the false teachers in Galatia had one primary reason for promoting circumcision

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Ultimately they were they wanted to avoid persecution Paul tells us now Remember that circumcision was that initiation right for a young male into Judaism?

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It was a good thing under the Old Testament law I think it's interesting that Paul uses an illustration of something that would be perceived as a good

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Religious duty a good religious behavior a good religious thing to do and he says they are primarily promoting that Enforcing that on the

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Galatians because they want to avoid persecution from who from other religious people they're afraid of Religious people of they knew that highly religious zealous Jews would persecute them for skipping over the law of Moses In essence

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Paul is saying they want to force people to follow the law out of fear Because they are cowards.

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They are acting cowardly now in reality. You see that in the text. They were not comfortable with the offense of the cross

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Look at the text here for a second verse 12 the very end of verse 12

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It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised only in order that they

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May not be persecuted for what? for the cross of Christ they were not comfortable with the offense of the cross.

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It is offensive The cross is offensive to our culture and it doesn't regardless of whichever direction you fall where whichever way you were raised you were either raised primarily as a as a

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Religious individual in a religious household or you were raised Irreligious, I mean really one of those two probably sticks, right?

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most of us lean in one of those directions in the way that we were brought up and So for those who were more into the non -religious

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The cross calls us to repent of our wickedness of our self -centeredness to the self -righteous

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The cross calls us to repent of our good deeds that we assume are good enough to make us righteous in God's eyes so the cross has the potential to offend either direction and They were they they were acknowledging that the cross is offensive to these

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Jewish people who were claiming to be believers But they were saying the cross can't be enough. You need more than the cross, right?

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But they were not only cowardly these false teachers in Galatia, but they were also hypocrites according to verse 13

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Because they who are circumcised outwardly Paul goes on to say don't even obey the entire law themselves

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Those who are attempting to to fix this outside and Make it look good enough for everybody else around them and most concerned with what other people think of them are still

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Not in their heart of hearts following the law now I think all of us know that to some degree we

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We all know to one degree or another what it means to be a hypocrite We all know what it means to put a face out there for somebody whether it's a one -off experience and you've done it for a boss for a co -worker for a

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Somebody you were dating Whatever you put your best foot forward, right? We all understand what that means to have that going on out here

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Simultaneously knowing our own hearts and knowing the wickedness that's going on in here, right? Have you have you experienced that and that's what we're talking about here

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Is this this hypocrisy and they were? Hypocrites because they who were circumcised outwardly did not obey the entire law that they were basically telling everybody

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They want to force others to follow the law of Moses that they themselves Don't even fully follow and ultimately the entire

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Old Testament exists as a awesome huge gigantic case study in human inability to keep the law our inability to Reach the righteous standard of God But they want to boast an external conformity

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Particularly of others these false teachers in one sense They delight in exercising authority over others and forcing them into external conformity

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How many you know, there's a sense of power and getting people to dance to your tune To get people to jump through your hoops to get people to conform to your image

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There's some power in that isn't there and that's what these false teachers. There was a delight a joy in their boasting of Getting others to do what they wanted them to do and what a caution that is to be to us as a church

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The body of Christ the people of Christ How easy it is to slide into?

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hypocrisy That we are all sinners as hopefully as clear to you as it is to me

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And yet I would suggest to you that one of the ugliest of all sins is acting acting on the outward

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Like we are righteous and better than others Holding them to standards that we ourselves do not keep as a matter of fact

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Jesus reserved while he was here on this planet reserved his most scathing reviews and critiques of people the

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Pharisees primarily who would Whitewash the outside when all of the decay and crud was inside.

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He even called them whitewashed tombs You know what that image is? scrubbing the outside of the vault when the inside is decaying bones and corruption and disgust and That's the picture or or he talked about he used as an illustration washing the outside of the cup and not the inside How would that look after your kids have drank a glass of milk after a couple of weeks if you just wash the outside of?

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The cup but not the inside pretty gross, huh? Okay, we wash the inside too and we need the inside cleansed, right?

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Isn't that what the cross really is all about and he's driving this home That's why it's so important that we bring people to grace and not to law

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Again main theme here if we lead people to a lifestyle and not to the cross

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They will not get past our hypocrisy if we lead them to act like us if the primary message that we convey to others is

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Drink what I drink watch what I watch go to my church give like I give talk like I talk

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Serve like I serve we will lead them to become hypocrites just like us

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They will they will look just like us. They will act just like us They will be just like us But will they be saved will they have connected with Christ in a meaningful way through the cross and have the heart change that they need

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Are you getting what I'm saying in this? What is the message that we are conveying and so instead of boasting about external conformity to a list of behaviors?

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Paul gets I think hot under the collar and says far be it for me to boast except except for this

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Far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Far be it for me to boast in anything except the cross

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Now there is a cause for boasting not in the power that you exert over others to look like you and act like you

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Not in what we have accomplished for ourselves not in our lifestyle not in our great works and deeds for God Not in converts who look and act like little good

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Christian bots but boasting in the cross May encourage you recast brag it up You can't overdo it

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If you are bragging about the glory the forgiveness the grace mercy Compassion the sacrifice the love that we have through Jesus Christ at the cross

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Talk it up You cannot overdo Talking about the cross glorying in the cross

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Rejoicing in the cross boasting in the cross. And by the way boasting in the cross does not look like saying yeah

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I'm I was worth it. I was worth it I mean Jesus died on the cross and just for me just for me out, you know

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And I I'd really don't like that statement that some people have said, you know, if I was the only one

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If I was the only one Jesus would have died for me. Well, he did he died for me, but he died for us

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I mean, there's a there's a community aspect to this that he was purchasing the bride of Christ there on the cross

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He was buying us all back But there there's one sense in which we can we can overstate it to the degree that it is only about us

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That's not what he means by boasting in the cross boasting in the cross is bragging up the work of Jesus Christ That that is my only hope that is the only place where my sin was dealt with That's the only thing that gives me hope that one day.

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I will stand before a holy and righteous God Not groveling saying please don't destroy me, but I am hidden in the life of Jesus Christ in his death

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Buried with him and raised again to new life and I will stand in that day not groveling not begging for clemency father

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Abba as we saw earlier and we will embrace our

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God and Be embraced by him Because of what?

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the cross Not because we've done a great job. No, we've done a great job making messes

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That's what we do. We're like experts at that. Aren't we? I mean honestly anybody with me on that Nobody wants to raise your hand three.

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Okay, I understand why you don't want to raise your hand But I am I make messes I do and and yet I mean the grace of God so brag it up Paul is constantly referring to the cross as the place of his death.

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Go ahead and read back through Galatians I'd encourage you to read this whole book It would take you 10 minutes to read through the whole thing

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Maybe 15 if you read it from beginning to end I'd encourage you as we wrap this up today to go back to it and read it in its entirety again

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You will hear how many times does Paul refer to the cross as the place where Paul died? Not just Jesus, but Paul And the place where we died if we are in Christ as well.

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It is there at the cross He says that the world lost its hold on him and he lost his hold on the world

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In other words at the cross we find that the things that this world has to offer lose their grip on us

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And that's why I keep saying Meditate on the cross think on the cross think about the reality of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ Keep that foremost in your mind and you will find that slowly

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But surely things will lose their grip on you that own you things like iPhones and nexuses and nice cars

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What's the plural of Nexus? I don't know what you can next I Nice cars houses entertainment sports and even family the religious fame or religious

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Hoops that we jump through or Status in our community all of those things lose hold on our lives at the foot of the cross

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Paul says elsewhere that he counted all things as refuse as garbage as rubbish as junk in light of knowing

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Christ And I would say this and I know this echoes with many of you for those who have tasted deeply of the forgiveness and grace

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That we find at the foot of the cross. We are immersed to the point of drowning in his love and grace and mercy for us and all else is cheap and paltry

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Imitations, that's all that this world has to offer And that that begins to lose its grip on our lives as we focus on this beautiful thing that Jesus has done for us

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It's awesome sacrifice To be genuinely loved that is the only place that I have experienced that type of sacrificial full -on

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Love and that's the only place it can be experienced. Is that the cross and so back to the point

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Paul says circumcision or uncircumcision so what When you talk about the cross when you get it when you finally understand it and you embrace it and you know it

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So what about circumcision around uncircumcision in light of the cross the external sign counts for nothing

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He says right in the text. The only thing that really matters practically in our lives is that we are a new creation

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For neither circumcision counts for anything verse 15 Norse uncircumcision, but a new

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Creation the only thing that matters and in 2nd Corinthians 5 17 Galatians being the first letter

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The first time that Paul ever picked up a pen and wrote to a church the book of Galatians Years later later in his life close to the end not the very last one but close to the last one

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He picks up the pen again and writes 2nd Corinthians actually through a scribe again and all of that Writes 2nd

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Corinthians and he says this in verse 5 17 Tell me this wasn't the theme of his life the first thing that he writes talking about a new creation

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That's the way he's gonna conclude This book is talking about a new creation close to the end of his life still talking about being made new in Christ and he says in 2nd

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Corinthians 5 17 some of you haven't memorized Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

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The old has passed away behold the new has come We have not been made into Jews by accepting

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Christ When we come to faith in Christ, we don't remain Gentiles when we embrace him by faith

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We are made something completely new And he has placed his Holy Spirit in our hearts

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We have now the very spirit of God God himself residing in us

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And we are adopted into his family as he said earlier in Galatians into his family as sons heirs to the promise given to Abraham Centuries ago that he's carrying forward through Jesus Christ We are no longer

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Jews as slaves under the law no longer Gentiles as slaves to the elementary principles of this world

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But we have become sons heirs to the promise by faith We are not saved to obligation or duty or to law.

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We are not saved to just go it alone and get it done now It is for freedom. You have been set free

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Paul would say We've been crucified with Christ Therefore it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us and the life we now live we live by faith in The Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us the question

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Have you been remade? We take that for granted I mean something many of you have been coming to recast for quite a while and I could easily take that for granted that yes

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And I don't I haven't heard everybody's story in this room Have you been remade? Not have you?

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Believed a couple of things about Jesus Have you been remade?

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External conformity that is acting like a Christian on the outside Even doing good things counts for nothing unless we have first and foremost been remade in Christ through faith in his cross and his sacrifice for us and Paul offers a blessing of peace and mercy for all who would walk by and I think he he gets tongue -in -cheek here

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He calls it a rule Verse 16 and as for all who walk by this rule peace and mercy be upon them

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Those of you have been watching through and studying through the book of Galatians with me Is there anything humorous about his use of the word rule here?

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What is the two things that he's been? Contrasting all throughout this book law versus grace and now it's here at the end

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Paul finally issues a rule It's gonna tell us a rule and it's an ironic rule and it's a funny rule

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I think he genuinely has a sense of humor in this It's been talking about faith versus works

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And he calls it a rule if we could make a rule out of what he's been talking about here just prior to this

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It would be something like External conformity to the character of God comes through the

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Spirit transforming you inside What we have here in irony is

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Paul issuing to all of you to all of us a passive rule Let the

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Spirit have his way in your life Go go do that go let the Spirit have his way in your life and change you from the inside out

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Kind of ironic Anybody how many of you like like active rules better than passive rules a little bit more meat on it a little bit more room for me to give you you know seven things for you to go do this week about Walking with God closer, right?

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Wouldn't that be I mean, how many of you are made that way you like rules? I mean, it's just honestly the way that you're made you're designed it

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So here he says, you know, here's the rule God will change you by Spirit from the inside out So follow that rule

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Kind of kind of interesting And I lost my place in my notes, but I'll get there here in just a second passive rule and That really ultimately

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That ultimately that passive understanding is the nature of faith Faith is trust that the one who is making me more.

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Holy will keep it up That he is keeping up his end of the bargain that he is working and he is powerful and he can overcome in my life

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And here's the question that I think is fundamental to every believer here in this room Do we honestly trust that the

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Spirit of God can do it? Do you believe that the Spirit of God can change you?

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well Well, certainly not without my help right I've grown in my conviction that the mystery of the

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Christian life as I've studied the scriptures over the years but the mystery of the Christian life is a genuine trust and belief that the

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Spirit will do a work in me and Is doing a work in me?

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Trusting him and his power to accomplish it most often despite me

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Most often when I'm when I'm even in rebellion or I'm acting counter to trust that God will forgive what

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I have done and will help me to repent and to confess and to walk away from sin and Paul gets a jab into those false teachers who are claiming to help the church achieve a little more

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Jewish recognition He's fearful that remember he's fearful of these these zealous Jews and he says

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Galatians you already are The Israel of God You already are these guys are coming in these false teachers are coming in and claiming to make you

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Israel Make you more like the Israel of God you already are we are sons of Abraham through faith as Paul said clearly in chapter 3 in verse 16 a better translation would be go ahead and look at it a better translation would be peace and mercy be upon them even the

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Israel of God anyone who is a New creation through the cross is within the bounds of the

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Israel of God. We have become his chosen people by his grace by faith

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And in a final statement of apostolic authority Paul cautions the false teachers and any Galatians who have followed them to cut it out

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In a loose translation back up off me. Okay, that's what he's saying It's just kind of loose there, but he said back up off me

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Quit quit troubling me quit. I've gone through this. I Planted these churches.

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I started this quit harassing me and haranguing me because he has the step he has the stamp of approval in his flesh that he is

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God's servant that he is Apostle and That he belongs to the Lord and his mark in his flesh is better than any circumcision

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That's what he's basically getting at He says I have he said you want to talk about marks you want to talk about external conformity you want to talk about something to show that I'm all in with Christ and then he takes his shirt off and the beatings and the deformity and the bruises and The the things that haven't quite healed over from being whipped and caned and stoned show

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Now certainly he's writing a letter and he can't literally pull his shirt off and show them but I'm sure they saw it

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As a matter of fact some of them in those churches nursed him back to health he reveals scars and injuries

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Paul's face you might not have had to look any further than Paul's face to see that he had suffered for Christ because can you imagine

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Being hit with stones so hard and so often that you are left for dead

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What kind of bones were broken on this man? What kind of injuries did he sustain for the cause of Jesus Christ that he suffered for his faith?

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He had been stoned to death in Galatia in the very one of the very cities where this letter is going to be circulated

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He's been caned with rods. He was whipped by the Romans. He was whipped by the Jews. He was stoned by the Jews He has the marks of Jesus on his body the marks of suffering

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How many of you would think that Paul was all in for Jesus Christ? Do you agree with that?

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How many of you think that his apostolic authority was in some degree shown by him taking his shirt off and saying that?

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And it's not to say that he's better than everybody else because he suffered or you have to listen to him more because he suffered

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But he's just saying this is where my heart is How many of you know you don't get to that place where people beat you for what you believe unless you really believe it

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Right be pretty quick to say I I'm just kidding. I was just kidding I'm back and backing down put the whips down put the stones down.

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I'm in with you guys. You guys my friends Let's go stone someone else When that turned pretty quick He was all in and he's just saying

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I I've gone to that degree. I've gone that far And I'm gonna be honest,

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I know I Don't have any marks on my body. I Don't have any scars from following Christ.

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I don't know if any of you do I doubt it but it's

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It's challenging to me, and I I hate this notion I hate what wells up in me and the desire to just beat us all over the head with a two -by -four about our fear that Somebody might make fun of us

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But it's there it's there the notion that what do what do we sacrifice? What do we give high in what way do we express that we're all in with Christ in our culture and in our community?

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I have not suffered for Jesus, and I think many of us have not suffered for Jesus, and we have gone the easy road in our lives

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Paul has his authenticity stamped in his flesh that he was all in It wouldn't make sense for Paul to end with anything other than the grace of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ That's been the main point and he is hopeful that they will grab hold of the grace so strongly defended in this letter and he calls that grace down into the

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Spirits of all who would listen to the words of this amazing letter even us The way that the

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Galatians responded to this letter is unknown We don't have a follow -up letter a return letter saying okay.

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We'll get our act together We'll get straight And we'll start preaching grace and we'll stop this whole law thing and we'll either

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Try to reform the false teachers or kick them out or whatever but one thing that is clear from history is that around the time of the reception of the letter of Galatian circumcision did cease to be a prominent argument a prominent issue in the church

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And I I like to think that the circulation of this letter dealt a strong punch to the gut of legalism and law -based living

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That this letter had a major impact in those churches and as it spread and that the letter to the

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Galatians began to be read throughout Italy and throughout the other churches and as it got read in Galatia and then throughout

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Asia and throughout all of these areas and began to be copied and written down and disseminated churches saying this is the

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Word of God he has spoken in this letter That it had a dramatic impact But even even if it had that dramatic impact in its immediate culture

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We know that down through the ages the church has naturally slid back into a law -based salvation

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It's naturally slid back into law about law -based sanctification. That is the way that we improve our life

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And that is one of the glories of having the letter to the Galatians recorded for us in the pages of Scripture That it's there because our flesh is so weak and so ready to slide back into rules and regulations and laws

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And so God put it in the in the book for us The purpose of the book of Galatians is to keep us re -centered on the cross to keep us coming back to that not just for salvation but for life

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Because it only takes the right person at the right place in the right time to sit down with the pages of this very letter

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And come to a new understanding of grace that salvation is a gift. It is not earned

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And we are privileged to have had the chance to read and study the very document that set aflame the

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Protestant Reformation this very letter The human heart has a strong leaning towards self -sufficiency.

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Would you agree with me on that? and a works -based Righteousness trying to add a little bit to the work of God Okay, I even even to the degree of saying okay

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I accept your cross to to wipe out the balance of the sin that I've done and now God Give you a little something back.

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I just pay you back for that whole cross thing. I Think that what kind of understanding do we have of the cross if we think we can pay it back?

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It shows a little bit of a lack of understanding in the very Son of God the eternal Second person of the

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Trinity coming down in flesh and taking our burden on him. I'll pay that back I'll get you.

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I'm good for it God No No, we won't be So we lean towards self -sufficiency and a works -based righteousness as a matter of fact all of the religions

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Base their hope on something that we must do on our our behavior But the heart of the gospel is what

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God has done his behavior for us through the Son Jesus Christ And Paul's hope in writing was that the

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Galatians might experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in their spirit That's how he concludes and then he ends up with the final word.

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Amen So be it. I Hope it was that way for the Galatians but there's another chance and that's that it's that way for us that the grace of God comes into our hearts through the

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Understanding a deeper understanding of the book of Galatians that we've hopefully received over the last several weeks

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Jesus died for sinners Jesus died for hypocrites. He died for liars and thieves

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Jesus died for the sexually deviant for those who are broken For sin -infested people like us

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But if you're here and you have embarked on a journey with the Spirit of God by grace through faith

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And please join with your spiritual family here at recast this morning in taking a cracker to remember the body that was broken for us and take the juice to remember his blood that was shed for us on the cross and Consider what it means this morning to boast in the cross

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It was there that the world was crucified to us and we were crucified to the world

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Let's pray and we are gonna pass out communion this morning. So it's gonna be a little bit different.

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Let's pray Father I rejoice in your grace

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I rejoice in the the writing down that the putting down in text that we can read and study and Meditate on the book of Galatians that you gave this book to us for this awesome purpose of highlighting grace

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Father, I ask that you would help us to grasp this It can be so difficult and I can't even resolve the notion of a passive rule

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It's it's hard for my mind to grasp and yet I have experienced on a daily basis your mercy and your grace showing through the

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Spirit of God alive in me for conviction of sin Even in those times when I don't follow you and I'm tempted and I and I and I give over to the dark side at This at the same time.

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I recognize your spirit is there Convicting and saying don't and no and it's it's it's a yielding to those

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To the to the side of the Spirit and sowing seeds to the Spirit and walking by the Spirit Father I ask that you'd make that reality for all of us

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And as we think about the cross of Christ as we meditate and we remember that Jesus Christ died for us

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We are so unworthy of that So I ask that as we take the juice We would remember clearly the blood that was shed for us that as we take the cracker

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We remember the body that was broken for us. Oh The great love of Jesus poured out on us there

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I Asked that you would help us to never get past that to bubble up and well up within us a desire to just share that with others not out of a forced or connived type of Conversation or a memorized for spiritual laws or evangelism explosion or some kind of memorized pattern

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But because we just can't hold back talking with people about this great grace that's been given to us

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I ask that you would move in us and through us this week To show more of your grace and more of your love.