A Grace-Centered Community

There is a Christian comedy troupe named Issac Airfreight and one of the skits they do is called “The Savior Game.” The skit is based on that old game show “The Dating Game,” where a person asks three people behind a panel questions and based on the answers he or she picks a date. Now back to the skit, Buck is asking these three possible saviors questions and he asks them what he has to do to be saved. One of the potential “saviors” answers, “You have to wear blue suites on Sundays, eat Twinkies and some other stuff,” or something like that. The thing is he was saying it was the things you do, the laws you keep, the rules and rituals you observe that save you. Today's post looks at this a little bit more.

Justification by faith alone caused much controversy in the early church. Paul exhorted the Galatian Christians to uphold this glorious doctrine, despite what it might cost them.

"Earning Freedom" is the account of how Michael Santos rebuilt his life. At age 19 he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for heading an illegal drug organization. In prison he developed a plan to educate himself, network with a support group, and contribute to the good of society as he prepared to enter the world again. He earned two degrees, built a website, wrote several articles and books, and helped other prisons develop skills to cope with life in prison. After serving 25 years of his sentence, he was released. Today he writes and speaks about the power of human determination and will.

Santos' story, though admirable, is one of self-salvation. While you should celebrate the common grace of willpower, determination, and perseverance, you must understand how the gospel radically redefines the role of human effort in salvation. Grace cannot be earned. The Galatian church struggled with this. After receiving the gospel of grace, some taught that they must rely on the works of the law for salvation. Paul pleaded with them to center their lives on the grace of the gospel. In Galatians 2:11-21 we see how to do this.

Gal 2:11-3:1

11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

I. Prevent suffering from shifting our confidence in the gospel (vv.11-14)

Scholars disagree over how to interpret verses 11-14. Why Peter pulled back from Gentiles after the scene in Acts 10 is a mystery. D.A. Carson suggests that "certain men from James" (v.12) refers to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. The Christians there suffered at the hands of unconverted Jews because of their connection to Gentiles. Peter pulled back upon hearing the news of the hostility against the church. Paul opposed him and challenged him to stand firm in the gospel.

Suffering makes us question the truth of the gospel. When you suffer, you wonder if salvation is really by grace. Surely your suffering must be due to your own sin and unrighteous works. Suffering makes us ask: "Is God angry with me? Does God love me? Am I really a Christian?" In these times, you must hold on to the truth of the gospel. The good news reminds us that all suffering is being used for good and that God is for us (Rom. 8:28-39). If Christ died for you, He will sustain you through any trial. But because He suffered, you must prepare to suffer (1Pet. 2:21).

How has suffering threatened your hope in grace? When you suffer, do you look at the cross and meditate on Christ's sufferings?

II. Root out any hint of self-righteousness (vv.15-16)

Paul refused to boast in his ethnicity. Though Jewish and steeped in the rich history of salvation of his people, he understood that one is made right before God by Christ, not by works or nationality. The early church struggled to understand this. Didn't God make a covenant with the Jews, give them His law, and adopt them as his own (Rom. 9:1-5)? Surely, some taught, salvation can only come through adherence to Jewish laws and customs. But Paul understood that the law cannot make anyone right before God, nor was it intended to (v.16).

Charles Spurgeon illustrated the dangers of self-righteousness with a story about a gardener. He grew an enormous carrot and presented it to his king. The king discerned that his heart was pure and granted him a plot of land as a gift. A nobleman in the king's court saw this and thought "My! If that is what you get for a carrot, what if you gave the king something better?" So he presented the king with a beautiful stallion. The king discerned his heart and dismissed him, explaining: "That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse."

Many times we do good works to make ourselves feel worthy, to bend God's arm to bless us, or earn His favor. Our hearts love to boast in something besides the finished work of Jesus. But self-righteousness is an enemy of the gospel we must uproot.

How do you tend to look to your own righteousness as the reason God should love and bless you? What motivates you to do good? How can you better cling to the gospel in order to fight against this?

III. Seek to uphold the law (vv.17-21)

Paul's argument in verses 17-21 is that while Christians cannot be justified by the law, they are now free to obey the law. Though he is dead to the law, in terms of justification, he is now alive to live for God in all things (v.19). He further argues for this by rehearsing how the Gospel works in an individual's life. He died with Christ and now lives by faith in Him (v. 20).

Once grace takes root in someone's life, it grants freedom obey. Tim Keller says that religion (man's attempt to earn God's grace) operates on the principle: If I obey, God will love me. The gospel, he says, operates on the exact opposite principle: God loves me and accepts me in Christ, therefore I obey.

If we attempt to earn grace, we misunderstand it. Christ Jesus died to free you from the curse of the law and empower you to obey. Grace is opposed to earning, but you must make every effort to obey God (2 Pe. 1:5-10).

In what areas of your life are you abusing grace? How important to you is obedience? Are you making every effort to obey God? Has the gospel set you free to gratefully obey?

Conclusion idea

Martin Luther said of justification by faith: "Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually." Indeed! Fight to center your lives on grace and boast only in the gospel of Christ Jesus.