Abounding Grace

Pastor Ed Taylor: In Jesus, the externals of life are not the essence of salvation. It doesn't matter if you choose to eat steaks or Brussels sprouts. Actually, it does matter if you choose to eat Brussels sprouts. Those are disgusting. But if you want to, it doesn't matter. That doesn't make you a better Christian. "I eat this, but I don't eat that." It doesn't make you a better Christian. The externals don't matter. It doesn't matter if you worship on Saturday. It doesn't matter if you worship on Sunday.

It doesn't matter your outward appearance. These things are not what are important to God. It doesn't matter how many times you read your Bible, or your perfect church attendance, or the length of your hair, or the number of things. What matters is this: are you in the family by faith in Jesus Christ? Because if you're in the family, you're in. You're accepted.

Guest (Male): How do you relate to God? On the basis of law or grace? Think that over with us today on Abounding Grace. If you've been with us in our study of the book of Galatians, you'll know the Galatian Christians were being drawn into legalism. It's an age-old problem that exists still today. So, the Apostle Paul stepped in and encouraged them to stand strong in grace. Maybe it's a message you need to be reminded of as well. Here is Pastor Ed Taylor.

Pastor Ed Taylor: The only way to have your sins forgiven and to have a right relationship with God is faith. That's it. There are not two ways to salvation, not five ways, not ten. All of the proliferation of false teaching and false religion—even those guys coming up to you to try to rip you off in the Walmart parking lot—is exactly what they're doing. Those guys are proof that there is a one true God.

They're stopping you short of a man and a religion that was just invented a couple hundred years ago, if that. It's not even taking you all the way to Jesus. You have to go the long way, and the thing about the long way is you never get to him. You never get to Jesus. You get to a form. You get to something like coming back, "Hey, you guys want to be saved? Sure. Okay, I've got a new doctrine for you guys. I've been reading and studying, and now I know. You guys need to be circumcised, and we are having a circumcision service downstairs at 1:00 in the Agape room. We've invited doctors, and it's all going to be antiseptic. But this is the way to go."

Now, some of you in the sincerity of your heart might have a little thought about that. I don't think anybody's going to show up. But because you want to worship God, there's a part of you that thinks if I'm wrong, I want to be right. Here's the answer: if you're wrong and you want to be right, then you need to know the Word of God, because the Word of God will show you the way to be right. It will remind you of a relationship. It will remind you of what God has done for you. The uncircumcised physically can be saved.

This whole thing was settled in Acts chapter 15. When we were studying through the book of Acts, we went to that first church council, and this was the issue. Turn over there with me. I want you to see it real quick. Turn over to Acts. That's going to be to the left. Acts chapter 15. They gathered together, and you can see this is almost like a sneak preview of what's going to happen in Galatia. So, when you get to Acts 15, pick up there in verse one.

Acts 15:1 says, "And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'" To which the church says, "Nonsense." You should be able to put that word—develop this word in your vocabulary when somebody comes with something that is not true. You can just say, "Nonsense. This is nonsense. You can't be saved unless you're circumcised."

Who are you talking to? They're already talking to people that are already saved. Irrefutable. Their life is completely changed from paganism to following the one true God. And then they come and go, "Oh no, that's not possible." And then notice Paul and Barnabas in verse two. They had no small dissension, which means they had a big one. They stood strong on the gospel and disputed with them. And then it was determined that Paul and Barnabas and others would go to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. Then they hashed it out.

Notice what Peter has to say about it. Peter mentions in verse 10. He says, "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" Why would you put some heavy trip on believers? Nobody can carry the rules that you guys are laying on people. Nobody can do it. You guys can't even do it. Jesus would rebuke them as well. Verse 11: "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they."

This was already settled, and you can read it. We studied it in depth if you want to go back to the studies. This has already been settled. It's the grace of God. And what yoke did Jesus wear exactly? A yoke—some of you are thinking eggs right now. You're new to the Bible, and you think we're talking about eggs. A yolk. No, not a yolk, but a yoke—Y-O-K-E.

A yoke in the first century was a wooden contraption that had two holes in it. You would put it on the necks of animals, and it would help you harness their power together. So, the idea is two oxen, and you'd put their heads into the holes of the yoke. The yoke would be kind of like this, and you'd put the heads of the animals in. They would be able to work together in plowing the fields.

You would put two oxen of the same general size, the same general strength. You wouldn't put an ox on one side and a donkey in the other. There's a Bible word for that. It's called unequally yoked, where you have two animals that are not equal in size, and one is going to fight against the other, and they're not going to be able to do what they're supposed to be doing.

And so, when Jesus speaks of a yoke, I want you to hear this. What yoke did he carry? This is what he said in Matthew 11:28. Jesus says to you and to me, he says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke," Jesus says, "is easy, and my burden is light."

What yoke did Jesus wear? What burden did he carry? Truly, he walked through the city of Jerusalem with a cross on his shoulders and a crown of thorns upon his head. The yoke that he carried is the cross of Calvary. Nothing can be added to the finished work of the cross. If someone listening to me right now thinks that they can add, let me just ask the question: what do you possibly think? Do you really, really believe—and I'm serious here—do you really believe you can add anything to the finished work of Jesus Christ?

Do you really believe you can do more than dying on the cross? Do you really believe you can do more than shedding innocent blood? Do you really believe you can do more than rising from the dead in order for you to have a peace in your heart that you're right with God? Because if you really believe that, you believe wrong.

And that really is the place of the battle, isn't it? When we talk about spiritual warfare and things, it's always a battle of the mind. Did you know that? Your loyalty. Loyalty is very important, and your loyalty is a decision you make. It's a decision. And we've learned over the years that what you believe will dictate how you behave.

The constant attack on the enemy of you and me is for what we believe in. Because if we believe wrong, we'll act wrong. If we believe wrong, it can affect our whole eternity. But if we believe wrong, it'll affect our kids, it'll affect our neighbors, it'll affect our coworkers, it'll affect every part of our lives. It will skew our singleness. And so, the enemy's always going after what you think, what you think, what you believe.

I see it happening on so many different fronts. We're living in a time where we hear about every disaster that goes on all around the world, and I don't know if you've noticed lately, but we can't handle it. It's too much. It's too much information. If you think about on your social media how many times you're praying for this, praying for this—if we put something on social media every time there was a disaster, it would just be a disaster feed. Because something happened here and something happened there and something happened here. You're like, "I can't keep up with it all."

You were not made to carry the burdens of the world. You were not made to carry everyone's burden. You aren't capable of it. And so, there's this battle for your mind, and it's like, "Well, I want to help, I want to help." We've got to really zero in. The Bible is very clear that we can't do everything. We just need to choose to do something. And it starts with a focused, disciplined mind.

Not only are we seeing and hearing all these other things, but we're living in a time like I've never seen before. I'm not saying it's brand new, but it's more than ever—this proliferation of all these conspiracy theories. Now, again, let's set aside whether you think it's right or wrong or whatever. That's not even the issue. Here's the issue, you ready? You get so caught up in this stuff. You start thinking about this, and you go here and you're thinking this and you're finding this, that you are no longer useful for the gospel.

You think that's more important than the gospel. "Well, you don't understand, Ed." Already, right now, you're telling me that. "You don't understand, Ed. I was just reading this, and I just dove in, man. I dove in, and I was in that rabbit hole." I've learned that recently. Chasing rabbits. I've got rabbits all over my neighborhood. I never jump into their hole. Not interested. I just want them out of here and to leave my wife's flowers alone. That's it.

But you get involved, and you go, "But you don't understand. The government is doing this and they're doing this. And if you just knew..." Listen, listen. This is what I know: I want to live in the realm of truth. That's what I want. That's what's going to make me most effective. And there's always weird stuff going on in the world, and there's always stuff. There's always stuff. But you know what? I live for a kingdom that's not of this world.

I want to teach you how to do the same thing. And here's what's happening: your mind is being taken away from the truth. You think it's the truth, and you might have found some truth, and you're getting all involved and reading this and jumping this, and now you're no longer living life outside of the rabbit hole. You may even take a break from it, come to church today, and as soon as you leave church, you can go right back because you have to find out what's new. What's new? What's new?

Wait a minute. There's a battle for your mind. There's a battle going on for your mind, and you can go through all life going through all these different theories and all this different stuff and all the bad stuff that's happening in the world, because there certainly is. You can live your whole life like that, but at the end, what do you have? What's eternal? How many lives have been affected for the gospel?

The enemy's after your mind. He wants you distracted, taken away. That's just one example. We could go on and on and on with example after example where the enemy's coming after us so that our thinking is not on the Lord. There's even a scripture—a brother shared it with me last night in Isaiah chapter 8, verse 12. It says this: "Do not say, 'A conspiracy,' concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled."

Which is another way of just saying, "Rest in the Lord. He'll take care of it." He'll take care of your life. He'll take care of your home. He'll take care of your finances. He'll take care of your future. He'll take care of what's going on in the world. And what's the worst that man can do to us anyway? They can just kill the body, but they can't touch the soul. They can't touch the eternal.

As you stand fast in the grace of God, you're not tripped up or entangled in things that might be a false gospel, but also not a gospel at all—just a bunch of stuff to keep you busy, a bunch of stuff to keep you away. You come to the place in verse four that you fall away from grace. I don't know that anyone wants to describe their life that way. You can't earn God's favor. You can't work for God's favor. All you need to do is trust him and receive from him.

Turn over to John chapter 6 as we wind down here. Just a few more things. Jesus was there on the Sea of Galilee, and I can't wait to take you guys back. Many of you will go with us. Go back to the Sea of Galilee. We'll do a tour of Israel. We're getting one planned for next year. It's going to be great. We will be here. You can put your feet in the Sea of Galilee. We'll go on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was in this region, and in John chapter 6, you have a group of people here that are wanting more signs and more free food, and they want to experience more healings.

Notice what Jesus says here. John chapter 6, verse 25: "And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' Jesus answered and said, 'Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.'"

A real quick affirmation of what I just shared with you. There's a lot of things to eat, but not everything's eternal. There's a lot of things to consume, but not everything is going to be eternal. And you can labor for this stuff, but also waste your life along the way.

Then they ask the question in verse 28: "Then they said to him, 'What shall we do that we may work the works of God?'" That's a great question to ask. What do I need to do? Christians ask that all the time. What do I need to do? I want to do what's right. I want to make the right decision. What works do I need to do? Just tell me what they are, Pastor. Here's what Jesus says, you ready? Verse 29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent."

That's the work. It's not works plural, it's work singular. And what is that work? Believe. Be careful with your minds, please. There's so much going on that it would be easy to be taken off guard, easy to be distracted, easy to get caught up in things and labor for things that aren't eternal. Here's the work. This is the singular work: believe God. Believe God in what he said. Believe him in what he's doing in your life.

Coming back now to Galatians. I love that. Sometimes I need things simplified for me. Do you? Do you need things simplified? "What am I supposed to do?" And Jesus said, "Just believe." "Are you sure? There's got to be things to do." "Just believe. I'll take care of it. I'll lead you and guide you." Monday will be different, and Tuesday will be different, Wednesday will be different.

I'll take you to Walmart late at night so you can have an illustration for Sunday. I'm telling you, every single time they're just camping out there. I think they have a tent or something there, just ripping people off. Don't go inside anymore. Maybe I'll show up. Maybe I will make a trip. It will be a date with Marie when I'm feeling good about it. There's a little Crumbl cookie place there next door, too. When I'm feeling strong enough, well, I'll engage them and go, "Guys, what are you doing? What are you doing? What has happened?"

You obviously have a sincerity to worship the one true God, but you're stopping so short. You're stopping so short and then ripping other people off along the way instead of taking them all the way to the one who has set you free completely through the finished work of the cross.

He says in verse five now: "For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." That's his conclusion of the paragraph.

In Jesus, the externals of life are not the essence of salvation. It doesn't matter if you choose to eat steaks or Brussels sprouts. Actually, it does matter if you choose to eat Brussels sprouts. Those are disgusting. But if you want to, it doesn't matter. That doesn't make you a better Christian. "I eat this, but I don't eat that." It doesn't make you a better Christian. The externals don't matter. It doesn't matter if you worship on Saturday, or if you worship on Sunday, or if you worship on Tuesday at 2:00 in the afternoon. The way and day you choose to worship doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter your outward appearance. These things are not what are important to God. It doesn't matter how many times you read your Bible, or your perfect church attendance, or the length of your hair, or the number of things. What matters is this: are you in the family by faith in Jesus Christ? Because if you're in the family, you're in. You're accepted. You come as you are.

And here's the thing about God: everyone is welcome. You come as you are, but God loves you so much that he's not going to let you stay there. There will be change. You will become new in your faith. This is faith working through love. It's not circumcision. I think of how many live this unbelievably godless life, and then at the end of the day go, "But I go to church."

Yeah, but for what? Why do you go to church? And I'll tell you: most people that live a godless life and come to church, they do it because they have an uneasy conscience. They want to have the outward appearance of righteousness and outward appearance that things are right, but inside they know.

I know that's a hard word because some of you are here for that reason. And I'm not saying you shouldn't be here. I think you should. I just want you here for the right reasons. Why play a game? Why play a game? Nobody's picking up with that game. You're not—even you know. You even know that it's not real. And it's just a miserable way to live when there's freedom. You're in bondage to the game you're playing. You're a game player and you're in bondage to it. You're ensnared, you're trapped. You're not even enjoying God. You're just playing your game. "Look at me, I'm here."

Yeah, well, you're here. That's good. But how's your life with the Lord when you're not here? Because this is only like an hour and a half you're here, 90 minutes of the whole week. But what's your life like out outside? What's your life like at home? What's your life like in your marriage, with your kids, in your singleness? Stand fast is the word. Stand fast in the liberty of Jesus Christ, in his grace.

He says here just know it's not whether you're circumcised or not circumcised. What really matters here today is your faith. Is your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ? It's really after four chapters of all these heavy doctrines, Paul gets very, very simple. This is it. This is the bottom line: it's your faith. I want to show you where all these guys are wrong, but the bottom line is it's your faith.

Just like when I told you when I first came. I didn't give you this whole Old Testament Bible study trying to explain every single thing in the Old Testament, proving to you that you need to be saved. I just told you about Jesus, him crucified, rose again from the dead. Place your faith in him, and your sins will be forgiven. You guys said, "Yes, I need that. I want that. I need to be right with God." And he says, "Hey, that's it. Just faith through love. Faith through love."

Legalism is striving, arguing, contention. It's always tension when you're dealing with a legalist. They'll come up to you and go, "Why aren't you?" "Why aren't I what? I didn't even know I was supposed to do that. What is that?" "Well, you know, you're not a good Christian if you..." "Well, I didn't know until you told me."

There's a much better way to talk to people about their walk, and it's not sniffing out the sin and being the one person who's finding every wrong in the church. But rather, if God's given you eyes to see things that need to be improved, then you just put your arm around a brother or sister and say, "Hey, let's learn what the Bible has to say about that. Let's just learn. God has more for you. You don't have to live that way anymore. I know that's how you were raised, but you don't have to live that way anymore. God has set you free."

Guest (Male): Today on Abounding Grace, we've listened in to a portion of Pastor Ed Taylor's study in Galatians. If you joined us late or would just like to give this a second listen, go online to aboundinggraceradio.com or look for our program wherever you get your podcasts. Have you had a chance to download our Calvary Church app? Yes, this is another great way to take in the teaching of God's Word.

We enjoy hearing from our listeners. Even just a quick hello telling us the station you listen to means a lot. And maybe you didn't realize it, but Pastor Ed reads these comments. Let us know how we can pray for you as well. You can email us through the website at aboundinggraceradio.com.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Hey, this is Pastor Ed, and it's an honor for me to share with you my brand new book. It's called Letting Go of Your Past. And one of the things I wanted to let you know right away is there's an audio version. We've never done an audio version before, but there's an audiobook version that you can get and take it with you in your ears. It's kind of cool.

But this book God is using testimony after testimony after testimony. I've been traveling, actually, with it around the country, teaching at different churches and sharing a Bible study on how to deal with your past biblically, and then making this resource available. And the feedback coming back is so encouraging. I just know it'll bless you. You can look it up and see the different themes that it deals with. I believe it's like eight or nine chapters and maybe, I don't know, 25 different things that will help you.

One of them is your identity in Christ. Just knowing who you are will open your heart to receive all that God has for you. The title again is Letting Go of Your Past by Ed Taylor. You can get it on our store. Our store is at calvaryco.store, calvaryco.store, or wherever you get books. But I appreciate your prayers and your support. And just continue, continue to pray for us and continue to pray for this little book, because God is using it greatly.

Guest (Male): Again, that's Letting Go of Your Past by Pastor Ed. To order it today, call us at 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE. Or go online to calvaryco.store. Be sure to join Pastor Ed next time for more teaching from Galatians, right here on Abounding Grace.

Guest (Male): Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church Colorado, here in Aurora.