Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: Every person who begins the Christian life on the basis of grace through faith is free in Christ. That is our birthright as believers. It is our spiritual standing before God. It's the truest thing about us. Christ has set us free.

Guest (Male): Not to us, but to your name be the glory! Yes!

Announcer: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in biblical studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Galatians. Let's listen in as JP delivers the message, Freedom Reigns.

JP Jones: If you have your Bibles, would you open to Galatians chapter 5? We're going to look at Galatians 5 verses 1 through 12. Galatians chapter 5 verses 1 through 12. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Mark my words, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again, I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he's obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace.

But by faith, we eagerly await through the spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I'm confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves.

Well, kind of an interesting passage, isn't it? It's one of those passages that really has an historical context behind it that needs to be understood so that we can wade our way through some of the difficult language. Paul is writing to the Galatian church, giving them a proclamation of our freedom in Christ. It's one of Paul's earliest letters.

It was a letter that was written in advance to Paul going to what's known as the Jerusalem Council, which is described in Acts chapter 15. The Jerusalem Council was this great proclamation of the church that salvation was available to anyone and everyone, not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles, and that salvation was all about what Christ has done, not about what we contribute to the equation.

And the critical issue for that first council, the Jerusalem Council, was that since salvation was based on this principle of grace, even though the first believers were Jewish Christians, it wasn't necessary for a Gentile to become a Jew before they could become a Christian. In other words, the Jewish customs, the Jewish traditions, the Jewish laws were not binding upon Gentile believers.

Salvation was by grace alone and not through any form of law, not through any additions. And so the book of Galatians is written as a theological and practical statement about this great truth. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Now Paul is writing to some people who were having firsthand issues with some of these truths.

They were Gentiles who had come to faith in Christ on the principle of grace, but soon after Paul's ministry and preaching of grace, certain false teachers came down into their area and said, "Well, you know, Jesus is a good way to start. But if you really want to be spiritual, if you really want to be a religious person, if you truly want to be devout, well then you need to follow the law. You need to embrace the Jewish system and traditions and rules and regulations."

And for the people in Paul's day, the rite of circumcision was a symbol that embodied the whole theology of legalism. So circumcision becomes the point of discussion, but it merely represents a theology of salvation by works or sanctification by works. Following rules and traditions rather than trusting in Christ alone. But for them, it was the real issue.

So Paul makes this great declaration. We looked at it at the beginning of last week of our freedom in Christ. He says we need to tenaciously embrace our freedom in Christ. Verse 1 says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Every person who begins the Christian life on the basis of grace through faith is free in Christ. That is our birthright as believers. It is our spiritual standing before God. It's the truest thing about us. Christ has set us free. Jesus said in John chapter 8, "If the son shall set you free, you are free indeed."

We've been freed from God's demanding standards of the law. We've been freed from sin. We've been freed from satanic bondage. We've been set free from our own selfishness. We are free in Christ. Last week I gave you the historical example of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment.

I talked about how the Emancipation Proclamation was given in 1862, but in actuality no slaves were actually freed. Their legal right for freedom was established, but their real freedom, their practical freedom, their actual freedom didn't come until the signing of the 13th Amendment, which was in 1865. And in between the Civil War was fought.

So there was a battle that had to be fought for that freedom to be real. Jesus is saying in Galatians chapter 5, "We are free, but we need to stand firm in that freedom. We need to resist anything that would take us back into slavery, back into bondage." Thinking about this whole principle, I came up with another historical example.

The Magna Carta, 1215, the Magna Carta was signed. Means the Great Charter. The Magna Carta actually is the document that serves as the precursor for all democracies in existence today. Our own Constitution was modeled after and formed after the Magna Carta. Magna Carta was signed in Britain.

It was a legal document that outlined the role of kings and the role of the citizenry. It was the first time that it actually got legally formulated that a king did not have the absolute rule over his subjects, but that there were certain rules and laws that even kings had to be subject to. I remember when I was a history major at San Jose State, Harvard of the West as you know.

I was taking a world history class. We talked about the Magna Carta and I remember the whole discussion of this Latin phrase, lex rex. It was the law is king. That came out of the signing of the Magna Carta, the Great Charter, that no longer was the king king, but the law was king.

Paul says in effect in Galatians 5, our Magna Carta has been signed. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ settled the issue for all time. Romans 8 says, "There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death."

That is our birthright. We've been set free from the law of sin and death. But Romans 8, similar to Galatians 5, is built upon this principle that freedom, even though it's our birthright and even though it's our legacy, is something that we have to fight for, something that we have to walk in, something that we have to embrace.

It's like the law of gravity. The law of gravity keeps us in check, right? But many of us have probably experienced the phenomena of superseding the law of gravity. If you've ever ridden in an airplane or jet, you have. You get inside, you buckle yourself in, you take off, the force of those engines supersedes the law of gravity and the plane actually goes up in the air.

But you are still inside the plane, held in your place by gravity, but as long as you're in the plane, you're part of something that's actually superseding gravity. Christ set us free by the power of his grace and as long as we are living in that truth, we are free. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."

But if we step away from the truth of Christ's grace in our life, and we look at life and live life on the basis of what we bring to the equation, on the basis of what we try to earn before God, on the basis of what rules we keep, that freedom is no longer operational in our life. We come back under a yoke of slavery.

Paul says in Galatians 5:1, "Resist that stuff. Resist anything that would enslave you. Resist anything that would rob you of what Christ has purchased for you. It was for freedom that Christ set us free." So we need to tenaciously, actively, with discipline, make sure every day we live in the very freedom that Jesus Christ has purchased for us.

That's what Paul says in Galatians 5:1. Now, writing to the Galatian audience, he deals with the specific issue that was at play for them, that was going to rob them of their freedom. And what was going to rob them of their freedom was this legalistic teaching that had come to Galatia. And this legalistic teaching was embodied in the rite of circumcision.

The point is not the practice, the physical act. The point is the theology behind it. Paul says this in Galatians chapter 5 verses 2 through 4, "Mark my words, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he's obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ. You've fallen away from grace."

In effect, what Paul is saying is we need to wisely avoid the bondage of legalism. We need to wisely avoid the bondage of legalism. In other words, we need to have spiritual eyes wide open to all the things that would trap us spiritually. He starts off this exhortation by saying, "Mark my words." In the NIV version, there's an exclamation point after that.

It's one Greek term. It's a command. It means, "Look! Behold! Be aware! Open up your eyes!" See what Paul is trying to help us see is there are spiritual pitfalls out there. There's all kinds of traps. Walking in the freedom that Christ has given to us is not going to be an effortless experience.

There's a spiritual battle that we are all in. There are spiritual forces that are opposed to us. There's spiritual teaching that will enslave us. So have your eyes open. Be wise so that you can avoid any kind of bondage. The particular bondage the Galatians dealt with was the bondage of legalism.

He says, "Mark my words, I Paul tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all." See, he's writing to an audience of Gentile believers who were not circumcised, physically they weren't circumcised. They put their faith in Jesus Christ and now these Judaizers came down and said, "Now you know, you got to buy into the whole system of Jewish law. You got to follow all these rules and regulations. You got to worship on these certain days and you got to keep these certain practices, and above all, you got to be circumcised, because that's what it's all about."

You see, the theology behind this teaching is a theology based on externals, rather than a theology based on internal transformation. Galatians is telling us that false teaching in its various forms can be reduced down to a system of works. Any system, any religious option that presents itself to us that is about our works, our efforts, our contribution, denies the principle of grace and it will enslave us.

You see, one of the things that we've been coming back to over and over in our study of the book of Galatians is really there's only two ways of approaching God. One is what we bring to the table: my obedience to rules, my following of rituals, my good works, my contribution. And the other is what God does for me.

Works or grace. The flesh or the spirit. And Paul is saying to the Galatians, "Don't go back to a system that Christ delivered you from, that Christ saved you from. And if you submit to the outward expression of circumcision, you're buying into the whole theology that it's about works." Now interestingly enough, and this is what's so deceptive about false religious systems, is that circumcision initially was a great thing.

Genesis chapter 12, Abraham receives this promise from God, a promise of blessing. Throughout the book of Genesis, God renews this promise. Genesis 15, he renews it again and Abraham responds to it with faith, and we're told that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness because he believed the promise that God made to him.

His whole spiritual status before God was transformed and he became a righteous person in God's sight. Why? Because he received grace by faith. That's the biblical principle for salvation, Old Testament and New Testament. "For by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not as a result of works, lest anyone should boast." Abraham believed God, it was credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis chapter 16, God renews the promise again, and Abraham believes it again. Genesis chapter 17, God makes the promise to him again, Abraham believes it again, and God says, "Okay, I'm going to give you a sign that will set you out and your descendants out as the people who believe my promise, as the people who've been declared righteous on this principle of grace through faith. And that sign is the sign of circumcision."

So the outward physical sign of circumcision was a reminder to Abraham and to all of his offspring that they believe God's promise. But from when that sign was originally given in Genesis 17 to the time when Jesus comes on the scene around 30 AD and the Apostle Paul is writing the book of Galatians around 50 AD, the whole sign had become perverted.

And it was no longer a symbol of faith, it was all about the sign. What was at first a good thing had become a bad thing because of the thinking around it, you see. The thinking was no longer "I'm saved by grace through faith, I have a relationship with God on the principle of grace through faith." The thinking was "I gotta perform this sign, I gotta jump through this hoop, I gotta do this religious act, I gotta keep these rules, I gotta buy into all this tradition."

And that's what Paul says we've been saved from and he's warning the Galatians, don't go back to it. In fact, he says if you follow through on the sign, circumcision, you're buying into the whole system. And if you buy into the whole system, well Christ is of no value to you because you're really not trusting in Christ, you're trusting in your works.

Well let me ask you, what are you trusting in? I doubt if many of us are having our arms twisted to be circumcised these days. That's probably not happening. But there might be spiritual pressure that you have felt in the past, maybe you feel it today, to some kind of spiritual act. Maybe it's join a church, be baptized, practice certain spiritual disciplines, follow certain holiness rules. You know those, "Don't drink, dance or chew, or go with girls who do," those kind of rules.

Maybe you think by keeping those they make you more spiritual. See, any type of behavior, action, discipline, whether it's in the Bible or just man-made, if our trust is in the act, if our trust is in the act, it is legalism. Our trust has to be in Christ alone. Christ is the only one who can save me. Christ is the only one who can make me spiritual. Christ is the only one who can change my life. And if I trust in what I do, I'm not trusting in Christ.

We need to wisely avoid the bondage of legalism. Paul said it this way earlier in the book of Galatians in Galatians chapter 3. "Those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under a curse. In fact, they're under God's curse, for the Scripture says, 'Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's book of the law.'

So it's clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law, for the Scripture says, 'It's through faith that a righteous person has life.' This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, 'It's through obeying the law that a person has life.' But Christ has rescued us from that curse that is pronounced by the law. He hung on the cross for us and the Bible says, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'

For Christ Jesus and through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing as he promised to Abraham, so that we are believers and we will receive the promise of God's Holy Spirit through faith." God has set us free from the principle of law, of works, of rules, of externals.

And he's warning us that if we look to those things to make us more spiritual, we are separating and disconnecting ourselves from Christ. We're cutting ourselves off from the very power to change our lives. When we trust in ourselves and we trust in rules, we're no longer trusting in Christ. And if we're no longer trusting in Christ, we've disconnected ourselves from the very power that God makes available to make us new people.

If we were all to go on a trip to New York and do the standard tourist stuff, you know, we make all the stops and we go to the Statue of Liberty and we go to where the towers were and we go down to Broadway, and then we go over to the Empire State Building. We go in the lobby of the Empire State Building and our tour guide says, "Well, you got two choices. You can climb the steps to the top or you can take the elevator. Now I'll push the button and we'll go up there."

Which would you rather choose? Climbing the steps all the way to the top of the Empire State Building or just getting on the elevator and letting it do the work for you? Well, if you think about it at all, you'd say, "I'll get on the elevator." Why? Because my gosh, think of the effort it'd take to climb those steps.

That is exactly what people do spiritually speaking when they try to make themselves more spiritual by their own good works. Step after step after step after step, I hope I make it to the top. This is killing me. Step after step after step. When we trust in rules, you see, we're not trusting in Christ.

Christ is the one who saves us and Christ is the one who makes us spiritual. Now does that mean that it's this kind of, you know, "Hey, I'm just going to let go and let God! I'm just going to kind of just sit back and let go. Oh, I'm living in grace. I'm just going to let God change me. I don't have to do anything because nothing I do matters anyway. So I'll just kind of do whatever I feel like doing and say I'm living by grace."

Not at all. Obedience is a part of the grace-led life. Faith always works itself out in obedience. But the issue is the heart. The issue is the heart. You see, the heart in legalism is "it's all about me." The heart in obedience of grace is "it's all about Christ."

Announcer: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250. For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills.