“How Not To Respond To The Gospel”
Galatians 2:11-21
Sermon Series: “The Gospel”
Introduction: Are you trusting a religious system or the Savior, Jesus Christ? This is a crucial question for us to answer. It will determine whether or not we know God and where we spend eternity. The gospel is the good news of what Jesus had done for us-not what we do for him. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is not really the gospel if we add anything to Jesus. This is the situation that Paul was encountering in Galatia. A group of people known as Judaizers were leading people astray from the true gospel by adding circumcision and the keeping of the Old Testament Law to faith in Christ as conditions for salvation. Even Peter, who had preached the gospel to Gentiles and defended their opportunity to be saved through faith in Jesus, had succumbed to their pressure and withdrawn from fellowship with Gentile believers. Paul confronted him because the gospel was at stake and others were being led astray. This demonstrates that what we do shows what we believe more than what we say. Through these verses, we learn that the way not to respond to the gospel is by trusting in a religious system instead of Jesus or by adding anything to faith in Christ.
Key Connections: Spirit-grace-faith-liberty-godly fruit
Flesh-law-works-bondage-unrighteous deeds
Main Idea: We need to trust Jesus Christ, the Savior, instead of a works-based religious system (even if Jesus is part of that system).
Applications:
1. We need a Savior, and not a religious system, in order to be declared righteous and have life (v. 16). The text is very clear that on one is saved by keeping the Law. The Law was given to show us that we are sinners in need of a Savior-not to save us (see chapter 3). Everyone needs to repent of sin, but some people need to repent of religion also in order to be saved.
2. We need a Savior and not a religious system in order to live out the Christian life (v. 20). Sometimes people understand that faith is the way to salvation but get tripped out by thinking that our effort is how we live the Christian life. Living the Christian life is by grace through faith as much as being saved in the first place. We are not capable of living the Christian life, but it is a matter of Jesus living through us, as we trust Him. We need to repent of all our religious systems and trust Jesus alone.
Conclusion: What are you really trusting? What does your life say? Is your faith in Jesus alone? Are you looking to the finished work of Christ and the grace of God or do you think you can do something to help your salvation?
