KCCBR Combined Worship 9-3-2023

I Live by Faith in the Son of God

Galatians 2:17-21

 

Introduction- No man living is righteous… (Psalm 143:2)

As we go through the book of Galatians, Paul is making a strong defense for the true gospel as we saw in Gal. 2:5. We have been seeing how he even had to publicly oppose Peter to his face because Peter knew what the true gospel was, but his actions were saying something much different. As Pastor Choi pointed out, Peter knew the true gospel and preached it to Cornelius’s household. Peter also spoke the true gospel at the Jerusalem council. The word gospel in Greek is euangelion which means “good news”. To understand what is the “good” part of the good news, we have to understand what the bad news is. Psalm 143:2, David in praying for help and guidance says: And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For no person living is righteous in Your sight. The bad news is that none of us are righteous in God’s sight. The worst part is that our righteousnesses are filthy and unacceptable to God. Outside of faith in Christ, all our works are unacceptable to God.

 

The word orthodoxy comes from the Greek root words orthos which means right, straight or true, and then doxa which means opinion. So orthodoxy means the one true opinion or belief. Wrong orthodoxy is dangerous. Last week, Pastor Choi pointed out in Romans 10, Israel had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They sought to establish their own righteousness. This is typical of fallen man from Adam and Eve and on. Adam and Eve made their own covering, but God gave them the skins of an animal. Cain gave his own kind of offering to God and it was rejected. In the book of Judges, everyone did what seemed right in their own eyes.

 

In our current passage, Peter had the right orthodoxy. But right orthodoxy is useless if it isn’t followed by right orthopraxy or right living. The Gospel is good news because Jesus accomplished what we couldn’t. He lived without sin and paid the penalty for the sins of everyone in the world who would believe in Him. Pastor Choi shared last week in Galatians 2:16 16 nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified. The accursed gospel of the Judaizers was not good news. It was bad news. If this teaching was accepted by the church and practiced, no one could ever be justified. We would remain in sin. As mentioned in previous sermons, nothing can be added or subtracted from the true Gospel. As we continue in Galatians, our message today is from verse 2:20, “I live by Faith in the Son of God.”

 

1. Does Christ Promote Sin? 17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! What is being said here? Paul dumped all of his accomplishments. He counted his gains before Christ as loss, as garbage, as useless, as nothing. In verse 17, Paul is saying that if we follow the teaching of the Judaizers, that by only having faith in Christ, we have not become better, but worse. It’s as though it makes Christ Himself a minister of sin. By having to add works to faith, it is saying faith alone can’t justify us. Did faith in Christ leave us still in sin? Paul answers his question, Absolutely not! So, this is exactly why the Judaizers' teaching was accursed. Their teaching only produced sin and death because once again, it was a way of man and not of God. In Habakkuk 2:4 it says:“See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright? but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness? If the righteous person lives by faith, the Judaizers are the opposite, they are the enemy who are puffed up and with wrong desires.

 

Now, everything Paul is saying in Galatians 2:15-21, he is saying to Peter in the presence of all. Peter’s orthopraxy is being addressed by Paul. When we know what is right but don’t practice, we can create a lot of trouble, especially being shepherd of God’s flock. We should be reminded of how Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Loving Him would mean caring for and feeding His sheep. The greatest care an overseer in the church can give is teaching rightly and protecting the church from false teachers even if they profess to be Christians. Peter's actions were testing his love for Jesus and his flock. Thank goodness Paul addressed it. Just imagine how the readers of this letter responded when they read that Paul had to correct Peter. This event had to give more credit to Paul’s apostolic authority which the Judaizers were trying to attack.

 

2. If I rebuild what I destroyed 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. Paul wasn’t going to rebuild what he destroyed, but the Judaizers were doing exactly that. Peter’s orthopraxy was following what the Judaizers were teaching even though Peter knew what was right. In first Timothy 5:20, Paul said this: 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. Paul’s orthodoxy is seen in that verse and his orthopraxy is evidenced in his correcting Peter in the presence of all. When Paul received grace through faith in Christ on the Damascus road, he knew that faith alone saved him. And that he knew, was a gift of God. It was clear to him. It was one message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It was the same message for Jews and gentiles and for all people.

 

3. I Died to the Law 19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. Paul died to the idea that he could save himself by keeping the law. It was by grace that he was able to understand this. He died to the legalism that the Judaizers were teaching and had no choice but to correct Peter's actions. Paul had to die to the law in order for him to truly live unto God. He wrote in Romans 1:17: For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed? A righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Paul is telling Peter that he died to the law so that he might live for God in righteousness - the way of faith. In telling Peter what he himself had done, he was reminding Peter, we must all do the same. Our orthodoxy and orthopraxy will define any hypocrisy in us that needs to be dealt with.

 

Conclusion - I Live by Faith 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, 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 could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” We could spend a whole sermon right here, but in conclusion, some commentators call 2:20 Paul’s testimony verse. It’s what I believe is the best definition of what it is to be a Christian. Paul uses “I” or “me” in verse 7, 7 times. He doesn't exalt himself but humbles himself. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ.” He is speaking of joining Christ in His crucifixion and His victory over sin and death. Next he says:, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” His old self is dead, being crucified with Christ. At the same time, the indwelling presence of Christ is in him and empowering him and guiding his walk. Paul then says: The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Notice that Paul said he lived by faith in the Son of God. He didn’t add anything to faith. He lives this way because Jesus loved Him . Paul really had a grasp better than most of us of how great that love was. Compare Paul here to the Pharisee praying about his righteousness in the temple. Luke 18:11-12 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people? robbers, evildoers, adulterers? or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ The Judaizers were like this Pharisee. They had wrong orthodoxy and therefore wrong orthopraxy (올바른 행동). Peter had right orthodoxy, but was showing hypocrisy in his orthopraxy. It was the tax collector who humbled himself that went away justified in that passage in Luke 18. Paul experienced the grace of God in its fullness and would never set it aside. When Paul said he lived by faith in the Son of God, it cost him beatings, stonings, imprisonments and eventually his life. His faith strengthened him to correct Peter. This action should warn us all to make sure our living follows what we believe.

 

It’s easy to compromise. Today, what would Paul have to say too much of the church today that professes to be Christians? In closing let’s remember that Peter and Paul both gave their lives for being faithful to the gospel. Do any of us think we are better than Peter was? Before we criticize Peter, let’s examine ourselves now. All the things written are for our benefit. Orthodoxy is essential, but useless if we don’t live by it. I hope Paul helped us to see that!