Preacher: Rev. Bob Hiller
Series: Lectionary Series C
Category: Forgiveness, Mercy
Detail:
I am excited! Today we are in the book of Galatians. I love all the Bible, and I don’t think I am allowed to rank books, because they are all great. But, there are few books in the Bible, that make my heart sing like Galatians. This book is like eating your favorite desert and finding out that, at the end, the whole thing was good for you! It’s like a healing bowl of ice cream! It’s like eating a $200 steak for free! It’s like listening to the angel sing! Oh, this book is wonderful.
Galatians is a letter written by St. Paul, the apostle who wrote a good portion of our NT. He has been going around the world, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus and planting churches based on the message of Christ. He planted a number of churches in the region of Galatia. But, after he left, false teachers arose who said Paul’s teaching on the Christian life was incomplete. They taught that we were saved by the gracious work of Jesus on the cross, but that if we wanted to stay saved, we had to start obeying the OT ceremonial laws. You had to be circumcised and you couldn’t eat bacon, etc. Saved by grace, but you remain saved by your works. You get in by grace, you stay in by works. So, Paul has to write this letter to correct this false view, rescue the Galatian from these evil lies, and frankly, to beat the evil snot out of the false teachers.
He does this by drawing an important distinction between law and gospel. Paul was teaching what we call the religion of the gospel, which says that we are saved and we remain saved because God chose to graciously send Jesus to die for you. Contrast this with every other religion in the world, the religion of the law. This is the religion that says, God might be gracious, but if you want to be right with him, it is up to you to restore the relationship on some level. Paul writes his letter to rescue us from this false faith by securing us in Christ, or, the religion of the gospel.
The religion of the gospel works like this. Follow me with this analogy. God graciously created us to love us and give us a wonderful creation to live and play in. He said, “See this world? Take it, it’s all yours. This garden? Take and eat, take and drink, it is my garden given for you.” Within this gracious creation he also lovingly gave us boundaries, we’ll call it the law. “You must not eat of that one fruit or you will certainly die.” We’ll call that the law. It kept us safe and in bounds.
Now, what happened was, we all want to know what’s on the other side of the wall. So, in rebellion against God and His love, because we were not content to live with His gifts as His creatures, and we were more intrigued by the devil’s temptation to be our own gods, we climbed the wall, and fell down on the other side, giving ourselves a mortal wound. So, now, in our rebellious sinfulness, we are lying on the outside of the wall, looking at our death.
Now, every other religion in the world says this about our state, “It is up to you in some way to get back on the other side of the wall. God wants you back in there, but it’s up to you to climb back in.” That is, we must scale the wall of the law in order to be back and right with God. So, in our self-imposed, mortally wounded state, we try climbing the wall. And, we’ll try to climb with all sorts of tools. We’ll try using our good works and moral living to help us scale the wall (like when we say, “God will save me because I’m a good person…do you realize that there are still LCMS Lutherans out there who believe their going to heaven because they are good people? Yikes!). We’ll try using spiritual practices to scale the wall (God will save me because I pray hard and read my bible and go to church). We’ll try using our reason and our knowledge to try to scale the wall (God will save me because I know all the right doctrine and can win all the theological arguments). So, we use the tools to scale the wall. Only, here’s the thing. The wall is flat and smooth and hard and perfect, and our tools are shotty, weak, and broken. We are never getting back over the wall to be in the right place with God by what we do. On our own, we are left here for dead.
That is what we call “the religion of the law.” Trying to be right with God, that is justified, by the law is the death of sinners like us. So, St. Paul says to the Galatians, by works of the Law no one will be justified. Or later, For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse. That is, we are dead under the religion of the Law. Let me be very clear on this, if you believe you are right with God because of anything that you do, you are the very one under the curse, because you are using faulty tools to climb the wall of the Law. It is insurmountable.
So, what hope does anyone have? If my goodness, my spiritual endeavors, and my knowledge of God are not enough to save me, where can I place my trust? Is there any way for me to get back with God? No. There is no way for you to get back to God. God, must come to you.
So, there you are, on the ground, below the wall, condemned by the Law you foolishly rebelled against and cannot keep, dead and without hope. And you look up and see a hand climbing over the wall, and there is Jesus, jumping over the wall like only He can navigate it. And He lands on the ground next to you and says, “I’m taking you back!” He then, in his might, punches the wall and crushes it. As He destroys the wall, it falls on Him and takes His life. But, you, you He has sent back into the garden. Suddenly, the dark, oppressive shadow of the Law has been removed and you see the sun, and birds and singing, and angels are rejoicing, and you are brought back into the garden. But, you cannot move, so Jesus, rises out from among the ashes and carries you in! Free to live a new life!
Now, this is the story of our justification. Jesus has done everything to bring you into His kingdom and to restore you to a right place with God. To justify you. His death brought you in! But, here’s the problem with the Galatian situation, folks had been living in the shadow of the law for so long, they couldn’t conceive of a life of freedom. So, people that we call Judaizers started creeping into the churches. They said things like, “Sure, Paul was right to teach you that Jesus did all necessary to save you. But, if you want to stay in here, if you want to remain right with God, it’s up to you! You need to start obeying all the Jewish laws. You need to get circumcised and obey all our dietary laws. Then you will really be a Christian. And, they start to rebuild what Christ has taken away.
So, this is why Paul writes Galatians, to bring back the Galatians from this false idea that God saves us in Christ, but it is up to us to keep ourselves saved! By grace I’m saved, but I sustain myself in the faith. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Now, this is an insane amount to unpack, but Paul is saying, “Look, if you think one is right with God according to the works of the Law at any point in your relationship to God, if you think at any point that your salvation or justification or even Christian life depends on you, you are trusting the wrong thing! Jesus climbed the wall and kept it for you completely. He destroyed the wall so it can no longer condemn you, ever. He set you free in the garden by His grace, and you remain there by His grace. You are in by grace and you stay in by grace. You are in because of Jesus and you stay in because of Jesus. So, just look to Him as He carries you. Don’t start trusting your works, spirituality, or knowledge. Jesus has done it all for you! You shall live by faith in Him, that is, you shall live trusting in Him alone, and nothing inside of you. Its not even your trust that you should look to. Jesus says, “I chose to forgive you, to cancel the Law’s demands against you by taking the Law’s punishment for you. You are saved, you are right, you are justified, you are in and stay in, because I did this for you.” Faith is having that hit your ears and resting in the promise.
Jesus tore down the wall for you. You are in because He loves you and gave Himself for you. Its not up to you to stay in this relationship with God. It’s up to Jesus. In your baptism, He promised to keep you as His own forever. You are the one He died for. You are the one He rose for. You are the one He shattered the wall for. Now, come to the altar, renter the garden, take and eat, take and drink, and so that His body and blood which saved you will sustain you unto life everlasting. There is no wall keeping you out. This life is here for you! AMEN!
