4 Sunday after Pentecost 6/24/07 Text: Galatians 3:23-4:7 Title: We are one.
4 Sunday after Pentecost
6/24/07
Text: Galatians 3:23-4:7
Title: We are one.
This morning’s readings made it really hard for me to choose which one to speak on. There is the Old Testament reading from Isaiah where we read about God pursuing a people that were not even looking for him so they could be one with him.
There is the Epistle reading to the Galatians where we read about the Gospel triumphing over the Law, uniting all kinds of people into a oneness with God and there is that well known Gospel reading were we see Jesus make the first deviled ham.
While it was hard to choose which reading to talk about this morning, I did choose Paul’s letter to the Christians at Galatia. When you heard it just a few minutes ago you might have been confused by it. It is a hard passage to understand because of two things. First, Paul’s writing style is complicated and unless you break it down into small sections it can leave you saying, “huh”.
The other thing that makes it hard to understand is that since we are not living in the time he wrote it, we are sometimes left clueless as to the meaning of the text.
So, this morning we are going to take a look at the Epistle to the Galatians so that the next time you read or hear it, God will speak to you through his word.
The first thing you need to know is why Paul is writing this particular letter to the Galatia Christians. If you have your Bible with you, you would find that the first few verses of chapter 3 gives you a really good clue as to what has gone wrong in the congregation.
Listen to Paul. “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your very eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”
As I read this I realized what Paul was saying was this. You people were taught the wonderful news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but you still want to go back to the Jewish Law. Do you have stupid written on your foreheads? Why in the world have you been listening to those who want to imprison you with the law again?”
Paul could say that because he had taught them about Jesus and his saving work. He had told them that the law could not make them acceptable before God.
The problem is that the Galatians, just like we do, forget that the law that was given through Moses dealt with physical things, things that could be seen through word and action. The Laws of God were never given to make one right with God.
The reason they were given the law was so that God’s people would live godly lives and show them that it is only through the promised seed, the Messiah that they could be saved.
When Adam and Eve were booted out of the Garden of Eden, God made a covenant with Adam and Eve when he promised them a Savior.
God then enlarged on that covenant when he made another one with Abraham that he would send a Savior that would come from his ancestry that would take the punishment that they deserved.
God saw that his chosen people needed guidance, for they were a wicked people, so through Moses he gave them his list of demands that they had to meet.
The law, what we know of as the Ten Commandments was to be a guardian, a caretaker for the people until the Messiah came, just like, according to Roman law a child has to have a guardian, until their father declared them to be an adult.
Have you ever noticed that the Ten Commandments do not condemn. They only tell us the type of life that we are to live. They tell us to do this, do that and God will be pleased.
There in lies the problem. It is not that God’s commands are faulty, but that we are corrupt. We, right away, say we can follow for the most part God’s commands. We say, God understands our inability to completely fulfill them and so he has to do reward us for at least trying; doesn’t he?
That is what we think, but that is not what the Bible, God’s Holy Word tells us. When Moses was given the Ten Commandments to give to the people he was a mediator between God and the people.
We know that, for in Exodus 20:19, we are told that the people said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.
They knew and rightfully so that if they came into direct contact with God they would die, for God has to destroy anything less than perfect since he is perfect. The people then knew that and we need to know it now. Otherwise we really will never get the true meaning of God’s gift of salvation in this life. Until you get it, you will have no choice but rely on something you do and the problem is that when you say that you have to be involved in your being made right with God, the grace of God cannot be fully known as the wonderful life-giving gift it is.
It does not mean that you are not saved, if you think that you have to do something, but that you will never truly know the joy of salvation, for just like the Israelites, God’s chosen people could not remove their guilt by trying to keep the commandments, we can’t either. Left to our own devices we stand as one lost and condemned.
Paul is saying that Moses was the old mediator. He stood between God and his people, for as I said earlier you cannot face God and live.
Jesus Christ is the new mediator. He through his teaching has shown the commandments for what they really are, death sentences. It is in Christ that we see that we are not freed by the Ten Commandments but are imprisoned by them. We are on death row.
I say that because in verse 23 of our text we read, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.”
We who are different are one in Christ through our faith. We are united with him in our baptisms. We are no longer prisoners of the law, for we know the truth. We know, or should know, and accept God’s forgiveness on behalf of Jesus. We did nothing. Christ did everything. He died so that we can live.
Now it is true even as Christians that we still die a physical death. But the only reason we do is so that our sinful bodies, the bodies God created to be without sin, can be sinless on that last Day of Judgment when all people will be reunited with their souls.
Those who rejected God’s gift of salvation by staying in their sins will be sent packing to hell, while those who Jesus snatched from their sinful life will be lifted up in glory to spend eternity with God in the new heaven and earth.
I would be remiss if it did not talk a little about verse 28 of our Gospel. It is a text that has been turned into social gospel so many times that most people that read it have lost sight of the true meaning of the text.
It is really quite simple, maybe there in is the problem, for Paul is telling us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we who are so different are one in Christ.
Paul is saying that the Jew who followed Moses law has no law to follow for Christ has abolished the law given by Moses. There are no more rites and forms of worship that have to be used. In Christ they are one with all other Christians.
He then writes that those Greeks who believed that through wisdom and good works they could be at peace with God; now that they are Christians where the amount of wisdom does not count for anything are one in Christ with all other Christians.
It does not make any difference how diligently a slave performs his duties or how faithful he is to his master. He is one with all other Christians.
It does not make any difference how well a free man directs his affairs or the affairs of the state. He is one with all other Christians in Christ.
It does not make any difference how good a man is at managing his private life. Whether he marries or not, or raises his children in a certain way, he is one in Christ with all other Christians.
It does not make any difference how good a women is at taking care of the home or doing her job outside of the home. It does not make any difference whether she is married or not. It does not make any difference how many wonderful gifts she may have or how she raises her children. She is one in Christ with all other Christians.
The same thing applies to children and young adults. It does not make any difference how educated you are, or how pretty or handsome you are. As a Christian you are one in Christ with all other Christians.
The bottom line that Paul is teaching us is that all people regardless of gender, skin color, nationality, education, or anything else are one in Christ Jesus, for none of the things that each of us do, no matter how important it is to our comfort and life, or the church, can take away our sins or deliver us from death. Only Christ can do that and he did it on that Good Friday so long ago. Amen
6/24/07
Text: Galatians 3:23-4:7
Title: We are one.
This morning’s readings made it really hard for me to choose which one to speak on. There is the Old Testament reading from Isaiah where we read about God pursuing a people that were not even looking for him so they could be one with him.
There is the Epistle reading to the Galatians where we read about the Gospel triumphing over the Law, uniting all kinds of people into a oneness with God and there is that well known Gospel reading were we see Jesus make the first deviled ham.
While it was hard to choose which reading to talk about this morning, I did choose Paul’s letter to the Christians at Galatia. When you heard it just a few minutes ago you might have been confused by it. It is a hard passage to understand because of two things. First, Paul’s writing style is complicated and unless you break it down into small sections it can leave you saying, “huh”.
The other thing that makes it hard to understand is that since we are not living in the time he wrote it, we are sometimes left clueless as to the meaning of the text.
So, this morning we are going to take a look at the Epistle to the Galatians so that the next time you read or hear it, God will speak to you through his word.
The first thing you need to know is why Paul is writing this particular letter to the Galatia Christians. If you have your Bible with you, you would find that the first few verses of chapter 3 gives you a really good clue as to what has gone wrong in the congregation.
Listen to Paul. “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your very eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”
As I read this I realized what Paul was saying was this. You people were taught the wonderful news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but you still want to go back to the Jewish Law. Do you have stupid written on your foreheads? Why in the world have you been listening to those who want to imprison you with the law again?”
Paul could say that because he had taught them about Jesus and his saving work. He had told them that the law could not make them acceptable before God.
The problem is that the Galatians, just like we do, forget that the law that was given through Moses dealt with physical things, things that could be seen through word and action. The Laws of God were never given to make one right with God.
The reason they were given the law was so that God’s people would live godly lives and show them that it is only through the promised seed, the Messiah that they could be saved.
When Adam and Eve were booted out of the Garden of Eden, God made a covenant with Adam and Eve when he promised them a Savior.
God then enlarged on that covenant when he made another one with Abraham that he would send a Savior that would come from his ancestry that would take the punishment that they deserved.
God saw that his chosen people needed guidance, for they were a wicked people, so through Moses he gave them his list of demands that they had to meet.
The law, what we know of as the Ten Commandments was to be a guardian, a caretaker for the people until the Messiah came, just like, according to Roman law a child has to have a guardian, until their father declared them to be an adult.
Have you ever noticed that the Ten Commandments do not condemn. They only tell us the type of life that we are to live. They tell us to do this, do that and God will be pleased.
There in lies the problem. It is not that God’s commands are faulty, but that we are corrupt. We, right away, say we can follow for the most part God’s commands. We say, God understands our inability to completely fulfill them and so he has to do reward us for at least trying; doesn’t he?
That is what we think, but that is not what the Bible, God’s Holy Word tells us. When Moses was given the Ten Commandments to give to the people he was a mediator between God and the people.
We know that, for in Exodus 20:19, we are told that the people said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.
They knew and rightfully so that if they came into direct contact with God they would die, for God has to destroy anything less than perfect since he is perfect. The people then knew that and we need to know it now. Otherwise we really will never get the true meaning of God’s gift of salvation in this life. Until you get it, you will have no choice but rely on something you do and the problem is that when you say that you have to be involved in your being made right with God, the grace of God cannot be fully known as the wonderful life-giving gift it is.
It does not mean that you are not saved, if you think that you have to do something, but that you will never truly know the joy of salvation, for just like the Israelites, God’s chosen people could not remove their guilt by trying to keep the commandments, we can’t either. Left to our own devices we stand as one lost and condemned.
Paul is saying that Moses was the old mediator. He stood between God and his people, for as I said earlier you cannot face God and live.
Jesus Christ is the new mediator. He through his teaching has shown the commandments for what they really are, death sentences. It is in Christ that we see that we are not freed by the Ten Commandments but are imprisoned by them. We are on death row.
I say that because in verse 23 of our text we read, “Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.”
We who are different are one in Christ through our faith. We are united with him in our baptisms. We are no longer prisoners of the law, for we know the truth. We know, or should know, and accept God’s forgiveness on behalf of Jesus. We did nothing. Christ did everything. He died so that we can live.
Now it is true even as Christians that we still die a physical death. But the only reason we do is so that our sinful bodies, the bodies God created to be without sin, can be sinless on that last Day of Judgment when all people will be reunited with their souls.
Those who rejected God’s gift of salvation by staying in their sins will be sent packing to hell, while those who Jesus snatched from their sinful life will be lifted up in glory to spend eternity with God in the new heaven and earth.
I would be remiss if it did not talk a little about verse 28 of our Gospel. It is a text that has been turned into social gospel so many times that most people that read it have lost sight of the true meaning of the text.
It is really quite simple, maybe there in is the problem, for Paul is telling us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we who are so different are one in Christ.
Paul is saying that the Jew who followed Moses law has no law to follow for Christ has abolished the law given by Moses. There are no more rites and forms of worship that have to be used. In Christ they are one with all other Christians.
He then writes that those Greeks who believed that through wisdom and good works they could be at peace with God; now that they are Christians where the amount of wisdom does not count for anything are one in Christ with all other Christians.
It does not make any difference how diligently a slave performs his duties or how faithful he is to his master. He is one with all other Christians.
It does not make any difference how well a free man directs his affairs or the affairs of the state. He is one with all other Christians in Christ.
It does not make any difference how good a man is at managing his private life. Whether he marries or not, or raises his children in a certain way, he is one in Christ with all other Christians.
It does not make any difference how good a women is at taking care of the home or doing her job outside of the home. It does not make any difference whether she is married or not. It does not make any difference how many wonderful gifts she may have or how she raises her children. She is one in Christ with all other Christians.
The same thing applies to children and young adults. It does not make any difference how educated you are, or how pretty or handsome you are. As a Christian you are one in Christ with all other Christians.
The bottom line that Paul is teaching us is that all people regardless of gender, skin color, nationality, education, or anything else are one in Christ Jesus, for none of the things that each of us do, no matter how important it is to our comfort and life, or the church, can take away our sins or deliver us from death. Only Christ can do that and he did it on that Good Friday so long ago. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 11:42 AM
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