Sunday Sermon - Trusting or Trying? Galatians 3:1-14

Transcription

1 Trusting or Trying? Time: 25 minutes Introduction God has taught me a lesson. When preaching becomes your job, you have the privilege to probe deeper into God s words. When I prepare this sermon, I realise God is trying to tell me something. God is really gracious to me, when I am confident about my life, God wants me to query again, where does my confidence lie. I am still reflecting on how this passage will change my life, but I know it will. It has helped me rethink about my Christian life. I hope this sermon can be beneficial to you too. In our last sermons we see Paul uses his own personal testimony to explain why we are justified and sanctified by works. Just a reminder for those who are new, Justification means being declared righteous by God. Sanctification means the process of being made holy, the process of removing imperfections and be more Christ like. 1. Law verses faith. In verses 1-14, in different aspects Paul tries to contrast faith and the law, urging believers to return to the truth. Through faith we By works we are justified and receive the Holy Spirit (vv.1-2) observe the law but nullify the death of Jesus are sanctified (made holy) by the Holy Spirit rely on human effort & reverse our decision & (vv. 3-5) experience as a Christian become true heirs of Abraham & righteous is appear to be saved through Judaism but not true credited to us like credited to him (vv.6-9) heirs of Abraham receive the promise of the Holy Spirit are cursed under the law which no one can obey (vv.10-14) fully Another way to look at this: Paul is trying to correct four misconceptions about how we are saved. I think he is like the TV program myth busters. Gary Hsu Page 1 of 6 EFCOS :30 pm

2 Myth 1: We are justified by works. Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? The Jews may say, we are justified by works. This has been discussed in the previous two chapters, therefore the question Paul asks is a rhetorical one, Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Of course the answer is by believing what you heard. Paul s explanation is in verse 1, Jesus was clearly portrayed as crucified and their practice now may nullify the work Jesus has done. Clearly portrayed means even though they didn t see Jesus crucified with their naked eyes, the evidences are enough for them to picture it vividly. How can they claim the are saved not through Jesus? Myth 2: We are justified through faith, but sanctified by works. 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Some may say they are justified through faith but sanctified by works. We need to work hard in order to earn our salvation. To answer this Paul in verse 3 says: if you are justified through faith with the Spirit, why are you still relying on human effort? Verse 4 is a hard verse, because it doesn t appear the Galatians suffer a lot at that time. 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? It is likely to mean that have you experienced so much for nothing, means they had made a decision to follow Jesus. Their experiences also tell them, that through their faith God give them his Spirit and works miracles among them. Your works have nothing to do with those two things mentioned. Myth 3: It is our Jewish nationality that gets us saved. 6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Gary Hsu Page 2 of 6 EFCOS :30 pm

3 The next myth they have is, It is our Jewish nationality that gets us saved. Look at Abraham, he was circumcised. We are his children, that is how we become a Jewish nation. Abraham is our father, therefore the Gentiles should be circumcised to join the Jewish nation and receive God s promises. Paul: 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you. All nations will be blessed, not just Israel. It is not the circumcision or Jewish identity that saves Abraham, the righteousness was credited to him because he believed God. Therefore anyone who believes God is the heir of Abraham, even if they are Gentiles. Myth 4: God gives us the law to obey. The law + Jesus is our salvation. 10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Gal 3:1-14 ) God gives us the law. He wants us to obey it. Look at how good we are obeying the law like our ancestors. Jesus is good, but don t forget the law that God has given us. Paul: have you looked deeper into the law. If you do you will know ultimately the law is a curse for you, while you are trying to obey it, because you can never fully obey the law. Because we have every tendency to break the law. It happened yesterday. When I say to Esther, do not use that cup to drink, use this one. She ends up of grabbing the cup I gave her, and tries to pour water into the other cup herself. The water ends up spilling everywhere. I realise a truth here. Because we are sinners, we are naturally law breakers. You give a rule, we will test how deep is the water, how far can we go without getting caught. It is like 60km zone, some of us will drive at 65, because that 5km won t trigger speed cameras. That is our nature, we don t like being told what to do. We want to rely on our own strength. We want to test how far God allows us to rely on ourselves. But over the years I realise, you are going no where. God is more delighted in your trusting than your trying. Gary Hsu Page 3 of 6 EFCOS :30 pm

4 The problem is not trying. The problem is trying without trusting. 2. The inevitable outcome of human effort. This passage tells us, everyone who cannot fully obey the law is under curse. In one of my conversations with a sister she told me, I have always been asked to try harder when I was young and I tried to live my life this way until now. She tried to live life like my mum, who lives in exactly the same way. When she encounters difficult situations, she will just try harder. It seems they are not so difficult after all. She will try harder and harder and harder, until now, she starts to ask herself, how come the result of trying harder isn t what she expected. She encounters an unfair situation at work which she cannot resolve, no matter how hard she tries. She starts to doubt herself, is it really the society that has a problem, or she is a problem in her workplace. She becomes insecure, unsure of where God wants her to go. Should she continue trying or finding an alternative? What is God trying to tell her? Her issue doesn t appear to be a salvation issue. She knows she is justified through faith. But she appears to be sanctified by works. You see, when you try very hard through human effort, the inevitable outcome is that you will feel insecure all the time, because you are never sure whether you are good enough. I think most of you have heard when I did door knocking there was this old woman who slammed her door on me. I asked the first question, Do you think you will go to heaven? She said, I am 80-90% sure. Then I asked the second question, When you go to heaven, and you are at the gate. If God asks you why would I let you into my heaven, what would you say? That is the time she said I am very rude and slammed the door. I am now more careful about how should I approach people. But at that moment I did sense her insecurity. How can she answer such a question? If she says through Jesus, why does she still value her works so highly? If through her works, how can she say she believe in Jesus Christ? To deal with this insecurity, you have two ways. 1. First, you become despair because you know no matter how hard you try you cannot go to heaven. You feel disappointed and discouraged, and your life is full of this distress. You are never sure about your salvation. You give yourself a curse. 2. Second, you become self-righteous. You tell yourself that you have done all these good works, it is good enough for you to be saved. You give yourself a false hope. Therefore, the inevitable outcome of human effort is insecurity. The end results will either a curse or a false Gary Hsu Page 4 of 6 EFCOS :30 pm

5 hope. Human effort does not give you comfort. 3. God is at work in us Sometimes, you will encounter difficult verses, like work your salvation. Aren t we justified and sanctified through faith, why these verses seem to imply we are saved by our works? It is in Philippians 2:12-13 Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. If you read the verse carefully, you will see the second part of the verse drives the first part. For it is God who works in you to will to act according to his good purpose. Therefore, it is not you who ultimately work out your salvation, but God who works in you. He works in you both to will and to act according to his good purpose or his pleasure. It means God works in you so you have the urge to do good and the actions. Therefore, sanctification by work is not really your work, but his work. God is at work in you. I think combining with what we learned before, the implication is profound. Perhaps our problem is not we do not try hard enough, but we do not let go. We do not let go of ourself and let God take control of your life. It seems to me Paul has realised this long ago. When he preaches the gospel, he knows it is God who make people grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. (1Co 3:6 ) When he was in prison, he is still joyful because God gives him strength. Philippians 4:11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Verse 11 says 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." Live by faith means it is not once. It is continuous trusting God for strength. Gary Hsu Page 5 of 6 EFCOS :30 pm

6 Illustration Consider two sailors. The sailor on the rowboat relies on his personal strength to row the boat. The sailor on the sailboat awaits the wind to move the boat. In both cases the boat is moving, but through two different power source. One is from the wind; the other is from the sailor himself. When you row a boat for a while, you grow tired and weary, because your strength is limited. But when you let the wind move your vessel it is effortless. I now have realised, if you want to be truly free, you have to let go. Conclusion If there is something that you really want and you can t get it. What do you do? As I was preparing this sermon, I try to think very hard about a practical example of not letting go. Then I realise the fact I think so hard about this application, means I myself is not letting this sermon go. Not letting Holy Spirit run my thoughts. Then I prayed, and I realise the fact I am struggling to come out of a good example is itself an example. Now I realise the idea of letting go have significant implications in my life. I am still reflecting on what it means. But I believe this will have impact on your life too. Sometimes we are trying very hard, but we are getting nowhere, because we are still hoping to save ourselves from these situations. You need to let go. Let he Holy Spirit drives you through your life. The question follows is this, if I let go, but how do I know where the Holy Spirit leads me. Well, to understand spiritual things you need a spiritual mind. We do not know to where the wind will blow, we just need to catch it. In my life I find many times God doesn t show me my path instantly, but through the scripture and the circumstances I become more aware of where the wind blows. But if I don t let go of myself, or let go of my desires wanting to take control, I often missed the wind. Are you trying very hard but still no result? Perhaps the solution is to let go. That is why I always encourage you, to examine deeper into your heart. Do you really trust God? Or are you simply trying without trusting? Have you truly let go? These questions are simply, but it may take our entire lifetime to figure out. Let s pray. Gary Hsu Page 6 of 6 EFCOS :30 pm