Welcome to DELIGHT IN GRACE, The teaching ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. In Galatians 2, 11 through 14, Paul recounts a confrontation with Peter. who withdrew from eating with Gentiles after certain Jews arrived on the scene. Paul knew this wasn't just hypocritical, but failed to keep in step with the truth of the Gospel.
Peter's actions were damaging to the gospel message. In today's message, Pastor Rich shows how Peter's actions communicated a false gospel. and how that same false gospel traps many Christians to day. Let's listen in.
Okay, our scripture reading this morning is going to be found in Galatians chapter 2. Verses 9 through 21. And I'll give you a second to Open up your Scriptures, or you can follow on the screen as well.
Okay. Galatians chapter 2, verses 9 through 21. And when James and Cephas and John. who seem to be pillars. perceived the grace that was given to me.
They gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me. that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only they asked us to remember the poor. the very thing I was eager to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face.
Because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, He was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, He drew back and separated himself. Fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? We ourselves are Jews by birth. and not Gentile sinners. Yet, we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.
So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law, no one will be justified.
Okay. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then? A servant of sin. Certainly not. Oh.
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 in the flesh, 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.
Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, We thank you for the Holy Spirit who came to lead and guide us. actually lives within us. Father. We pray for this service this morning as our pastor comes, Lord, that you.
We'll open our eyes. Lord, help us to Hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. help us to follow his Promptings.
So that Your will might be done in our lives, Lord, and not our own. Father, I pray that each one of us in here can truly say. Like Paul. Not I. But Christ Lord, speak through our pastor this morning, fill him.
with the knowledge of your will. And bring forth from him, Lord, the words that you have given him for us this morning. And Father, we will give you the praise and the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning, church.
Galatians chapter 2. Those of you who are guests here today, we are going through the entire letter of Paul to the Galatian churches. And there's a lot in there about Jews and Gentiles to say that's really not our issue today, is it? And so you might be asking, well, what does this have to do with us?
Well, I'm glad you asked. There's so much we can glean from this, so much we must learn from this. It is the Word of God, and all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God might be complete. thoroughly furnished for every good work.
It is the Word of God that transforms us.
So as we look at God's Word today, May His Spirit teach us. May the eyes of our understanding be opened. There will be a little bit of a history lesson in the message today, and in what you hear and learn and study. The title of today's message is, it's a phrase taken from the very text itself, in step with the truth of the gospel. in step with the truth of the gospel.
And here's the point that we're making. This is why Paul is writing this letter. Because if you'll remember, in the Galatian churches, Paul was a player of many of these churches and then after that some other teachers come in and they say you have to follow the law of Moses if you are truly saved. And Paul says, na-uh. That's a rich pile of translation, isn't it?
In fact, he said it very, very strongly, if anyone comes, if I come, or an angel comes, any other messenger, and they preach to you a gospel other than the one I have already given you, let them be accursed. And he says it twice. That is a strong statement. How does he have such confidence? Because he received his gospel, the gospel that he was preaching, he received it directly from Jesus Christ.
Paul didn't come up with it. He received it directly from Christ. And he was commissioned specifically by Christ.
So here's the point. That he's making it. This is the whole point of Galatians right here. If your walk of faith in Christ is keeping a code, you have missed the point in the power of the gospel. That's how so many people view religion.
And much of religion is that way, but way too many people view Christianity that way. Listen to me. Way too many Christians view Christianity this way. I'm following a moral code, trying to live the Christian life. If your walk of faith in Christ is keeping a code, you have missed the point and the power of the gospel.
is what we're arguing.
Alright, so now Paul is talking about not only his source, of the Gospel, which was Jesus Christ himself. But also he's talking about how the gospel that he preached was equal to, in line with, the gospel that all the other apostles were preaching because they were all apostles specifically commissioned by Christ. And so he's going to point out something Really staggering here. in this narrative. But first, I want to do a brief history lesson.
And this is going to take us through a few chapters of Acts.
Okay? I'm going to have to talk fast, so you're going to need to listen fast. Uh Get your pens out. They're going to be smoking here. Anyway, I was thinking about maybe turning there.
You can if you want to, but it's just way too much.
So I'm just going to lead you through it here. There's a history lesson. This is what's leading up to what he's going to talk about here in this paragraph. It was read for us. We're going to be looking today specifically at verses 11.
Um 11 to 14. When Cephas came up to Antioch is where it begins there.
Okay, so before that time. The gospel, all the disciples, all the apostles were Jewish, right? And all the first converts were Jewish. And then in Acts chapter 10. We find where the gospel first goes to the Gentiles, the gospel to the Gentiles.
And it's in Acts chapter 10, it's the account of. Cornelius, he was a centurion of the Italian cohort.
Okay. That's what the Bible says. And the Lord gave, now he was a devout man. He was like a proselyte. He worshipped Jehovah, the God of Israel.
And the Lord knew that. And he prayed constantly. The Lord gave him a vision. He's up in Caesarea. This is the Mediterranean Sea here, alright?
This is Israel right here. This is the Mediterranean Sea. Up here is Caesarea. That's where Cornelius is. And the Lord gives him a vision.
He says, send your men down to Joppa, about 40 miles south on the coastline there. down to Joppa, and there's one n there named Cephas. That's Peter.
Okay. and you have him come to you.
So while the men are making their forty-mile trek down to Joppa to summon. Peter. Cephas The Lord gives Peter a vision. He's up on a rooftop and gives him a vision. And it's a well-known one, right?
We know it well. And the sheep comes down and it's full of unclean animals. And the Lord says to Peter, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. And he says, No way, Jose. That's another Rich Powell translation.
Because he knew the law. He was a good Jew and he said, I don't eat unclean food. And then the Lord said, what the Lord has. Cleansed. Don't call it common.
That's powerful. That's powerful. Happened three times. three times. While he was having this vision on the rooftop, Cornelius' men knock on the door.
We were told to come to this house and summon one Cephas to the home of Cornelius. Because the Lord told Peter that was going to happen. Long story short, Peter goes with them. He takes that 40-mile trek back up to Caesarea from Joppa up to Caesarea. And he goes to the house of Cornelius.
Cornelius had assembled All kinds of people. and they welcome Peter into the house. This Jew is now walking into a house full of Gentiles.
Now you say today that's not a that's not an issue, right? Back then, That was an issue.
Okay, you didn't do that. Unless you are under the gospel of grace.
Okay. So Peter visits this congregation that is assembled in Cornelius' house, and he presents the gospel. The Lord had prepared their hearts. And Peter, now an apostle, he goes and he presents the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. The Son of God who came, who died, who lived a perfect life.
He died, he was buried, he rose again and ascended back to the Father, and he's coming back.
Okay? And as he was, this is amazing, as he was speaking. As he was speaking, The Gentiles believed. They received the Holy Spirit and then afterwards they were all baptized. These are all Gentiles.
and Peter is officiating all of this.
Okay. So that's Acts chapter 10.
Now that's Peter's experience. And then we move on to Acts chapter 11, and then the gospel is defended. What happens in Acts chapter 11?
Well, because of that, the news went around to all the churches in Judea and the people who believed that, you know, we're Jews and Christ came for his people, the Jews, and he's Messiah, and, you know, if people, we believe he's Messiah, but if you're going to be saved in Christ, you have to live like a Jew. Because Messiah was a Jew. And so they criticize Peter, and they say: if you look in Acts chapter 11, verse 3 verses, you ate with Gentiles.
Now, again, today that's not a big deal, but for Jews back in those days, that's not something you did. Because the Jews were a set-apart people. They were God's holy people, right? And at least that's how they were seeing it. And so.
They said to Peter, you were eating. You ate with Gentiles. How could you do that? Because there is huge significance in sitting down at a dinner table together with people. It's hospitality, right?
And so, what Peter does is he recounts the visions that he had. the men coming from Cornelius, He goes up to Cornelius' house. There's a whole congregation there. He's preaching the gospel to them. And while he's preaching the gospel to them, they believe and the Holy Spirit comes down upon them, just like he did all the disciples at the day of Pentecost.
That's hugely significant. Why? Because it's the same gospel, same Holy Spirit. Same guy.
Okay. Same message. And so Peter recounts the vision in Cornelius' house, and as he recounts all of that to them, Acts chapter 11, look at verse 18. I think it's on the screen there, verse 18. When they heard these things, they fell silent, and they glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.
Aren't you glad for that verse? The next I pity you. You skip ahead then to Acts chapter 13. And now Paul and Barn Paul and uh Paul and Barnabas are going out. And this is the gospel pivot.
Acts chapter 13 is the gospel pivot. Paul and Barnabas, they're in a synagogue now in Antioch. And this is a different Antioch, because there's an Antioch. Here's Joppa, Caesarea, and there's an Antioch up here. And that's where Paul's missionary journeys began.
But there's another Antioch over here. in the region of Pisidia. That's where They are now. And Paul and Barnabas are there. And of course, when Paul goes to a city, the first place he goes to is the synagogue, right?
And he's there. And Paul presents what Paul Harvey would call the rest of the god, of the rest of the story. Right? Say, they say they read a portion of scripture, and then Paul gets up and he says, Okay. Jesus, the Messiah, let me tell you all the rest of the story.
He goes back through a slew of Israel's history, biblical history, things that God did with his people. And he leads them up to the time where Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ. And he presented Jesus Christ as the Messiah. That was killed. And rose again.
Okay. And so that's what he presents.
Now there were many who believed, many who believed. But there were also those who did not, would not believe. And so the unbelieving Jews then became jealous, and what did they do? They reviled Paul. They reviled him.
And as a result of that, Paul and Barnabas standing up before them, he says to them, You judge yourselves unworthy. He says, we are turning to the Gentiles. That's the pivot. We are turning to the Gentiles. Paul says into the Romans that the gospel is the power of God into salvation to the Jew first and.
Also to the Greek.
Okay, so you judge yourselves unworthy. We are turning to the Gentiles. That's Acts chapter 13, verse 46, 47.
Meanwhile, Paul and Barnabas now are going out. They're on a missionary journey. They're evangelizing. People are coming to Christ. They're planting churches.
They're discipling people. And then we come to Acts chapter 15. And Acts chapter 15 is the Jerusalem Council. And it it is there, it is a council and of all the churches, apostles and elders, all right? And and they because they there's a question that they need to answer.
The Judaizers were making demands. And a sharp debate ensues. You see that in Acts chapter 15, verse 1. And the Judaizers We're saying that you have to follow the law of Moses if you indeed are truly saved. And so a council at Jerusalem convenes.
And they settle this question once and for all. And James, the Lord's brother, was the leader of the church, and he's the one that stands up and makes the final declaration. And all the apostles and the elders, prophets, and they all concur on that, and they write a letter. He says, we need to write a letter to the churches, to the Gentile believers. And it's a letter of liberating affirmation sent to the Gentile believers.
In other words, no, you do not have to keep the law. Here's a few things that we do ask you to do. Abstain from sexual immorality, abstain from participating in pagan worship.
Okay, but that's about it. You don't have to keep the Mosaic law. And it says the people absolutely rejoiced when they received that letter. And the reason why they had to send that letter is because James acknowledges at the beginning of the letter in Acts chapter 15 that certain teachers have gone up and they're troubling you. He says, we didn't send them without authority to do that.
Listen, understand something. What's happening here in Galatians and what happened in Acts chapter 15 and I believe what's described right here in Galatians particularly here in chapter 2 I believe that is the incident that led up to the Jerusalem council in Acts chapter 15 Okay. This is an existentially critical moment. in the history of the church. This had to happen.
This question had to be settled. There are several of those moments recorded in Acts in the history of the church. This is one of them. Very, very important. Because here it is, as Paul points out in Romans chapter 7, verse 6: the New Testament reality for God's people is this.
We are released from the law. Having died to that which held us captive, so we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Would you read that with me, please? We are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive.
So of the written code. My ambition for this series My prayer for you through this series is that we take that one phrase, that one line right there. Serve in the new way of the Spirit. I want us to know. what that means and what it looks like.
and how that's lived. That's my hope for this series. And I'm asking you to pray with me on that, that the Lord will show us, that He would open His Word to us and show us what that looks like. What it looks like in truth and what it looks like lived.
So that we get beyond spiritual talk Church talk. or just quoting scripture. And it becomes something that truly characterizes our lives. to serve in the new way of the Spirit. I'm not saying it's not happening.
But I want all of us to be on the same page about that because I am convinced. In my experience, in my understanding of where things are in the church today. There's way too many Christians who do not understand this. And it leads them to discouragement, defeat. often despair.
So, why is this important? that Paul includes this in his letter.
Now think poor Peter Right. I mean All of his flaws are just laid right out there in the canon of scripture for all the world to know, right? He's the one who denied Christ. And here he is. He is going to be accused by another apostle of behaving in a way that is not in step with the gospel.
You realize how profound this is. Like I say, poor Peter, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. But it all turns out good in the end. When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. What's going on here?
Peter came up to Antioch visiting. He's a visiting apostle. They had posters up. Visiting apostle Saint Peter. Speaker, main speaker, keynote speaker.
You know, because we're all about conferences, aren't we? Peter was eating and they have fellowship, of course. You're going to have, you know, study God's word, you've got to have fellowship around food. You know? I mean, that's why we do care groups, right?
Chips and guacamole. It just doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, but I digress.
Okay. All right. Um. Where was I? Peter was eating with the Gentiles.
Now this is, him doing this was consistent with Previous? Revelation and experience. Right? Acts chapter 10. 10 and 11.
It was consistent with previous revelation and experience. The Lord said to him three times: what I have cleansed, don't call that common.
Now, he wasn't just talking about animals and food, he was talking about people. Right? And he defended it in Acts chapter 11. And they gave glory to God that the Lord had opened the door of repentance and faith to the Gentiles. And so here he is now eating with the Gentiles in fellowship, perfectly.
Okay. And then men came from James. And when it says they came from James It's not so much talking about James sent them with his authority to do what they did. They came from the church in Jerusalem, the churches in Judea. They came from that church.
James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
So they came from him, and they were the ones that were bringing this message: that unless you are following the law of Moses, you're not truly a believer. And here's what James says in Acts chapter 15, verse 2. James is the one who. He dictated the letter that was written to all the Gentiles after the Jerusalem Council. He dictated this letter.
And he said this, we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions. In other words, what they were teaching you didn't come from us. Yeah. They do not represent us in what they are teaching. They were teaching something that was actually not the gospel.
James makes that very clear.
So these men, here they are up in Antioch, this conference, there's church meetings going on. And the Christians are all together. It's on the Lord's. They come together, right? And then these men who are Judaized of the circumcision party, that just simply says they are Jews.
They see themselves still under the covenant with God. That's the symbol of that is circumcision. And so we are a set-apart people. And if you are going to belong to God, you have to become like this. And that was their message.
And so here they do, they enter into the meeting hall. And you could tell who they were because they're walking like this. And they're looking around at you like this. And observing you. Right?
You ever meet somebody like that? You just know they're looking right through you. What did Peter do? It might surprise us. But it says he drew back and separated himself.
Why? Because he was afraid of them.
Now with everything we know about Peter. It's just really kind of surprising that he would do that. This was a moment of weakness.
Now be encouraged by this. Be encouraged by this because we all have moments of weakness. Right, Satan. Yes. If you do not, You're lying to yourself, okay?
This was a moment of weakness for Peter. And he drew back.
So, in other words, here's this big hall. Let's just say it's two houses, right? There's Jews and Gentiles, and there's Philip's house here. It's a Gentiles' house, and all the Christians, Jews, and Gentiles alike are meeting in Philip's grand rooms, great room of Philip's house, and across the street is. Joseph's house.
A Jew. Christian Jew. And when all these Judaizers Of the circumcision parties that calls it there, they come out in the streets and they're looking in the doors and they're popping their head in like that and they see what's going on. All of a sudden, Peter feels weak knee. And he's like Okay, I'm going to go over to Joseph's house.
Paul's observing all of this. And because Peter did it, Peter was an influential person. Because Peter did it. All the other Jews that were in the room did the same thing, including who? Barnabas.
Imagine that. Barnabas. Having already been on a missions trip with Paul. And even he was carried away. Peer pressure.
Legalistic Peer pressure.
So they all go on over to Joseph's house. And all the Gentile believers are left over here in Philip's house. Paul says This ain't right.
So they come in. And they're intimidated. And Peter acts to appease And listen, here's what happens when you do that, when you appease a legalist. you rob the gospel of its power.
Okay. If you Cater to legalism in any way, you rob the gospel of its power. We talk about how that can be done. Right. And this is a hypocrisy that led others astray.
Peter, it says Peter stood condemned. That just simply means he was unjustified in his behavior. The rest of the Jews followed, even Barnabas. Paul discerned. Paul discerned something very, very important.
He made a judgment. He discerned that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel. What those Jews did, taking leave of the Gentile believers and going over to the Jewish house so that the Jews and the Gentiles were separated, Paul said that behavior is not in step with the truth of the gospel. And it comes down to this. Here's the statement that I want you to remember: to be not in step with the truth of the gospel is to, in any way, act or behave or expect from others that I must perform to be accepted by God.
I must perform to be accepted by God. code requirements. In other words, it's a focus on the do. It's a focus on the do. You have to do this, you have to do that, do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that.
And that's the focus. And it all comes down to this. Your walk of faith Is keeping a moral code, and if that's your walk of faith in Christ, you have missed the power and the point of the gospel. Because these are the ones that said, as recorded in Acts chapter 15, verse 1: Unless, and this is a quote: unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. In other words, you have to become a Jew.
if you are truly saved. The Jews are looking at the Gentiles, saying, you have to become like us.
Now, stop there just a minute, okay? Do we in any way look at the unbelieving or new believers? and tell them in any way, through attitude, assumption, or in any way, you have to become like us if you're truly saved. This is still happening today, okay? It's just between different groups of people.
This is what Paul is preaching against. To unbelievers, we believers can look at them and say, clean up your act to become a Christian. Listen, that is not the gospel. And there are way too many people who feel like that's how it ought to happen or that's what's expected of them, which is why we've got the least bit interested in Christians or becoming a Christian because they believe, we believe, that they need to clean up their act if they were to come to Christ. in order for them to come to Christ.
That's not the gospel. We'll talk about that here in just a second. But we can also do it to new believers. We've got several new believers in this congregation. Young believers, new believers.
And we can look at them and Yes. communicate somehow the message, thought, assumption. attitude towards Clean up your act if you're truly a Christian. Clean up your act if you're truly a Christian. Uh I've got news for you.
That's not how the gospel works. It's not how it works.
Now for some of you, you might be thinking, Okay, I I'm not getting this. This is new for me. That's not how the gospel works. We can look at it as do this, don't do that. And what we can be guilty of doing is we look at the Bible and we study the Bible and we only teach all the imperatives.
All the appearance, all the commands, and all the precepts, right? That's all we teach. Is that all there is in Scripture? Is just commands? Answer?
No. There are what? Indicatives. Indicatives, meaning God says, this is what's true. And the indicatives are: this is who God is, this is what He has done, and by faith in Christ, this is who you are.
And this is what's true about you. And way too many churches today. Way too many Christians, first of all, are happy to just let the preacher tell them what they have to do. And then there are way too many preachers who do not know how to preach the indicatives of Scripture. Remember Ephesians?
Chapters 1 to 3. How many commands are in chapters 1 to 3 of Ephesians? Yeah. Remember. That's the command.
All the imperatives, the commands, are in chapters 4 to 6. Chapters one to three is loaded with indicatives. This is who God is. This is what He's done. This is who you are.
And listen to me. I said it so many times preaching Ephesians. You can't do Ephesians 4 to 6 if, first of all, you have not understood and come to grips with Ephesians 1 to 3. That's how the gospel works. Look what God has.
Done. Look what God has done. And so How we can do the same thing with new believers or young believers today, it could look something, you know, we tell them, okay, you need to do this and you need to be happy. You don't need to do it, you shouldn't be doing that and you shouldn't be doing that. And really what needs to be happening is discipleship.
discipleship in the community of faith.
So that in their Christian relationships they're walking with each other in a Godward direction and the teaching of the word of God the scriptures transforming informing and transforming their heart and minds and the Holy Spirit informing illuminating the scriptures and transforming them That's what changes a person. Because if we simply relegate it to, you need to be, now that you're a Christian, you should do this and you shouldn't do that. You have robbed them of the gospel. Because who is it that changes a life? It is God.
Through his word and by his Holy Spirit that changes a life. This is why discipleship is so key. It's why we're bent in this church of creating, of allowing the Lord to create here a culture of discipleship. One life coming alongside another, so that together they walk in a Godward direction. It's not by following a list of rules.
Or expectations even. This is the I think I got on a soapbox there. This is the truth of the gospel because Paul said of Peter, he was not. acting in line with the truth of the gospel. Here's the truth of the gospel.
By grace, through faith, I am accepted by God. Here's a little bit of review. The gospel truth, Paul said, was preserved for you. This is from chapter 2, verse 5. What is the truth of the gospel that he is so bent on preserving for the Galatian believers?
Four things. Number one, righteous redemption is accomplished. Redemption is accomplished. Number two, righteousness is declared. Think about that, folks.
and it's not because of anything you have done to earn it. God, the judge of the universe, has declared, judicially, declared you righteous. That is a powerful truth, and there's nothing else like it in the whole universe of religion and faith systems. There's nothing else like that. Righteousness is declared, and because of that, you and I now are reconciled to God.
And regeneration is a reality, newness of life. We are new creations. We're not just forgiven. Yes, we are forgiven, but we're not just forgiven. We're new creations.
So in Christ, then, this is what's true of us in Christ. Therefore, in Christ, we are free from the law and its requirements, and we are free to serve in the new way of the Spirit. Again, our ambition is to understand what that means and what that looks like lived out.
So what does it mean to be in step with the truth of the gospel? Yeah. In step with the truth of the gospel. In other words, all these things that I just talked about, the righteousness. Redemption, reconciliation, regeneration, all of those.
Here it is. It's not just a truth. You believe. but a reality in which you live. It's not just a truth you believe, it is a reality in which you live.
For example, some of you have adopted. You have an adopted child. Right. And once you've adopted that child, does that child have to keep working to try to be adopted? That child, once it's adopted, that child takes your name.
That child is your child. They are a part of your family. You could also use citizenship. I have a daughter-in-law. A Brazilian native, she just became a citizen of the United States of America.
She is now a full citizen of the United States of America. What does that mean? She can now take part in those who lead Per municipality. Her state? Even the nation.
She has a say in that. And plenty of other things. She has all the rights and privileges pertaining to and protections pertaining to those who are citizens of the United States of America. Because she's now a citizen. It's not something that she has to keep striving for.
It's true of her. Here's an even better one.
Some of you here are married. A lot of you here are married. You and your marriage relationship, is it you following the rules that makes you married? Either you're married or you're not, right? I hope you agree with that.
But in your marriage, is it all about? following the rules or Is it a relationship? It is a state in which you exist and therefore you abide by all the rights and privileges of that relationship. because you are in that relationship. It's a state in which you live.
It's not just a. Come up to me and say, Rich, are you married?
Well, I believe I am, and then I don't even live like I'm married. It doesn't make any sense, does it? But see, we do that, we do that, and the world thinks we do that with our faith. Are you in Christ? Yes, I believe I am in Christ.
We abandon him in some ways, right? Like we don't even know who he is. We go ahead and pull a Peter again, right? It was Peter who said. And this is this is his Redemption isn't the right word, but it's the word I'm going to use.
It was Peter who said. Live as people who are free. That Peter, this Peter. He's the one that wrote that. In his letter, live as people who are free.
I'm very sure that was after this incident in Galatians chapter 2. Acts 15.
Okay. Live as people who are free. There is a movie That was out a couple years ago called The Windermere Children. It's about children who were rescued from World War II Holocaust concentration camps, Jewish children. had no idea where their family was.
Some of them had watched. Their family slaughtered. by the Nazis. Can you imagine being in their shoes? And they live in these concentration and you know the rules of these concentration camps is just very, very rigid, very oppressive.
And if you step out of line, bam! It could mean your life if you step out of line. And so they live with that, and they've lived with that now for. three, three, maybe four years of their lives. And then these children then are taken to this particular home where they are given meals and bunks and bedrooms and and loving relationship of these people who want to reintegrate them into normal society after having lived through that terror.
And there's One scene I won't forget. is they're in this big dining hall and all these kids probably about 300 of them Mm. And of course, there's a Jewish rabbi there, and he says the blessing over the food. Right? So they all have their heads bowed.
And as soon as he says Ameng, What do they do? They all lunge for the bread basket. And they're hiding them in their coats, and then they run to their bedrooms and they hide them wherever they can under the pillow. Why? Why are they doing this?
It's what they're used to. Yeah, they're still having to learn. what it is to live as free people. Christians, this is why Galatians. is in the New Testament.
Because this Peter, who's accused right here, is the one who wrote, Live as people who are free. But the Lord used him as an example to show us. what living free does not look like. Yeah. And it comes for him.
It comes with what you expect of other people or how you treat other people who don't act or look like you. Right. We are free in Christ. We are free in Christ from keeping a code. We're free in Christ from keeping a code.
Paul calls this in Colossians the elementary principles. I'm going to give you an example of that. Susan gave me one. It's not right now. It'll come later.
We've got a lot of ground to cover here. All right, but you know, keeping a code. Do this, do this, do this, do this. That's what the law was, okay? Do this, don't do that.
Paul refers to them as elementary principles of the world, and he says they have no power against the flesh. They have no power against the indulgences of the flesh. In fact, In Peter's writings. Paul, in Paul's writings. He refers to these elementary principles going back under the law as he writes to the Galatians.
He calls it bondage. He calls it being captive. He calls it a burden. That's what James says when he wrote that letter to the Gentiles. We're not going to burden you.
with the demands of the law.
So we are free in Christ, not. We are free from keeping a code. But we're not just free from, we're also free what? Yeah. Serving the new way of the Spirit, we are free to pursuing the person.
Pursuing the person in step with the truth of the gospel. And this person is capitalized P, the person.
Okay, it's not just him, it's the person. pursuing Christ. You're invited to walk with Christ. Why? Because you've been reconciled to Him.
Why? Because he paid your debt.
So, the whole, listen, the whole point of the gospel of grace is that you are now reconciled and free to walk with God.
So, do it. Because as you walk with him, your life will begin to reflect his. That is how the gospel works. It's not by lists and codes. Pursuing the person.
Pursuing Christ, our relationship with Christ, our walk with Him. Therein, not only do we have the presence of God, and this is what's true of all those of us the elect, okay? We have His presence, we have His power. We have his privilege. We have his protection.
All to serve his purpose. It's what it means to be elect. In Christ.
So I need to cut it off there today. There's a lot more ground we need to cover through this, but we're going to be in Galatians for a while, okay? But I want to stop today asking you, asking you to evaluate. I want you to evaluate your faith. Honestly speaking before yourself, to yourself before the Lord.
Does your faith seem more like you're keeping a code? You because of fear of judgment? Or because of comparisons that happen among people? Or because you think, well, I just need to be conformed. I need to conform to what a Christian ought to be and do.
Does that describe your faith this morning? Or Are you pursuing the person? of Jesus Christ? Are you drawing near in confidence? Are you delighting in him?
Are you becoming like him? And that's not a list. Becoming like Jesus is not a list, is it?
Okay. You're reflecting the image of a person. The perfect person. Because he's reconciled you to himself. I have heard the question asked of me.
And I can see it on some of your faces. Where does discipline and obedience come in? I'm glad you asked. That's the next two sermons. Uh Yeah.
Because there is a call to obedience in the New Testament, isn't there? Clearly, there is. Clearly. There is a call to disciplines, the spiritual disciplines. What are they?
What is it? Know this. It's not following a code. But it's pursuing a person. And I want you to think about that from now until next Sunday morning.
Okay. This is our freedom in Christ. And be in prayer with me, please, for myself as I communicate this. I want to do justice to the Word of God. I want to present the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ very clearly, abundantly clear.
But I also want you to pray for yourself and pray for each other that we will know what it means and what it looks like to live out. to serve in the new way of the Spirit. Romans 7:6. Learn the verse. Learn of it, because this is the reality in which we stand.
that we are free to serve in the new way of the Spirit. Way too many of us have come from backgrounds where it's just about keeping up appearances, following the code. Fearing judgment. Battling with comparisons. May God rescue us from that.
That's not freedom. That's not freedom. That's bondage. And let's ask the Lord to free us from that. beginning right now.
Stand with me, please. Father, we stand before you. as the one who looks at the heart. As you see our hearts, Father, I pray that you would help us to be brutally honest with ourselves. in evaluating our own walk of faith.
Am I simply following a code? Or am I pursuing the person? of Jesus Christ. The two are not the same. They are very, very different.
If we're simply pursuing a code, Father, it probably means that we're afraid of your judgment. We're afraid of other what other people are going to think of us. We're afraid we don't measure up because we're not like Some other person. Father, captivate our hearts and our minds with the beauty and the perfection of Jesus Christ, your Son. Help us to understand our freedom.
Mm-hmm. in him to pursue him, to walk with him, to delight in him. and thereby become like him. Help us to understand, Father, what it means. to serve in the new way of the Spirit.
and not in the old way of the letter. Rescue us, Father, from the legalism that is naturally within each of us, thinking that we have to perform in order for you to be happy with us. for you to accept us. Father, help us to live. as people.
who are free. We thank you for our freedom in Christ. For it's in his name we pray. Amen. Thank you for joining us for this message titled, In Step with the Truth of the Gospel.
It was first preached on April 6, 2025. at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can join us here Mondays for more messages from this series in Galatians titled, Our Freedom in Christ.
