Welcome to DELIGHT IN GRACE, The teaching ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. What a beautiful freedom and relationship there is in walking with Jesus. It stands unique from every religion and moralistic code of living. Maybe you're asking what it looks like to walk with him.
or why those who follow him sometimes lose sight of the freedom and joy Jesus offers. In this message Rich answers these questions for us From Galatians five seven through twelve. May God root out obstacles in our thinking, that keep us from walking in the truth of the Gospel. Let's listen in. Let us hear the word of the Lord.
Galatians 5, 7 to 12. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
I have confidence in the Lord, you will take no other view. and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty. Whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offence of the cross has been removed.
I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. Have a word of prayer. over this passage. God, I stand here on behalf of this people calling to you. From the beginning of time, You have been Focused on one task, and that is bringing humanity closer and closer to yourself.
that we would know you and be like you. There's so much in our life. that calls us away from that singular task and purpose, Your word says we are bought with a price which is the blood of Jesus Christ who died so that we may have new life in you at no cost to ourselves but every cost to him. And yet every day. Yeah.
We trade our lives for something. Too often I trade my life. for things of no value. When you stand with arms outstretched, Ready to take my life for that day and use it to transform me. To be more like your dear son.
God, how deeply we need your word in our heart and in our mind. And that we would live out of that word. Lives changed in ways that only you can do, and that we would reflect you and who you are in your glory. Yeah. have cut all this morning.
help us to have minds that have cut off the things of the world, and hearts that are open and ready, like fresh soil, to receive the seed of the Word of God. that you can plant it deep in us and affect our lives and we can leave here. changed in ways that we weren't when we came in. ready to submit ourselves daily to you and live the way you would have us to be. as we know that this is your will.
Thank you for everything you do, God. And we put our trust in you. Amen. Thank you, Russ. If you have your copy of the scriptures open to.
Galatians chapter five. As we are making our way through this Letter of Paul to the churches in the region of Galatia. Large overview: the reason why the apostle is writing this letter, he writes. Using strong language in places, he writes with the authority of Jesus Christ as an apostle of Jesus Christ. One specifically commissioned by Jesus Christ with his authority to establish truth.
for the church. Paul had planted these churches. And then from among these churches, there were teachers who were rising up who are saying, if you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, you have to become like the Jews. You have to put yourself under the law. And that's encapsulated in the word circumcision.
Okay. If you do that, that means you are placing yourself under the law of Moses.
Now I realize that there's probably not too many here today who are concerned about strictly keeping the law of Moses. First of all, it can't even possibly be done. Right? Because there's no temple anymore. But The point is this, and this is the reason why, this is why Galatians is so relevant for us today.
If your walk of faith is relegated to keeping a moral code You have missed the point and the power of the gospel. That's why this is relevant for us today. Paul is using very strong language. as he did beginning at the at the very beginning of this letter. If anyone else preaches another God, even if I come and preach a different gospel, listen, it's not a gospel that I came up with.
This is God's gospel in Jesus Christ. This is established. This is God's purpose. This is His plan. There is no other.
And if you distort the gospel, it becomes no longer the gospel because there's not another one to go to. That's why he uses such strong language.
So our theme is our freedom in Christ. You're not relegated to be suppressed under a law code, a moral code. Your walk of faith is not reduced to a moral code. It is a walk. with God.
It is following a person. And it is our freedom in Christ. that Paul is defending. Look what he says at the beginning of chapter five. For freedom, Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Do not allow your walk of faith to be defined by simply keeping a moral code. Because if that is the case, as I said before, you have missed the point and the power of the gospel.
Now it's interesting. We begin our exposition today in verse 7, the verses that Russ just read for us. It says, you were running well. Stop there for a minute. You remember how we ended last Sunday?
We talked about a dawdling faith.
So if you're like, what on earth is that about? Right. Um well, it's Lingering. Taking your time. It's dawdling lingering at the feet of Jesus.
Because your faith is about your relationship with Him, your walk with Him. But he says, look what he says here. You were running well. So, wait, is faith dawdling or is it running? Yeah.
Now, in case you think by doggling we mean that your faith should be like a ride on a lazy river sipping raspberry lemonade. You are mistaken. All right. We dawdle, we linger at the feet of you. Here's dawdling.
Here's why I say dawdling, because. It stands for something. B-A-W-D-L. These are the habits of regeneration. Draw Near To God.
Paul is talking about our obstacles to freedom here.
So he's going to be looking at our dawdling. We're looking at dawdling. He says, you are running well. How does this how is this juxtaposed to Dawdling faith. What is dawdling faith?
Is drawing near to God. Understanding, this is what God has said. Remember, we talk about the indicatives and the imperatives. The imperatives are commands. The Bible says do this, right?
The indicatives are: this is what's true. This is who God is. This is what He has done. Because of that, this is what's true of you. All of that is the indicatives.
Listen to me. Do not Limit your preaching and your Bible study to the imperatives of Scripture. If you don't know the indicatives of Scripture, you will never be able to do the imperatives of Scripture. And the clear example of that is Ephesians. Ephesians 1 to 3 is all indicatives.
This is who God is. This is what he has done in Christ. This is who you are in Christ. Chapters 1 to 3. There's only one Imperative.
Remember. But you get to chapter 4 and it begins with what word? Their views.
So one to three are the indicatives, chapters four to six are the imperatives. Do this. This is true, therefore. Do this. That's a pattern throughout scripture.
Okay, and we must know, draw near to God. Here's the truth that you must know: God has recognized in Christ, if you are in Christ, God has reconciled you to Himself. You are accepted before infinite, holy God. in Christ. You are loved.
You are under his steadfast love, and nothing changes that. There's nothing you can do to make him love you more. There's nothing you can do to make him love you less. See, this is true if you are in Christ. This is why we are called to draw nearer to God.
Because in him we are also protected. All right, so that's the first habit of regeneration. That's the D of dawdling. DA, abide in Christ. Draw near to God.
Abide in Christ. Abide in Christ. Jesus said this to his disciples the night that he was betrayed, the night before he would be crucified. In our place. Abide in Christ, linger at the feet of Jesus.
Let me ask you right now: envision that in your life. What does that look like to linger at the feet of Jesus? to learn from him. to study him. to follow him.
D-A-W, walk in the spirit. That's what we're going to be studying. In depth. the next several Sundays.
Okay, walk in the Spirit. It is God's grace to us, what He has given, He has invested Himself in us so that we can become and do what He designed us. and desires us to become and do. D A W D. Let the word of Christ.
dwell in you richly. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. It is a transforming resource. It is God's self-disclosure. It is His thoughts.
By the Word of God, we learn to think God's thoughts. After him. That transforms us. And then elf. D-A-W-D-L.
This is the outflow. If you are labor intensive, In drawing near to God, abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, and letting His Word dwell in you richly, if you are labor-intensive in those. Virtues. Then L will be an outflow, and that is to love as I have loved you. It is the hallmark of the world.
of Christianity. And love Listen, what kind of word is love? What part of speech is love? It's a verb. It's a verb.
He's not talking about feeling here. He doesn't say feel towards me the way I feel towards you. It just doesn't work, right? Love as I have loved you. How has he loved you?
He has given himself for you. Love, and so it's not the Hallmark cards sort of love. I've never felt this way about somebody. No, it's it's the agape love. God so loved that he what?
Cave. That kind of love in that way. As we love as he has loved us, love is the hallmark of Christianity. Like what I did there. Yeah.
Damn it. I was hoping you'd catch on today.
Now that's a dawdling faith. This is, listen, this is where we need to be labor-intensive. But then Paul says to the Galatians, You were running well. You were in the faith. You were following Christ.
Your lives were being transformed. And this word running. He's Paul saying, you were progressing well. You were becoming more and more like Christ. And that's what's true of us in Christ.
We are becoming like him while we wait.
So there's the dawdling and the running.
So if you think you're either Mary or Martha... Listen to me. You're both. You're both. Some people who are Mary think they're just Mary.
It's like, oh, you know, I just love to sit around and think about, I could sing of your love forever. Yeah. And um And the Marthas look at Mary and are irritated. Right? Yep, the Marthas look at Mary and they're irritated.
They're type A's. They can't stop doing stuff. What is it with you people that just contemplate all the time? It's maddening. Right?
And just, you know, and it's listen, both are a part of your life. You have been entrusted with so much. Employ it for God's glory and be labor-intensive in drawing near to God. And abiding in Christ and walking in the Spirit, letting his word dwell in you richly, and loving as he has loved us. You see, it's both Mary and Martha.
Because we are stewards. But we're also students. We are stewards and we're also students. We need to be both, okay? We need to be both.
Now, what is it? What is it, the running part? What is the running part of our... Walk of faith. It's growing in grace.
Peter says that. It's the very last thing he says in 2 Peter: grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul says in the living, the progressing, the living, we are to walk worthy, and that is in our Christ-likeness, reflecting Christ in all that we do. We are also called to persevere. The writer of Hebrews says that we need to run with endurance.
What? The race that is set before us. It is, it's a marathon. Why is it a marathon?
Well, because there are things that we do have to battle against, right? Fatigue is one of them. We run with endurance, but also there is a mission. And that's why Peter says, prepare your minds for action, because we are on mission. We have a mission from the Father.
And from the Lord. I like what Osgen has said. He said, this is so true, and this is true of our Christian lives. Progress is made only in resisting material. Listen to me, please.
While we exist under the sun. On this side of eternity. Progress is made only in resisting material. It's true of our lives. That's why.
That's why the Christian walk is, in fact, a marathon. And yet, we're called to linger at the feet of Jesus. We are students and we are stewards. Linger at the feet of Jesus. What is the resisting material?
Well, there is a deceiver. There is the adversary of our souls, and he is active. He is active. And listen, we live in his domain. John says it well, 1 John 5.
The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. He is the prince of the power of the air. He is the God of this world. He's a deceiver. That's his nature.
He's an accuser. He's a deceiver and an accuser. But we also live in the world system. We live among the world system. And the world system is focused on the self.
I live for self, and everything about the world system compels us to live for ourselves. But then we also live with ourselves. Our flesh, don't we? And we're not perfect. We're a work in progress, but we have to live with.
Our weaknesses. And the places where the Lord is still developing us, because none of us has arrived. None of us has arrived at perfection. If you have, if you think you have, we need to talk afterwards. I'll set you up an appointment with Chris.
Yeah. He's our director of counseling for you who are visitors here today. All right. So look what he says here. You were running well.
Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. What is this hindrance? They were thinking that they, it's not just the pure simple gospel of trusting yourself to Jesus Christ. It's now we have to follow this moral code.
All 613 laws of the law of Moses. And they were saying, you have to do this. He says, who hindered you? This persuasion hindered you. What is this hindering?
Well, let's the hindering. Remember I mentioned the adversary of your souls? Hindering is the activity of the adversary. Hindering is the activity adversary. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 18.
Is it up there? Because we wanted to come again to you, I, Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us. See, that's his activity. He hinders the progress, he works and tries to hinder the progress of the gospel. Whether it's outside of us or whether it's the work of the gospel in us, his ambition is to hinder that.
But also, we learn that this hindrance is rooted in self-centered ambition. Teaching that can come to us from us from authoritative figures. I want you to turn with me a few pages ahead now. Turn actually quite a bit ahead. Turn to 2 Peter.
Second Peter chapter two. Hindrance to the gospel often comes from those who claim to be teaching truth. That is not the truth of God, or they're adding to the truth of God. Look at this: 2 Peter chapter 2. We'll read the first three verses.
But false prophets also rose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies. Even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction, and many will follow here it is, follow their own sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed, and in their greed they will exploit you. In their greed, they will exploit.
So, this hindrance of the pure-centered ambition. Listen to me. The whole world of faith, the whole arena of faith. particularly in our Western culture. is riddled.
with spiritual leaders in their self centered ambition. They are personal kingdom builders. The whole thing. You need to make sure that you are under the teaching of one who is faithfully. humbly teaching the word of God.
Because it is the word of God that has power. Celebrityism. is weakening the church in America.
Okay. People are following People. And those people can be very self-centered sometimes. adding stuff to the gospel.
So the hindrance, this persuasion, it's It's rooted in self-centered ambition, and often, listen, it is often close. You're in 1 Peter, turn ahead to Jude, go past John. And look at Jude, 1 John, 2 John, 3rd John. Or if you're from across the pond, it's 1, John, 2, John, 3, John. Look at Jude.
There's only one chapter, so look at verses 12 and 13. The hindrances, the false teaching is often close. Jude. Jude is a polemic. Look at verse 12.
He's speaking of false teachers. This is what he says of them. These are hidden reefs at your love feasts. And they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves. Isn't that all?
Listen to that, listen to that. Shepherds feeding themselves. You know what that is? That's celebrityism.
Okay. If the person you're following thinks that You have to follow them because only they can really take you to God. You need to abandon them. If you get to the point where they make you feel like you need them. You need to walk away from them.
Because they are shepherds feeding themselves. Waterless clouds swept away by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted, wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame, wandering stars for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved for ever.
So Jude, how do you really feel about these guys? Yeah. He was passionate. Look at verse 16. Verse 16, these are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires.
They are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. And listen to me. People do that in the name of Christianity or faith. And it's very common. We should stay away from that.
We should stay away from it. There is no spiritual leader who is not. There is no spiritual leader who is without accountability. I am accountable to the board of this church. I am accountable to the elders of this church.
I am accountable to you. I am ultimately accountable to God. And I will stand before him for everything that I teach from this pulpit. That is a sobering thought. There will be a stricter judgment.
So That hindrance, that persuasion that it can be a hindrance, is very often very close. It comes from within the congregation.
So he's going to be talking about obstacles to our freedom. For freedom, Christ has set you free. What are the obstacles? We're going to talk about two main obstacles to our freedom in Christ. Obstacle number one.
Drift. Drift. By drift, I mean distorting the truth of Christ and his redemptive work. God has made Himself known, and we must know God. In the way that he has made himself known, otherwise you are worshiping the God of your own imagination.
And that is idolatry. It is also Bondage. If you are worshiping the God of your imagination, you are in bondage. What he says in verse 10. Galatians chapter 5, verse 10.
I have confidence in the Lord. Where is his confidence? It's not in the people. His confidence is in the Lord. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view.
and the one who is troubling will bear the penalty. That you will take no other view. In other words, there is one Lord, there is one truth, there is one faith. There's only one. And that is in the person of Jesus Christ.
So, the person that is distorting truth, the truth of Christ and his redemptive work, is ultimately twisting or diminishing the scriptures. And there are so many faith systems. And let me just give some examples of what some faith systems do with who God is, the person of God, or specifically who the person of Christ is.
Some faith systems teach that Jesus is the offspring of God.
Okay. of God and his wife. Say, Rich, you know what? Yes, there is a faith, a very prominent faith system that teaches that God is the offspr that Christ is the offspring of God and his wife.
Some faith systems will teach that God is, that Jesus is a created God. Listen to me, it's a contradiction in terms.
Okay. Because God is infinite. He's not a created being.
So there's no such thing as a created God unless it's a God we create, and that makes it idolatry.
Some religious systems will teach that Jesus was a great prophet. He was, but he was more than that.
Some religions teach, faith systems teach that Jesus was a good teacher. He was. But he was not just a good teacher. You can't Read and listen to the things that he says, and simply say he was just a good teacher. It's not possible because he claimed a lot more than that.
We must know God in the way that He's made himself known.
So distorting the truth of Christ and His redemptive work comes down to this, adding to the gospel whatever takes your focus off the finished work of Jesus Christ. Adding to the gospel whatever takes your focus off of the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is what Paul was so concerned about as he was writing to the Galatians. They had trusted Christ and they were following Him, relying on His finished work of redemption and reconciliation. And now they're placing themselves under the law, and now their attempts to keep the moral code of the law was taking their attention off of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Again, If your walk of faith is relegated to a moral code, you have missed the point in the power of the gospel. This is why Paul was so concerned about it. What can we add to the gospel?
Well, we can add experience.
Well, I'm really, you know, I'm really not in Christ until I have had this particular experience. And some people equate that with an emotional experience coming down and kneeling before the altar. This is not an altar, folks. You know what this is? This is a platform.
So So people in the back can see me, so Eric can see me. And anybody sitting behind Wayne? Yeah. Who's sitting in the front row? Isn't that interesting?
Where was why'd I get there? We digress.
Okay, an emotional experience. I really don't know if I'm in Christ or have faith because I never really had that emotional experience. Or I've never had the gift of speaking in tongues. And some faith systems will teach that you're not really. indwellt with the Spirit until you've done that.
Listen, the Bible doesn't teach that, okay? It is a gift. But the Bible doesn't teach that everybody has to have it. What can we add to the gospel?
We can add prosperity to the gospel. We can add prosperity to the gospel. Hey, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ. God wants you to be healthy and he wants you to be wealthy. Listen to me.
That's a lie. And it comes from the adversary. The Bible doesn't teach that. This is where people get confused about the necessary, watch this, the necessary discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the Old Covenant.
It was a covenant that God made with his people. You follow my laws, you will have these blessings. Under the new covenant, we are in Christ. Christ has fulfilled the law for us. Jesus said, Follow me.
Even though sometimes people will hate you, follow me. There's a difference there. That doesn't mean the Old Testament has no value for us. It has. gobs of value for us.
Because we get to know God in the Old Testament. What else can we add to the gospel? We can add performance. We can add performance. Many of us have grown up in systems where they add performance to the gospel.
Well, listen, now that you're a Christian, you need to be at church. And here's when you need to be at church. And if you're not coming to church, bless God, get... You you're just probably probably not really in Christ. No, yeah, you need to be in church.
Church is a good thing. We don't go to church, we are the church and we gather as the church, okay? We need each other. We are the family of God, and this is a joyful, beautiful time of communion and fellowship and celebration. It is a feasting time.
We need this. But listen, we don't approach it legalistically. Like, if you only go X amount of times, you're not as spiritual as somebody who goes this many more times.
Okay. We don't do that. That's adding performance to the gospel. Because when you add performance, it takes your focus off of the finished work of Christ. And what this is, this becomes like an invasion.
And this kind of legalism, this kind of addition to the gospel, is an invasion. And he uses the illustration of leaven. He says, a little leaven leavens the it. Tiny little bit. You get it in the yeast, the flour, and it just permeates the whole thing.
And it can destroy, legalism can destroy the culture of a church. It can destroy the freedom that we enjoy in Christ. Paul says, don't do that. I want you to know your freedom in Christ. I want you to know the point and the power of the gospel.
And Christ calls you to follow him. The whole point of this is. If we're distorting the truth of Christ and his redemptive work, what it'll come down to is that in your faith, You will practically live something that communicates to you. God is not enough. God is not enough.
What he has done is not enough. I must do more. And that takes us right back to the first commercial in history. And that's Genesis 3:6 in the garden. where the tempter Told Eve, look at that fruit.
Isn't it beautiful? It's going to make you wise. You will love it. You see what that is? That's a commercial.
You need this. And whatever this is, was not God. That's a commercial. It was very effective. As most are.
I hate commercials. I'm going to make a strong statement right here, okay? Based on the verses that we read from 2 Peter and Jude. I'm going to make a strong statement. If you drift from Christ, You will follow a fool.
What is folly? It is self-centered living. That's why scripture says folly is bound up in the heart of a child. How do children live for themselves? They're born that way.
We're all born with a natural problem of self-preeminence. It's all about me. And that's why they desperately need parents to show them that, no, it's not all about them.
Some of us need to work on that.
Okay. If you drift from Christ, you will follow a fool. Who is leading you in a self-centered way. for their advantage and their benefit. What is the remedy for this?
The remedy is to linger at the feet of Jesus, to make sure that you are indeed. exercising a dawdling faith. Draw near to God. Abide in Christ. Walk in the Spirit.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Love as I have loved you. So the first obstacle to our freedom is drift. Let's talk about the second obstacle. Obstacle two.
is comfort. Oh, Rich, I was really hoping you wouldn't say that. Let me tell you what kind of comfort I'm talking about. Look with me at verse 11 here, okay? We need to unpack this.
Yeah. Here's what Paul is saying. If I, brothers, still preach circumcision, let's stop and think. What does he mean by that? If I, Paul is a Jew, he was a Pharisee.
And now he is a committed follower of Jesus Christ.
So he is no longer placing himself under the law. And he's saying, Here I am now, a follower, apostle, a slave of Jesus Christ. If I were still teaching that anybody who follows Jesus needs to be under the law of Moses, that's what he means by preaching circumcision. Time. Why would that be the case?
Listen to this. Why am I still being persecuted? Why were people abandoning simply following Jesus? Because the way of following Jesus was weird. and dangerous.
It was a threat to the Jewish system, and it was a threat to the Roman system. Why was it a threat? We can't figure out. And you are following an authority that we can't see. That's why.
And so it was a threat. And so those who were simply following Jesus received pushback. in ways that Normal Jews who worshipped at the temple, had regular schedules, had a regular place of worship, they didn't receive the pushback that the committed followers of Jesus Christ received. And so Paul is saying, listen, if I were just preaching Judaism, that Jesus is the Messiah, but you still have to be a Jew and follow all the routines and rituals, nobody would be alarmed with that. And I wouldn't be being persecuted.
And his list of persecution is in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Read it sometime. You'll be staggered at what kind of Pain. and suffering Paul endured for the Gospel ministry. What kind of comfort are we talking about?
Seeking approval to avoid judgment. Seeking approval to avoid judgment. This is when people become big and God becomes small. Because we're afraid of other people. We are really concerned about what other people think of us.
And my biggest concern is not what other people think of me. My biggest concern is what I think other people think of me.
Now let's look at some examples. There's a religious example of this and there's a secular example of this, okay, if there is such a thing.
Okay. In chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2, remember what Peter did? They were eating together. The Christians were all eating together. And Peter was up there and he was eating with the Gentiles and then...
The legalists came. All Jews And what did Peter do? He separated from the Gentiles and went to eat with just the Jews. That's what Peter did. And Paul confronted him on that.
That was a critical moment in the history of the church. Paul confronted Peter, one apostle confronting another apostle. He confronted the apostle who was considered the mouthpiece of the apostles. Paul confronted Peter. Because Paul said about Peter, his conduct was not in step with the gospel.
Why did Peter do that? He sought approval to avoid judgment. of the legalists. He undertook behavior not in step with the gospel to avoid judgment from the legalists. That is an obstruction to our freedom.
Anytime you and I do that, it's an obstruction to our freedom. And this seeking approval to avoid judgment, it could be seeking the approval of a person or it could be seeking the approval of a group of people. a particular church. In other words, do what you must to diminish judgment from them. And here's what happens.
Many of us have grown up in very legalistic churches, okay? And you go to church, and you have this front, okay? You have this front on. And you don't want anybody to think that you are less spiritual than they are.
So you keep this you're keeping up appearances. That's why you're at the church every time the doors are open, and anytime there's an activity, you're there. And you're a giver, and you do all this, you do all this just because you want to keep up appearances. And here's the sad part about it. You can do all that.
While you're rotting at the core. Because some people do that, and they do that for a significant chunk of their lifetime, and they never know God. And some people do that, and they end up getting so frustrated with it, they deconstruct their faith. That's not freedom, that's bondage. And so that attempt at comfort.
to appease, to seek approval, to avoid judgment from people or a person. That's bondage. You are enslaved to a person or other people because they are controlling your behavior. There's no freedom in that. Verse 10 says that they will bear their penalty, the teachers who are teaching this.
James 3.1, they There will be a stricter judgment for those who claim to teach the Word of God. And it's practical legalism because it's all about pleasing, watching eyes. And for way too many people, Their walk of faith is about pleasing watching eyes. It's not about who they are at the core of their being. It's about.
Putting up the right appearance so that other people will think well of you. Listen to me. That's bondage. You don't want to live like that. There's no freedom in that.
It's oppressive. And it's powerless. And this is why Paul speaks so powerfully. And I believe he uses a word play in verse 15: I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. The word emasculate means to cut off.
All right. Now he's talking, those, if I preach circumcision, okay, is I wish they would just. I think what truly he means is that they would cut themselves off from the community of Christians because they are not promoting the gospel. But I do also believe that it is a wordplay. To make a point.
So, seeking approval to avoid judgment can be in a religious setting, but it also can be in a secular setting. And this also creates Bondage. Again, the Christian religion was strange and it was threatening. And what the Christian faith does, we who are followers of Christ. As we live the gospel.
And the truth of the gospel itself is an obstacle to the self-preeminence of those who do not know God. An example of this is Noah. Way back in the Old Testament, right? Noah told him to build an ark. And what did Noah say?
What's an ark? It's the Rich Powell translation. God said, listen, there's a lot of water coming. And Noah, you need to build an ark. It's going to be a big boat, all right?
And it's going to take a while. And Noah did it. And what happened? The whole people walking by, hey, Noah, how are you doing? God bless you, man.
Is that what happened? He was ridiculed. What was Noah doing? He was obeying God. That's the point right there.
He was obeying God. might not have made sense to him, but he was obeying God. It clearly did not make sense to the community around him. Yeah. They mocked him.
They ridiculed him. but he was obeying God. And the writer of Hebrews tells us what did his actions do. His actions condemned. Them.
That's powerful, isn't it? You see, the world senses that when we are truly following Christ and living the gospel. They feel their self-preeminence exposed. And they're threatened by that. Listen to me, please, very, very carefully.
Let's make sure it's our living the gospel. That exposes their self-preeminence and not our arrogant attitudes. Let the gospel do the work. The gospel is truth, it is light. And the light, God did not design the light for us to use it like a laser in somebody else's eye.
If you burn their eye out, they're not going to see the truth.
Okay. Jesus said very clearly that the world. Hates him. And what he's speaking of is the whole world that lies under the sway of the wicked one, okay, those who are under the God of this world. Those who are bent on their self-preeminence, they hate Christ.
Because he calls them to surrender. And he says, if they hate me, they're going to hate you for following me. Those are Okay? That doesn't mean we ought to be hateful. We are called to be loving and invitational, gracious and compassionate.
Because that's who Christ is. But remember that no matter how loving and gracious and compassionate we are, if someone's self-preeminence is threatened, They might just threaten back. But when we do seek to seek the approval of an unregenerate people. to avoid their judgment. What happens often is that we capitulate to destructive lifestyles and philosophies for the sake of getting along.
Too many churches have done that today. And it's a hindrance to the gospel. Let me bring this to a conclusion: Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord, and that statement, Jesus is Lord, has strong socio-political implications. That's why That's why in the first century, that's why the church thrived the way it did.
But it's also why the church endured the persecution that it did. Because Jesus is Lord. The mantra of our lives. has very strong social-political implications. In that light, there's three books I'd like to recommend to you, okay?
Three books. Number one, Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin. I think it's available out in our book nook. Or you can get it online. But I strongly recommend that that will confront us as Christians in terms of are we capitulating to a godless system?
just to avoid their judgment. The second one I want to promote to you is Stockholm Syndrome Christianity by John West. Reading it just now. It's alarming. It's alarming.
The number of churches and systems that are capitulating, seeking the approval of unregenerate masses. just to avoid judgment. And then, thirdly, by Megan Basham Shepherds for Sale. Shepherds for sale. Um These are those that are described in 2 Peter and Jude.
These are the ones also in very real ways that Paul is talking about here. They are false teachers. They are adding to the gospel. In truth, they're not adding to the gospel at all. What they're doing is colossally robbing from the gospel.
In the name of Christianity.
So what is the remedy for this? What is the remedy for this? You will find your greatest freedom. You'll find your greatest freedom. in surrender to Jesus.
If you are here this morning and if you've not surrendered yourself in faith to Jesus Christ, hear this now, please. And if you are in Christ, know this, because we all battle the weaknesses of the flesh. You will find your greatest freedom in surrender to Jesus. because he is the sovereign one and there's only one appropriate response to sovereignty. And that's surrender.
If you have questions about that, I'd love to speak with you afterwards. We have elders in the church, Dwight and Max, are both here today, or myself. We would love to speak with you and answer whatever questions you may have about what it means to surrender to Jesus Christ. But you will find your greatest fear not in adding to Jesus. or adding Jesus to your life.
But in surrender to him, because it's Jesus who said, take my yoke upon you. and you will find rest unto your souls.
So, Christians, let us run with endurance, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Stand with me, please. Mm.
Alright. Father, we are grateful that you have made yourself known to us.
So that we can know you. And it is in knowing you, in our relation to you, that defines our freedom, that defines our very existence. and our very meaning and our purpose, Lord. Father, I pray for Anyone in this room this morning that has not received your forgiveness, who has not entrusted themselves to Jesus Christ. In faith.
Lord, I pray that your goodness will lead them to repentance. For all of your people in this room, Father, who might be struggling with ways of drift. or of just seeking comfort. Of seeking approval from someone other than yourself just to avoid their judgment. Lord, rescue us from that, I pray, Lord.
May we truly live as people who are free. Are we not Be a people bogged down. by moral codes, father. But people who lovingly follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. finding our freedom in him.
Our power in His Spirit. Thank you, Father, for your work. May it do its work this morning among us, Lord. I thank you for what you have done and for what you will do. In Jesus' name.
Yeah. This message titled Obstacles to Freedom was first preached on August 3rd, 2025 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. We're so glad you joined us today. You can hear the next message in this Galatians series titled Our Freedom in Christ Mondays here at delightinggrace.com.
