I was a new dad. My daughter, Caroline, was less than a year old. I was a full-time student in seminary. And, I was the brand-new youth pastor on staff at a country church. At this time in my life, it felt like I always had a little more on my plate than I could handle, and I was grateful for any help I could get.
I soon discovered that I had a rock-star volunteer on my youth ministry team. Even though he had his own full-time job and a wife and kids, he was there for everything—I didn’t even need to ask. He would show up throughout the week, proactively looking for stuff that needed to get done. He was even happy to help me with the boring stuff, too. It was incredible to have someone who was so helpful and always seemed to have a great attitude, and there were no strings attached. He didn’t want anything from me.
Imagine that you were in my shoes. What do you think was going on? As a young and very green, wet-behind-the-ears leader, it was evident to me what was going on. Clearly, my leadership was so inspiring that people were begging for the opportunity to work with me. That wasn’t it.
I don’t know how I discovered it, but I eventually discovered that things weren’t great at home. There were tensions with his wife and tension with his kids. The way he worked out the relational calculus in his head was that it was just easier to spend hours working at church instead of doing the much-needed work at home.
I get it. Nobody wants to go home at the end of the day and feel like whatever they do, it doesn’t count in their favor. Nobody wants to feel like they can’t get it right, like they can’t win for losing. I can understand the gravitational pull toward any environment, any social circle, and any set of activities that makes you feel like you’re winning, like you’re significant.
Church can be an escape. It can be an escape in a way that is good and life-giving. This should be a place where we are reminded of the gospel, the good news of how loved we are by God. We should experience that love through other people. This should be a place where we discover the infinitely deep resources available to us in Christ, to face whatever situation we’re in.
Regularly, I hear stories from people who came to our church busted up and hurt by past experiences, but our church became a kind of refuge for them. They found healing, community, and deep spiritual friendships with people. I’m talking about the kind of friends you can walk through hell with and celebrate on the other side. I hope each person finds that when they join a small group or Bible study. I want that for you.
But we owe it to ourselves to be honest with ourselves. Church can be an escape in a way that is not good. This can be a place and a gathering where we hide from the things we need to face. That’s exactly what my rockstar volunteer was doing. He was a rockstar at church, but a benchwarmer at home.
What I wanted him to know is the exact same thing I want all of you to know. If you have trusted in Jesus by faith, you have an infinitely deep reservoir of resources to face whatever you need to face. My rockstar at church, benchwarmer at home volunteer forgot that we don’t live this life by means of the flesh. We live it by means of the Spirit. I know I just lost some of you. This is what that means.
SPIRIT: We follow the way of Jesus, fully relying on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
If my guy, my rockstar at church, but benchwarmer at home understood this, he would have driven passed the church and straight home after work. He would have remembered that he was reconciled by Jesus. He was justified by Jesus. And he was united with all other believers by Jesus. And that unity was available for him and his wife, too. Living this out included his participation and his obedience. But it wasn’t based on his effort. It was based on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit who was with him and in him.
He had everything he needed to get raw and vulnerable in prayer about the challenges at home.
He had everything he needed to sit down with his wife and say, “I’m sorry things have gotten off track. I’m sorry for what I contributed to it. You and the kids deserve better from me.
He had everything he needed to truly hear whatever she needed to say. He could grieve how he missed the mark, but without shame.
There is no shame for anyone who is in Christ. That’s why he had everything he needed to get honest in a small group or men’s Bible study, so that their friends could encourage and support them as they walked a stretch of bumpy road. He had everything he needed for he and his wife to sit down with a therapist and get real.
He had everything he needed to vulnerably share his hurts and disappointments without fear. He had everything he needed to forgive and let go of the bitterness he was carrying.
He had everything he needed for the transformation of his marriage. It’s the Holy Spirit of God who heals us and changes and us from the inside out as we follow and trust him.
Instead of living by means of the Spirit, he opted for this.
FLESH: We follow rules, not the way of Jesus, through self-reliance and reputation management.
He opted to live by means of the flesh. I’m going to handle this in my own way, by my own effort alone. I’m going to do good stuff, like being a rockstar volunteer in student ministry. And, I’m going to keep all my messes on the down low. Now, what I knew about what was going down at home, most people didn’t know. He had a great reputation at church. This is how messed up this approach to life can get. There were probably women at church who had struggling marriages of their own, who wished their husband was more like my rockstar volunteer.
The true story I just shared with you illustrates the difference between the gospel and religion. My rockstar at church, benchwarmer at home opted for a religious approach. There’s no power in that. There’s no transformation in that. There’s no freedom in that. In fact, he was stuck in a kind of slavery.
The details of his story might be different than the details of your story. But we all have ways in which we are tempted to live by means of the flesh. That’s a religious approach. That approach is empty. No power. No transformation. Instead, it’s a kind of slavery.
I want you to be free and your life to be full. There is encouragement for everyone here today. I promise. There is good stuff waiting for you. Receiving it may require repentance.
Repentance is a good word, not a bad one. Rich Villodas is a pastor and author who truly understands the gospel. I was recently encouraged when I read this from him.
The church might be the only community of people that establishes its credibility in the world by routinely and fearlessly confessing and repenting of sin. And we lose our credibility by refusing to name our sins. –Rich Villodas
What we are about to read was written to believers in churches who were living by means of the flesh, not by means of the Spirit. They had lost sight of the gospel and were now trapped in the tyranny and slavery of religion. They way religion was expressed in them may be different than the way it shows up in us.
They had come under the influence of untrustworthy, incompetent, false teachers who insisted that they follow the Old Testament law. The way that dudes in the church earned their reputation of significance was by getting circumcised. I know. It’s weird. But it’s necessary to understand that backstory so that we can understand this passage.
GALATIANS 5:1-12 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
GALATIANS 5:1-12 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
The stunning and bold claim of the gospel is that Jesus is the only one who can make us truly free. Regardless of what kind of circumstances we are in, whether we are on the top or on the bottom of the socio-economic and cultural power structures, in him we are free. It’s a freedom of being. And it looks like this.
We are only free when what we Ought to do, what we are Able to do, and what we Want to do intersect. Remove any one of these and you will find yourself with an existence that is something less than freedom. In fact, you will be stuck in slavery.
- Ought to: You’ll be a slave to your appetites
I once heard a pastor say that no appetite is ever fully or finally satisfied. That’s why approaches to life that strive to be free from a moral standard are unfulfilling and empty.
- Able to: You’ll be a slave to your weakness
- Want to: You’ll be a slave to misery (joylessness)
Can I remind us of our series thesis. This is the anthem of the Christian life.
SERIES THESIS: The only thing that COUNTS is FAITH expressing itself through LOVE.
Lock that in and we’ll see how that is freedom.
This is life in the gospel. What ought we do? Love God and love each other. Are we able to do it? Yes, but not from self-reliance. We are able because we are empowered by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit? Do we want to? Sometimes!
Ever know what the loving this is to do and just not want to do it? That is true of me more often than I want to admit. This is the good news of the gospel. This is why we should be people who want to live by means of the Spirit and not by means of the flesh. Even when you don’t want to and I don’t want to. When our hearts are calibrated to the wrong setting—the Holy Spirit of God is with us and in us, transforming us form the inside out. He’s cultivating in a us affections and desires that sync up with the life that Jesus gave his life for us to have.
If that sounds mystical to you—it is. It is the supernatural, personal work of God in the life of follower of Jesus. And it is freedom. While this freedom 100% depends on the personal, supernatural work of God in your life and my life—it also requires our participation.
GALATIANS 5:1-12 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Stand firm.” Do you know why he wrote that? Because he knew that we would get hit by a wave of temptation, we would get hit by circumstances or false teaching, or an unhealthy church culture that would woo us to let go of the gospel and go back to a religious approach. Stand firm!
This is a blindside hit. This guy was not ready. This guy was not standing firm. Paul is telling us to stand firm. A hit is coming. You can count on it. Things are going to happen in life that will knock you off your feet and knock you out of freedom if you are not ready. Are you ready? Are you standing firm? If we are going to stand firm in the gospel and stand firm against going back to a religious approach, it will require that we do this.
Be INTENTIONAL.
You can’t be wise without being intentional.
You can’t be responsible without being intentional.
You can’t be a leader without being intentional.
You can’t be free without being intentional.
None of us are going to drift into a full and thriving and abundant life with Christ. We have to be intentional. I hope you enjoyed Dr. Crawford Loritts last week. There was something he said, and he only said it one service.
When you’re born, you look like your parents. When you die, you look like your decisions. –Crawford Loritts
Do a quick audit of yourself. What decisions can you point to that demonstrate you have resolved to stand firm? What decisions can you point to that demonstrate you are being intentional about living by means of the Spirit and not by means of the flesh? If you are in a small group, that would be a good question to talk about? Have you gotten knocked off your feet? In what ways are you vulnerable to putting down the gospel and picking up religion?
If you’re struggling to answer those questions. Don’t fret. You might want to jump into a Practicing the Way class. That could be an intentional step to process through this.
GALATIANS 5:2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
Let circumcision represent any set of rules or practices we go to in effort to validate ourselves. Let circumcision represent anything we might do to earn approval, acceptability, or acceptance. Let’s think about my rockstar at church, benchwarmer at home volunteer. This verse could be personalized for him,
“Mark my words! If you search for significance in being a rockstar student ministry volunteer, Christ will be of no value to you at all.”
The allure of a religious approach, of defining ourselves by rules or living up to or even exceeding the expectations of church culture—the allure of all of that is that it gives us a dopamine hit of feeling like we’re good enough. What do you think Jesus’ perspective is? Do you think he’s sitting up in heaven, looking down, thinking something like this?
“You know Joe has been an absentee husband lately and it’s crushing his wife’s heart. But, he did volunteer more than anyone else this month down at the church. So, I’m going to sprinkle some God-dust on his home-life and make it all better for him.”
It sounds stupid when we say it out loud. But come on. We all have our ways and vulnerability points where we drift into that nonsense. We’ve got to stand firm and remember…
SERIES THESIS: The only thing that COUNTS is FAITH expressing itself through LOVE.
GALATIANS 5:3-4 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Some people have asked me if this verse teaches that you can lose your salvation. No, I don’t believe you can. A pastor once said, “If you could lose your salvation, you would.” And yet, this is a stark warning. There is a stark warning for all people. If you wouldn’t consider yourself a follower of Jesus, this might be the point of the sermon that you find most offensive. And yet, it is also the point where we find the greatest hope.
I’ve got good news and bad news for us.
BAD NEWS: You will be JUDGED.
GOOD NEWS: You get to decide if you’re judged based on what you DO or what Jesus DID.
I don’t care if you’re a religious person or an irreligious person. If you have the guts to get honest with yourself, you don’t want to be judged based on what you do.
Imagine with me that there is an invisible drone that follows you wherever you go. This invisible drone captures and records everything you say and do. Not only that, this drone gets a full read out on your motives. When you do something kind, but you do it for selfish reasons, it knows that, too. Are you imagining that with me. Hold on that.
While holding on to that, forget God’s moral standard or any religious standard. Let’s imagine that this invisible drone is creating a report every day about how you live up to your own moral standard. How do you think you would stack up if you were judged by the same standard by which you judge and evaluate other people? We’d all be toast.
Now what I described as an invisible drone, that captures and records all we do and say, and even knows our motives—that’s basically omniscience, being all knowing. We can hide all kinds of stuff from each other. We can deceive ourselves and each other. There’s no hiding, no tricking, no deceiving God.
Look at that cross over there. This is what the cross was about. All the ways that you and I fail morally in our lives. All the ways that you and I contribute to the brokenness in the world, Jesus paid for it. He covered it. He forgives and reconciles all who trust in him. And he rose from the dead, leaving no room for doubt that he gives new life and a new way of life to all who trust in him.
If that’s what we are counting on, we should live our whole lives like that is what we are counting on. That’s why this is the theme of the Christian life.
SERIES THESIS: The only thing that COUNTS is FAITH expressing itself through LOVE.
GALATIANS 5:7-12 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” …As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
I brought my hunting knife. I’ve used this to field dress a deer; I think it will do the job. If you guys are going to put down the gospel and pick up a life defined by religious rules…if you’re not going to define yourself by what Jesus has done for you, but instead define yourself by rule keeping, if you going to demonstrate your significance by circumcision, cut it all off!
Martin Luther summarized Paul by saying, I hope the knife slips. I know this is bold language. We tend to use bold language when the topic is urgent. If any us are going to put this down…
SERIES THESIS: The only thing that COUNTS is FAITH expressing itself through LOVE.
And instead start defining ourselves by the religious rules we keep, or by our religious and moral performance, we might as well pick up this knife and start cutting.
My rockstar at church, benchwarmer at home volunteer for whatever reason wasn’t expressing his faith through love at home. He was defining himself by religious performance. At the root of it all, it was no different than the guys lining up to get circumcised in the Galatian churches.
What are some ways that we are vulnerable to not standing firm, and drifting back into a religious approach? The answer is: anytime we fail to love, but we comfort ourselves by all the other good stuff we do. How do you fill in the blank, but at least I ___________.
- I’ve got a coworker who is going through a hard time. I don’t pray for them. I don’t check in and see how I can help. But at least I ___________.
- I haven’t developed the kind of relationship with my neighbor such that they know they can count on me. But at least I ___________.
- I’m just not willing to apologize right now. But at least I ___________.
- I know I need to engage in healthy and direct conflict. Right now I’d rather talk around them than talk to them. But at least I ___________.
Anytime we have that kind of internal rationalization. Anytime we can explain why aren’t expressing our faith through love—we might as well pick up the knife and start cutting.
Let’s remember the gospel. Let’s remember that Jesus has set us free. Let’s remember that if we have trusted in Jesus by faith, the Holy Spirit of God is with us and in us. We are not left alone. Let’s remember we have all of this because Jesus was cut off so that we could be made whole. That’s what the cross is all about.
Do you know that? Have you trusted in that? Do any of us need to repent today? Do any of us need to turn away from the way we were going and trust in him?