A Gospel Worth Defending - Galatians 2

We are justified by faith alone. What is justified? That is that word means declared righteous. The the, word that Paul wrote down in the Greek is, it's a legal courtroom term. Like when you go to court for parking tickets and you can prove that your car wasn't actually there and so they don't apply to you and the judge declares you righteous. You're declared innocent. You're acquitted. That's what this word has to do with. Justification, declared righteous. How are we declared righteous? How are we justified? Not by works. [00:47:20] (52 seconds)  #JustifiedByFaith

Legalism adds to the gospel, whereas hypocrisy contradicts it, but both distort this one gospel. So what is the gospel at its core? What does it actually do in a person's life? We've come to the heart of it. Here, look in verse 15. Paul says that the gospel declares us righteous and gives us new life in Christ. That's what the gospel does. It declares us righteous and gives us new life in Christ. And if you look at verse 15, we see that justification is by faith alone. Justification is by faith alone. [00:45:53] (55 seconds)  #GospelGivesLife

It's not a cultural issue alone. This is a salvation issue. If Paul had yielded to them, if they had yielded to them, Paul says later, he says, the works of the law will know will not justify anyone. He says, if righteousness can come through the works of the law, Christ died needlessly. If if Paul and Titus had given in to these demands in that moment, Christianity would have been nothing more than a blip on the Jewish radar two thousand years ago. [00:21:12] (38 seconds)  #ChristSufficient

But the the controversy, what it did is it showed how hypocritical so many Christians are. They say they believe that people can be washed clean from their sins in the blood of Jesus. But then you see Christian people coming out of the woodworks to say, no. That's gross. That woman's gross. I don't care what her current life looks like. Her past ruins her. That's hypocrisy. That's gross. God, the gospel is, whatever your past. When you come to Christ by simple faith, you're clean. You're right with God. [00:44:32] (60 seconds)  #PastDoesntDefine

Our past, our performance, that's not what's important. Now our identity is in Christ. He also tells us we have a new power to live by. He says, it's Christ who lives in me. Right? And the life which I now live, I live by faith in the son of God. We have power to live a holy life, not to earn God's favor, but because Christ is living in us to do it. He lives in me. We have a new way of living. It's it's life by faith in the son of God. [00:59:27] (40 seconds)  #IdentityInChrist

So we're freed both from the slavery to sin and we're freed from constant striving to measure up. The third thing we see about the gospel is we point c. We now live a new life in Christ. This verse 20, as I was studying this, this verse just became so beautiful to me. It's such a beautiful passage of scripture. Look at verse 20 with me. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. [00:57:31] (61 seconds)  #CrucifiedWithChrist

You're not really saved if you don't read your have your quiet time every day. You're not really saved if you don't go to church every time the doors are open or at least on Sunday morning. You're not really those are good things. Right? Doing your devotions is good. It's a good thing. Going to church, I think we all here at least agree that's a good thing. We're all doing it. But you add that and say, you you're not really saved if you don't do this. That's legalism. That's legalism. [00:24:57] (41 seconds)  #StopLegalism

But even good things added to the gospel destroy it. Even good things added to faith in Christ as necessary for our justification distort it. We cannot add anything to the gospel of faith alone. So modern application, you know, they they were dealing with Jewish ceremonies. They were dealing with, circumcision in particular. They were dealing with dietary issues as we'll see a little bit later in the text. But they were but a modern thing might be for us to say, you're not really saved unless you follow certain rules. [00:24:08] (49 seconds)  #NoAddOnsToGospel

The law is good. It's a gift. So seeking to obey God's law is a good thing. It's a good thing to obey God's law. But even good things added to the gospel destroy it. Even good things added to faith in Christ as necessary for our justification distort it. We cannot add anything to the gospel of faith alone. So modern application, you know, they they were dealing with Jewish ceremonies. They were dealing with, circumcision in particular. They were dealing with dietary issues as we'll see a little bit later in the text. But they were but a modern thing might be for us to say, you're not really saved unless you follow certain rules. You're not really saved if you don't read your have your quiet time every day. You're not really saved if you don't go to church every time the doors are open or at least on Sunday morning. You're not really those are good things. Right? Doing your devotions is good. It's a good thing. Going to church, I think we all here at least agree that's a good thing. We're all doing it. But you add that and say, you you're not really saved if you don't do this. That's legalism. That's legalism. [00:23:58] (101 seconds)