Hello and welcome back to the Speak Life Podcast. My name is Thomas Thoroughgood, media producer at Speak Life. And over the summer we often release a couple of sermons via the Speak Life podcast, sermons that we think might be especially helpful for our wonderful Speak Life podcast listeners, you guys. So this is a sermon that Nate Morganlock, Speak Life's creative director, this is a sermon that he gave at All Souls Eastbourne on Sunday, the 12th of November, 2023, so Remembrance Sunday, about Galatians 3. And it's a wonderful passage to go to for preaching law and gospel. And uh as you will discover, Nate uh really leans into that in this sermon. So I'm gonna start by reading the passage, and then I will hand straight over to Nate. So this is Galatians three, verses one to fourteen, and I'm reading from the New International Version. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law? Or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain? If it really was in vain. So again I ask, does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you by works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you. So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written, cursed is every one who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Clearly, no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, it says, the person who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is every one who is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01Thank you very much for doing that. Hopefully, uh that shared experience will be something that you can discuss later on. We are going to be looking at Galatians chapter 3. So if you have closed your Bibles or you're still in Genesis 15, if you could turn back to page 1169 in the Pew Bibles, and we'll be looking at Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 to 14. And with that open in front of us, let me pray for us. Dear God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our Redeemer. Amen. The thing about that social media, right, is that it's very persuasive. And there's all sorts of people who are spending incredible amounts of time scrolling through Twitter, looking at Instagram, zoning out with TikTok in front of them, checking into Facebook, and they're just absorbing all this information. And they don't realize it, but it's starting to shape the way that they think. It's the sort of drip method. Every now and again just gives you a little bit more information. And the algorithm, of course, is determined to give you what you already like, to show you things that will make you react, things that will make you feel strongly. And so we all sit there with our screens open, scrolling through, and the information starts to seep into us. Same is true of mainstream media. If you're just going to watch rolling news, okay, it used to be you could just put it on at six o'clock or ten o'clock. Well, that was the thing now, just nonstop news, a news channel, getting information all the time. Same with our newspapers. What newspaper do you read? And how is it informing you? How is it shaping your opinion day after day after day after day? Now many of us recognize this phenomenon. But many of us also believe ourselves to be impervious to its persuasive power. You see, because I know that this is what's going on, it's not really affecting me. You see, I'm very concerned about the massive numbers of people whose opinions are being shaped by small numbers of media conglomerates. See, the problem is the people out there who are having their minds shaped. It's like they're under a spell. They don't realize, they can't see what's going on. I think that the reality is that we are all susceptible to the charms and enchantments and spells and bewitching of the world. That's what we are as human beings, is we react and respond. We are shaped by the stories that we are told. And Paul, when he speaks to the Galatians here in chapter 3, verse 1, he says, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Someone has cast a spell on you, someone has got you in their charms, and someone has persuaded you of something which is not true, and it will lead to your destruction if you continue to consume and believe it. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? And as we look now into what has bewitched the Galatian church, let that question sit for yourself. Who has bewitched you? Who is shaping the way that you see God, the world, and yourself? Don't be a fool, says uh Paul to the church in Galatia. He says that you began by trusting the gospel of Jesus. Paul says the gospel of Jesus was clearly proclaimed to you as the good news of the crucified Christ who has taken upon himself our sin, who has dealt with it on the cross, who's descended into the grave and who's raised up for our justification that we might have new life. We become Christians because of this good news. And Paul says, You started with that, didn't you? But somehow you have become convinced that this gospel of Jesus is insufficient for the continuation of your Christian life. And you have been bewitched by the Judaizers who are saying to you, now it's fine to become a Christian to get forgiven, okay? It's fine to accept the work of Jesus at the entry point. You can't carry on like that. Oh, you need to move on into deeper things, into more tangible religious practice. Do you think it's any accident that so much of the Old Testament is about laws, ways to behave? Are you undermining the very covenant of circumcision? If you want to be a real Christian, if you want to really grow, if you're really zealous for your faith, you need to get yourself circumcised, and now the whole of the Old Testament would open itself up to you in immediate application as you now live in the line of Abraham. And Paul says, You foolish Galatians. A series of questions from verse 2. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish after beginning by means of the Spirit? Are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain? If it really was in vain. So I ask again, does God give you his spirit and work miracles amongst you because by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Paul is exasperated for this church. Because they've allowed themselves to be bewitched. They've allowed themselves to believe that the gospel of Jesus isn't enough and that they need to add something else. They've allowed themselves to be convinced that their standing before God is not based wholly on the work of Jesus, but is in fact based on the work of themselves. It is not the performance of Jesus, the righteousness of Jesus, the perfect obedience of Jesus by which I relate to God. No, I will relate to God based upon my own performance. I will do the works that God requires. Now you can see there is an appeal there, isn't there? There is an appeal because there's something more tangible. Well, I can see I'm growing as a Christian, I can see I'm growing in my religious devotions because I'm doing something. Here it is. Here's proof. Here's something tangible that I can hold on, I can point to and say, see, I am growing in faith. I am growing in my obedience. I am becoming a better person. Look at my track record, look at my performance. But Paul is at pains to say, we know from chapter 2, verse 16, we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but simply by faith in Jesus Christ. And then he wants to turn his attention quite distinctly to Abraham. Because you see, this is where the Judaizers have really been doing their work. They've been saying, Well, of course, you've got to be like Abraham, haven't you? The great father, the father of many nations. You see, really the question is, who was Abraham? What did Abraham believe? Because we want to be in the line of Abraham. So they're going back and they're saying, see, early on, after Abraham has been called by the Lord, he's circumcised. So you get circumcised because you want to be children of Abraham. That's what you do, that's the way you act. If you want to be in the line of Abraham, and who doesn't want to be in the line of Abraham? But Paul draws our attention to the timing of Abraham's righteousness announcement in verse 6. He says, So also Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Paul's going to go into more detail in this in Romans chapter 4, where he's going to draw everyone's attention to the exact timing of Abraham's righteousness announcement. What was it that Abraham did when he was announced righteous? It's close to his circumcision, but it precedes circumcision. See, part of what the Judaizers are trying to do is to say, well, there's this new gospel of Jesus Christ thing that's been around, but the older thing, the preeminent thing, the more solid thing on which this Jesus thing is based is the Abrahamic tradition. And the Abrahamic tradition involves circumcision. Therefore, if you want to take the Old Testament seriously, you now need to adopt circumcision and all its practices. But Paul says no, the promise of the gospel precedes circumcision. It's not that the Bible starts with law and then moves on to grace. No, there is grace first, there is the small time in which the law is around, and then there is the gospel as the law is fulfilled in Christ. And this is absolutely fundamental. What did Abraham believe? Abraham believed? Abraham believed the gospel. Abraham was a gospel man. Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing Jesus' day, as Jesus tells the Pharisees. He says, understand then that those who have faith are the children of Abraham, verse 7. And this is a wonderful announcement. When we go back to the Old Testament, what are we expecting to find? Something that's pre-Christian. No, we're expecting to find something that is promising the gospel. That Abraham is justified by his faith. In verse 6. Verse 8, Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham. Abraham was told the gospel message. Abraham was told that through his offspring all nations would be blessed. That it was not based upon circumcision or his obedience to the law, but it was in fact based upon the righteousness achieved by Jesus that Abraham would be saved. So Paul says, those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. What was his faith in? His faith was in the promised Messiah, Jesus. His faith was in his offspring who would come to redeem all nations. Okay, verses 10 through to 14 then, as we come towards the end. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. As it's written, cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Clearly, no one who relies on the law is justified before God because the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, it says the person who does these things will live by them. So the question comes to you: will you live by works or will you live by faith? Now, as well-taught conservative evangelicals, we know to say we will live by faith. It is by grace we have been saved. And let me ask you, is that really what you're thinking? Is that really how we're living our lives? I don't believe there's anyone in this room this morning who is susceptible to getting themselves circumcised and trying to follow the law of Moses. I just don't think it's happening. I think it's very unlikely. I think there are maybe other religions and other practices that we might be tempted towards. But I think all of us are susceptible to acting according to our works rather than according to faith in Jesus. Let me try this out on you, see if it fits. Is anyone a funfair fan? Anyone a fan of funfairs? Any fun fair fanatics? No. What if it was free? Right? A free fun fair. A free fun fair, I'm a fan. I'm a fan of a free fun fair. Okay? Let's say that I'm invited to go to a free fun fair. I'm really excited. I say to people, guys, I'm going to the free fun fair. It's going to be great. I see there it is, the tents and all the waltzers and the dodgums and everything's all there, and I come up to the gates and there's a great big poster, and it says, Free funfare. I go, Great. I'm in. Get me through that turnstile right now. Free funfare. So I get up to the turnstile and I say, uh, hi, I'd like to come into the free fun fair, please. How much is it? And they say, No, sir, put that wallet away. This is a free fun fair. It's a free fun fair. You mean I don't have to pay? That's right, sir. In you come. Brilliant! It was free, it's free entry. I'm in now. Okay, all right. What am I gonna do first, right? I want to do some candy floss, I want to do the dodgums, I want to do um a toffee apple. First of all, though, I'm going for the candy floss, right? I just want to go and get some of that pink cloud and consume it because I love a bit of candy floss. I get in the queue for the candy floss. I'm there waiting. Next couple of people are being served in front of me. I start to move to the front, right? I am ready. I am ready for some candy floss. Hello, sir. How can I help you? I would love some candy floss, please. How much is it, sir? Just let me remind you it is a free fun fair. Entry was free, right? Candy floss is free too. Candy floss is free too! This is brilliant. I love this. I'm gonna take some of that candy floss, I'm gonna stuff it in my face, and probably gonna impale myself on the small sharp stick that's in the middle of it. Okay? I love this stuff. Oh, filled with joy because I'm in the free fun fair. I think what am I gonna do next? Let's do the dodges, okay? Really, you're not looking to dodge, are you? You want to bump. Really, bumper cars is a better name for it than dodgeums, because we enjoy the bumping rather than necessarily the dodging. So I get in the queue for the dodges. I'm excited, can see lots of people having loads of fun. And then I get to the front and I say, uh, hello, yes, I'd like to have a go on the dodgeums, please. How much is it for the dodges? Sorry, this is gonna get a bit tedious. It's a free fun fair. It was free when you came in, wasn't it? The candy floss was free. The dodgyms are also free. Oh, it's all free. Yes, sir, it's all free. Brilliant! So jump in, dodging and bumping, I'm in the cars, I'm having a wail of a time, I'm still hyped up on the candy floss from before, and I finished that and I come off and I say, wasn't that amazing? It was brilliant. Okay, what's next? Uh toffee apple. Okay, I'm gonna go and get myself one of those. It will count as one of my five a day. If I have a toffee apple, it's still an apple, okay? So I'll get to the front and I'm gonna say to them, Hi, I'd like a candy uh toffee apple, please. How much is that? By this point, they are going to grab me by the lapels. They are going to say to me, Will you get this into your head? That this is a free funfair. You do not pay. You didn't have to pay to come in. You didn't have to pay for the candy floss. You didn't have to pay for the dodgings, and you don't have to pay for the toffee apple. It's free. Just accept it and enjoy it. Hopefully, you can see that that wasn't just me rambling on, but is in fact a picture of our Christian lives where we realize that it's free. But we keep on being pulled back into performance-based Christianity. How does God feel about me today? Probably not very good because I didn't do my quiet time. Probably not very good because I'm not very good at evangelism. Probably not very good because I don't pray enough. Of course, you don't. You couldn't possibly do it. You're a sinner. You're by nature incapable of doing what God requires. Therefore, he sent Jesus Christ to be a curse, to take the curse for us. Verse 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus has been crucified for you. You don't have to pay. It's not about your performance, it's not about the quality of your quiet time or the amount of evangelism that you are able to summon up. It is all achieved by Jesus. And Paul says, I'm going to keep on preaching this to you. I'm going to have to keep on proclaiming Christ Jesus before your very eyes that you might put your faith in him. Because you are so susceptible to believing that you need to do it by yourselves. You're so susceptible to being told that it's actually about your performance and not the performance of Jesus. Oh, who will rescue us from this body of death? Jesus. Verse 14, he redeemed us in order that the blessings given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. We have been saved. Christ's death and resurrection is sufficient for you. If you wish to grow in your Christian life, just keep looking to the cross of Christ. Keep seeing that it's not about your performance. It's not about what you're able to do for God, but what He has already achieved for you. Jesus is Lord. Christ is risen. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we know that we are prone to wonder. We are prone to relate to you based upon our own performance, based upon our religious achievement. But Father, would you just show us the grace of Christ again? That we might know that greater love has no one than this to lay down his life for his friends. We thank you and praise you that Jesus is our friend, the friend of sinners. We pray in his name. Amen. Amen.