Union Church

Galatians 5:1-15 - The Gospel Of Self Sufficiency

Galatians 5:1-15 - Kim J
Title: The Gospel Of Self-Sufficiency 

“The topic of circumcision had been in the background of Paul’s polemic against the Judaizers all along. In chap. 2 Paul reminded the Galatians of his successful resistance against the efforts of certain “false brothers” to have the Gentile Titus circumcised during their visit to Jerusalem. Similarly, those who belonged to “the circumcision group” had provoked the incident which led to Paul’s confrontation with Peter at Antioch. However, only here in chap. 5 does Paul engage the issue head on in terms of the crisis in Galatia. Now we know for sure what must have been perfectly clear to the original readers of the epistle all along, namely, that the Galatian agitators were demanding that Paul’s converts should get circumcised. According to Acts 15:1–2, the Judaizers believed that acceptance of this ancient Jewish ritual was absolutely necessary for salvation and incorporation into the people of God.”
- Timothy George

“Because however wrong the false teachers may have been, their message met a sinful inclination deep inside the human heart: we all secretly love a gospel that relies on us. We love being the hero, or at least a celebrated sidekick. Self-reliance feeds our self-esteem and self-worth.” - Marshal Segal

“By nature and by training we all seek solutions to our problem of sin. To varying degrees, these solutions include doing something—law keeping, good works, etc—to please or appease or satisfy the God who is one day going to judge us. The idea of contributing to one’s own salvation is universal. It’s the engine which propels every religion.”  - Ed Moore

1. The Work of Philanthropy
2. The Work of Service
3. The Work of Ritual
4. The Work of Comparison
5. The Work of Comprehension
6. The Work of Decision
7. The Work of Restitution
8. The Work of Affliction
9. The Work of Meditation
10. The Work of Seeking Affirmation

“Christian freedom is the precious birthright of every believer…For the Galatians then to accept circumcision and all that it implied was for them to throw away the precious gift of freedom and step back onto the unceasing treadmill of self-justification.
- Timothy George

“Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
Book of Common Prayer, p. 258, Collect 17

Questions for reflection:

- Am I trusting in God’s promise or my performance?

-What is the motivation behind why I do good?

-Am I truly standing firm in the freedom Christ has won for me?

 

 

Galatians 4:21-31 - Attempting the Impossible

Listen along as we continue our series through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 4:21-31 - Faith C. Reading

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. - Muhammad Ali

At certain key points, Paul uses the Jewish technique of alluding to each section of the Hebrew Scriptures—Torah, Prophets, and Writings, though not necessarily in that order. I propose that he does this in 4:21–5:1 with an allusion to Psalm 87 in verse 26 alongside his references to Genesis and to Isaiah 54. Paul is bringing this polemical letter to a climax, doing so appropriately and ironically by constructing a paragraph with a rich scriptural backbone. He is appealing to Torah against those who want to impose Torah. - NT Wright

Hagar//Sarah Graphic

The burden of his message is clear. The great reversal envisaged by Isaiah—from barrenness to fruitfulness, from despair to joy, from desolation to blessing—can only be accomplished by the unilateral intervention of God himself. How dare anyone say to a person in such dire straits as the woman in this example that she should sing, rejoice, and shout for joy! The words ring hollow until we realize that it was the Lord himself who spoke thus to her. How could she not be afraid or fear disgrace when there was so much against her? Later in the same chapter (Isa 54:5) God himself provided the answer: “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” Again, Paul was pointing to God’s gracious sovereignty and infinite love that is the foundation of our justification, freedom, and hope. - Timothy George

If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. David Foster Wallace

In vain we search the heavens high above, The God of love is kneeling at our feet. Though we betray him, though it is the night, He meets us here and loves us into light. - Malcom Guite 

Waiting is a herculean widening of everything within you into a canyon—that can fill with a rising ocean of hope. And all this waiting isn’t destroying us — the waiting is growing us.  Waiting isn’t loss—it’s enlarging. The longer the heart waits, the larger the heart expands to hold the largeness of the abundant life. The waiting is widening us—so Hope is never running out— but more hope in Christ is running in. Waiting is the sacrament of the tender surrender, the art of a soul growing large. - Ann Voskamp 

Galatians 4:8-20 - The First Command

Listen along as we continue our series through Galatians and arrive at Paul's first command in the text.

Notes//Quotes:

Gal 4:8-20 - Larry and Jorgen

Galatians 4:8-20

Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god - Harold Best

“Evil, is the force, residing either inside or outside of human beings, that seeks to kill life or liveliness. And goodness is its opposite. Goodness is that which promotes life and liveliness. The evil create for those under their dominion a miniature sick society.” M. Scott Peck

“Since the primary motive of the evil is disguise, one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal one's evil from oneself as well as from others than to be a deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture. Evil people tend to gravitate toward piety for the disguise and concealment it can offer them.” - Martin Buber

Unlike his opponents, Paul is not telling the Galatians what they would like to hear. He is telling them “the truth” (v 16), and he is being vilified for it. Paul would love to be able to be affirming and gentle, to be able to “change my tone” (v 20). But he would rather hold out the gospel than receive the praise. After all, it is the gospel which brings people to Christ-dependence, shapes people in Christ-likeness, and provokes people to Christ-praise. The gospel frees us from the need for people’s approval and adoration so that we can confront and anger the people we love if that is what is best for them. And although it does not always work, this is the only kind of communication that really changes people. If you love a person so selfishly that you cannot risk their anger, you won’t ever tell them the truth they need to hear. If, on the other hand, you tell a person the truth they need, but with harshness and not with the agony of a lover, they won’t listen to it.” - Tim Keller

“It has been said that we become what we behold. I believe there is nothing more transformative to our lives than beholding God in his word. After all, how can we conform to the image of a God we have not beheld?” Jen Wilkin

Galatians 4:1-7 - Who Do You Think You Are?

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through Galatians.

 

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1

Who do you think you are?

Slide 2

“The most important belief we possess is a true knowledge of who God is.

The second most important belief is who we are as children of God, because we cannot consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with how we perceive ourselves.” 

Neil Anderson

Slide 3

Why is the period of Christ’s coming termed ‘the fulness of the time’? Various factors combined to make it such. For instance, it was the time when Rome had conquered and subdued the known inhabited earth, when Roman roads had been built to facilitate travel and Roman legions had been stationed to guard them. It was also the time when the Greek language and culture had given a certain cohesion to society. At the same time, the old mythological gods of Greece and Rome were losing their hold on the common people, so that the hearts and minds of men everywhere were hungry for a religion that was real and satisfying. Further, it was the time when the law of Moses had done its work of preparing men for Christ, holding them under its tutelage and in its prison, so that they longed ardently for the freedom with which Christ could make them free.

John Stott

Slide 4

Romans 6:16-18

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 

18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 

Slide 5

Romans 8:15-16

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

Slide 6

Who do you think you are?

“I am a child of God by faith in Jesus, set free by His death and adopted into His family, 
waiting to enter fully into my inheritance.”

Slide 7

But our penchant for earning paralyzes us before God’s offer of true grace. We don’t know how to receive favor without working for it. And so we subtly (or not so subtly) trade away the one true gospel because we prefer to work for and serve God as slaves (or at least as employees), and not as sons. We don’t feel safe letting him do all the work, and earning gives us some semblance of control. We simply can’t believe eternal security and everlasting life could be offered as a gift.

Marshall Segal

Slide 8

Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny? “I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Savior is my brother; every Christian is my brother too.” Say it over and over to yourself, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, and any time when your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.

For this is the Christian’s secret of – a happy life? – yes, certainly, but we have something both higher and profounder to say. This is the Christian’s secret of a Christian life, and of a God-honouring life; and these are the aspects of the situation that really matter. May this secret become fully yours, and fully mine.

J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Galatians 3:15-29 - Talkin’ Torah

Listen along as Anthony teaches Galatians 3:15-29.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 3:15-29 - Mike G. reading 
Title: Talkin’ Torah

“Paul may well have been responding here to the popular Jewish claim that they alone, along with a few proselytes, were the “true sons of Abraham.” Paul wanted to show that the greater fulfillment of the promise is not biological but Christological.”
- Timothy George

“After God gave the promise to Abraham, He gave the law to Moses. Why? He had to make things worse before He could make them better. The law exposed sin, provoked sin, condemned sin. The purpose of the law was to lift the lid off man’s respectability and disclose what he is really underneath—sinful, rebellious, guilty, under the judgment of God and helpless to save himself. And the law must still be allowed to do its God-given duty today. One of the great faults of the contemporary church is the tendency to soft-pedal sin and judgment … We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history … No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth.”
- John Stott

 “the trap and the tutor remove freedom. In both cases, the relationship with the “law” is not intimate or personal; it is based on rewards and punishments. And in both cases, we are treated as children or worse.” 
- Timothy Keller

All non-gospel-based religion can be being characterized by: 
(a) a sense of bondage 
(b) an impersonal relationship with the divine, motivated by a desire for rewards and a fear of punishments 
(c) anxiety about one’s standing with God 

But in a gospel centric relationship…
The law points to: 
(a) a life not of confinement, but of actual freedom 
(b) not an impersonal, but a personal relationship with God 
(c) not immaturity, but maturity of character

Questions:
1. As I currently understand christianity today do I feel free or trapped?
2. When I am tempted to rely my law keeping for security which efforts do I tend to trust in?
3. To help you diagnose your own heart, ask yourself: What causes me to feel despair in life? What makes me feel proud about myself?

Who Are You Married To?
By Ray Ortlund
“A married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. . . . and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.  Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another.”  Romans 7:2-4

We were married to Mr. Law.  He was a good man, in his way, but he did not understand our weakness.  He came home every evening and asked, “So, how was your day?  Did you do what I told you to?  Did you make the kids behave?  Did you waste any time?  Did you complete everything I put on your To Do list?”  So many demands and expectations.  And hard as we tried, we couldn’t be perfect.  We could never satisfy him.  We forgot things that were important to him.  We let the children misbehave.  We failed in other ways.  It was a miserable marriage, because Mr. Law always pointed out our failings.  And the worst of it was, he was always right!  But his remedy was always the same: Do better tomorrow.  We didn’t, because we couldn’t.

Then Mr. Law died.  And we remarried, this time to Mr. Grace.  Our new husband, Jesus, comes home every evening and the house is a mess, the children are being naughty, dinner is burning on the stove, and we have even had other men in the house during the day.  Still, he sweeps us into his arms and says, “I love you, I chose you, I died for you, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  And our hearts melt.  We don’t understand such love.  We expect him to despise us and reject us and humiliate us, but he treats us so well.  We are so glad to belong to him now and forever, and we long to be “fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10)!

Being married to Mr. Law never changed us. But being married to Mr. Grace is changing us deep within, and it shows.

Galatians 3:10-14 - Lay Your Deadly Doing Down

Today we cover Galatians 3:10-14 and continue our series through the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 3:10-14 

“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers! - Mike Goheen

“These few verses offer a theological blueprint for the redemptive history of the world.” - William Dumbrell

Heb 11:8-16

The shocking fact of a crucified Messiah stands out. God’s purpose was fulfilled, not in a smooth line moving inch by inch forward from Abraham, through multiple developments, into covenant renewal and gentile inclusion, but in the previously unthinkable curse-bearing death of the Lord’s Anointed. Galatians 3:13 joins up with Paul’s other statements about Jesus’s death, in this letter and elsewhere, to form an overall picture in which the powerful divine love goes to the darkest possible depths to enable the rescue operation to take place. NT Wright

Exodus “Graphic and unmistakable experience of redemption from an alien power…it involves not only the release from slavery but also the shedding of blood as a means of escape from judgement” Graham Goldsworthy

In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. - Thomas A Kempis

Thomas A. Kempis Picture (attached in files)

When I base my Christian life on my Christian experience, I become locked in the labyrinth of my own performance. I am only as sure of God as my current emotions and obedience allow. My eyes are fixed on myself. The gospel, the good news, is the way the Holy Spirit turns our eyes away from ourselves and onto Christ. The gospel brings you into union with Christ. Christ enters your heart and gives you faith. By that faith, you receive Christ and all his fullness. Faith fixes your eyes on Christ and rests in him. - Rankin Wilbourne, Union With Christ

Final screen(s) - A hymn - As many lines as can fit for a screen or two:

Nothing, either great or small—  Nothing, sinner, no; 
Jesus died and paid it all, Long, long ago. 

“It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, ev’ry jot; 
Sinner, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not? 

When He, from His lofty throne, Stooped to do and die, 
Ev’rything was fully done; Hearken to His cry! 

Weary, working, burdened one, Wherefore toil you so? 
Cease your doing; all was done, Long, long ago. 

Till to Jesus’ work you cling, By a simple faith, 
“Doing” is a deadly thing— “Doing” ends in death. 

Cast your deadly “doing” down— Down at Jesus’ feet; 
Stand in Him, in Him alone, Gloriously complete. 

“It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, ev’ry jot; 
Sinner, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not? 

Galatians3:1-9 - Finding Our Way Home

Listen along as we continue our time in the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 3:1-9 

“Being “a successful, effective storytelling engine,” is a business model that has been changed by an era of technology disruption. What was very, very clear to me is that technology would provide us the opportunity to tell more stories to more people.” - Bob Iger 

“Odysseus, bravest of heroes,
Draw near to us, on our green island,
Odysseus, we’ll teach you wisdom,
We’ll give you love, sweeter than honey.
The songs we sing, soothe away sorrow,
And in our arms, you will be happy.
Odysseus, bravest of heroes,
The songs we sing, will bring you peace.” - The Odyssey 

“Christians think that we are saved by the gospel, but then we grow by applying biblical principles to every area of life. But we are not just saved by the gospel, we grow by applying the gospel to every area of life.” Dick Kaufmann

Ps. 19:7-11

John 16:13-15

Galatians 2:20-21 - Gospel Identity

Listen along as we continue our time through the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 2:20-21 - Kim J Reading

 

“The Messiah” is the locus of Jesus-believers’ identity. Calling him “Messiah” indicates both that he is the fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and that he is now the place where, and the means by which, his people live, move, and have their being.” —N.T. Wright

 

“28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28&29)

 

“In one sense this is presumptuous language because the mystery of atonement requires that the death of Christ be unique, unrepeatable, and isolated. The two thieves who were literally crucified with Christ did not bear the sins of the world in their agonizing deaths. On the cross Christ suffered alone forsaken by his friends, his followers, and finally even his Father, dying, as J. Moltmann puts it, “a God-forsaken death for God-forsaken people.” With reference to his substitutionary suffering and vicarious death, only Jesus, and he alone, can be the Substitute and Vicar. And yet—this was Paul’s point—the very benefits of Christ’s atoning death, including first of all justification, are without effect unless we are identified with Christ in his death and resurrection.” - Timothy George

 

“Engrafted into the death of Christ, we derive a secret energy from it, as the shoot does from the root.”

- John Calvin

 

“Christianity is not a self-improvement course. We are not called to come and do, but to come and die. For the new life is not self-improvement, but self-denial. We consider our old self “crucified with Christ” and our new self risen with Him to new life. We die to sin and we also die to self-effort, no longer trying to please God by following some set of religious rules and regulations that we are unable to keep. Dying to self, we live by Christ, “trusting” in Him to live His life in and through us.” - Gary Combs

 

“The “I” who has died to the law no longer lives; Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, dwells within, sanctifying our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and enabling us to approach the throne of God in prayer…“Therefore, 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.” In this fourth thesis Paul describes the modality of the Christian life and again reiterated its objective source in the living Son of God and the love that sent him to the cross…The object of this faith is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is a rich expression that contains in summary form the whole doctrine of atonement. No impersonal force or cosmic law or external necessity compelled Christ to die. It was the love of God, unmerited, immeasurable, infinite, that sent Jesus to the cross. Not for his own sake but “for me” he endured the rigors of Calvary.” - Timothy George

 

               Everyone goes away in the end

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

                                          - Johnny Cash

 

“Even a weak faith in Jesus is a billion times stronger than a strong faith in anything else.” —Timothy Keller

 

 

Galatians 2:11-19 - When Things Get Wonky

Listen along as we continue our journey through the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 2:11-19

“When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.” - Brennan Manning

Proverbs 29:25

God's love is a costly love. It never takes the easy path away from relationships. Instead, it plots how to move towards other people. It thinks creatively of ways to surprise them with love. - Ed Welch

“Dikaiosynē and pistis are chief among the qualities which make human associations possible.… For Cicero and others, pistis/fides and dikaiosynē are jointly foundational for any state. Sometimes justice is specified as the foundation of trust, and sometimes trust of justice.… When pistis/fides and dikaiosynē/iustitia come together in Greek and Roman texts, the power of each to forge social relationships, create polities, and change socio-political landscapes is multiplied.” - Teresa Morgan

“Paul’s approach makes all the difference. Paul did not simply say: You’re breaking the rules (even though Peter was), but: You’ve forgotten the gospel: your own gracious welcome in Christ. Paul did not focus so much on the sinful behavior as on the sinful attitude of self-righteousness that lay beneath it. God did not have fellowship with you on the basis of your race and culture (v 15). Though you were good and devout, your race and customs had nothing to do with it (v 16). Therefore, how can you have fellowship on the basis of race and culture (v 14) - Tim Keller

[Pistis] is, first and foremost, neither a body of beliefs nor a function of the heart or mind, but a relationship which creates community.  - Teresa Morgan

To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God…My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” Brennan Manning 

Galatians 2:1-10- Gospel Courage

Listen along as we continue our journey through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 2:1-10 - Faith C. Reading

“It was one thing for the Jerusalem leaders to give their approval to the conversion of the Gentiles, but could they approve of … commitment to the Messiah without inclusion in Judaism? Was their vision big enough to see the gospel of Christ not as a reform movement within Judaism but as good news for the whole world, and the church of Christ … as the international family of God?” - John Stott

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in…15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 
-Matthew 23:13&15

Hudson Taylor picture?

“Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don't do, and more in light of what they suffer.” 
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 
- 1 John 3:1

Questions:
1. Has the gospel set me free from he middle school mindset? Have I settled into the freedom, validation, and security the gospel provides?

2. Do I struggle with hypocrisy? What ways am I prone to it?