131103 Faith or Works?

Galatians 3:1-9 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Paul calls the Galatians foolish for following the Judaizers who had come to town. In fact, he refers to them as having been bewitched! This is amazing to him because he knows without a doubt they had Christ crucified presented to them. The gospel had been so clear to them it was as though they were present when Jesus died on the cross. The words “publicly portrayed” carry a strong meaning. Paul is saying to them that it is as if Christ has been pictured, as on a billboard, for them to see the agony of the cross where Christ died for them. Then he raises the question, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”

This is a very important question for every Christian believer. The Bible tells us that we are not saved by works instead we are saved by grace through faith. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come alongside us to guide and comfort us and that he would teach us everything we need to know. Our Father God, through his Spirit, convicts us of our sin and calls us to salvation. The Galatian believers knew that they had been saved by the work of the Spirit of God. Now…

Having begun by the Spirit. It is important to recognize that…

Salvation is a work of the Spirit. Listen to 1 Corinthians 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

The one Spirit baptizes all into one body. No matter what race or nationality we are; no matter what our family relationships are; no matter what our economic condition is; all come to God through Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. The Spirit works in our lives…

Giving access to the family of faith. Let’s turn to Ephesians 2:18-22 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

When Paul says “we both” he is speaking of the Jews, and the rest the world. Most of his Christian life was spent convincing people that there is no difference between Jews and Greeks. We both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

By one Spirit we are baptized into one body — the Church of the Living God! Having been brought into one body the spirit gives us access to the Father. In fact, we become members of the household of God. Together we are a building built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone.

The concept of a cornerstone comes from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry building. It is the most important of all the stones because all the other stones will be situated in reference to it determining the position of the entire structure. Every believer is a living stone in the household of God. Christ, the Cornerstone, determines where we should be placed in the structure.

Over time, the concept of the cornerstone became a decorative stone that would contain information about the building and perhaps house a time capsule. When we say that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone we certainly do not imply that he is simply decorative or even just informational. Jesus is the key to the strength of the church which is a building made up of living stones making a spiritual house.

Allowing us to offer spiritual sacrifices. See what Peter had to say. 1 Peter 2:4-5 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of God brings us to salvation and gives us access to the family of faith which allows us to offer spiritual sacrifices. Our spiritual worship is the act of presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

People who come to God by faith become a holy priesthood able to communicate with God, and to communicate about God to people. We are able to enter into the holy of holies, spiritually, and are able to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. Having come to faith in Jesus Christ our good works are sacrifices pleasing to God.

When Christ comes again and establishes his rule over the earth we will be His priests forever. We will eternally worship and offer prayers to God as we behold his face and dwell in his presence, forever and ever. Our spiritual life began as a work of the Spirit and we need to ask ourselves the same question that Paul asked.

Are you now being perfected by the flesh? “The flesh” does not mean our physical body. Biblically, the word “flesh” often means the Christian’s old way of living. Before his salvation…
Paul had been confident in his flesh. Listen to what he wrote to the Philippians. Philippians 3:4-6 — though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

If anyone had reason to be proud of their flesh Paul would certainly rank among them. Look at the way he describes himself. He was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin from his birth. He describes himself as a Hebrew of Hebrews. With regard to the law he was a Pharisee.

We usually think of a Pharisee as being a self-righteous pompous person. The truth is the Pharisees were Bible scholars who worked very hard at trying to be righteous. Paul said that with regard to the law he was blameless. There is no rebuke in Scripture to his statement so I assume that it’s true. The problem Paul faced was the fact that righteousness under the law is not able to bring people to salvation. In his zeal to please God, Paul persecuted the church. He brought men and women before the Council and they were condemned to death.

Then he came to faith in Christ. Let’s continue reading. Philippians 3:7-10 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

“Whatever gain I had” speaks, primarily, of what humanly speaking we would consider to be good things. When I came to know the Lord the things I gave up were bad things. Paul had been brought up in a strictly religious family and he gave up his religion and considered it all so much garbage so that he could have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

He had been confident in his flesh until he came face-to-face with Jesus on the Damascus Road. From that point on all he really wanted was to be found in Christ. He focused everything about his character on the possibility of knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection.

The resurrection is the key to salvation. The Bible recounts some instances of people coming back from the dead. Today’s emphasis on zombies, especially this time of year, is a real threat to Christian faith. The so-called “undead” are horrible caricatures of people who have died. Any time people were truly brought back to life they were restored to health and normalcy. There is no evil involved. In point of fact, the evil characterized by death is defeated by life.

Jesus’ death was very real and his resurrection was different from all the previous events. Jesus came back to life in an absolutely perfect body. Obviously, from the reaction of the disciples, he still looked like the man they had followed but he was such an improved version they did not immediately recognize him! He now has a resurrection body and when he comes again we will be like him.

Paul had seen that resurrection body of Jesus and desired to be like him even if it meant going to his death for Jesus. He recognized that he needed to have a righteousness that exceeded the righteousness of the Pharisees. He knew that Jesus Christ, who had no sin of his own, had become sin for us allowing us to become the righteousness of God in him. That righteousness comes to us through a steadfast trust in the word of God and the work of Jesus on the cross. You see, not only was Jesus crucified for our sins but also…

The flesh was crucified with Christ. Look back at Galatians 2:20 where Paul says I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And 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.

How can this be? So far as we know Saul of Tarsus, or Paul the apostle, was nowhere around at the time Jesus was crucified and we certainly were not! We need to think about this the way God does not the way we do as humans. 

God the Father knew that we had need of salvation before the world began. The Bible teaches us that when Jesus Christ came into this earth in human form God had already placed us in him. God chose us in him before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4) And, when Jesus went to the cross we went with him because we were in him in the plan of God. As Bill Gillham puts it in his book, “Lifetime Guarantee”: That rebel you, that lord-of-the-ring you, that spiritually dead-to-God you, that spirit-son of Satan was crucified with Him.

Now the life that Paul lived, and the life that we now live, it’s not our own. We have been bought with a price and that price was the death of the sinlessly perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me! And the life that we live is lived by faith and that…

Faith makes sons of Abraham. There is a song that we used to sing many, many years ago goes, “Father Abraham had many sons, Many sons had Father Abraham. And I am one of them, and so are you, so let’s just praise the Lord!” As a child, and even the young adult, I didn’t know what that song meant. And I have an idea that many of the people who were leading it had no clue either. Our primary text today says: Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7) What is faith?

Faith is living like God tells the truth. Look at how James interprets faith. James 2:18-26 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Faith is not believing about something. And, especially, faith is not blindly moving off into the unknown, or a leap in the dark. Faith is following the truth.

Throughout the centuries many people have argued that there was a basic disagreement between James and Paul. Martin Luther, whom I greatly respect, called James’ letter “a book of straw”. He failed to see beyond the surface where Paul and James say the same thing. Paul tells us that we are saved by grace through faith and that it is the gift of God not brought about by any works on our own. But, the very next verse says that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. These are works that God has planned ahead for us to do. Both James and Paul tell us that faith that works is working faith. Yes, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. That belief caused him to live it out.

An intellectual belief in the facts about Jesus does not make a person a child of God. Abraham believed God and he fathered a son when he, and Sarah his wife, were long past the age of child bearing. And then, he was later told by God take that son along with wood and fire to a place God would show him. There he was told to sacrifice his son on an altar. Abraham lived like he believed God. What he knew was that God had promised that his lineage would be through Isaac and therefore Isaac could not die, or stay dead, until he had a son to carry on the line.

So when Abraham and Isaac came to the place of sacrifice he told his servants to remain behind and he and the boy would go and worship and would return! Hebrews 11 tells us that Abraham believed that God, if necessary, could raise Isaac from the dead. In a sense that is exactly what happened. Abraham prepared the altar, tied up Isaac and placed him on it. Then he raised a knife to take his son’s life and God said, “STOP”! Suddenly Abraham heard a ram stuck in the thicket nearby and he brought it to the altar as a substitute for Isaac. He knew that God is faithful and he trusted him to provide a sacrifice, or return Isaac to life.

Faith is living like God tells the truth and…

Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ. Let’s see what the apostle John had to say. John 1:9-13 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Saving faith is more than believing about Jesus. Saving faith is trusting Jesus to deliver us from death into life. In verse twelve there are two words that sound alike. Those two words are “receive” and “believe” and in the context of this passage they are very much alike. Receiving Jesus is believing Jesus! Believing Jesus is receiving Jesus! This is not believing about him. but believing in him. For all those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, God had already seen them in Christ Jesus before the world began! “In Christ Jesus” speaks of receiving him and believing in him. That, my friends, is saving faith! When one receives and believes, God causes them to be reborn into the family of God.

Faith is living like God tells the truth. Saving faith is trusting Jesus. And that…

Faith grows and matures. Let’s go back to Philippians and follow the testimony of Paul. Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. ¹⁶ Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

To know Jesus and the power of his resurrection was the goal of Paul’s faith! Paul is one of my heroes and I’m a little bit surprised at what he said about his own condition in the Philippian letter. He said that he had not yet obtained his goal nor was he already perfect. Instead, he was running a spiritual race and pressing towards the prize that he had not yet obtained. And then he says that his condition is maturity! Remember, he wrote these things near the very end of his life. He was already in prison, perhaps for the last time, facing the executioner’s axe. Yet his goal remained the same, “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Obviously, I believe it’s very important that everyone understand how to be saved. At the same time we cannot spend all of our life at the door of salvation. We need to enter the Christian life and then grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. The tragedy of many Christians’ lives is that they never mature, or grow up spiritually. If Satan cannot prevent you from coming to faith in Christ he will then bend every effort to damage your testimony and/or prevent you from growth. Paul had to write to the Corinthians and say that he could not feed them meat because they were still babies in Christ. Tragically many Christians pattern their life after that of the Corinthian church and miss the whole point of growth in grace. Have you put your faith in him? If yes, are you growing spiritually? If not, why not now? If you feel him tugging at your heart he will receive you.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.