Pro Gospel

Readings for today: Galatians 5-6, Psalms 7

I went to the retirement party of some dear friends this past weekend. A couple who have served the Lord faithfully for decades all over the world. They began their careers as missionaries behind the Iron Curtain in Communist Europe. They finished as the president of a prominent U.S. seminary. So many people attended the event and several speeches were given honoring the couple. Stories were told. Affirmations were offered. Praise given. Tears shed. The couple was rightfully honored and blessed for all they had accomplished. For me, the most meaningful line of the evening came during one of the speeches. A former student got up to share a story about how during one class many years ago, one of my friends was challenged to choose a side on a particular social/theological issue. He was asked, “Are you pro-these people or pro-those people?” The tension was thick. It was a contentious topic. She never forgot his response. “I am pro-gospel”, he said.

What a simple, yet powerful line. It’s one the Apostle Paul fully affirms. “But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.” (Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Paul lived in a world not unlike our own. A world full of different parties and factions and groups, all vying for his allegiance. In his Jewish context, there were the Pharisees and Sadducees and Essenes and Zealots. In his Roman context, there were the Senators and Emperor and free people and slaves. In the church context, there were Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, male and female and everyone wanted to know if Paul was “pro-these people” or “pro-those people.” Paul was pro-gospel. He was pro the cross of Jesus Christ. He had been crucified to all worldly distinctions. They no longer had any hold on him. This is why he can speak so compellingly of the freedom Christ offers those who follow Him. Paul had been set free from the world. All the ties that might have bound him or tripped him up or set him apart had been cut. All of the identity markers he once held dear had been erased in favor of his identity in Christ. Christ alone held Paul’s allegiance.

What about us? Are we pro-gospel or are we pro-these people or pro-those people? Do we find ourselves choosing sides more than choosing Jesus? Do we find ourselves choosing worldly identities over our identity in Christ? Do we find ourselves associating only with those who look like us, act like us, spend money like us, vote like us, agree with us or are we willing to cross all kinds of divides to meet people where they are with the goal of loving them like Christ?

Readings for tomorrow: Ephesians 1-2, Psalms 8

Finishing Strong

Readings for today: Galatians 3-4, Psalms 6

“After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3 CSB) I have to admit these words hit hard this morning. I look in the mirror and I see a man who constantly wants to live by his own strength, make decisions according to his own wisdom, and lean on his own understanding in life. I have been blessed with an exceptional education and I get to serve in a community filled with amazingly gifted people. The church I have the privilege of pastoring is passionate about the gospel, generous to a fault, and makes a huge impact both locally and globally. With all the gifts and resources at my disposal, it is so tempting to start relying on myself rather than on God.

Paul knows what he’s talking about. He was one of the most gifted people in his generation. As a Jew, Paul was born into faith. He was raised from day one to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He was taught the Scriptures from an early age and participated in all the ancient traditions of his spiritual fathers and mothers. As a Pharisee, Paul was an expert in God’s Law. He had the entire Old Testament memorized. He was zealous for his faith, even to the point of persecuting those he considered a threat. As a Roman citizen, Paul had access and opportunity to travel all over the empire without fear. He was in a protected class of people. He clearly had exposure to a Hellenistic education. He was able to quote pagan philosophers along with the Scriptures. As a literal tent maker, Paul was economically independent. He didn’t need to rely on anyone to provide for himself. But Paul considered all of this as “loss” for the sake of knowing Christ. Paul knew none of his abilities or qualifications mattered when it came to his faith. He was saved by grace. He lived by grace. And he would finish his race by grace. This is why he so passionately confronts the Galatian Christians. He doesn’t want them turning back from grace and trying to live by their own works.

If you are like me, you were raised to work hard. Provide for yourself by the sweat of your brow. Put your hand to the plow. No such thing as a free lunch. Reject handouts in favor of a hand up. These are things that were instilled in me from a very young age and they are good. They often lead to great success in life. But they are not the kind of qualities God is looking for from His people. God wants us to live by grace. He wants us to understand there is nothing we can do to earn our way into His Kingdom. Nothing we need to do to earn His love and favor. It is by grace alone that we’ve been saved, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. This is the message of the gospel and it cuts against the grain of our sinful human nature that always wants to go it alone or rely on self to get by. Don’t be foolish. Don’t try to live from your own strength. Heed the words of Paul. “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.” (Galatians 3:10 CSB) They are cursed because righteousness does not come through our obedience but only through the obedience of Christ on our behalf. This is why Scripture declares that the righteous shall live by faith and it’s why Scripture lifts up the many men and women who lived by faith over the centuries.

Readings for tomorrow: Galatians 5-6, Psalms 7

Never Going Back…

Readings for today: Galatians 4-6

Several years ago, I remember talking to a friend of mine who had recently gotten out of prison after serving several decades for a violent crime. He had done his time. He had paid his debt to society. He had done his best to make amends and ask forgiveness of the victim and their family. And although he knew he would never get those years back, he also knew he had many years ahead where he could make an impact for God’s Kingdom. However, it soon became apparent to him that life on the outside would not be easy. There were very few jobs to be had for ex-cons. There were very few resources available to him in his community. He didn’t have much family support and the temptation to recidivate was very real. After all, the prison life was something he understood. In fact, he had spent his entire adult life up to this point behind bars. The routine felt comfortable. He ate three meals a day. He had a comfortable bed to sleep in. He had a job to go to each day. Yes, it was a pain to be told what to do and when to do it. Yes, it was dehumanizing to be counted five or six times a day or to have your cell searched without warning. Yes, he wasn’t treated well by the guards and he always had to be careful around the other inmates. But it was a world he had navigated well and even thrived in. He had gotten his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees behind bars. He had become the inmate chaplain. He preached weekly and led Bible studies. He had earned respect. All of that was gone now that he was on the outside.

In our discussion, we talked at length about this passage from Galatians. We talked at length about the difference between a “free” mentality and a “slave” mentality. We talked at length about how comfortable we can become in the prison house of sin, enslaved to the great enemy of our souls. In fact, we can become so comfortable that even after Christ has set us free, we often find ourselves tempted to recidivate to our old ways. It’s what we know. It’s what’s familiar. It’s a world we often navigate well to a certain extent. We may even gain a certain level of respect for ourselves or others based on our success. But all that becomes meaningless once Christ has come into our lives and set us free. He reorders our desires. He reorients our values. He calls us to lay down our lives in order to gain them. He calls us to be last so that we may be first. He calls us to humbly serve and love others, even our enemies. This is what freedom looks like in God’s Kingdom.

My friend made me a promise when we talked that day. He said, “Doug, I promise you I’m never going back.” I’m never going back to prison. Never going back to that lifestyle. Never going back behind bars where every action I take and every decision I make has to be approved by some human authority. I told him how proud I was of him and how I would stand by his side to help him along the way so he would never be alone. And I asked him to do the same for me. The reality is I don’t want to go back either. I don’t want to go back to the prison of the life I led before Christ. I don’t want to go back to a lifestyle of sin. I don’t want to return to a life of slavery where every action I take and every decision I make is beholden to an enemy who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy all God has done in my life to set me free. It is for freedom that Christ has set me free and I refuse to submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Readings for tomorrow: Acts 15-16

Christ Alone

Readings for today: Galatians 1-3

It is so easy to turn to another gospel. This isn’t just a Galatian problem. It happens every time we condition our fellowship with one another based on something other than Christ. Over the years, I’ve had Christians share all kinds of reasons with me why they can’t worship alongside their brothers and sisters. For some, the reasons may be denominational. I’m Baptist or Presbyterian or Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox or independent. For others, the reasons may be theological. I’m Reformed or Arminian or Roman Catholic or Orthodox. For some, the reasons may be ethnic or cultural or economic or political. For others, the reasons may be relational. They hurt me, disappointed me, or let me down in some way. Finally, there are the personal preferences that keep us apart. I don’t like the music or the preacher or the style of worship. Whatever the reason, any time we allow a human reason to get in the way of our ability to gather in worship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, we are in danger of chasing a different gospel.

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that the church is built on one foundation and that is Jesus Christ. Listen to how he describes in Galatians 2:19-21, “What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” Can you imagine what would happen if the church took Paul’s words here literally? Can you imagine a church where the human ego was not just set aside but actually crucified? Where personal preference was no longer central? Where pride and privilege and prejudice were no longer allowed to hold any influence? Where the only thing that mattered was Christ making Himself known in and through me?

The reality is the church should seek to become a fellowship only Jesus is strong enough to hold together. The church should seek to become a fellowship where radical grace and unqualified forgiveness and unconditional love is not just aspired to or talked about but actually practiced. The church should seek to become a fellowship where homogeneity and unanimity are rejected in favor of the beautiful diversity God ordains for her in Revelation 7:9 where every tribe, tongue, and language gathers before the throne. This is God’s dream for His church and it’s why the gates of hell cannot stand against her. She is built on the one, true confession which is Christ alone.

Readings for tomorrow: Galatians 4-6