BAD
FELLOWSHIP DINNER DAY
Text: Galatians 2 I. THE GOSPEL
NEEDS TO BE AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO IN LIFE. “The gospel says that through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has done everything that needs to be done for our salvation. It we were to try to add anything to that free and gracious gospel, it would be like taking an Olympic gold medal and having it bronzed!” (Philip Ryken, Galatians, p.46). A. So far, Paul’s discussion of the Gospel in Galatians focuses on the resurrection of Jesus (Gal.1:1); God’s grace and peace (Gal.1:3); Jesus giving Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age (Gal.1:4). B. The false Gospel of the Judaizers led Christians to stop fellowshipping with one another. 1. The Judaizers were teaching that we are saved by works (Acts 15:1,5). 2. Our of fear, Peter stumbled and stopped eating with Gentile Christians who were considered “unclean” by the Judaizers (Gal.2:11-14; see Acts 10). C. The Gospel is not: 1. A certain political view. 2. The Pro-Life movement. 3. A particular method of raising children. 4. The belief that the earth is 10,000 years young. 5. The Gospel has implications for politics, law, education, science and every other sphere of life. However, these things by themselves are not the Gospel. D. Christians need to focus on the centrality of the Gospel. We need to be careful that we do not get sidetracked or that we don’t leave the world with something less than the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. II. GALATIANS 2 RECOUNTS ONE OF THE WORST MOMENTS IN
THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH AND IT ALL HAPPENED AT A FELLOWSHIP DINNER! A. Peter did not begin teaching another Gospel. Peter began living another Gospel. Peter had the Gospel right in theory, but not in practice. B. Peter gave a foothold to the false Gospel of the Judaizers who said that the foundation of God’s acceptance of us was Christ + our works. 1. Both Peter and Paul were agreed that justification is by faith and not by the works of the Law (Gal.2:16; Acts 15:7-11). 2. Peter treated Gentile Christians as if they were “unclean” when God had called them “clean” (Acts 10:15; 11:9; 15:9). C. Peter’s actions almost led to a church split over the issue of the Gospel. “It is not enough that we believe the gospel (Peter did this, verse 16), nor even that we strive to preserve it, as Paul and the Jerusalem apostles did, and the Judaizers did not. We must go further still. We must apply it; it is this that Peter failed to do. He knew perfectly well that faith in Jesus was the only condition on which God will have fellowship with sinners; but he added circumcision as an extra condition on which he was prepared to have fellowship with them, thus contradicting the gospel” (John Stott, The Message of Galatians, pp.56f.). D. Jesus’ death on the cross is the only foundation
for God’s acceptance of us. The cross
therefore is the only foundation of the church’s acceptance of others. E. Like Peter, churches can be right in their doctrine of the Gospel, but wrong in their practice. 1. There are still problems in some churches over whether the color of your skin is black or white (Galatians 3:26-29) 2. If you really understand the Gospel as Paul preached and practiced it, you are going to have real hard core struggles with sin in the church. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ
also accepted us to the glory of God. (Romans 15:7) QUESTIONS FOR
SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION Pray that God would enable you and give you
the desire to be conformed to His Word as read and preached today. Pray that God would give you a greater
sense of your need for His grace in every part of your life. What was the title
of this morning’s sermon and why? What was the false
Gospel of the Judaizers? Explain how the
Apostle Peter fell away from the Gospel.
Was Peter teaching another Gospel or living another
Gospel? What is the only
foundation for God’s acceptance of us?
What is the only foundation of our acceptance of others? Seeing all the sin
going on in the church at Corinth, did Paul prematurely baptize some of those
households? |
