Hypocrisy in the Church

Good evening, everyone, and welcome back to Church of the Bible. It is good to be here today. It's good to be entering into spring, but those allergies are definitely upon us. It's been horrible announcements. Before we begin this Wednesday, there will be well, I won't be at Bible study.

You guys can still have it if you want. Shawnee can lead it and go through the chapter we've been going through. I will be at the dentist getting my second of three rounds of work done to have my tooth repaired from when it busted. So I will not be in Bible study. But Shawnee, will.

She'll be here in case anyone shows up for that. Also, last Sunday, we noticed there was an issue with the streaming server, and I kind of made an announcement right after worship that there were issues and a quick update because not everyone is aware of what's going on. And I figured I'd stop calling everyone individually and wait until today. We had a catastrophic server failure, which, simply put, means we lost everything. All of our data is gone, and we've been working hard all week to restore it and get it up.

As of today, the church website is and the mobile app are back online. However, none of our old sermons are there. So as of now, only stuff from today forward will be there. This week, Shawnee and I will be working to restore all of the data and get it all back. And if there's anyone who has any time that they would like to offer to help us do that, the more people putting data in, the easier it'll be and faster we'll get back to normal.

So if that's something you want to help with, please call me after church, let me know, and I'll get you set up so that we can get this done ideally before next Sunday. For those who have asked me, there's a couple here, and I've already talked with one for those who have asked about the online giving, our Tithing system is back online. That occurred this morning. This morning. So Tithing is up and online again for those who were asking, and we'll just keep you updated as we move forward in this progress, getting it up and going again.

So I apologize for the major inconvenience that it has been. With that said, let's go ahead and pray and then we'll begin worship and I'll see you guys all back here in just a few minutes. Father, we thank you for you are a good, good Father. And Lord, I praise you that even in the server failures and loss of data, Lord, it was not impossible to recover from. We thank you for the backups that we did have that preserved what data it did.

We thank you, Lord, that we are able to fully restore everything and just your goodness in that. Lord, I praise you for the weather that you have given us, Lord, for the rain that's coming, for everything that you have provided, the snow pack on the mountains that's now melting and given us water and your goodness for all that you are. Lord, I pray as we go into worship now and into service, that you will take all of the distractions of the world, our workplaces, the things that we're going to do after church, and that you would move it far from our minds so that we can focus this next hour on you and you alone. I pray that you will be glorified tonight and glorified as we leave here, having heard Your word and enacted upon it. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

To the depths of the you creations revealing Your Majesty.

From the colors of fall to the fragrance I spring every creature unique in the song that it. See always indescribable uncontainable you place the stars in the sky you know that my name you are amazing all powerful untameable offroad we fall through I need that we humbly foreclaim you are amazing god.

Every lightning boat where it should go, I think. Heavenly houses laid with snow you imagine the sun and you start to light yet conceal this to bring us the coolest night indescribable, unconstainable you place the stars in the sky and you know in my name you are amazing all powerful untameable offroad we fall to our knees as we humbly broke Lane you are amazing God you are amazing God indescribable uncontainable you place the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing.

Incomparable, unchangeable. You see the depth of my heart and you love me the same. You are amazing, God.

You are amazing, God.

As for me and my house, we will serve you, Lord, lifting holy hands and worship.

We will not bow down to the gods of man. We will worship the God of its right. You are holy. Holy. There is no one else like you you are holy, holy.

There is no one else like you. As for me and my house we will serve You, Lord lifting holy hands and worship we will not bow down to the gods of man we will worship the God of his right you are holy, holy. There's no one else like you you are holy, holy. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you.

There is no one. Now choose to stay whom you will serve come on. Choose to stay whom you will serve. But as for me and my house we will serve you, Lord. We will serve you, lord.

Oh, yeah. We will not bow to the gods of men we will not bow to the goddess of men. Will worship the god of Israel we will not bow to the goddamn we will not bow to the goddess of mental worship the God of Israel we're singing we will not bow to the goddamn will not go to the god forgot me dry.

Goddamn god. Don't shout out and come over. I don't know. You are only holy. There is no one else like you.

Holy. There is no one else like you.

We will not bow down to the gods. Of man. We will worship the God of its right.

Let the whole world be.

Everyone needs compassion love that's never failing. Let me see fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness. The kindness of a savior.

The hope of nation.

Savior he can move a mountain my God is mighty to save he is mighty to save forever offer of salvation heroes and conquer the grave jesus conquered the grave got your lion, let the whole world be got your light and let the whole world be take me as you find me all my fears and failures feel my life again I give my life to follow everything I believe in now I surrender he can move the mountain. My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save. Forever offer of salvation. He rose and conquer the grave.

Jesus conquer the grave savior, you can move the mountains. You are mighty to save you almighty to save. Forever salvation you rose and conquer the grave oh, you conquer the grave you can move around you are mighty to save you almighty to save forever author of salvation you rose and conquer the grave jesus conquer the grave I'm a yes, we're singing as we sing for Jesus to shine his light so that the whole world can see there's a verse we'll be reading later today in our chapter in Galatians. It's verse 20. I'm going to quickly read it, but we're not going to discuss it too much today.

It says, it's no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me, and that 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. As we sing and pray for God to shine his light to the world so that the world would know who he is, we should also be evaluating our lives, how we live, so that God can fulfill that prayer, so that he can answer, because he will answer it through those of whom he lives within. Last week we started reading the Book of Galatians. We did chapter one, and just a real quick summary of chapter one, just like the high points we discussed in verses eight and nine, right, that if anyone were to preach any other gospel contrary to the one that has been proclaimed, to let that person be eternally damned.

And he said again in verse nine, says I said it before, and I will say again, if anyone is proclaiming a gospel to you contrary to what you received, let him be damned. We read that last week as we discussed that there are those who would take the gospel and they would pervert it for their own gain, they would pervert it to lead you astray. And that we need to be cautious of that happening in the world we live in today. Not only was it true 2000 years ago, but it is significantly more so today. It's happening everywhere.

It's happening from so called Christians, it's happening from cults, it's happening from the world, and we need to be aware of that. And then Paul said he defended his ministry, his apostleship, and that he did not go to Jerusalem or consult with anyone, whether who has flesh and blood, but instead he went to Arabia, into Damascus, where he engaged in his ministry, seeing only Sephas, who is Peter. So we're going to pick up today as Paul transitions from proclaiming the Gospel in chapter one and warning people who were fallen for it to defending his ministry. And we're going to read today about his ministry being defended. And also we're going to read today about some issues in Christian living that we today need to be aware of so that we can make sure we're not committing those same issues in our lives.

So let's begin with verses one through ten in Galatians, chapter two, Paul writes then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem, with Barnabas, taking along Titus also. Now, I went up there because of a revelation, and they had out to them the Gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but in private to the influential people, lest somehow I was running, or had run in vain. But not even Titus, who was with me, although he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. Now this was because a false brother secretly brought in, who slit in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might enslave us to whom not even for an hour do we yield in subjection, in order that the truth of the Gospel might remain continually with you. But from those who are influential, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me.

God does not show partiality. For those who are influential added nothing to me.

But these, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcision, just as Peter to the circumcision, for the one who was at work through Peter, for his apostleship, to the circumcision was at work also through me for the Gentiles. And when James and SEPHIS and John, those thought to be pillars, acknowledged the grace given to me, they gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. In order that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcision, they asked only that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do. Okay, so chapter two picks up 14 years later from the events of chapter one. Not that Paul wrote this letter over 14 years, but in his writing he is writing over a span of 14 years.

We begin his ministry in Galatians one where he is blinded at the light on the road as Jesus appears to him and questions why he persecutes him to go into Syria, to Asia if we go. Look here, back in the verses, he says he went to Arabia and to Damascus. Now, 14 years later, he's in Jerusalem, and he is there with Barnabas and Titus brothers who had traveled with him, who had preached the Gospel. Titus he picked up along his missionary journeys and began to train him in there in Jerusalem. Now, verse two tells us, because of a revelation, and he laid out to them, to the to the Twelve in Jerusalem, the Gospel that he preached among the Gentiles in private.

And this is interesting, says Lest, somehow I was running or had run in vain. So let's break down what Paul is saying here. Paul had a revelation. It had been revealed to him that there are those who believe he is preaching a false gospel, or he himself has become fearful that he has been preaching a false gospel and running his race in vain.

Church. If you have ever preached or shared the gospel or whatnot to anyone, and you have not questioned whether or not you are preaching the truth, you need to look at yourself. The scariest thing I can think of, the worst thing imaginable to me right now, is to get behind the pulpit every week and preach a gospel that is a lie. I don't want to do that. I don't want to be running my own race in vain.

I don't want to be leading others astray so that they run their race in vain. And it is something if the Apostle Paul felt the need to check himself and ensure that the gospel in which he preaches is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, then so much more. We today need to check ourselves against the word of God and make sure that the Gospel we preach is the truth. Paul had become fearful. Am I preaching the truth?

Am I leading people astray? What better way to check myself than to go to those who had walked with Jesus Christ, to gather them together and to proclaim to them what I've been proclaiming for 14 years? I think Paul waited a little long if he felt there was an issue to proclaim to them what I've been proclaiming for the last 14 years, lest I had run in vain. He wanted to see if he had the truth. He adds in here in verse three, a tidbit, that not even Titus, who was with me, although a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

So we learned something about Titus, who Paul picked up on his missionary journeys and began to train into a missionary. He's a Greek and he is uncircumcised.

These revelations set the tone for the rest of the chapter. It really sets the stage for what Paul was discussing in chapter one and why this is so important.

What is the revelation that Paul had or received to cue him in, to thinking he might be preaching a false gospel? And it was the fact that Titus, who was with him, who had called himself a follower of Christ, was uncircumcised. Now, circumcision was a ritual of the Jews.

It was a covenant between God and Abraham, and Abraham's family, a sign, a token, a cutting of the flesh to signify what God had promised, a remembrance of that there was never in the Bible a mandate on people outside of the family of Abraham to become members of the circumcision. In fact, in the Book of Romans, Paul touches on this issue when Paul says that if you are the circumcision of the flesh only, that you are not a member of the family of Abraham, you are not a child of Abraham, but that which is the circumcision of the heart is of the children of Abraham. Paul was teaching that the physical circumcision of the flesh did not matter. It did not count. It had no weight but that your heart was circumcised, that your heart had been cut as you have sacrificed yourself as a living sacrifice to allow Christ to live in you, to follow Him, to give up your own will in place of his.

But there are those who had entered in, who had come around, who had began drama in the church in the first century about the Gentiles who were uncircumcised. They wanted to place on them the burden of being a Jew, the burden of the law. They wanted them to do everything that the law had proclaimed that the Jew should do. But there was an issue with this. The Jew is unable to satisfy the law.

But with all of this drama going on, here is Paul, and he is wondering at this point whether or not the gospel he proclaims is true. He tells us there are Christians, some Christians, who wanted to see specifically if Paul was keeping the Jews laws and traditions. In verse four, he says there were false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus in order that they might enslave us. These are people who were Jews and called themselves to be Christians, but really what they were were Jewish enforcers. They came in to enforce the Old Testament law and rituals and traditions and were proclaiming that unless you followed all traditions of the Old Testament, you cannot be a Christian.

They went from the freedom that Christ gave them and they reverted back to the bondage and yoke of the law. They went from grace to works.

Paul mentions to the council in Jerusalem that they had never yielded to them for an hour so that the truth of the Gospel might remain continually with them. Paul was paying no attention to the Jews. He was not allowing them to compromise his beliefs, compromise what he knew to be true. And guys in this world, with all the religious and theological systems that are around us, with all the people who want to look at the freedom that we have and who want to enslave us, we must not allow for them to distract us. We must not allow for them to pervert the gospel that Jesus has given us and enslave us back as a worker of the devil.

All of these theological systems in the world that teach work based theology are systems of the devil, and we cannot be ensnared inside of that. However, despite the fact that Peter paid no attention to them, it did do a good thing, and we can learn from this. It caused him to question not his faith, but to make sure to seek the truth. Is what I follow true?

Says here that he went to those who were influential and those who were influential. This is the Twelve we're talking about john Peter James, who is the brother of Christ. Those who had walked with him, he says, added nothing to me in verse six, as he laid out the Gospel that he had proclaimed to the Twelve, they added nothing to him. They did not tell him he was doing anything wrong. They did not tell him he was missing anything, but that he was proclaiming the truthful Gospel.

And why? Why is this important to the first century church, to the Church in Galatia? And why is this important to us, to the Church in Galatia 2000 years ago? This was important as there were those false Christians attempting to tell the Gentiles that they had to take upon them the bondage of the law. It was important for them to know, to have certification from those who walked with Christ that Paul was not leading them astray so that they could trust in him.

Today it is important because there are people today who will discount all of the Pauline letters. They'll discount Romans and Galatians and Ephesians and first and second timothy and Titus. Though the books are the Corinthians, they'll discount it because it was written by Paul, who they think preached a contrary gospel to what the original Twelve had preached. But we have a seal of approval from the original Twelve that the Gospel of which Paul proclaimed is trustworthy. That seal of approval can give us today comfort that as we read and follow and obey the writings of Paul, that we are reading and following and obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ, verse seven has something that has always stood out to me.

When the Twelve had seen that Paul was entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcision, as Peter was to the Circumcision, this is interesting for those who do not know who Paul was. He was a pharisee. As a Jew, Paul was one of the religious leaders who specifically persecuted Jesus Christ and had him knelt to the cross. He was one of those who conspired to have him killed. He was a study of the Old Testament.

He knew it by heart. He had spent his entire life studying. If there was anyone at all who knew the Jewish laws and customs and how in Christianity they pertained to Christ, it was Paul. So if there was anyone who knew that and was able to demonstrate to the Jews what it was they were missing, it was Paul. But where did Paul go?

Paul went to the uncircumcision, to the Gentiles, to those who did not know the Jewish laws and customs, who the Jewish laws and customs did not apply, to whom Paul's knowledge did not matter. And who is Peter? Peter is a fisherman. He was the lowest of a low in the Jewish society. He didn't know anything of the Old Testament.

He didn't really study it, didn't really follow it. He didn't really spend his life going to the temple and worshiping. He was a fisherman with a foot shaped mouth.

If there was anyone who was seemingly unequipped to go to the Jews and to preach to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and demonstrate how the Old Testament pointed to him, it was not Peter. Peter was not qualified for that. And what this tells us is whatever we think we're good at, whatever we know, whatever is our comfort zone, is not where God is always going to use us. In fact, God will often use us outside of our comfort zone, outside of what we know, so that we depend on him and not what we know or our experience, but upon the experience and wisdom of God. So when they had seen that God entrusted him with the Gospel to the uncircumcision, they extended the right hand of fellowship.

They gave them recognition. They gave them their sill of approval and told them only in verse ten that they should remember the poor. The very thing in which Paul was eager to do. They did not tell him, yes, get your followers circumcised. Yes, restrict them to all the laws and ordinances and bondages of the Old Testament, but that they should remember the poor.

What should we be doing today? What did Jesus spend so much time preaching about was the poor?

We need to be cautious today that we do not reject the poor, that we don't turn a blind eye to them, but we should be eager to assist them. We should be eager to help get them back on their feet, to lend them a help in hand, to take care of them, to have a heart that God has.

However, as Paul begins discussing this fellowship he's been extended, and these people who are pushing the Old Testament bondage on the Gentiles, he confronts somebody who he feels is specifically responsible for these actions. Read with me verses eleven through 14. But when SEPHIS came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he was condemned. For before a certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also joined in this hypocrisy with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with them in their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that they were not being straightforward with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Sephas in the presence of them all, if you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try and compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? Ouch.

What's going on here? Peter, who is called Sephas here in verse eleven, peter would sit with the Gentiles, he would eat with the Gentiles, he would engage with the Gentiles. But then when the Jews who the Jewish converts would come around, he would disown the Gentiles, he would no longer acknowledge them, no longer eat with them, no longer have anything to do with them. And this was hypocritical. In front of one group of Christians he was one person, but when another group was around, he was an entirely different person.

Paul felt this a condemned Peter, and Paul felt this hypocrisy needed to be called out publicly. Could you imagine that? Remember who Peter is. We just talked about him as the fisherman, but Peter is the chief apostle. Peter was the one chosen by Jesus specifically to lead the church, to lead the proclamation of the Gospel.

He was the head honcho of this group. And here comes Paul publicly and calls him out on it.

Paul was not afraid to be bold. We learn a few things on this. First, we learn that church leaders, they are not above being called out. Church leaders are not above keeping the Christian lifestyle living in the way of Christ. Church leaders are also not above being called out when they do something wrong.

We should call church leaders out. We should make it known if they are doing something, there's a respectful way to do it, a right and a wrong way, but it should be done. Church leaders should not be allowed to do whatever they want just because of their position within the church. It doesn't matter if they're the head honcho, if they're the lead pastor, if they are a lead apostle, if they are in any position, if they're the high priests in the Jewish system, they are not above reproach.

However, another thing we learn from Peter here is what is he trying to do? He is trying to please both the Jews and the Gentiles. He is trying to live two separate gospels, to appeal to them both. And anytime we do that, we compromise the truth of the Gospel, we compromise its effectiveness. We are shown to be hypocrites and we hinder our ability and the ability of other people to share the gospel.

We cannot please all people, and it's not important that we please all people. If there are people who like these Jews, want to live a certain way, if they want to be circumcised, if they want to keep the feast, if they want to obey the Sabbath, there is nothing wrong with that. But we should not allow people to dictate the way we live contrary to the gospel, just because we don't want to offend them. This is interesting. Peter was afraid of them.

Well, what was he afraid of? He was afraid of offending them. He was afraid of upsetting them so that they would no longer follow him. Being afraid to offend people is not new to the 21st century. But being afraid to offend people has always and will always cause us to be found a hypocrite.

We must not be two separate people so that we can please all people. But we must always be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. We must always represent Him and his kingdom and his will, regardless of how offensive it is to other people. Now, that does not mean we need to brutally be offensive, but we do not change. We do not at all sacrifice the gospel.

We do not at all jeopardize the gospel and the message of Jesus because it is offensive due to Peter and the way he was living in a hypocritical life. Not only was Peter doing this, but Barnabas and others were also getting carried away, right? Our examples as Christians sets the tone for what others do, right? If we are a Christian and new Christians and converts come into the church and we are living a specific way, we set the tone for how they live. Furthermore, not only do in general do we set the tone the way that church leaders peter was a church leader.

I am a church leader. There are other church leaders in this nation and in this world. The way that we as leaders, specifically as leaders, live our life sets the tone for others. If, as the church leader, I cannot live in a way pleasing to Jesus Christ, how can I expect anyone else to live in a way pleasing to Christ? If I live in one way and preach behind the pulpit another, I should expect that the church will follow my example and not my preaching.

And this was the issue with Peter that Paul confronts him about is peter, you're preaching one thing and you're doing another and you're carrying people away in hypocrisy.

And so Paul says to Peter here, he says, if you, although a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to compel Gentiles to live like Jews? In other words, Peter, as all people have lived like a Gentile, there was not a Jew saved Jesus Christ himself who lived like a Jew. All people lived like Gentiles. If you lived the way a Jew ought to live, you wouldn't need the Gospel of Jesus. Think about it.

If you were circumcised, if you kept the law, if you never lied or stole or cheated or killed or committed adultery or coveted after your neighbor's wife or home or car or anything, if you had perfectly kept the law and lived the way a Jew ought to live, there would be no reason for the gospel in your life.

But as Romans tells us in Romans three let's pull Romans three up.

As Paul tells us in Romans three, he says that all. In verse eleven, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside together.

They have become worthless. There is no one who practices kindness, not even one. Their throat is an open grave. They deceive with their tongues. The venom of ASPs is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and distress are in their paths, and they have not known the way of peace. The fear of God is not before their eyes. Now, we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are under the law in order that every mouth may be closed and the whole world may become accountable to God. Let's pause for a quick second, but we're going to continue.

What does this say? This says that the purpose of the law is not to save people, but it's to condemn people right. Whatever the law says. In verse 19, it says to those under the law so that every mouth will be closed and the whole world will become accountable to God. Verse 20 for by the works of the law, no person shall be declared righteous before him.

For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The law reveals to us our sin. It lets us know that we're sinners. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified about by the law and the prophets. That is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

For there is no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In verse 23, all people, Jew and Gentile, there is no distinction. All have sin and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

So back to Paul speaking to Peter. If you who are a Jew, you are a Jew by birth, by nature, by being a physical descent of Abraham. If you, being a Jew, cannot live like a Jew, you can't live keep the laws of the Jew, you can't keep the ordinances of the Jew. You can't live the law in such a way that it will save you. So if you can't do that.

Why are you trying to compel people, trying to convince people who have no part of the Jews, who who are not of Abraham, who are not of that particular covenant, who were never under that bondage? Why are you trying to convince them to do something that you yourself can never do, that never could save you and won't save them either? Why are you trying to tell them they cannot be Christians unless they keep the same law that you cannot keep? We need to be careful, Church, that in our preaching and the way we teach people, the way we judge people, that we are not trying to compel them to do something that we ourselves cannot do. It is hypocritical.

It is wrong. And there is no such burden in the New Testament Church.

But it's so easy to do. We all do it. We all can look at someone and judge them and condemn them and try to apply things to them that we don't do and we should not.

Let's continue. Right? So we have Paul verified. He has a seal of approval as an apostle, as one entrusted to the Gentiles, and he has confronted Peter, who is living in a hypocritical way of life. Here's what he says about it after verse 15 to 21.

He says, we are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, but knowing that a person is not justified by the works of the law, if not by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Jesus Christ so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law, no human being will be saved. But if, while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, then is Christ an agent of sin? May it never be. For if I build up again these things which I destroyed, I shall myself to be a transgressor.

For though the law through the law, I die to the law in order that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that life. I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not declare invalid the grace of God.

For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died to no purpose. I love how bold Paul is. I wish, as a church, we could be this bold, that we could proclaim the truth in the same way, with the same fire that he does. Right. Verses 15 and 16.

Whether you are Jew or Gentile, paul says all men are sinners. As we begin his discourse, he says we are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles. In other words, we're not from the Gentiles. We're Jews. We're children of abraham, he says, we're not sinners from among them.

In other words, what he is saying is, though we are not from among the Gentiles, we are still all sinners. We're guilty of the same things that they are, and we are not justified, he says, by the works of the law, but by belief in Jesus Christ. No tradition. Baptism cannot save you. Temple worship cannot save you.

Tithing cannot save you. Taking animals and slaughtering them on an altar and lighting them on fire cannot save you. And get in the flesh of a male circumcised cannot save you. We are not saved by tradition, but we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Right?

Verse 17 says, while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also have been found to be sinners. We are all sinners. But is Christ an agent of sin? He says no, never let it be. We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. However, two Corinthians, chapter five, verse 21 tells us about Jesus Christ. It says that God made the one Jesus Christ who did not know sin to be sin on our behalf in order that we would become the righteousness of God in Him. Right. God made Jesus who knew no sin.

He had never sinned, he had never been acquainted with it, but he judged him as if he were a sinner on our behalf so that we could become the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.

Powerful. Verses 18 and 19. He says if I build up again these things which I destroyed, I show myself to the a transgressor right as we get saved. If you get saved out of Mormonism or Catholicism, or if you get saved out of judaism, whatever it may be, as we get saved out of work based theologies, out of false world system theologies into the Gospel of Christ. If we go back to the things that we knew before, the former ways of life, he says we show ourselves to be a transgressor.

We should not go back. And Paul begins his letter to the church in Galatia saying the same thing. In verse six of chapter one, Paul said, I'm astonished that you are turning away so quickly from the one who called you by the grace of Christ to a different gospel. They were turning away. They were fleeing the Gospel of Christ back to work based theology.

So in chapter two in verse 18, Paul condensed it. He says, if we turn back to our former way of life and build it up again, we show ourselves to be transgressors. For through the law, we die to the Law, through what Jesus Christ did. Jesus lived the law perfectly. We have not through what he did, we die to it, and we do not die to the world.

We don't die to sin and death so that we can return to it. That's unfathomable we have died to it so that we could live to God when we die, to sin and death, when we die to ourselves, when we take our crown off and proclaim to Jesus that we will bow to his, we do it so that we can live to Him and for no other reason. And as that is the case in verse 20, he says and so I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And that life. I now live in the flesh.

I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Circle this verse, ponder it this next week. What does it mean to say that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me? Next week we will be actually going into this verse in depth. We're going to break it apart.

We're going to see what it means for us to no longer live but Christ to live through us. So ponder it the next week. Ponder what it means, ponder if we can say truly that we no longer live, but Christ through us lives. And he says we live it by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. It's important to know Jesus Christ died for us.

He died for us because he loved us. He loved us so much to leave his glory behind, to leave what he knew, to leave the Father, to leave the Spirit, and to come into such a wicked and perverted world and to die for those who did not love Him.

Paul ends, and we need to understand this says I do not declare invalid the grace of God. If we preach work based theology, if we preach that you must do this and must do that, and you have a task list of things that you must do to inherit the kingdom of God, then we declare the grace of God invalid. Paul says that it cannot be of works and grace. It is. They are mutually exclusive.

So he does not declare invalid the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, if we get saved through the works of the law, then Christ died to no purpose. If the law and works save us, then Christ died for no reason. His death was vain, and everything he has done and that has been done for the last 2000 years was worthless. But praise be to God, that is not the case.

Because if righteousness was through the law, we would all be condemned. For we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord. If you are ready right now to walk away from sin, to walk away from death from everything of this world, if you are ready to no longer be condemned, but to have the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ. It begins with admitting that you are a sinner, not just that you're a sinner, but there is nothing you can do about it.

Baptism won't fix it. Temple work won't fix it. Religion won't fix it. Trying to be a better person won't fix it. You are a sinner who is already condemned and that there is nothing you can do, but that Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, died for you.

He did it on your behalf. And so it is not you, but Him who has done the work, who has won the award that he grants to you and to confess Him as your Lord and God and King to say, okay, Jesus Christ, I take my crown off my head. I will no longer live the way that I want to live, but I will live the way you want me to live, and I will trust you to do that in me. And I will worship you and follow you alone. And if you truly believe those things, if you truly believe you are a sinner bound for hell, who Jesus Christ died for to save, and you will accept Him as your Lord and God and Savior, you will be saved.

And we can do that today. It begins with that belief and inviting Jesus into your heart. As we go to our closing prayer, we're going to invite him into our lives. We're going to confess those things. And if you have done this, please let me know.

Reach out to me so that I can welcome you into the family of God and that you know how grateful I am for your life and to call you my brother or sister in Jesus Christ. If you're ready to do that, please follow along with me now as we go to prayer, and I look forward to welcoming you into this family of God. Let's pray. Father, I admit that I'm a sinner who cannot say myself. I'm a sinner who is condemned, who has so much guilt and so much burden that it is hopeless and helpless without you.

But I do believe you, Jesus Christ. And you say that you have become sin on my part, even though you never knew it, so that through you, through your death and your righteousness, I could become the righteousness of God. I believe you, and I trust You, Lord, to give that to me through no means of my own, but as Your free and precious gift and Lord Jesus, I confess. You know as my King and God, I let you know that I will take my crown off and following. Lord, I ask you into my heart I ask you for this forgiveness and this free and very, very precious and invaluable gift, and I thank you for it.

Father, I pray that you'll protect us all from false systems, from those who would pervert the Gospel, who would try to ensnare us and enslave us back into the ways of old. But, Lord, protect us that you would be glorified. We no longer live, but you live through us. Lord Jesus, would you shine your light into the world as we have sang earlier that they would see and know that you are God? That they would be saved and you'd be glorified.

We thank you and love you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Kay.