I’m Dying To Live

Galatians “The Heart of the Gospel” Series

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Galatians 2:15-21

“I’m dying to have a cup of coffee.” That’s what I was saying about 9:30 Wednesday morning. Now that expression “I’m dying to” is a colloquialism that expresses a dire need or desire. It is an exaggeration that gets a point across. The point I was getting across is that by Wednesday morning the fact that I had been fasting before a blood draw was having an undesirable affect. I was overdue for my morning cup of coffee.

Today’s message title is “I’m Dying to Live”. But in this case we are going to discover that it is not an exaggeration, but expressive of a spiritual truth. “I’m Dying to Live” is the spiritual truth Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul wasn’t the only one to use this kind of paradoxical language. Jesus also told us there are two kinds of people, those who are living to die, and those who are dying to live. We discover that this paradox is not just a spiritual truth, it is a REALLY IMPORTANT CENTRAL TRUTH.

Luke 9:23-25 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. [24] For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. [25] What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

WE MUST understand this spiritual principle to properly understand Grace.

The Passage of Study for this morning (Galatians 2:15-21) corrects a common misunderstanding about Grace. This misunderstanding is found in many crowds. Let me name two crowds from opposite ends of the spectrum that have the same misunderstanding about grace. I’ll call those two crowds the Grace Refusers, and the Grace Abusers.

I. Refusers and Abusers Misunderstand Grace (17)

Found in the moralistic or legalistic crowd are the “Refusers” of Grace who reject the way of grace in favor of the way of law. In another crowd are the Abusers of Grace who want grace to get to heaven but they don’t want grace to radically change their life. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul was primarily addressing the problem of the refusers of grace. But if we understand grace correctly, it will bring correction to both the refusers and the abusers of grace. As it turns out, both the Refusers and Abusers have the same misunderstanding of grace. It is a common misunderstanding. And this misunderstanding is precisely the problem, or accusation against the Gospel, that Paul corrects in Galatians 2.

Focus: Grace is not a loophole, but a powerful life-transforming gift that enables us to enjoy real life today, and forever!

Both the refusers (the Judaizers, legalists, moralists, cult groups, etc) and the abusers of grace (some so called Christians whose lives are no different than non-believers) have a common misunderstanding about Grace. They see it as a loophole. The moralist crowd rejects grace because it seems like a sham. The sinning crowd that wants a loophole accepts grace on the basis of a half truth. The danger here is that half truths make a whole lie. The sinning crowd wants a loophole because they want heaven but they don’t want to change. They want to avoid hell, and all the consequences of sin, but they do not really want to change their cherished lifestyle which is a lifestyle ruled by self and consequently called sinful. They want grace but they are not really repentant.

Let me tell you something we all need to hear and understand. Jesus did not die for us merely to save us from Hell; he died for us to save us from our sin. When he saved us from our sin, he also saved us from Hell. Jesus’ death on the cross was not merely creating a loophole so that we could get into heaven; he set into motion the sin conquering, life changing, FORCE OF GRACE that is made available to us so that we can really live, today, and forever! He made it possible for us to receive His Life, by the Power of His Spirit, by removing our sin problem through the cross. He absorbed sin and death into himself, our sin and death, taking it away forever, and conquering it, so that he could release in us, his Spirit, and Life.

The Jews were thinking through Paul’s teaching on the Gospel, and teaching about justification by faith and they were having difficulty grasping it. If the Gentiles were not required to “observe the law” and they are saved by faith in Jesus alone, wouldn’t God’s grace then promote sin rather than curb sin? That’s their question.

If through Jesus we can always be forgiven for our sin, then what’s to keep us from continuing in sin? This is the accusation that comes from a misunderstanding of how the way of grace works. As we read the text this morning, look for the implied accusation, and notice in Paul’s explanation how the way of grace works not as a loophole but as a dynamic life changing force.

READ Galatians 2:15-21

Galatians 2:15-21 "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

17"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

A. 3 Key Words

1. “Justified”

Made acceptable, or fit before God. Usually a judicial term declaring that one is free from the verdict “Guilty!” But notice how Paul uses it here in context. He uses it not only as a legal declaration, but as a description of a real change. It is what really changes our acceptability before God. 1:20 and 21, describe the change that takes place when one is justified by faith in Christ. 21 says the Law can’t do it. The Law cannot make us spiritually fit. Grace can. The Law can’t make us acceptable, grace can.

2. “Faith”

If we are not careful we will have the wrong definition of faith based on what preachers have said rather than on what Paul is saying here. If we set up the wrong understanding between the contrast of the word “Faith” and the word “works” you could get some wrong ideas. Part of this has to do with the definition of the terms. How do you define faith. We must be careful to define “Faith” the way Paul does. Turn the message notes over and look at questions 4 and 5 of the Care Group Discussion questions for this week:

4. What is Paul’s definition of “faith” as he uses the term in this passage? (circle any that you think apply) A) “mental acceptance as true or real”, B) “trust” C) has nothing to do with obedience, D) the initial and continuing response to God’s promises, E) other

5. What does faith save us from? A) The “guilty verdict,” B) The sin that makes us guilty, C) Both “A” and “B,” or D) I want to qualify my answer …

3. “Works of the law” / “observing the law”

We have to be careful to understand what Paul is talking about here. He is not saying throw out all moral guard rails and don’t bother trying to follow God’s boundary markers at all. He is just saying, these principles from God, these laws, these boundary markers alone only show us how we fall short AND they don’t take care of the sin problem for us. The law highlights the problem for sinners without taking the problem away. This leads us to Paul’s main point.

B. Where Trying to Live (Fails), Dying to Live (works)

· The “Refusers” which is what the original context was addressing, had to go through the painful process of “De Confessing” the Law and Turning to Christ.

· The way of the law was the way of Trying to Live for God, and it didn’t take care of the sin problem. The best expressers of the “Trying to live” method are the “self righteous,” the “self made men”. Life ends up still being all about self and this approach falls far short of God’s glory. This approach is still self oriented rather than God oriented. It results in self glorification rather than glory to God.

· There’s a huge difference between trying to live and dying to live. And it’s not easy to explain. But here is a great handle.

At the “Come Near To Me” Promise Keepers Pastor’s Conference I went to last week, Max Lucado told about a time he asked a friend, “What’s the most exciting thing you’ve learned since I saw you a year ago?” His friend told him what he learned in one powerful sentence. Here is the sentence:

C. “It’s not about me, and It’s Not about Now.”

Max Lucado, a master craftsman with words, then said, “In the ocean of sentences this one is a killer shark” I agree. This has to do with the change of orientation that receiving grace brings about. I haven’t mastered this principle. But my heart resonates with it and I know its true. I know it’s the key to really living.

Apart from this reorientation that takes place through grace, we measure whether it is good by how it affects us. The World’s way says, “It IS all about me and it IS all about now.” The commercials use the world’s lie to sell. Our flesh buys into the lie. We hate to wait for anything. Many don’t wait till marriage to have sex. Many don’t wait to have money before they buy what they want now.

What is it about, then? It's about God’s Glory. It’s about God’s present and future Glory. Until we get that, we don't know what life's all about. We are missing something. When we finally learn “It’s not about ME, and it’s not about NOW,” We learn the secret to real living.

Paul says here, "It's not about me, It's not about now." How do we live this out?

EXAMPLES

You are a businessman climbing up the ladder of success. This orientation, “It’s not about me, It’s not about now,” changes everything in business.
You are in a frustrating marriage and you are almost ready to give up. “It’s not about me, It’s not about now.”
You discover a lump, the Doctor tells you it’s Cancer. “It’s not about me, It’s not about now.”
Or maybe you are a Pastor watering a church and watching it grow. “It’s not about me, It’s not about now.”

Do you get the idea? This orientation changes everything. How many of you are tired? Max Lucado looked at a stadium full of tired pastors and had us repeat after him, “I hereby resign (I hereby resign) as ruler of the universe (as ruler of the universe)" We laughed. But we got the point. Here’s a more difficult declaration. "I hereby resign my post as lord of MY life."

II. I’m Dying To Live

I have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)

How does this work?

A. OFFICIALLY

Officially, the judicial pronouncement “not guilty” is issued to us upon the acceptance of Christ’s righteousness on our behalf. Legally (under God’s Law) we are no longer condemned. Officially entering into this new status happens much like officially entering into a marital status. There is an official ceremony associated with the marriage covenant, just as there is an official ceremony associated with the New Covenant. That ceremony marks the day of making the grace transaction of “dying to live” official!

“Justification” is a legally declared spiritual reality. That’s why Paul writes what he does in Romans 6.

Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? [2] By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? [3] Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Paul argues from the official ceremony of baptism that the believer has officially accepted this spiritual reality, the status of having been officially crucified with Christ, buried with him, and raised to walk a new life.

B. RELATIONALLY

A Literal change of relationship has taken place. Your relationship to the power of Sin as master in your life is broken by Christ’s death, when you enter into a relationship with Christ. You are no longer Sin’s slave, but the royal servant of Christ, a nobleman, or noblewoman who is in a new relationship. You have a new master.

But it is a personal relationship that changes things.

We have become one with Christ, and his experiences are ours. Our Christian life began when, in unity with him, we died to our old life (see Romans 6:5-11).

Romans 6:5-11

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

It isn’t just a legally declared status; it isn’t just a loophole; it is a reality that takes on a personal dimension because one has entered into a dynamic powerful and personal relationship. It is because of this relational identification that one can actually die to sin.

C. DAILY

If we could be saved by being good, then Christ would not have had to die. The cross is the only way to salvation. Taking up the cross is the way to live. It’s how you follow Christ daily.

Have you died to live, officially?

Have you learned the secret of Dying to live?

Has your orientation changed, so that you do recognize “It’s not about Me, and it’s not about now”. It is about God’s Glory.

What do you need to do, to be able to make this true for your life Officially, Relationally, and Daily?