A Great Offer

Galatians 2:15-21

Introduction

You receive a phone call or an email by someone telling you that they are giving you a brand new car. Not only are they giving you that car, they are paying for your insurance, all car maintenance, and even the gas for as long as you own that car. They tell you that all they want from you is a picture of you shaking their hand and saying ‘thank you’ so they can share it to social media. How do you respond?

Most likely you will interpret this offer as being too good to be true and you would probably be correct. There have been many scams, both by phone and email, that have made tempting offers but were in reality just a plan to take advantage of vulnerable people.

But is everything always too good to be true? I have been offered certain things that at the time felt like they were too good to be true but ended up being legitimate. We often talk about life being unfair in a bad way, but sometimes life can feel unfair in a good way. By that, you receive something amazing as little or no cost to you. You make even almost feel guilty about the blessing you have received. Have you experienced anything like this? My point being, sometimes something that feels too good to be true, is actually true.

Let’s keep that in mind as we turn our attention to how one connects with God. In many ways, humanity’s quest for God mirrors our desire for anything else. We want to know the truth and if God exists, we want to be in relationship. And if there are a lot of scams in other areas of life, there are just as many scams when it comes to religion. I am not suggesting that most religions are scams, but there are people who are aware of humanity’s longing for the divine and are willing to take advantage of that for their own personal benefit. One example of course are the televangelists who promise healing, even for the most serious diseases, and all the people need to do is send in a ‘love gift.’ This is something that is indeed too good to be true. I have heard similar teachings in some of the churches that I have attended in the past. We should be attentive to those who over-promise and under-deliver.

But what about the gospel? The good news. Where does that fit into this? Specifically, the Galatians who have now encountered two competing versions of the gospel? Is it possible that the simple gospel that was shared by Paul in Galatia was too good to be true? Are the newcomers bringing a much needed corrective that fills in the details that Paul left out?

Law-Keeping

As we have been saying, the basic issue being addressed in this letter is that Paul preached a gospel that people can be saved by their faith in Jesus. After Paul left, others came and added to that gospel. Without denying the importance of faith in Jesus, they also argued for an adopting of the Jewish law by Gentile believers with the sign of circumcision. Paul begins to deal with it here.

First let me clarify what Paul is not saying. Paul is not saying the Law of Moses was bad, as it had been given by God. Paul is also not saying that it is wrong for Jewish Christians to follow Jewish traditions. There is nothing wrong with these things.

Paul is dealing with the issue of Gentile Christians. He specifically addresses the question of what God expects from these believers.

The one group would say that God expects them to follow the Law of Moses. Not that breaking one commandment is going to send a Christian to hell but that God expects all Christians to strive to be obedient to the Law of Moses. Some Christians today would agree with them. But all you have to do is spend some time with an observant Jewish person and you will realize that we do not put equal weight on all of the passages in the Old Testament. Even so, what is being argued by Paul’s opponents is that commandments exist and Christian life is about obeying those commandments. This would seem to make sense as that sounds fairly standard for a religion. Many people today would agree that at on some level, that describes Christianity.

This will be hard for many Christians to hear but Christianity is actually not a faith that is based on obeying commandments. That might shock you as you likely have been taught that a good Christian is all about following the rules. Let me explain.

Paul describes the key moment as being the crucifixion of Jesus. This was not just about an innocent man wrongfully being killed. The crucifixion of Jesus changed everything. Paul makes this statement that we have been crucified with Christ. Perhaps that does not sound very good.  But as Jesus rose from the dead and is alive, we also share in his life. This is not just about Jesus giving us a nice afterlife but the life that we have now is Christ living in us. This brings us to that question of what God expects from us. It is not for us to obey a list of commands but for us to live consistently with the conviction that Christ is living in and through us. What the Galatians need to determine is if this is an offer that is too good to be true.

Living Like Christ

Having said all that, if you have grown up in the church, you might still be thinking: “Actually, I’m pretty sure Christianity is about rule-following. Might not be how we get saved but it’s how we remain as Christians.” Let’s try to work through this.

First of all, we recognize that there is a problem with legalism. What we disagree on is what is legalism and who is being legalistic. Traditionally, Christians have looked upon Jewish people as legalistic and Protestants have looked on Roman Catholics as legalistic, even though the arguments are usually based on a caricature. Even within Protestantism, including Baptists and other evangelicals, there is plenty of legalism. Looking through the history of our congregation, during our first decade, a family was excluded from church life for the grievous sin of playing cards. That is not likely to happen today. 

And yet, plenty of Christians will make statements such as “You can not be a Christian and ….” You fill in the blank. It is usually something that is a strong personal conviction. Some people believe you cannot be a Christian and drink alcohol, even in moderation. Some people believe you cannot be a Christian and serve in the military. The list goes on and on. Most often the rules that a Christian must follow are not ones found in the Bible.

But what about the commands found in the Bible? Let’s focus on the most well known, the Ten Commandments. Must a Christian follow the Ten Commandments? The answer is yes and no. Paul makes it clear that Gentile Christians are not required to follow the Law of Moses. So if you do work between Friday sundown and Saturday sundown, you are not sinning. But I will not say that this frees us to murder, steal, or commit adultery. It comes down to Christ living through us. This is something that Paul will later describe as walking in the Spirit. What does living in Christ look like? So we do not murder or steal, not because the Ten Commandments tells us not to, but because that is not how Jesus lived and Jesus is supposed to be living in us now. Why should we care about the difference? Is not the bottom line just what we do or not do? Actually the reason why we live the way we do makes all the difference. If the Christian life is about following the rules, that will choke all the joy out of life. I have seen this in people. But allowing Jesus to live in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit is a freeing experience. It is not freedom to sin but freedom to become more and more like Jesus. Critics pointed out that technically Jesus was breaking some of the religious rules of the day. Jesus was not about rules, even though how he lived was consistent with the original purposes of the commandments in the Old Testament. 

Conclusion

What if I told you that there is a way to connect with God, not just connecting but becoming adopted as children into God’s family? And what if I told you that it was not by following rules or being good enough to please God? Would that seem too good to be true?

For some people, it does seem too good to be true. They want Christianity but they also want very clear rules and commandments as identity markers that tell us who is in and who is out. There is comfort in the black and white of rules. 

However, the gospel of the New Testament is not rules-based. We are crucified with Christ and we share in the life of Christ as Jesus lives in and through us. We are invited to become like Jesus. I have had many conversations of people who have experienced trauma from church. They love Jesus but the rules, many of them not in the Bible, were heaped up on them and they never felt worthy to be in God’s presence. Do you know who is worthy to be in God’s presence? Jesus. And what does Paul say? “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” This is a great offer. It is one that is not only very good, it is very true.