SERIES SUMMARY

As strange as it is, from the earliest days, the church struggled with understanding the Gospel—what the gospel is and how the gospel is lived out in daily life. In Paul’s day, there was a group called the Judaizers who taught that for Gentiles to become Christians, they first had to become Jews. It wasn’t enough to simply put your faith in Jesus; it was faith plus adherence to the Mosaic Law. However, the Good News of the gospel is that we are made right with God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Anytime you add “plus anything,” you destroy the gospel. Galatians, “the letter that saved the church,” is all about clarifying the gospel and calling us to abandon any form of rule-based Christianity. It’s about how to live in and live out grace by the power of the Spirit. It’s about bearing the fruit of relating well to people so that we reflect the character of God in any circumstance.

SERMON SUMMARY  

As we continue in our study through Galatians, Paul continues to drive home the point of the centrality of grace through faith in Jesus Christ as the foundation of salvation, contrasting it with the futile attempts to earn God’s favor through works or adherence to the law. Paul’s rebuke of the Galatians for turning to legalistic practices, likening their reliance on the law for righteousness to idolatry. And this is not just a struggle for Christ followers back in the day. Followers of Jesus today face the same temptation to place their trust in “anything” other than Jesus, such as moral performance, approval from others, or self-validation, and these ultimately fail to satisfy or save.

The pervasive nature of idolatry is the heart’s tendency to elevate anything—whether cultural idols or personal achievements—to a position only God should occupy. May we continually examine our heart for idols such as self-righteousness, defensiveness, or identity in performance. And be reminded that freedom from idols comes through recognizing and embracing our identity in Christ, who alone offers life and fulfillment.

SERMON SCREENSHOTS & KEY POINTS

Jesus + Nothing = Everything & Jesus + Anything = Nothing

• The law as a means to righteousness is an empty idol just like every other idol the world offers.

Galatians 4:8-11 (ESV)

1 John 5:21 (ESV)

Galatians 4:8-11 (ESV)

“It is possible to avoid Jesus as Savior as much by keeping all the biblical rules as by breaking them.” -Tim Keller

• Job Righteousness- I’m a hard, honest worker so God will reward me.
• Family Righteousness- Because I do things right as a sibling/child/parent and I have a good family, I get points with God. I’m more godly than parents who can’t control their kids.
• Theological Righteousness- I have good theology and can articulately explain it. Because I’m right, God prefers me over those with bad theology.
• Church Righteousness- I go to a good church that gets it right; certainly one that is better than most others I know. So I get to look down on them, be passive-aggressive with them, or even have “pity” on them. God agrees with me too!
• Intellectual Righteousness—I am more well-read, articulate, and culturally savvy than others, which obviously makes me superior.
• Schedule/Organized Righteousness- I am self-disciplined and rigorous in my time management and organized, which makes me more mature than others. 
• Flexibility Righteousness- In a world that’s busy and people become slaves to their schedules, I’m flexible, relaxed, and always make time for others (like Jesus because he was obviously a 9 Enneagram). Shame on those who don’t!
• Mercy/Justice Righteousness- I care about the poor and disadvantaged the way everyone else should, and not only that, I stand up for them. I have a special place in Jesus’ heart.
• Legalistic Righteousness- I’m more concerned about holiness than most people I know. I do a fantastic job of keeping the rules.
• Financial Righteousness- I manage my money wisely in order to stay out of debt. I’m not materialistic or someone who can’t control my spending. Or, I have less money and clothes that aren’t as nice as others but I’m content and humble. Or, I have these things because we’ve made good decisions and others haven’t.
• Political Righteousness- You cannot be a real Christian and support a certain party/candidate. Or, I’m so spiritual I’m “A-political.”
• Tolerance Righteousness- I’m open-minded and charitable toward those who don’t agree with me.
• Protestant Penance Righteousness- No one feels worse about their sin and failures than I do; guilt and shame are in my DNA and motivate me to be better than ever.
• Worship Righteousness- All I want to do is worship through song! I raise my hands higher, I bow down lower, I sing louder, I cry harder so God definitely favors me!
• Sports Righteousness- Our coach proclaims to be a Christian so we win championships…obviously God is more pleased with my team.

Galatians 4:9

“How can you turn back to idols since you know God and more importantly, are known by God.”

“Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons, much less secure than non-Christians, because of the constant bulletins they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of God and the righteousness they are supposed to have. Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce defensive assertion of their own righteousness, and defensive criticism of others. They cling desperately to legal, pharisaical righteousness, but envy and jealousy and other sin grow out of their fundamental insecurity.” -Richard Lovelace

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.