We're going to be in our text quite a bit this morning, so if you have your Bibles with
you that would be absolutely fantastic, but before we get into the text that we have before
us, would you please join me in asking our Father to help us understand it.
Father God, we are so thankful indeed that we are here this morning.
Lord, we never take this for granted that we are in a country that we can proclaim the
Gospel, that we can meet so very publicly.
Father, we ask this morning as your word is open to us that by your spirit you would
speak to us, that we would be changed by the truth, that your Son Jesus Christ would be
glorified in our midst for the sake of Christ in your glory.
We ask for this in Jesus' name.
Believe it or not, Pokemon is the single most valuable media franchise in the entire world.
So it's little wonder that an entire illegal industry has grown up around the franchises
most enduring collectible, Pokemon cards.
My kids absolutely love these little cards with these little Japanese characters on them,
but herein lies the problem.
Though the cards are fun to collect, trade and play with, scammers have come in and introduced
counterfeit cards which are tricking younger, less discerning fans into buying these things
that at the end of the day are completely worthless.
That is CardPlayer.com reports, thankfully for the younger fans of the genre, the vast
majority of these fake cards are easy to spot and sift out, but only once you know what
to look for and have handled the real thing.
And I mentioned that to you this morning because for the past few months we've been in the
book of Galatians and looking at the true gospel of Jesus Christ over and against the
counterfeit which false teachers had bought into the churches there in Galatia.
Now they didn't want to trade Jesus for something obviously fake but essentially wanted to bring
in something to add alongside the work of Jesus which was the keeping of the law of
Moses.
You see they said yes, Jesus is good but you really need the law of Moses as the key to
genuine holiness if you really want to be saved.
Essentially they taught that you had to be circumcised and adopt the festivals and the
dietary requirements of the law before God would be really willing to save you.
And as we've seen it was a total counterfeit to which the true gospel of Christ had been
revealed by Jesus.
This is the thing the Galatians were falling for it.
That's what this book has been about.
There is a true gospel that has been delivered once and for all and it saves anyone who believes
but there's also counterfeit brands of so called Christianity that have crept into the
churches which attempt to rob Christians of their freedom and grace and leave them with
something completely worthless.
And so our dear apostle has pled and reason with the church saying know the real from
the fake.
Seer for what it is and turn back from absolute disaster.
And as we'll see here in our passage this morning our apostle has one final thing to
say on the matter.
First before his book and our series in the book of Galatians comes to an end.
And I want to show you this one last thing in just two points this morning.
First in verses 12 and 13 we'll see Paul bring our attention to some of the traits of the
counterfeit so that we might spot them and turn from it.
And then second in verses 14 and 15 we'll see Paul bring our attention to some of the
traits of the true gospel of grace and he'll show us why we must hold on to it.
So if you have your Bibles with you here this morning have a look with me at verses 11 through
to 13.
We read, see what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand.
Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be
circumcised.
The only reason they want to do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
Not even those who are circumcised keep the law.
Yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.
I don't know if you've ever written a text message where you've had to be really, really
serious about what you want to communicate and emojis just aren't cutting it anymore.
Well aren't caps locks, cap locks or however you say it, the most wonderful option to use
when you really are serious and wanting your friend or family member to really get the
message.
Well that's the exact kind of vibe that we're meant to be getting here as Paul once again
pleads with his brothers and sisters in these last few words.
You see Paul has spent his time in this letter reminding these precious people how Christ
got hold of him and revealed to him the gospel of grace and his painstakingly taken the church
back into the Old Testament and shown them that God has always saved his people through
faith and not by works.
And he's meticulously shown that though the law is good that it was never given so that
we might then take it and use it to earn our own righteousness.
But again that's the exact kind of counterfeit gospel that the Galatian churches were being
sold.
They were being taught if you just sign up to the law, if you just dedicate your time
to being obedient to all of these requirements then and only then will Christ be of any benefit
to you.
An absolute falsehood says our apostle, an absolute twisting on the truth.
And so it's here that our apostle puts caps lock on and points out to us some of the traits
of the counterfeit and shows us why it must be avoided at all costs.
First, he says that those who were coming into the church and wanting people to sign
up to a workspace righteousness, well not even they were keeping the law perfectly.
We see that there in verse 13.
Now Paul could say that because he knows the human condition and he knows that for sinners
like us perfect obedience to God's law which is what he requires for us to be fit for his
presence for all eternity is absolutely impossible to do in our own strength.
And so our apostle exposes these false teachers because no one but no one can boast in their
law keeping abilities before God because quite simply no one can keep the law in the way
in which it was required to be kept.
So we might ask the question how were the Galatians able to be sold on something that
is impossible to do, we might wonder.
How could they fall for something that says that your works add credit to your place in
heaven?
Well, the only way for that to happen is for people to amend what God has revealed in his
word and to downplay his holiness and to see our sin as just a bit of a mistake here and
there.
Essentially to believe that you can earn your way into heaven as something that's quite
plausible and doable is that you have to adjust God's demands of moral perfection and redefine
our depravity as just something that's just not that bad.
It's then and only then that you can begin to boast in your own works like you've actually
kept God's law in the way it's meant to be kept.
That's just not reality according to Paul.
People may have downplayed the law and the consequences of it but in light of the real
deal they're far from perfect.
I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to watch a guy called Ray Comfort on YouTube.
His videos are absolutely fantastic.
He's a New Zealander that rides around with his little pet poodle on the front of his
bike and he rides around America and he asks random people on the street where they think
they're going to go after they die.
Usually they say, actually nine times out of ten, they'll say, well I've been a good
person and I think that God will accept me.
And it's interesting because as soon as Ray asks if they've ever been told a lie they'll
usually admit that they have.
When he asks if they've ever stolen anything they usually say yes.
When he asks if they've ever looked upon someone with lustful intent they sheepishly will agree.
And so by their own admission in just a few things from the law as Ray points out they've
admitted that in the eyes of God they're a liar, a thief and have committed adultery
with the heart.
Which they'll usually say, well I've been a pretty good person and I'm sure God will
accept me in the end.
This is Paul's point.
The only way to feel like we're not really that bad, well we have to downplay what the
law actually requires of us.
That's why it's so tragic when people are lured into certain denominations that promise
them that if they just attend that certain church, if they just pray this many times
a day, if they just give this amount of money that God will be happy with them and have
to accept them for who they are.
But this is the thing.
There is no way to keep God's law in the way in which God requires people to keep it if
they're to be saved, which as we've seen is to keep it flawlessly.
And those that tell you that they can, they have a count of it.
As they've downplayed the requirements of the law and built up their own righteousness
in their own heads.
It's the first sign of a fake gospel, a downplaying of God's righteousness and our sin.
But that's not all our apostle has to say on the matter.
No, in fact he dives much deeper into the mindset of those who were peddling the count
of it.
And he shows us the motivation of why they were doing it.
That's the second thing he points out.
They were motivated by fear.
Look with me at verse 12.
Paul says the only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of
Christ.
Notice that these false teachers wanted people to like them and be like them with this outward
show of piety because at the end of the day the preaching of Christ and his work on the
cross is incredibly offensive to people.
And they wanted to avoid preaching about that because without the cross then essentially
like every other religion in the world they made people's own good works the focal point.
And thus the offensive pointing people to Christ alone through faith alone was taken
away.
And this is still the case today brothers and sisters.
The cross is an absolute offence to people's pride because it reveals to all people what
sin cost God and what he had to endure on behalf of us so that we might be set free
from the curse of our law breaking.
That is the preaching of the cross.
It's to take anyone from any walk of life from anywhere and to point them to Calvary
and it's to say that the innocent pure sinless Lamb of God had to take your place and mine
in order that we might be set free.
It's not a matter of turning over a new leaf and starting again or making some adjustments
or growing as a human.
No the cross confronts us all and it says that the wrath of God eternal damnation hell
is what you and I deserve for our absolute high-handed rebellion.
And the only way that we might be reconciled to our Creator for all eternity was for Jesus
to give his all so as to set us free from being under the law's curse.
I don't know about you but that is an offence to one's pride if there ever was one.
Because the cross reveals to you and me that there was nothing that you and I could ever
do to set ourselves free.
Nothing that you and I could ever do to deal with the guilt and make ourselves clean.
No amount of works, no amount of good doing, no amount of religion or church could ever
clear the slate.
The cross dear ones is offensive and for those who would preach it, for those who would
proclaim it, for those who would maintain it, well not all people will praise you for
the good news.
And that's the third thing that Paul points out here.
These false teachers, they wanted praise, they craved it and this counterfeit product
was going to get it for them.
Look at verse 12, Paul says, those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are
trying to compel you to be circumcised.
And again in verse 13, they want you to be circumcised so that they might boast about
your circumcision in the flesh.
Essentially Paul is saying to us that these people, well they wanted so desperately to
boast to their colleagues that they had another convert, another notch on the belt so to speak.
And the more that they could convert, the more that they would be celebrated and looked
at as great teachers in the eyes of their colleagues.
And so do you see Paul's point here?
They were doing all of this not because they cared about the Galatians.
No, this was all about themselves.
This was all about how their own evangelistic efforts would be perceived by others.
I'm sure, I'm convinced of it that if they had an Instagram account that they would have
tons of selfies of themselves preaching and doing charity work with the hashtag, blessed
so that everyone could see their religious efforts and give them a good thumbs up.
And that was their motivation.
And isn't that an interesting thing to observe with these people?
They peddled the counterfeit because at the end of the day it didn't cost them anything.
It didn't really cost them all that much.
You see fear and praise was their motivation in coming and infiltrating the church of Jesus
Christ.
And that's what these people were all about, which strikingly shows us all something here
this morning.
And that's that outward religious works and legalism leads us to end up worshiping something.
And that's ourselves.
Think about the book of Galatians.
Think about this very point that our apostle makes.
These false teachers didn't want people hating them for what they preached and they wanted
people to be impressed by them for all that they had done.
At the end of the day they had hijacked Christianity and they had made it all about themselves.
And brothers and sisters, that's really what sits at the heart of the counterfeit and what
we have to spot and run from.
It's a downplaying of God's holiness and our sin.
It's a fear of the gospel message in its fullness and it's a deep seated desire to want people
to adore us for our own good works.
At the end of the day the counterfeit isn't about God and obeying Him or loving others.
No, it's all about me, myself and I.
And how I'm perceived and how this makes me look in front of others.
That's a Christianity that is worthless.
That's verse, that's the counterfeit.
Which we need to spot and sift out.
But how do we do that?
How do we sift out the counterfeit from the real deal?
Well it's by knowing the real deal.
And we can know the true gospel that was once and for all delivered because we've seen it
given to us over and over and over in this book.
But Paul ends this entire passage on three traits that we should explore.
First, true and authentic Christianity is about taking joy in all that Christ has done
on our behalf.
Verse 14, Paul says, may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember those who were pushing the counterfeit.
It was about their boasting, their converts, their achievements, their works.
But the true gospel isn't all about us, but all about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He
has done for us, His people.
Authentic Christianity Church is about proclaiming that we can have true and eternal peace with
our Creator even after smashing His law and walking away from Him because God, because
God took the initiative.
The counterfeit focuses in on and causes us to boast in ourselves while the true gospel
focuses in on and causes us to delight in all that the Son of God has done on behalf
of us.
As we've seen our pride consistently wants to make us the hero of our own stories.
But the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives strips that pride away and leads
us to boast and adore all that Jesus has done on our behalf.
He took our cross to Calvary.
He came under the wrath which you and I absolutely deserved.
I wonder this morning, is that what you boast in?
You stand on that day and point to all that you've done.
Will you say that I went to that certain church?
I prayed that many times.
I tithed that amount of money.
Or on that day will you boast and all that Jesus has done on your behalf?
That makes all the difference.
The cross of Jesus Christ makes all the difference because second his work on the cross is applied
to us and it changes us.
Paul has spoken a lot about the cross in the book of Galatians.
He speaks a lot about it because it has to do with something called substitutionary atonement.
Now if you've never heard that phrase before, substitutionary atonement simply means that
Jesus took our place and all that was his by faith is given to us.
So not only are we totally cleared for all eternity from the penalty of our law breaking
which he took upon himself but we're also credited with the very sinless, perfect life
of Jesus which he gives to us.
16th century German theologian Martin Luther, he sums it up by calling it the great exchange
where the sinner's rags are given to the sinless, spotless land and the king's riches are given
to his people.
All that to say Paul again he brings, he employs this language of crucifixion to remind us
that when we become a Christian our entire worldview and reason for living changes.
Verse 14, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
It's interesting there's a double homicide there right?
The world dies to us.
We die to the world.
All this to say faith in the real deal, in the true gospel, it brings something to bear
in the life of the Christian.
It changes us and calls us to no longer be ruled or directed or in love with what our
flesh or the world has to offer.
This is the exact opposite of what the counterfeit pushes.
This is the thing as we've seen we wrestle with our flesh.
We wrestle with these things on this side of eternity but the Holy Spirit, he supernaturally
gives us hearts that desire to want to follow Jesus more than anything else in this world,
even more than our own wants and desires.
The cross is absolute foolishness to this world but to the people of God, to those who
are being saved, it is precious as it's the wisdom of our heavenly Father.
If you've called upon the name of the Lord then you have been set free.
You've been set free.
You've been set free from the curse of the law and also the demands of your own sinful
nature and the demands of this world so that you might serve and follow our Lord with all
that you are and do.
The authentic gospel, it boasts in the cross of our Lord and Savior because it shows us
that we have been crucified with him.
Third, it shows us the real deal that we are a new creation.
Verse 15, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is a new creation.
Again, our apostle, he repeats himself just one last time here.
Imagine with caps lock on and he says to the church, your work, it won't save you.
It won't save you.
No, none of what you try to do to get yourself into heaven matters.
You may have grown up in church, you may have been baptized, you may have done mission
week, you may have preached sermons, you may have been the pastor of a church, you may
have helped out in kids' church, you may have been in a church band, you may have been on
the welcome team, you may have done a whole bunch of amazing things, but none of it means
anything if you haven't been born again.
None of it, our apostle says you can do whatever nice and good things you like, but none of
it means diddly squat in the scheme of things.
All that matters is a new creation, which is to say the only thing that matters on that
day when we stand before the holy living God Almighty is whether you've been born again
or not.
That's what counts.
Church has always been counterfeit gospels, always.
There's even been more that have developed since the time when Paul wrote to the Galatians
that still try to slither into the church and tempt the people of God to fall away.
And they all try to attempt to do the same thing.
The counterfeit will always try to convince you to put yourself first and God and others
second.
The counterfeit will always promise to never really cost you all that much.
And the counterfeit will always seek to lure you into putting yourself in the center of
it all to be the hero of your own story.
Brothers and sisters, we have to be mindful of these things in real time because that
kind of lifestyle, it appeals to our old selves.
It appeals to our fear of what people think of us and what we want from the world and
its praise.
And so in light of everything that we've looked at this morning, does that describe you?
Does that describe you?
Does that describe what you've bought into?
Well, if it does, then you're here by absolutely no mistake this morning.
God has you here to weigh that counterfeit thing that you've been sold in the scales,
to weigh that dead religion against the glorious truth of the gospel of grace that has been
presented.
And it's this, there is eternal peace.
For anyone who looks to the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished and final work that he achieved
for his people at Calvary, anyone, anyone, no matter who you are, what you've done from,
where you've come from or what you've done, anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord
will be saved.
That is how we are crucified to this world and become a new creation.
That's how we're born again.
It's by believing God and calling upon the name of the Lord and putting all our hope
to him, all our hope in all that he has done.
You must be born again to enter the kingdom of God, says Jesus Christ.
So dear ones, search your hearts in light of the gospel because nothing else compares
to knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your only hope in life and death.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, we are so thankful for the work that you did on the cross on our behalf.
Lord Jesus, might we never be guilty of watering down what you have commissioned us to go and
do?
We're so thankful, Lord, for the next generation of Christians that are coming up, not only
in our midst but with various ministries around Perth, but Lord, as your word says, might
one generation tell the next generation, the younger generation of your good deeds?
Might we never be a church that falters on the gospel?
Might we go and make disciples of you and not of culture or ourselves?
And where we're doing it, Lord?
Where we are doing it?
Where we have bought into certain things and we've let the world creep in, we ask that
you would help us to spot these things so that we might repent and turn from them.
Where your spirit has been grieved, where your spirit has been quenched, might we be
a church that proclaims Christ in His fullness?
We ask this for your glory and for your sake.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.