The Divine Crash

This sermon started off a new series about the popular-Christian Myths.  Today’s myth is “God will only like you if you look right.”  Feel free to read my notes, download the podcast, and listen to the sermon at the end of this post.

Scripture: Galatians 6:11-16

New sermon series on breaking the myths of popular church culture that are found nowhere in the Bible. Too often Christians believes things that are not in the Bible and are not really attributes of God and we use these popular beliefs as a way to comfort ourselves and others, or as a way to puff up ourselves to look better when in reality these beliefs make us look foolish before God and if we really knew what the Bible said we could be comforted more and feel better about the world around us.

Paul is writing this section at a time when the biggest issue facing Christians was whether or not non-Jewish people who became Christians needed to be circumcised. As with every argument there were 2 sides.

1.  Jesus was Jewish and so if you decide to follow Jesus you needed to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish laws.

2. Jesus overcame the laws about circumcision and real circumcision is of the heart and therefore you don’t need to follow all the Jewish laws.

- This is Paul’s argument and this is the argument that wins out.

- Paul was convinced that those who took the first position were in error of the Bible and simply trying to make themselves look good because it is easier to quantify and count real circumcision and not heart circumcision.

People of the first argument, called Judaizers, were travelling to all the new churches that Paul started and telling them that they were not Christians unless they were circumcised.  Paul writes here and in other places to warn the new churches that these people are wrong.

Verse 11

- Paul is writing with large letters.  The idea is that he was dictating the first part to someone else writing it down.  Called an amanuenses or secretary but this last part he considered so important he wrote it himself.

Verse 12

- Some people just want to look like they follow the religion.

- These people felt that if they had these Gentile-Christians circumcised then they could add them to the list of people they had converted.

- A notch in their spiritual belt so to speak.

- They were called judaizers

- Told the people that if they were circumcised they would not be persecuted for their faith because they looked the same as everyone else.

- Essentially these people were only concerned for the easy way and the short cut out of pain.

Verse 13

- Even these who look good on the outside and take the easy way out still don’t follow the OT commandments they are claiming to follow by having the Gentile’s circumcised.

- Paul is saying that these people only care about the law so far as it makes them look good and lets them do whatever they want.

- These are the people who pretend to be righteous around their church friends but around their non-church friends act like everyone else.

- These are the types of people who don’t care the outcome as long as it makes them look good.

- Don’t rock the boat just sit down and look pretty.

Verse 14

- These Judaizers were bragging about their outside appearance Paul says that he will never brag except in what Jesus has done.

- Paul will only brag about what Jesus has done on the cross for him.

- What did Jesus do for Paul on the cross?

- Colossians 2:11:-15

- Spiritual circumcised

- given faith in the power of God

- given new life by God.

- Record of wrongs was erased from you and nailed to the cross.

- disarmed the rulers and made a public spectacle of them

Verse 15

- looking good on the outside is not what matters.

- It doesn’t matter how you dress to come to church

- It doesn’t matter what others think of you because they aren’t in charge.

- The only thing that matters is a new creation.

- Essentially Paul is saying “Death to better, long live new.”

- All that matters is:

- You are made new

- That your record of wrongs is erased from you and nailed to the cross.

- That your rulers have been disarmed and made a public spectacle

- That you have been given faith in the power of God

- That you are spiritually circumcised.

- That you are now alive with Christ and dead to your old self.

So then, do you think you need to go to church so that God will bless you?  Do you think you need to dress up so God will like you?  Do you feel like if you don’t give a certain amount or read your Bible enough God won’t be happy with you? When you see others in church that dress differently, look differently  act differently, smell differently, do you get upset? Have you ever left a church because the people were different than you? It all comes down to this:  God doesn’t care if you are rich enough, smart enough, funny enough, or good enough.  There are no outsiders, there are only people that God loves enough to become flesh and give up his life on a cross for them so that they can be truly alive with Christ forever.

Sermon Audio

 

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