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June 27, 2004
4th Sunday after Pentecost
Galatians 2:11-21
Pastor Ben Berger

Faith in Christ Makes Sure

Are you sure? Are you 100%, absolutely, positively sure that your going to heaven? You should be. 2 Peter 1:10 encourages us, "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure." Some people say, "The only sure things in life are death and taxes." That's not true. God wants us to be sure that we are going to heaven. If you are not sure, I pray that God's word today will make you sure. If you are sure, listen to know that you are sure for the right reasons. In our text the apostle Paul shows us that Faith in Christ Makes Sure. Only faith in Christ can make us sure of our salvation. Faith in Christ alone makes us sure of our salvation because 1) Faith grasps Christ and 2) Faith lives in Christ.

First, faith grasps Christ because faith knows that works don't work. Did you catch that? Let me say it again. Faith grasps Christ because faith knows that works don't work. There are only two options to get to heaven. One is works; the other is Christ. Either I trust that I can keep God's law myself or I trust that Christ kept God's law for me. Those are the only options. I can't hope that God will overlook his law or that he'll overlook my sins against his law. The Bible is very clear. God said, "Be holy, as I the LORD your God am holy," (Leviticus 19:2). Someone must be holy if I want to go to heaven.

Human nature works on a reward system. My human mind tells me that if I do something good, I should get a reward in return. Everyone, everyone who has ever lived on this earth, by nature thinks that God should reward me with heaven if I have been good. Of course, humans don't decide; God does. God demands perfection. It doesn't matter how much good I do if I am not holy as God is holy. Nothing I do is sufficient. Works don't work.

Peter knew that works don't work. As Paul points out in verse fifteen, Peter was a Jew. The Jews had God's law, given specifically to them. Over and over again that law pointed out that they were not holy. They could never do enough good works. They didn't deserve reward, but punishment. So Paul says, "We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law,…but by faith in Jesus Christ" (15-16). The Jews also had God's promise of a Savior. Peter knew that he didn't need to keep the law perfectly because Jesus was the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world. Peter was one of the first to say that the Jewish law was not necessary for salvation, but only faith in Jesus Christ. Peter knew; he was sure, but Peter confused faith and works.

In Antioch Peter was living his faith. He spent his time telling others about Jesus. He invited many to believe in Jesus for salvation. He wanted them to be sure they were going to heaven. He pointed Gentiles to Christ rather than the Jewish law. There were some who still demanded other to keep that old law. They wanted Gentiles to refrain from eating pork and to eat separate from the Jews. Peter didn't worry about that; he ate with the Gentiles whatever they were eating. Then some of these Lawkeepers showed up in Antioch. In fear Peter withdrew from the Gentiles and started keeping those old laws. Peter's actions didn't match with his words; he was being hypocritical. Peter was creating doubt. The Gentiles looked to him as their example. If he was keeping the laws, maybe they should too. They knew they couldn't keep the laws perfectly. Would God still let them into heaven?

We also know that works don't work. We will never be perfect. We proclaim that only faith in Christ makes sure. Do we believe that? Or, do we confuse faith and works? We think that God should reward us for being Christians. God will let me into heaven because I go to church regularly…I give generous offerings…I serve on a committee at church…I read my Bible…I pray…I show kindness to others…I serve the community…and all of my other good works. NO! Works don't work! It doesn't matter what I do, I will never be holy as God demands. Works only create doubt. I can only hope for the best. That's why faith grasps Christ.

Faith grasps Christ because faith knows Christ's work. If we can not trust in our own works (and we can't), we need another option. That option is Christ. That's why Paul said in verse sixteen, "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." Three times in one verse Paul says that we cannot be justified by observing the law - no one ever will - but only by faith in Christ.

Perhaps I should illustrate this word "justify." We probably see it best on our computers. When I left justify, everything on the left is in a perfect line. When I right justify, everything on the right is in a perfect line. When I am justified in God's eyes, everything is in a perfect line with his law. I'll say it again as Paul did. We cannot be justified by our works, by keeping the law. However, we are justified by faith in Christ.

Faith knows Christ's work. What did he do? First, he kept God's law in our place. Jesus is holy. By faith he has credited that holiness to us. At the youth rally this past weekend, Pastor Ehlert asked how many of us thought we were sinful. Everyone raised their hands. He also asked how many of us thought we were as holy as God. Only three raised their hands. We're not sure about that, but we can be. Jesus made us holy. He took away our sins by his death on the cross and replaced them with his perfect works.

Because faith grasps Christ, faith in Christ makes sure. Christ's work makes us sure that we are going to heaven. If we look at ourselves, we should have doubt; we see our sin. But, when we look at Christ, we see holiness. We see forgiveness. We see our salvation…for sure. God will not fail us. He promises that for Jesus' sake we will go to heaven. Nothing can or will change that.

How can we continually make our calling and election sure? Breathe spiritually. We can exhale by confessing our sins. We can constantly admit that we do not deserve to go to heaven. Then we can inhale Christ's forgiveness. We can remember his work. Faith in Christ will make us sure.

Faith in Christ also makes us sure of our salvation because faith lives in Christ.

In verse seventeen Paul asks a difficult question, "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?" Paul is trying to head off an argument. He expects that some will contend that if we don't have to be "good Christians," then Christ promotes sin. He gives us freedom to do whatever we want and just ask for forgiveness. "Absolutely not!" Paul says. By offering forgiveness Christ is not encouraging us to sin. That would be an abuse of forgiveness.

On the other hand, if we insist that Christians will act a certain way, we are promoting sin. We just destroyed the law by saying that works don't work. We cannot rebuild the law by implying at any point that keeping it earns reward from God. (That doesn't mean the law has no use for us; it just has no use in getting to heaven.) If we ever look to the law for reward, we are again confusing faith and works and creating doubt.

We must use the law properly. When discussing how to get to heaven, the law has only one use. The law kills. Paul said, "For through the law I died to the law," (19). The law shows us our sin and that's it. That's also good. We want to see our sin. We want to keep reminding ourselves that our works don't work. We want to keep reminding ourselves to look to Christ. Exhale and let the law kill. Then inhale, receive forgiveness, and live. "I died to the law so that I might live for God," (19).

After the law kills, we live because Christ lives in us. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me," (20). Jesus Christ died on a cross. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead. His death paid the debt for the sins of the world. His resurrection proved that he has conquered death. By faith I died and rose again with Christ. Two people live within every believer. One person is the old sinful nature; the other is the new life created by Christ. Every time we confess our sins, we use the law to kill that old sinful nature. Every time Jesus announces, "I forgive you," he creates new life in us. The more it happens, the stronger the new life gets. That new life lives for God.

With this new life we live in certainty. "The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing," (20-21). Christ did not die for nothing. He died for you and me because he knew that we couldn't earn salvation for ourselves. It's quite a price when one human gives her life for another. It's an even greater price when the Son of God gives his life for a human, a sinful human. When we remember that the Son of God loved us so much that he gave himself for us, we live in certainty. We do not refuse such a gift, but we take hold of it with all our might by faith and faith makes us sure.