Trust the Gospel; we are justified by faith.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 15, September 10, 2023

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.

Galatians 2:11-16  ¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong.  ¹²For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles.  But when those people came, he drew back and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision group.  ¹³And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.  ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not acting according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, “If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?”  ¹⁵“We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.  ¹⁶We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.  So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. (EHV)

Trust the Gospel; we are justified by faith.

Dear friends in the One true Savior,

            Jesus once said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and every town or household divided against itself will not stand.” (Matthew 12:25)  In our text, we see an attempt of Satan to divide Christ’s Church against itself.  Paul recognized the error that was creeping in through actions Peter was taking, and he immediately spoke out to correct Peter’s mistake.  The message we need to take home with us this morning is to Trust the Gospel; we are justified by faith.

Today, so many years later, and after observing so many divisions in the Christian Church, it might be easy to assume that these divisions really don’t matter.  Won’t we all be gathered together when Jesus returns to claim His people on Judgement Day?  The answer to that questions is, of course, “Yes.”  However, what isn’t so easily seen is that these divisions lead many people to trust in something other than Jesus alone for salvation, and those who fall into the delusion of assuming to do something to earn their forgiveness and eternal life will find themselves cast out into the darkness of hell for trusting something other than Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.

St. Paul wrote to the Galatian congregation to oppose the errors of a group of supposed Christians who were demanding that to be saved by Jesus, you still had to follow the Old Testament Laws, as well, especially the law of circumcision.  Yet, the young Christian Church already understood that Jesus had fulfilled all those old laws and His followers were now set free from those demands.  Of course, many of the Jewish Christians continued to uphold some of their old traditions, while thoroughly understanding that it did nothing for their salvation, because Christ had already accomplished that for them.

But now, as he addresses the errors of the circumcision crowd.  Paul uses a prior example, “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong.  For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles.  But when those people came, he drew back and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision group.  And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”

This Antioch was a center of the young Christian Church.  The believers there had been instrumental in sending Paul, and Barnabas, too, out on their missionary journeys.  The congregation was one of the first to be made up of both Jew and Gentile backgrounds.  What brought them together was faith in Jesus, the same faith that brought them forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.  Peter had come from Jerusalem to visit this group, and all was well.  Rightly so, Peter ate meals with them in the practices of the hosts which meant that the old dietary laws of the Jews were not followed.  Furthermore, this was as it should be.  Because of what Christ has done for us, those old laws are no longer needed, nor is it required of anyone to follow those ceremonial regulations.

However, when a group of fellow Christians came who were following the misunderstanding that circumcision was still required to be part of the Christian faith, Peter made a terrible error.  Instead of correcting that visiting group, Peter separated himself from his new friends in Antioch and left the impression that he supported the divisive ways of those errorists. 

In perhaps the first recorded tearing of the fabric of Jesus’ Church, by eating with this new group and following the Jewish ways, Peter removed himself from his previous right confession and potentially hurt the faith of all present.  By joining himself with this group that demanded circumcision for salvation, Peter was affirming their mistake.  Furthermore, fellow Jewish believers who had understood things properly, now began to doubt their Christian confession, and they too fell into the false teaching.  On top of that, the Gentiles present would now be misled into thinking they might not be saved after all.  Peter’s actions had to be confronted, which Paul did, and rightly so.

Paul wrote, “But when I saw that they were not acting according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, ‘If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?’”  Peter’s mistake made it look like laws had to be observed for a person to be reconciled with God.  Yet, that could never be, or no one could be saved. 

The truth is we are either saved by faith in Jesus who has done everything perfectly well for us, or we are not saved at all.  Peter knew that.  Barnabas knew it also.  That is the insidiousness of error creeping into the church.  By allowing themselves to be swayed by this error coming from likely well-intentioned believers, the whole group became endangered.  Thankfully, Paul’s brave confrontation led the group back to trusting the truth.  Paul is able to report this incident with confidence, because Peter accepted the rebuke, the divisive error was removed, and the church could move forward trusting the good news that Jesus has done everything needed to make all of us right with God.

Paul explains their reality: “We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.  We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.  So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.”  Peter, Paul, and Barnabas came from a Jewish background.  They had grown up under the burden of the Mosaic laws, and they had experienced the relief of learning that Jesus had set them free from all that.  They already knew that Jesus had satisfied the demands of the law so that sinners might be saved.  They knew that Jesus rising from the dead was His declaration of victory over Satan, sin, death, and the grave.  Neither of those three men were saved by their works, and they all knew it.  Paul had to bring this truth back, primarily to Peter’s attention, so that the whole Church would understand the truth and grow in faith.

The same is true in our day.  Many would like all denominations to be joined together in one great Christian church on earth regardless of different teachings.  However, that becomes a misuse of unity when the truth of the Gospel is not maintained.  Any teaching that chips away at the Gospel message of salvation through faith alone, in Christ alone, must be confronted and corrected.  When that correction is received with appreciation and the error removed, the whole Christian Church can and should celebrate.  However, if that correction is rejected, division is caused not be the people confronting the error, but by those who insist on following the erroneous teaching.  As Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, “Watch out for those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the teaching that you learned, and keep away from them.” (Romans 16:17)

Dear friends, we live in an era in which many have strayed from the truth of the Gospel, and many are deceived by erring teachers and wicked desires.  There are many who insist on obedience to man-mad rules and many more who insist that immoral lifestyle choices are to be applauded.  We are buffeted on every side by the storms of a world sinking ever more into depravity and disobedience to God’s Word.  Now, as much as any time in history, is the time to Trust the Gospel; we are justified by faith.  Trust the message given to us by the Holy Spirit through prophets and evangelists like Paul.  Our Savior gave these men the truth of His victory over everything and anything that kept separated from His Father in heaven.

By God-given faith in Jesus, who gave His life into the cross and the grave to free us from sin and condemnation, we have the sure and certain hope of life everlasting with Him in heaven.  No contribution is needed from us to make that more secure.  Our dear Savior promises, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)  By the power of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul also affirms, “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Trust the Gospel; we are justified by faith.  Amen.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, both soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.  Amen.