Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Was: Galatians 2:11-21
Galatians 2:15-21;
3:10-14
Doctrine, Life
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 6C, 16 June 2013
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil
age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:3-5)
No Other Gospel. No preaching but
Christ. So far these are important truths St. Paul teaches us as he writes the
churches in Galatia. These are not teachings that just sit on shelves like
dusty old books, never to be taken down and read. No. These teachings, these
doctrines show their usefulness by how they apply to daily life—to how they
apply to your salvation, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
revealed by Scripture alone.
Doctrine.
Life. Some teach that what one believes is most important. Others focus
primarily on how people live. Which is the most important to Christianity?
Consider that question as we begin with Galatians 2:14: But when I [Paul] saw that their conduct was
not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas [Peter] before them
all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you
force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Confrontation is the
order of the day as Paul opposes Peter: “But when Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I [Paul] opposed him to his
face, because he stood condemned.” How exactly was Peter in the wrong? 12 For
before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when
they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.
13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that
even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
Even Barnabas,
longtime companion of Paul, was led astray. This is serious. In part, Peter was
afraid of what one group of people would think of his holiness of life. Paul is
troubled by the doctrinal implications of what Peter is doing—focusing on life.
The matter of
circumcision is a Jewish matter. On the eighth day, each male child was to be
circumcised. So says the law. What now? Christ has come. Is the law of
circumcision still in effect? Do the Jewish ceremonial laws now apply to the
Christians? No. The doctrinal problem is this: Peter is worried about those who
disagree and say that the law of circumcision is still in effect. Peter is in
danger of giving up the Gospel for another false-gospel that is really no gospel
at all.
The first council of
the church in Acts 15 declared that Gentiles were not to be compelled to be
circumcised. Christians are not to live under the law, but in the freedom of
the Gospel. If Christians gave in to the requirement to be circumcised, they
would be confessing that Christ didn’t do enough for them to be saved. They
would have been saying that additional works, outward actions were necessary to
finish the work Christ did. Instead of giving in to the legalists, called
Judaizers, they stood fast in the freedom of the Gospel. This is the message
about Doctrine and Life that Peter needs to be reminded about.
Doctrine. Life.
Which is more important? More importantly, we should ask whether this question
is the best one we can ask. Is it really the right question to ask? If one were
to say only, Christianity is how one lives one’s life, that would be wrong. It
would be equally wrong to say that Christianity is only Doctrine. Christianity
is Doctrine and Life.
In a multiple-choice
test, it is always a good idea to take a look at answer C. Both A and B,
Doctrine and Life, are important. We should instead look to see how the two are
connected. A better question would be to consider “What is the proper
relationship between doctrine and life?”
14 But when I
[Paul] saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I
said to Cephas [Peter] before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a
Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Life. In this case,
it appears Peter is putting his emphasis on life, external customs, mere
appearances. He was in a difficult spot. If he ate with the Gentiles,
“sinners,” he would have offended the Jews. If he ate with the Jews, he would
have offended the Gentiles. Apparently, Peter chose the path of least
resistance, choosing not to teach either group about the freedom of the Gospel
in such matters. As a result, Paul justly calls him to repentance for being a
hypocrite.
One cannot preach
the Gospel of Christ and then worry about what legalistic people think. One
cannot preach Christ alone and give in when others say salvation is won because
of things people have to do in order to be saved. Focusing solely on how one
lives one’s life denies the importance of divine doctrine, God’s truth!
On the whole, non-Christians
can be nice, friendly, clean-cut, patriotic, good people. Their life may be impeccable.
They may well be good people. But that’s not the main point. Dr. Luther wrote,
“Works without faith is idolatry.” In writing this, he is only saying what the
apostle wrote: Anything done apart from faith is sin. Any
unbeliever, by scriptural definition, cannot do good works in God’s sight. What
one believes matters because apart from God-given faith, all is naught.
All
people, Christian and non-Christian alike have the need to hear the message of
the Scriptures that we believe, teach, and confess. All need to hear and hear
again the Good News doctrine about Jesus Christ and His Gift of salvation that
changes lives for all mankind!
Holiness of life should have a right and not a
wrong place in our system of doctrine. The fruitfulness and beauty—the very
life—of a tree depends not only on having roots and branches but on these being
place in their natural God-created order. Let a tree be planted upside down,
the roots in the air and branches in the earth, and I don’t have to ask how
much fruit it would yield nor how long it would survive such idiotic treatment.
Plant sanctification (a holy life) in the ground and justification (the Gospel
doctrine of Christ) on top—expect this to flow from that—and a similar
catastrophe will occur.
Holiness of life
flows from the pure Gospel doctrine of Christ. It is not works that fulfill the
law, but the fulfillment of the law produces works. Christ fulfilled the
requirements of the law for us, giving us a solid, well-rooted foundation so
that we, as faithful trees, can produce fruit, by faith in Jesus Christ.
Writing to his own
people, Paul said: We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but
through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in
order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because
by works of the law no one will be justified.
St. Paul emphasizes correct
teaching here, but not at the expense of life. Consider the dangers of doing
so. If a person regularly attends our services, confesses his or her sins with
us, prays with us, listens to the Word with us, and confesses the faith with
us, it would be unthinkable for that same person to leave this place and behave
like a pagan, cursing, carousing, committing adultery or another intentional,
premeditated sin.
The Gospel doctrine
of Christ is meaningless unless it reshapes who you are and what you do or don’t
do. The Gospel is the source of a holy life. How does our doctrine change your
life? This is the problem with Peter. His life doesn’t match his doctrine.
Whenever that happens, there is trouble. The Holy Gospel does not change, but
it changes us!
Fourteen years have
passed since Paul’s first trip, his first pastors’ conference in Jerusalem. Both
Paul and Peter have different areas of responsibility within the church. Paul’s
Gospel message hasn’t changed—that’s because it isn’t his to change—it is the
Lord’s.
Yet we, like Peter,
are often hypocrites. You know it. I know it. We all suffer from the
consequences of the difference between what we believe and how we live. We
behave differently here than we do out there. We do not always forgive others
as we have been forgiven. We do enjoy even a little bit of praise for things we
have done, which makes our motive in doing such things impure. And which one of
us doesn’t worry about what other people will think.
We need to be
reminded of what Christ has done for us so that we will despair of trying to
save ourselves. It takes a lot. We must die to the law and be crucified with
Christ. St. Paul continues: 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in
Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?
Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be
a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might
live to God.
20 I have been
crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me.
This is such a contrast to the
bookshelves full of self-help how to live the Christian life books found in so
many generic Christian bookstores. We so need to hear the message that because
Christ was raised from the dead, we now walk in newness of life.
In his youth, St.
Augustine was a prodigal son. However, through the prayers, rebuke, and witness
of his sainted mother, Monica, he was converted and became one of the great
fathers of the church.
One day in his later
life he was walking through a part of town he had frequented in his younger
days. A woman recognized him and called out to him: Augustine! Augustine! Augustine
ignored the call, so the woman cried out again: Augustine! Augustine! It is I! But
Augustine, turning neither to the right nor the left, kept walking straight
ahead saying, But it is not I.
The old I of
Augustine had now died to sin. That I no longer lived, but Christ lives in him.
The life he lived in the body, he lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved
him and gave himself for him, the Christ into whose name he had been baptized.
You and I have these same assurances, Gospel promises based on the Lord’s Word
and His baptizing you.
21 I do not
nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then
Christ died for no purpose. Christ
died so that we may live in His new life. We die to the law so that we may live
for God.
Cast away your own
righteousness entirely and rely on faith alone. Take the focus off yourself!
You are the problem. Reject yourself! Forget about yourself. You have been
crucified with Christ and you no longer live, but Christ lives in you. The life
you live in the body, you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and
gave himself for you.
C. S. Lewis writes
at the very end of Mere Christianity: Look for yourself and you will
find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay.
But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown
in.
No other Gospel but
that of Christ alone can do what His Gospel doctrine does—it reshapes lives,
especially your life.
The conclusion of
our Epistle today comes from Galatians Chapter 3: For all who rely on works of
the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not
abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now
it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous
shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who
does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is
hanged on a tree”—14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might
come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through
faith.
About the Cover: Justified has
been described as “just as if I’d never sinned.” God indeed administered
justice, not on our wicked heads but on the blameless head of His beloved Son,
thereby fulfilling the Law. Now, we stand justified, that is, declared
righteous, as if we’d never sinned. Despite the fact that we have sinned,
we are holy in God’s sight, justified, grounded on Christ crucified.
Amen.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be
with your spirit, brothers. Amen. (Galatians 6:18)
