Galatians 2:15-21 - Justification (Part 2)

Remedy Church Sermon Summary – 03/15/2009
Galatians 2:15-21 (Part 2)

1) (From last week) We are not justified by works, but through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ alone, which only comes form God (15-16)

2) When we are justified, we are declared NOT to be sinners, so that Jesus is not a minister of sin (17-18)

• Read Job 1; Jam. 1:13 to gain some insight regarding God's relationship to evil/temptation
• "Christ [like the law] did not bring sin, but unveiled it." - Calvin
• We cannot charge Jesus as the author of evil - this would be unbiblical and would result in a God who we would not want to worship or serve

3) We are justified so that we can live to God (19)

• There should be a change in the life of a believer (1 Jn. 1:5-8)
• Our first spouse (the Law) is dead [we have died to the Law], so that we can be married to Christ [alive to Christ] in order to bear fruit/serve in the new way (Rom. 7:1-4, 6)
• Justification is supposed to effect the way we live - You are living for something/someone, if it isn't Christ, then you are practicing idolatry
• To hate sin, means to love and live for Christ - We are trading one master for another
• see 1 Thes. 5:23-24
  

Questions:

1. How comfortable are you with your sin?
2. How often do you confess your sin?
3. How carefully do you plan your spending?

4) Justification means counting Jesus' death as our own (20-21)

• Christ is living in us by the Holy Spirit (regeneration) and through our partaking in the benefits of the atonement (justification)
• Calvin said that we have to experience the consequences of Christ's atoning death and claim the benefits for ourselves
• Faith is not just an agreement that Jesus exists or that he died for our sins or that he is the only way to salvation - Faith means giving all of ourselves to Christ

As always, you can listen to the full sermon by searching for Remedy Church on iTunes or by visiting the Remedy Church website.

I think it is worth spending some more time discussing the second point, due to nature of this subject. It seems that there is a fine line to walk that affirms God's complete sovereignty while denying his ability to sin, tempt, or create evil. At the very least, it is clear that God knowingly created the possibility for evil; otherwise, we have to deny his omniscience or his lone creative ability. It is also clear that he uses the evil in the world to accomplish his purposes.

There are no good analogies or catchy slogans for explaining how God created the possibility of evil and even uses evil for his purposes and his glory without being responsible for the evil or temptation which ensued. The Bible clearly indicates that God is sovereign over all things, but not capable of evil. We cannot simply dismiss one claim or the other.

For example, let's look at the first chapter of Job's story. God clearly initiated the conversation with Satan regarding Job. There is no indication that Satan had any intention of mentioning Job. God also allows Satan to perform evil deeds and tempt Job with anything except death. Verse 16 even states that "The fire of God fell from the sky and consumed Job's sheep and servants." God was definitely sovereign in this situation.

The most interesting aspect of this whole situation is Job's words in this chapter. In verse 21, Job exclaims "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away." Then, in verse 22, the narrator states that "Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." So, Job was able to attribute his loss to God without charging God with wrongdoing. How is this possible? I do not pretend to fully understand God, his creation, or the relationship between the two. Nonetheless, I do know that God is both fully sovereign and unable to do evil or tempt mankind (Jam. 1:13).

I often find myself mistakenly trying to justify God's words or actions, as if he needs my defense. Nonetheless, it is difficult to discuss certain passages of Scripture without immediately going to God's defense: Lam. 1-3 (particularly 3:38), Isa. 45:7, Amos 3:6; 1 Kings 22:23; Job). If I defend God out of a desire to see people rightly understand my sovereign Lord, then such explanation could be profitable. However, we cannot defend God as if he has done something wrong which needs to be sugar coated. He may have done some things that we do not like or understand, but he has done no wrong.

In the end, I do not think we can fully understand this relationship until we receive glorified minds. God's dominion and sovereignty over his creation is not able to be explained or analogized, because we are not able to comprehend what it is to create. We cannot create something from nothing. Yes, humans do resemble God in the fact that we are creative, but we do not actually create anything. At best, we assemble something using God's creation. We cannot understand true dominion, because it is not possible for us to experience it. Nor is it possible for us to experience sovereignty.

Likewise, we cannot fully comprehend the holiness of God. The concept of complete inability to sin has probably only been even vaguely realized by those men and women who followed Christ during his ministry. They were able to see holiness and the complete absence of sin or depravity, but even they were viewing Christ and his life and works through depraved eyes. For the average American, holiness could not be further from our comprehension, much less our attributes or practice. God alone is holy.

Because of our inferiority to God, in every possible way, we are probably not capable of understanding how God can be sovereign in certain situations; yet, no evil can be attributed to him. Nonetheless, the Bible makes both of these facts clear.