The Church of Eleven22 - How Can I Be Saved?: Be Free - Wk 6

Episode Date: May 12, 2024

Good people don't go to Heaven. Saved & Redeemed people go to Heaven. Share your testimony at coe22.com/stories/ - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com

Amen and amen. Well, for the third time, happy Mother's Day. To all the mamas, love you. If it's news to you, did the day's Mother's Day, you still got about an hour and 15 minutes to come up with a plan, make a reservation, send a text, do whatever.

Hey, if you got your Bibles, we're going to be in Galatians. Chapter 2, I want to tell you a story as we go there. And it kind of has to do with Mother's Day. First of all, way to go, church. So proud of you. Way to go.

1,614 people got baptized last weekend. So, way to invite your one more. Way to ask them the question. way to get out in the water with them. It was pretty awesome. Let me tell you what happened. So my life feels like a Saturday night life sketch sometimes.

So I get done preaching last week, preaching my face off, getting my truck, me and my brother are headed to the beach because he's going to baptize with me. Now, by the way, if you would have told me when we were in Dillon that me and my brother would be baptizing people,

I'd be like, yeah, I think you're drunk. I don't think you know you're talking to. So anyway, that's a miracle in and of itself. So we're heading to the beach, and then I get a phone call from Tim Tebow. Many of you know, he goes to church here, and so he calls. I'm like, what's up, buddy? He goes, listen, I just landed. My plane landed in the middle of the night. He's been on a preaching tour all over the place. He preaches the

gospel all over the place. And he's like, Demi and I have never been able to make it to Beach Baptism and just watch the sermon online would love to go. I'm like, well, you can't just show up to the front door or you'll break it. Like everybody will just stay up there with you. And so we'll talk about idolatry later. But anyway, so just meet me in the water. So the police go get him, pull him into the water with us. And so there we are. We're baptizing in whatever line I was in. So it was me. Paul Williams, my brother Russ, Tim Tebow, and Chris Gerard. So every male figure that's represented on the spectrum is all right there in the water, okay?

A lot of different ones. And so it's kind of awesome because as people were coming out to get baptized, you don't exactly expect to see Tebow baptizing you. You know what I mean? Some people were kind of caught off guard. And he helped like crazy. He just served like crazy. So like little kids that couldn't make it out, because you know the waves always just go crazy when we start baptizing. Our old people that couldn't make it out.

He would just go to the shore, put him on his back, carry out. them out, just like he did the gators back in the 90s. You know what I'm saying? Or 2000, we're never with. So, we're dunking people. It's going awesome. And right at the end, I mean, like almost last, this dude comes out. And I'm being a little judgy when I first saw him. Just based on, like, you know, the way he looked and his tattoos, you can never trust those guys. That I was like, this brother's got a testimony. You know what I'm saying? You can just kind of tell. and his family's kind of with him. He walks out into the water.

He looks at Tim, says, go dog, so you could tell that the Lord's doing a work in his life already. And he's got muscles, and I had to guess all this, but I found out his story yesterday. He went on the little motorcycle ride we did yesterday. And so I got to hear, and actually his story was worse than I thought, man. Because when he walked out, his wife and two kids were standing at the edge of the water. And this dude was tore up, man.

And what he let me know yesterday is that it was rough. His life has been rough because of him. And his family has endured a bunch of pain because of him and his attitude and his aggressiveness and his mouth and all of this. And he's actually, my one more is one more, one more. So the guy I led to Christ, let a guy to Christ, and has led him to Christ. And when he was at work and his family was Jack because of him, because he was screaming at his wife and screaming at his kids and just trying to be the man and not a godly way at all.

a guy at work said you need Jesus you can meet him 1122 started bringing him so he walks out into the water and listen I'm about to baptize him and I look and his 10 year old girl has waded out until about waste high water and she is looking at her dad about to get baptized and she is she's all choked up man and I'm just imagine I know it's a little judgy but I'm just imagining in my mind what she's thinking and what she's thinking is when he comes out of this water everything's about to be different I've been praying for this you know what I'm thought was impossible. Now I know if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. When my daddy comes out of the water, then he's going to, she didn't use this terminology, but Paul would say,

he's going to walk in a newness of life. And I dunk that dude under the water and held him down good and brought him up. And when he came up, dude, she came running to him and he came running to her and she jumped up and grabbed his, grab her arms around his neck and her legs all the way around his body. And that dad was hugging that little girl. And they were celebrating it. And I looked and my brother was crying like a little girl, and Tim Tebow was crying like a little girl, and I got a little bit of salt in my eyes. And I thought, there it is, 1,614 times.

We celebrated that, that Jesus Christ saves and changing lives, amen. So, so what does that have to do with Mother's Day? I'm about to tell you. So the next day, Monday, I go get on a plane. I spent all week with a bunch of pastors in Arizona. I travel way too much. And funny enough, I bumped into Miss Tebow at the airport.

And she and Mr. Tebow, they're both members here in 1122. And our schedules, mine and Ms. Tebow's schedule, I'm on planes with her all the time. It's so random. And so, and then we always, like, sit together. And so I catch up with our seat in the airport. I'm like, oh, Ms. Tebow, I was with your son all day yesterday. She's like, I know, I saw all the pictures and how cool is that. So I'm telling her about it.

And sure enough, we're sitting next to each other, or like, almost next to each other on the plane. And we're just catching up. And I go, well, it's time for me to write a sermon, okay? And she goes, oh, are you preparing a Mother's Day message? And I thought, I didn't even, I forgot. Yeah, I am. You know the pressure when Miss Tebow is asking you about Mother's Day? You know what I'm saying?

How many of you know behind every successful man, there's a fateful wife and a surprise mother-in-law, amen? Speaking of which, my mother-in-law's here, like to honor Ms. Joy, my mother-in-law. appreciate all the work you've done for my life. And so I was like, you know what, Miss Tebow? I do have a message from others. I know what every single mother needs to hear. She said, you do? I go, yep, every single mother and everyone with a mother,

here's the message they need to hear. You ready for this? They need the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? Hey, mamas, nothing will expose your sin like those little helions you're trying to raise. Amen? So with that in mind, that's what we're going to do. we're going to unpack the gospel.

This is my gift to you, Mama. Galatius chapter 2. Verse 15 to 21 is where we're going to go. The gospel matters. This passage that we are going to walk through right here is core to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Martin Luther said this passage that justification my faith alone is central and essential to all doctrines of Christianity and if you lose this you lose everything. Martin Luther wrote a commentary on the book of Galatians. I want to read a very long quote about this, justification by faith the law,

which is what the passage that we're going to be in talks about. Martin Luther said this, the law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbor, also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, et cetera, but it ought not show me how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell. Here, I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teaches me not what I ought to do, but what Jesus Christ, the son of God, has done for me. Folks, that is the gospel, not what I must do, but what Jesus Christ, the Son of God has done for me, that he suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death.

The gospel wills me to receive this and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists. Most necessary, it is therefore that we should know the gospel well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their hands continually. That's what we're about to do today. that we are going, I am going to beat the gospel into our heads continually. Why? Because we have a tendency

to forget the gospel. I don't know what happens. You can listen to gospel preaching all the time. You lay your head on the pillow. It leaks out of your ear. And it's like your head is empty of the gospel when you wake up. And I think primarily because we think we bring merit to our salvation. Every time Paul, the Apostle Paul that wrote Galatians and wrote 13 books of the New Testament, he continually reminds churches of the gospel. It's what Galatians is all about. He focuses on the confirmation of the gospel, the clarity of the gospel, the clarity of the gospel,

and the defense of the gospel. That's Galatians. When he writes to the Romans, he writes a systematic presentation of the gospel. In 1st Corinthians, Paul defends the gospel against corruption that is coming into the church. He stands firm on the gospel. In 2 Corinthians, Paul addresses and assaults,

false teachers and heretics that are trying to divert the gospel. In Ephesians, the first half of Ephesians is the gospel. The second half of Ephesians is the implications of the gospel. In the book of Philippians, he talks about how the gospel is the secret of being content in every situation, and it is the gospel that allows us to live a life of joy. In Colossians, he lets us know that no human element can be added to the gospel. The gospel begins and ends with the reality that Jesus is before all things. In first, Thessalonians, he speaks to the power and the assurance of the gospel. Second Thessalonians, he speaks to the consummation of the gospel at the return of Jesus.

In first and second Timothy, he instructs this young pastor to faithfully safeguard and preach the gospel. And Titus, it's a letter to the preacher named Titus, who is a man responsible for the gospel over this church. And in Philemon, he celebrates the relational power of the gospel. Paul continually reminds us of the gospel. And the reason why, according to Martin Luther's is this, the article of justification or the gospel must be sounded in our ears incessantly because the frailty of our flesh.

will not permit us to take hold of it perfectly and to believe it with all our hearts. And the reason is because the moment we begin to believe anything other than justification by faith alone and Christ alone, the moment, like the Galatians, we think that we add something to our salvation, then we no longer see Jesus Christ as our Savior. We see him as a partner in salvation. As if faith gets us almost there, but then we do the rest to step into heaven. And that is no gospel. So we're going to pick it up in Galatians 2, 15.

And it's a continuation of Paul's rebuke to Peter from last week. So just a case last week you weren't here or you were so excited about getting baptized, you didn't hear what I said, or you forgot because sometimes that happens. If you'll remember, what's going on here is the Apostle Peter, kind of a big deal, believes the gospel, trust Jesus as his Savior, and yet at this point in his life, he is out of step with the truth of the gospel, that he acts one way with Gentile Christians, and he acts another way with Jewish Christians.

And so while he believes that it is by faith alone and Christ alone that we're saved, when these legalists from Jerusalem show up, he acts a different way and says, no, no, no, no, I don't eat that kind of food that isn't kosher. And implicitly what he is teaching the church is, faith in Christ is not enough, that it's faith plus obediently. to the law. And so the Apostle Paul sees this, and he realizes that it's such a big deal that he

comes and confronts the Apostle Peter publicly and reminds him of the gospel that they believe in. Now, I know you're awesome. I know you think you're awesome. But if the Apostle Peter had it had to be reminded of the gospel, then surely we have to be reminded of the gospel. So after he rebukes him, he says this in verse 15. This is the Apostle Paul to the Apostle Peter. He says, we ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. He's like, Peter, come on, man. Listen, we grew up with an advantage over the rest of the world, that we are Jewish by birth and by upbringing. We're not Gentile sinners. He's not saying that everybody is in a sinner. He means those poor Gentile people didn't even know, they didn't even have access to the laws that they were breaking.

They didn't even know they weren't supposed to eat ham and cheese sandwiches. We knew better. We grew up in Sunday school. We had a head start. We had the Torah. We had the temple. We had the synagogues. We had VBS.

We had all the things. And even though we had all of these advantages, we ourselves heard Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, verse 16. Yet we know, like even we that grew up in church, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. There is the gospel in one sentence right there. It was verses like this that drove.

the great reformer Martin Luther crazy, that we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Now, let me explain what this word means. The word justified, this is not a perfect definition, but it's a good way for you to remember it in your brain when you see the word justified in the Bible. Because of what Christ has done on the cross, for anybody that believes in Christ, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you were declared justified, which means from God's perspective, it's justified never sinned. That Jesus paid the full price for us at the cross, and we get credit for his perfect life. The word justified means to be declared righteous.

And righteous in the Bible doesn't mean right activity. Righteous in the Bible means a right standing before God. It means the opposite of condemn. It's actually a legal term. Like if you brought the law, imagine that, and you're standing before the judge, and he slams the gavel and says, says justified. That means not condemn. That's what it means. And we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So how is one justified? By being good,

by doing good, by obeying the law, by being moral, by being baptized? No, no, no, no. It is not by works of the law that one is justified, but by faith in Jesus Christ. that's it very few people actually believe this I'm telling you there are church people all over the place today especially on Mother's Day okay they show up in church and they think the way it works is God's a good God lives in a good place and good people go to heaven because God's into good people and by their own estimation we often think we're good people so if you think good people go to heaven, which, by the way, is what every religion outside of gospel-centered Christianity teaches, that God is good, and if you get good enough, then he'll let you in.

I mean, most people think, our God's an awesome God, and I'm awesome, so he must be into me. Well, let's see. If you think good people go to heaven, I've got some terrible news for you. Good people don't go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. Redeemed people go to heaven. Justified people go to heaven. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean?

Well, let me ask you this. well how good if good people go to heaven how do you know if you're being good or not you're like well don't we have like the ten commandments okay yeah we do but you know there's actually 613 commandments

if God was going to hold us accountable to be good enough according to the commandments don't you think he owes it to us to tell us which commandments get us in heaven and which ones don't I mean we know like don't lie don't cheat don't steal but what about the commandments about like no tattoos well I'm in trouble but what about the ones

about don't trim your sideburns, ladies, you're out, you know what I'm saying? Or the ones like braided hair and earrings. You see, the reality is, is that the law is given to us, not for us to earn our way to heaven, but for us to realize that we can't make it on our own. In fact, nowhere in the Old Testament that has it ever equate obedience with the law as entrance into heaven. In fact, what the Bible says, the only place is where it talks about how to get into heaven, it says things like this. Jesus will say, I am the way of the truth in the life and no one comes to the Father except through me. So first of all, what is good? And if good people go to heaven, you ever wonder this, how good do you have to be?

Is it like mostly good? Like 51%? I mean, when I was in school, 51, you fail. So if good people go to heaven, doesn't God at least owe us not only a syllabus, but like a grading scale? I mean, do you have to get straight A's? Or is it more like my college, don't listen to this, JP, If it's more like me in college, C's equal degrees. You know what I mean? What is it? 70% get you in, 51%, 99%. I mean, what is it?

And, and, and, and, and, some of you older guys. What if you don't have enough time left in the semester to make up for your previous work? You know what I'm talking about. Remember that? You'd get that at final? He'd be like, oh, no, I need 186 on the final to pull a C in this way. What am I going to do?

I don't think I can pull it off. Now, I know you. y'all would do you all would fire off an email like oh my god was so triggered i need a safe space and they'd be like here's a trophy and then charge me for your college i don't know how that works but whatever we actually had to fail so what do you do if good people go to heaven how good where are you at don't you need like a progress support and good as defined by who you see oftentimes what we do you ever notice this you ever notice you judge your intentions and everybody else as actions. Like you let somebody show up to a meeting that I lead late. I am like, what are you

do? You leave earlier. What is wrong with you? We got hell is hot for every long time. We got stuff to do around here. But you let me be late. And I'm like, no, you don't understand. It's not my fault because I intended to be here early, you know, that we, we judge our intentions and everybody else's actions. We want grace for us and justice for everybody else. Well, Jesus says the standard is to be holy as he is holy, to be perfect as he is perfect. So if good people go to heaven, we're in trouble because none of us are good. I guess technically you're right, but there was only one good person. And his name was Jesus. He's the only one that got it right every single time. And all of the rest of us, according to the scriptures, are sinners. The Bible says

this in Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In Romans 6.23, he says, and the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. So good people don't go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. And when we think we can earn our way to heaven, it is an offense against an almighty God because what we are doing when we say it's Jesus plus my good works or Jesus plus baptism or morality or whatever it is, when we think that's what justifies us. It's an offense against God because what we're saying is your gift is not enough. I've got to add something to it. This is why the prophet Isaiah in 64-6, very famous verse, it says that even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before God. And if you've been

around church, you know this. That word filthy rags literally in Hebrew is used menstrual cloths. The grossest thing on the planet, right? And I'm not going to get into it because it's Mother's Day and nobody needs to think about that. But dads, can you imagine if on Father's Day your child was like, Father, I have a gift for you and wrapped it all up nice, and you opened it and it was filthy rags, used menstrual cloths? You'd be like, just kidding these issues, all right? And a beating.

This is why God's offended. You were saying the ultimate demonstration of God's love towards us is this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died on the cross to offer us the free gift of salvation and when we try to add anything to it any activity any obedience of the law in order to justify ourselves what we are doing is saying god what you did on the cross is not enough you need me to add something to it that in regards to our salvation jesus plus anything ruins everything it is we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone not morality not religious works not baptism, not first communion. None of those things. None of those things save us. So he says,

he keeps going here. After he says this, no one will be justified by works. So, like Peter, Barnabas, everybody else listening, since we know that good works don't save us, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ, in Christ, and not by works of the law because by works of the law, no one will be justified. He just repeats himself again. He's like, even if you think you're good, don't you know, didn't you hear the sermon on the Mount? None of us are good. Remember when Jesus raises the law from like an external morality to an internal heart condition? He said things like, you have heard that it was said, thou shalt not murder. And we're like, cool. Now, I know for some of us that puts us out, but for most of us,

we're okay on that one. And then Jesus goes on to say, but, but if you have ever hated your brother in your heart, then you're a murder, okay? If you've ever watched a football game and the ref didn't make the right call and you, in your heart, you're dead, man, right? If you've ever been on the highway in the left lane, driving like a Christian fast like you've posed to because we've got stuff to do, and the person in you, in front of you is a sluggard and you thought, you're a murderer according to Jesus. See, this is an internal condition of the heart, not just an external condition of morality.

And so there's no work of the law that's going to earn you a right standing before God, but what is is this, he's like, come on, Peter, you know this. We also have believed. That word believe in Greek is pastuo. I think it's kind of unfortunate that it gets translated to believe. It means believe, but it means believe in, not believe that. It's a big difference.

It means like to trust in. Like a perfect example is what you are doing in relationship to your chair right now. You are believing in your chair. You are postoing in your chair. You are trusting in your chair. Even if you don't remember making that decision. Even if some of you know a lot about chairs, some of you barely know anything about chairs. I know a lot about chairs.

You plant a church with 14 campuses. Boy, you know about chairs, okay? how much they cost and how soft they should be. You don't want them so soft that you fall asleep. You don't want them too comfortable because we need you to leave. We've got more services. We don't want them too hard where you can't hear. We have different widths of chairs.

I don't know if you're a little tight, scoot over too. That one might be a little bigger for you. That's true, man. They're fitting in here all kind of different. We know so much about chairs. And yet, the reality is it's not your knowledge of the chair. But at some point, you walked into this room and you decided by faith, You bestuoed in the chair.

That you, you shifted the weight of your body off of you saying, I will hold me up. And then you pistu-oed in the chair. You put yourself and trusted the chair. And whether you came in here and like, cannonball, like you did that, like with great faith, or if you barely were like, I don't know, and eventually post-doed. It is not the amount of faith that you have. It's the object of the faith that's keeping you off the ground. And so the Apostle Paul is saying,

we have bestewed, we have trusted, we have believed, we have shifted the weight of our lives in Christ Jesus in order to be justified, declared righteous, by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no man will be justified. I don't care, how hard do you try, no one will ever be good enough? Verse 17, but if, in our indebted, to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners. Is Christ then a servant of sin?

Certainly not. So the whole point of the book of Galatians is that because of Christ on the cross, we are free to be free. But when you know Jesus as your Savior, grace does not give you freedom to sin. It gives you freedom from sin. That when you trust Jesus as your litigable, Lord and Savior, that you are free from sin, past, present, and future, that you are free, first and foremost, from the penalty of sin. This is called justification. In other words, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, then you no longer pay the penalty for your sins, past, present, and future, because Christ has paid it in full to Telestai on the cross. And you are currently being freed from the power of sin. This is called sanctification. Now, this is a process. It doesn't always feel

that way, right? You ever still struggle with sin? Of course you do. This is why Paul writes all of Romans chapter 7, that there is a war going on inside of us and there's a good dog and a bad dog fighting, our flesh and our spirit fighting, and the one that wins will be the one that you feed. And although we are not perfected immediately, that God is perfecting us, he's using the spirit of God and the word of God like a hammer and a chisel to chisel out everything in us that doesn't look like Jesus. And if you pay attention, sometimes you don't see it in a lot of it. moment. Just like when your kids, remember when your kids were little? I remember, man, Gretchen would leave me at home with them sometimes by myself. And I was like, oh, no, this is

very dangerous, you know, what do you feed it? I don't know what to do. And I would watch it. I watched that thing all day. She'd come home. How'd it go? I don't know. They didn't do anything. Well, they did stuff, but they didn't grow. You ever see your kids grow? No, no, no, no. But then over time, one day you're like, how'd you get taller of me, right? This is like you being progressively sanctified. It's over time. And there are these times where you begin to walk in victory over sins that used to kick your tail. Why? Because you are being set free from the penalty of sin and you are being set free from the power of sin. The power of Christ is being ratcheted up and the temptation of sin is being turned down in your life. Sometimes you've done this,

right? Dads, get up in the middle of the night and you're walking to the bathroom and you step on a Lego. And the vilest things used to come out of your mouth. Some of you cussed like a sailor because you're actually a sailor. Thank you for your service. We love you. Okay. And then all of a sudden, Jesus says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and this time you didn't screen, you kind of made up your new Christian cuss words. You're like, oh, damn it. And then you're like, what? You're surprised at your own self.

You're like, what is happening? You wake you. Hey, honey, wake up. It's happening. I'm being sanctified. Pastor said it was going to happen. And then she cusses at you probably, but that's a different. Okay, so we're free from sin.

We're free from the penalty of sin. we are being freed from the power of sin, and this is the best one. And one day, when we enter into glory, we will be freed from the very presence of sin. We'll be glorified. Justified, sanctified, glorified. And when we get to heaven, nobody walks with a swagger or a limp. Amen? So what he's saying here is, but if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners,

in the new international version, that word sinners is in quotes. And it's a really good translation. because what Paul is saying is Christ set us free from the Mosaic law. So now we are free to eat bacon rat filet. And so what you're calling a sin isn't even a sin. You can eat bacon rat filet, which I'm going to do this afternoon. So in fact, those of you that are calling people's sinners are actually the sinners because what you're trying to do is lay the Mosaic law over the grace of God

and you're going to nullify it all. He keeps going. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. Here's what he's saying. He's like, Peter, what are you doing? When Jesus died on the cross, he tore down the standard of the record of the law, which was required to be in right relationship with God, and he paid it in full. So you're trying to now build up a human effort to be made right with God,

and I don't understand what you're doing. Why would you do that? Why are you trying to rebuild what has been torn down by Christ? He's like, listen, man, quit putting it in reverse and trying to back up into the old covenant and take steps of fate forward into the new covenant, which a covenant of grace. Verse 19, four, through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. He's like, listen, why in the world would you take off the yoke of being a slave to your flesh and now put on a yoke of being a slave to the law.

You're just trading in one set of shackles for the other. He says, listen, I died to the law. And you say, well, what does that mean? Here's the thing. When Christ died and you put your faith in him, then you die to the law. It would be like this. Again, imagine.

Imagine I was in court. Okay? Some of you've been there. You know what I'm talking about. Let's say I beat a guy down at a Jags game. It could happen. And I'm guilty. I mean, they got all the evidence, and I make my case.

And then the judge slams down the gavel, boom, you were guilty, 10 years in prison. And then I start leading this thing from our Columbia campus or wherever I would go, okay? Now, let's say in that same moment, I've just been sentenced to 10 years in prison. And I'm so shocked that I have a heart attack and kill over right in the courtroom and die. Ten years in prison, I just died. Do they then take my dead corpse and put it in the prison for 10 years? No, that would be silly. Why?

Because I am dead to the law. So Paul is saying to Peter and Barnabas and everybody that's trying to earn their salvation by good works. What are you doing? You are dead to the law. So why are you still living under its yoke? And he says, through the law, I have died to the law. To which they ask. Well, Paul, how have you died to the law?

He goes, well, I'm glad you asked. Because we get one of the most famous verses. in Galatians here. Some of you probably had this tattooed on you or crocheted on your wall or whatever. He says, here's how I have died to the law. Because 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 from me. That's what he's saying. In other words, the old me is dead, which is really good news. by the way. This means you don't have to keep doing the things you used to do because the old

you is dead and gone. You're not the person you used to be. And now it's not just you this living, but Christ who lives in you. You see, I got, if there's some things that really for us share at you about you, I got good news. If you were in Christ, then you have been crucified with Christ and that you are being conformed into the image and likeness of the son, Jesus Christ. So give it a minute. It's going to get better. You know, I tell you some, I get some mean emails. That's fine. Not that many. And then sometimes, I don't know if you know this, people leave reviews of 1122. Do you know this? Now, I usually don't read these things, but occasionally I'll scroll through them. And most of them are great. Most of you are like,

oh my God, I love something. You know, it's just like, praise and it's fire. All right, cool. And then occasionally there's one up there and it's like, I hate Jobie Martin. And I want to apply, me too. He's the biggest problem in my life. Nobody causes me more. problems than that guy. And I cannot wait for the day where all of the flesh and carnality of that dude is gone and nothing but the redeemed Jesus-filled Jobi lived. That's it, man, because I'm crucified with Christ. Paul says, look, man, the old me is dead. I have been crucified with Christ. I want you to think about this. At least four things were nailed to the cross at Galgotho and Calvary. There was a sign that was nailed to the cross in three different languages,

King of the Jews. Why? Because this thing is a movement for all people. Then Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was nailed to the cross. The substitutionary atoning sacrifice. The Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the entire world was nailed to the cross. And the curse of sin was nailed to the cross. We're going to talk about this in a couple of weeks.

Galatius 313 says it this way. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. for it is written curse it is everyone who is hanging on a tree, that Jesus took the curse in our place that we could be blessed. Colossians 2.13 says it this way, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

He has disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. When they pulled dead Jesus's body off the cross, what remained was the record of your debt if you believe nailed to that cross? The fourth thing, according to Galatians 2, is this, you and me that you were nailed to the cross, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live. So again, you don't have to do the things you used to do because you're not the person you used to be that old. You is dead. Let me tell you how, because some of you're like,

what does this theology have to do with my life? Everything. If you believe this, then this week when the enemy starts with his little lies, you know what I'm talking about, the whispers? And he begins to accuse you because that's what he does. He's the accuser of the brethren, whether it comes through other people or in your mind

or wherever it comes from. And he begins to point out all your sin. I think actually the best way to defeat him and aggravate him is just to agree with him. He's like, who do you think you are trying to be the lead pastor of this movement? And you're such a sinner. And I go, I know, right? It's actually worse than you think. And the more you yell sinner at me, the more I cry a savior to Jesus because he's the one that saves me, it ain't me, that I am crucified with Christ.

And it keeps going. And it's no longer I who live. It's no longer I who live. I don't get to do what I want anymore. When I submitted and surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, I made a decision. I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm not saying I don't have carnal desires, but I decided I don't get to do what I want to do anymore.

I'm going to do what you tell me. Let me tell you what you cannot do. You cannot say Jesus is my Lord and Savior and then turn right around and say, God, you sit down right there and let me tell you who I am and what I'm going to do regardless of what you say. You can do that just by definition. he's not your Lord and Savior. But for all of us who believe and have received the right to become children of God,

what we are saying is, I am crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. This is such good news. So this is not just like pull yourself up by your bootstraps and try harder. It's Christ that lives inside of you. The Bible says that when you submit and surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that he puts as a deposit on the inside of you, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.

Sometimes it's called the Spirit of Christ. And then he is going to begin to do things in you as you deepen your relationship with him. That's different than just try harder. Listen, everybody can quit sending for like, what, two days after saturated, day and a half after beach baptism, at least two you get to the parking lot after our service here,

until you start sinning against each other trying to get out of here. I get it, okay? That's different. man. But what we're talking about, in John chapter 15, Jesus says, he's talking to the disciples about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and how this whole thing's going to work. And he's like, all right, boys, listen, this is how it's going to go down, okay? This is how it's going to go down, okay? I'm going to leave, but it's better because I'm going to give you a periclee, the helper.

The Spirit of God is going to live in you. And this whole thing, it's like a, man, it's like a garden. It's like a gardener. And you're like a branch, and I'm divine. And it's a gardener. And branch cannot produce fruit on its own. And a branch cannot manufacture fruit. You ever notice there's the difference between a loz and a produce section at Publix? One is manufacturing, one is produce. One is from the inside out. One's from the outside in. So if you just take an orange and nail it to a two by four, it doesn't make it an orange tree. So if you just add nice to your life, that does not make you a Christian. It's from the inside out. And you ever notice people that just try to just try to do better on their own.

You ever seen a branch try to produce a grape? Just make a grape, you can't do it, man. It's not what it does. Branch, they don't even try hard. What the branch does is just say tied into the vine because that's where all the life is. And with this in mind, Jesus says, he uses relational language.

We don't use this language, but he says, abide in me and I will abide in you. He's like this. He's like, come here, come here, come here. Come here, real, come here, come here close. If you just stay close to me, you'll be plugged in and I'll be so close to you. And all the life that you need comes from me. Because you're crucified in Christ.

It's not you that lives anymore. I live in and through you. So even when you get it right, you don't even get to take credit for that. You ever try to produce the fruit of the spirit without the spirit. You'll be an idiot. But when you draw near to you. to him, he draws near to you, and this stuff comes out of you because he put it in there. Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and

self-control. It's futility to try to do this on your own. Try to be patient on your own. Do you know how crazy that is? But gosh, I need to be more patient. I'm going to try so hard to be more patient. I don't have time for this. I got to be patient now, right?

You cannot, you cannot manufacture it. You know, I do this deep in podcast thing. for one reason so that I hope it's just one more tool for you to abide in his word and him to abide in you. We're not trying to manufacture anything. We just want you to know him because he lives in you and when you cultivate that kind of relationship, it bears fruit, the fruit of the spirit. And I'm telling you, it will begin to happen. If you are not normally or naturally kind, gentle, and patient, let's just say I know a guy, okay? And then sometimes, Sometimes, sometimes you'll find yourself in a situation and you know in your flesh that you would normally react a certain way.

All right, mamas, when your kid is driving you mad because they are a sinner from the pit of hell, right? And they're testing all your patience and all your kindness and they just, yeah. And instead of killing them, which you probably have the right to, metaphorically speaking, kindness. kindness and patience and gentleness comes out. And you think, it's happening. You have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer you who live because you'd have killed that little joker. But it's Christ who lives in you.

And the life that you now live in the flesh, you live by faith in the son of God who loved you and gave himself for you. Do you see how this is different than faith plus works earning your standing before God? He said, it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives. in me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith. Do you live by faith? See, what Peter was being addressed for was that he was living out of step with the truth of the gospel, is what Paul said last week, that he was living by fear, and he was living by hypocrisy, and he was living by legalism, and he was living by pride. And Paul's like, whoa, whoa, bro, when you surrender your life to

Christ and you were crucified with him, then you live this life by faith. Many of you are you live by fear. But if you live by faith, perfect love drives out fear. God is your heavenly father. And if God is for you, who could be against you? And if he gave you his own son, then what's he going to be, what's he going to withhold from you? What are you afraid of? God did not give you a spirit of fear, but a power and of love and of a sound mind and self-control.

And when we live a gospel-centered life, when we live a life of faith, fear's got no room. And Peter was living a life of hypocrisy. He acted one way with one group and another way with another group. But when you live a life of faith, you realize that a real Jesus is out on a real cross for the real you. So why you got to fake it? Fake you is doing just fine. She looks great. Leave her on Instagram.

But you can bring the real you to your real life because Jesus knew exactly what he was getting when he purchased you. And he paid full price for you. And you don't have to live a life of legalism because you know you're not trying to earn the approval of God. You already stand approved because Jesus is the propitiation, the payment that satisfies. Therefore, if you were in Christ, then you fully satisfy God. He is satisfied in you because Christ is in you. And pride is squished because simultaneously you were humble because you realize you were not the king. And you're also confident because you know the king told you you were more than a conqueror.

you were son of the most high God. You see, do you live by faith? You see, living by faith in the son of God who loved us and gave himself for us is the cure to the sin and temptation in our life. We talk about this all the time. That the three primary temptations the enemy throws at us, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. But when you're living by faith in Jesus Christ, when you know what he has done for you and it is him living in you, then all of a sudden lust of the flesh doesn't have the temptation. it used to. Lust of the flesh is that desire to feel something. And you can't drink enough to give you peace. You can't take enough to give you peace. You can't find that in any other human

relationship. But when you realize that peace is a person, the prince of peace, and he can give you a peace that transcends all understanding, then the temporary things of this world just begin to dissipate and disappear. The lust of the eyes is this feeling to want to have some stuff because you think stuff is going to satisfy. But when you realize you're a co-air with the king of king, and that your inheritance is an eternal inheritance. And in heaven, nobody walks with a swagger or a limp, everybody gets their own mansions that have got so much gold to use it as concrete, then all of a sudden that tile and half bath isn't quite as shiny as it used to be.

Because you realize we don't live here forever. I'm going to act like we live somewhere else forever, and my citizenship is somewhere else. And the pride of life is squished when you realize who you are in light of an almighty God, and yet that almighty God calls you son or daughter of the mother. Most High King. He says, I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. When you think it's what Jesus did plus what you do,

then you're saying, Jesus, what you did was not enough. Verse 21, Paul says, so I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. And again, righteousness means a right standing before God. Here's what he's saying. If you could be good enough to get to heaven, then Jesus was wasting his time on the cross. You realize Jesus asked this same question. Jesus, in the Garden of Githa, the night he would be betrayed the morning before he was crucified.

He's praying. Him and three other guys are praying. And here's his prayer. Father, if there be any of us. other way, let this cup pass from me. What's he asking? He's asking the same thing that people ask today, how do you say that Jesus is the only way? That's what he's saying. Father, if there's some other way, if somebody can be righteous, made right with you from another way, like align your chakra, take enough laps around the reincarnation, Mary go around, if you could visit Mecca, if you could be

good enough, if you could obey the law, if you could be made righteous by obedience to a set of religious rules. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. What's the cup? The cup of the wrath of God for the payment of all sin. Then Jesus is saying, God, if there's another way, it seems like an awful waste of my blood on the cross tomorrow. Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will, but your will be done. And he goes to the cross, and on that cross, he pushes up on his nail, pierce feet, and he says this, it is finished. paid in full. And for whoever would believe,

would receive the right to become a child of God. Listen, years ago, about five or six years ago or something like that, there's a guy, a Presbyterian pastor in South Florida came here to preach saturated. Guy named Ray Cortiz. It was incredible. And he said, most of us, most church people only believe half of the gospel. that if you were to ask people, if you were standing before God and he would say, why should I let you in my heaven?

And most people will say, because Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sin. That's true. That's true. It's just not the whole truth. It's not the whole truth. It wasn't only for the forgiveness of your sin. Paul says that you have been declared righteous. You see, the illustration that he gave was this. The way most people think about salvation is,

that imagine you had a crazy amount of debt because you made stupid decisions, boss of stuff you didn't have money for, and you were billions of dollars in debt. And you knew there's no chance I could pay this off. And you go to the bank. And you say, hey, I can't pay this off. Will you please forgive my debt? And the bank president himself came down and said, I canceled the debt. That would be grace for sure.

And your slate would be wiped clean for sure. And when you left the bank, you would be broke. And you would have to get to work to earn a living and to earn a paycheck and to pay for food and pay for somewhere to live. And you would have to earn, earn, earn, earn. And that's a way a lot of people think about the gospel. They think that I'm saved by grace, but I have to work really, really hard to sustain it by my works. And that is not the gospel.

You see, the gospel is not only has our sin been forgiven, but we have been declaimed. righteous. The Bible says that God made him who was without sin to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of Christ. That's where freedom is. So in that bank analogy, imagine your millions of dollars, billions of dollars in debt, you go to the bank, hey, I can't pay it. The bank president comes down and says, I'm going to wipe away all of your debt. You would be overwhelmed with gratitude. And then he took it one step further. And I'm going to adopt you into my family. All that I have is yours. Here's the key to my house. And he's the bank president. So how's this?

Here's the key to my cars. And here's the debit card. He wouldn't use credit card. Here's the debit card. And you have now access to everything, all of the assets of the bank. That's different than, I forgive you, but get to work. That is, I declare you as mine. And all that I have is yours.

The moment you start actually believing that, that that's what the gospel does for you and me, that you and I begin to believe that nobody will be justified by works of the law, but it is by faith alone because of grace alone in Christ alone. And you begin to believe that whoever believes on Christ for their salvation receives the right to become a son or a daughter of God, then you can be free like Christ has set you free. So my question is, have you ever done that? Have you ever trusted Christ for your salvation?

Have you ever placed the weight of your life on him for the forgiveness of your sin and the adoption into his family? I want to give you the opportunity to join thousands of people this year that have done that. That you would believe, you would trust in Jesus that when he died on the cross, somehow that counted for you. And the moment you do that, the Bible says you were declared righteous, you were declared justified that you were receive the right to become a child of God. And there is a freedom there that I've been trying to explain for an hour, and I don't know how to explain it anymore, that you and I could be crucified in Christ. So how long are we who live, but Christ lives in us.

And the life that we now live, we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. Would you bow your head? Would you close your eyes? And if you are ready, not to try to earn a right standing before God, but if you were ready to receive the free gift of grace from Jesus Christ, poured out for you at the cross. And today, for the very first time, you were ready to trust Christ for your salvation. That by believing in him, he would wipe away your sin and he would declare that you now have

a right standing with the Almighty God forever and ever and ever. If that's you, would you lift your hand as high as you can in the air? Would you lift it up and say, dear homework, Father, here I am. Here I am. Save me. And it's not a hand in the air that saves you. is what Christ did on the cross for you. All you're saying is, God, I receive.

I'm lifting up my hand to receive the free gift of salvation that you have given me through Christ. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we rejoice in heaven with the men, the women, the students in this very moment who are being crucified with you. The old them is dead and gone. The sin has been paid for. That they are being declared righteous and justified before you right now. That their old ways are gone.

Their old name is gone. Their new name is son or a daughter. of the most high king. And God, for those that are putting their faith in you right now, and those of us who have done this in the past, God, would you give us the power to walk by the spirit? Not legalism, not fear, not pride, not hypocrisy, but we would be able to walk by your spirit and that we could walk in the freedom that you have set us free to live in for your glory and our joy for all eternity. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Churches, you please stand as we respond.

to sing the gospel. I'm just going to tell you there was a bunch of people lifting their hands to surrender to Jesus. So we need to celebrate with the angels. And we are going to sing that everything we're looking for is found in Christ alone. And we're going to bring our ties and our offerings, our first and our best as an act of worship to him. And we are going to pray. And we need to pray like one that has given his blood and his life for us. We need to pray like everything depends on it because it actually does. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond. Thank you.