The Gospel of Faith

Well, good morning everybody. My name is John and I'm the outreach minister here. A while back I was given this map from a friend of mine who's actually now in ministry herself. And I absolutely love the map. It actually, it hangs on the wall in my office, so I see it almost every day.

And what was nice about this gift was that I received it not based on anything that I did, but based on my new position as outreach minister. I love it. It's a great reminder for me. Not long ago, I received a different kind of gift. It was a gift from my parents, of my grandfather, John Hasties, my namesake, his ordination certificate.

And it's something that I now cherish. You see, he was in ministry for most of his life and he had a passion for missions, just like I do. He would be 100 years old this year. So I was given this gift based on my position as part of the family and based on my passion, ministry, just like his passion for ministry and missions. So both of these gifts were given based on passion and position, not because of anything I did.

I mean, I couldn't earn these gifts, you know, they were freely given to me out of love. When I was a young Kid in the 80s, I received a Nintendo NES, the original Nintendo. I mean, this is the OG of Nintendo's. And I was so excited to receive it. I will always remember that day that I opened up that gift.

You know, I never had like an Atari or anything like that. My friends did. And so I would go to their house and I would play video games. But I. This Nintendo Entertainment center seemed so exciting and so new and so expensive that I thought there was no way that I would ever be able to receive one.

But one fateful Christmas morning, I opened the gift of the gaming center of my dreams. It even has a gun for Duck Hunt. I mean, come on, it's perfect. Imagine if I would have sat on my parents lap though, and thanked them and said, now what do I need to do to earn this Nintendo? What if I would have received my grandfather's certificate of ordination and I would have said, I can't accept this gift because I'm not worthy enough.

Like, what if I would have received that world map at the beginning of my outreach ministry journey and I would have said, I haven't done anything yet, so I can't receive this gift. I mean, how foolish would that be? That would never happen. But so often that's exactly what we do when it comes to spiritual things. You know, sometimes people tend to think I've Done so many things wrong.

There's no way that I could ever be saved. And they question their faith. They question their salvation. People say, if you knew. If you knew the things that I've done, you would be shocked.

So Christians sometimes have shame and regret, even remorse over the life they've lived. By show of hands, just for a moment, how many of us in this room have done things that we regret? Let me see your hands in the air. Yeah. That we're not proud of.

Look around. Keep those hands up for just a moment. You know, look around. You're not alone. You're not alone.

The gospel, though, is a word that simply means good news. The gospel means good news, and it is the fact that God created us to be in a perfect relationship with him. You know, we see that in Genesis chapter two when we read about the Garden of Eden. And the next chapter, Genesis chapter 3, shows that sins separate us from God. Romans chapter 3, verse 23 says that everyone has sinned.

The only exception to this is Jesus. He lived a sinless life in obedience to God. Yet first Peter 2:24 says that Jesus took our sins upon himself, making us completely clean. And John 3:16 says that everyone who puts their trust and faith in him has eternal life. Now, come on.

That is good news, right? That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we just sang about. But I've heard people say, how can. How can you really know that you're saved? And maybe you've wondered that too, right?

Have I really done enough? Am I. Am I good enough to be saved? By what standard does God measure our good deeds? I mean, I'm a pretty good person, so I should be okay, right?

Imagine that it's your birthday and a friend gives you an incredibly expensive gift. I don't know, a Tesla or something. You know, just the car of your dreams. And you've. You're overjoyed with gratitude about this abundant gift that you've been.

You've been given. But the next day, you decide to go up to the Tesla dealership and try to pay for it. You tell the salesperson, I just feel like I need to do something to earn this to pay for it. They look at you confused, and say, sir, ma' am, you can't buy it. It's already been paid.

But you take out your wallet and you try to pay for something that's already yours. This is kind of what we try to do sometimes as Christians when we try to live up to a certain standard of thinking that God wants from us. And this is what the Galatians were trying to do in the first century as well. So we're continuing this series that we're on in Galatians chapter 3, where Paul is dealing with the Galatians, thinking that grace is earned. We've been on this series for three weeks now.

So we've covered chapter one, chapter two, and today we're on Galatians Chapter three. So if you have your Bibles, you can turn there if you want to. This is what Paul is trying to communicate to the Galatians. Why are you trying to pay for what's already been given to you by grace through faith? That's so important that I want.

I want to repeat it. Why are you trying to pay for what's already been given to you by grace through faith? So I want to kind of define some terms here for you. Grace is getting something you don't deserve. Faith is a total trust in what is unseen.

And salvation was never for sale. Here's the point for today. If you're taking notes, you can write this down. It is this. You can't earn what's already been paid.

Now, Paul, when he's writing to this Galatian church, was not so nice. Now, I'm a nice guy, and I think Paul was too. But in Galatians chapter three, we see that Paul wasn't so nice to them. In verse one, it says this, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before your very eyes? Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain?

If it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by works of the law or by believing what you heard? So also. And remember this, okay? This is important.

So also Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. So why did Paul reference Abraham? Like, why single out this one man? Well, I think there's at least three reasons that Paul singled out Abraham. The first reason is because Abraham predates the law.

God gave the law to Moses as they were wandering in the wilderness, and Abraham lived way before that. So Abraham didn't have the spiritual law like many that came after him. But Scripture says in Genesis, chapter 15, verse 6, that Abraham was declared righteous before the law was ever even given. So here's the logic okay, if Abraham was justified without the law, then faith must be the foundation. That's the first reason.

The second reason is this. Abraham is a spiritual father of all who believe. Paul tells the Galatians that anyone who shares Abraham's faith, not just his bloodline, is a part of God's covenant family. This tells us that it's not just Jews who have faith, but all who believe. And the third reason is that the Gospel, the good news, was always God's plan.

God says that he would bless all nations through Abraham and this was a faith based covenant for all people. And that information makes Galatians chapter three, verses six through nine, I think, come alive. It gives it more context when we read it. So keep those things in mind as we read this. So also Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce the Gospel in advance to Abraham. This is what Abraham said. All nations will be blessed through you. So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Paul gives a nod to Genesis chapter 15 when he shows that faith in God was always the plan. Righteousness doesn't come by right living, but from believing that Jesus took our sins upon himself on the cross in order to make us righteous. Scholars call this idea substitutionary atonement. And maybe you've heard of that, maybe you haven't, but let me break it down for you. Jesus became our substitute so that we don't have to atone for our sins.

So we think. When we think, am I good enough? Am I good enough to go to heaven? We forget that grace is a gift that was freely given to all those who believe. In Galatians, chapter 3, verses 10 through 14 goes on and it says, for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse.

As it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the Law. Clearly, no one who relies on the law is justified before God because the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, it says the person who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. This is such good news. Let me summarize for you. Okay?

Are you ready? Here's a summary of all that we just read. We don't have to be perfect. Isn't that good news? Did you know that there are actually two ways to get to heaven?

The first way is that you can be perfect in every single way and never sin, ever. Unfortunately, that way isn't valid because of course were all sinners, right? Paul writes In Romans chapter 3, verse 10, there is no one righteous, not even one. So that way doesn't work. The second way is that you can submit to King Jesus and accept his free gift of forgiveness for your sins.

Paul writes in Romans 10:9, if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. This word Lord means king. Jesus is king, Jesus is Lord. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved.

The truth is, and you know this, there is only one way to be right with God. And that way leads to eternal life. That is, by trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior, we declare our faith in Jesus and then we submit to him through baptism. And then we receive the Holy Spirit inside of us and we are saved. So Paul tells this Galatian church that Jesus Christ Jesus has redeemed us so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.

I want to land this passage by, by laying out two ways that we can apply this to our lives. I truly believe that this is the point that Paul was, was driving home in this passage to the Galatians. And these are universal reminders that are just as true in the first century as they are today. The first one is this. Don't trade grace for grind.

Whether you work a regular 9 to 5 job, or, you know, an 8 to 4 job, whatever it may be, or you're a stay at home mom or a dad, you understand this idea of the daily grind. And you, you've got to get a certain amount accomplished within a certain day. Even you lucky retirees understand what I'm talking about, right? And you're glad that you're not living by the daily grind anymore. Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 9 says, it is by grace that you've been saved through faith.

And this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. When it comes to our salvation, everything doesn't depend on us and our merit. We're not saved by what we do, we're saved by what he has done. So don't trade grace for the grind.

Secondly, performance can't please. Only belief brings blessing. Both of my sons play sports. And between baseball and track or cross country, you know, like, I mean, we are just running every direction and we have to sometimes, Candice, my wife and I, we have to divide and conquer in order to get some things accomplished. And both boys to games or meets, practices, and it's tough along with everything else that we have going on in our life.

But they've. Our kids have learned that their performance on the field does not alter the love that we have for them. Our love is unconditional. Right. We want them to do well, of course, but it doesn't disappoint us or make us mad if they fail.

Right? Because our love isn't based on that. And God's love isn't based on that either. Romans 5, 8 shows us that God feels the same way for us. It says, but God demonstrates his own love for us.

And this while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This word sin is an archery term. I don't know if you knew that. And to sin simply means to miss the mark. We've all missed the mark.

But that's not what God's love is based upon. Remember when I told you about the gifts that I received? You know, someone gave me the. The world map because of my position as outreach minister. I didn't earn it.

You know, I was just coming into this. This ministry position. It wasn't something that I earned. It was based on my accepting the call as outreach minister. My family gave me the gift of my grandfather's ordination certificate.

Not based on anything that I do, but based solely on my passion for ministry and missions and my position in the family. It was a free gift. And the same is true of God's love for you. His love for you is. Is not.

Is. Is based solely on your position as his child. And salvation is based on our belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the. The chosen One of God sent to live a perfect life and to die in our place so that he can take the punishment for sin that we deserve. During the first century, Peter was giving a message like this to thousands of people.

And someone from the crowd yelled out, what should we do? Like, we've heard your message. How should we respond? And Peter replied, it's in Acts, chapter 2, verse 38. He said, Good question.

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And I would say the same thing for you if you Believe what you've heard. You know that you can't trade grace for the grind. You know that performance can't please that only belief brings blessings. If you want to identify as a Christian and you haven't been baptized and you know that your next step of obedience needs to be that, then I would encourage you to make that decision to be baptized.

Maybe for you, your next step looks different. We have a simple way for you to identify that you want to make a next step with Christ. And this applies for the hundreds of people viewing online, and it applies for everyone in the room. Simply text the word next to the number 317-707-9997. If you're in this room, you can pull out your phone and make that text message right now.

But if you are in the room, there's a much easier way for you to take that next step with Christ. After I pray, this service will conclude and there will be people up front here ready to talk to you, ready to pray with you, ready to help you make that next step with Jesus. Let's pray together.

Father, we are so thankful that you have allowed us to be here today. I know that there are some people in this room that they don't even know why they're here, God. But I know that you have a plan. You have a purpose for each of our lives. And so, God, I pray that with the power of your Holy Spirit speaking inside of us, that you would prompt us to take that step of faith with you.

For those who are not believers yet, God, I pray that you would speak to them, help them to come to learn of your love and your desire for them to know your grace and your mercy. Father, we. We love you and we're so thankful for Jesus, and it's in his name that we pray. Amen. God bless you guys.