In the previous weeks, forecasts of record hurricanes have forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate from their homes in Texas and Florida. To stress the urgent need to evacuate, the governor of Florida exhorted the public saying, “We can rebuild your home, but we cannot rebuild your life.” Life is precious, but even more than our physical lives, our spiritual lives are incomparably more valuable. Jesus asked, What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? (Matt 16:26) Paul’s letter to the Galatians was premised on how man can preserve his soul by being justified and reconciled to God. Justification is the principle ground on which every other doctrine of Christianity stands. It is a judicial term- in the heavenly court, it is a sentence whereby God declares an elect and believing sinner not guilty, while pronouncing him perfectly righteous by the merit of Jesus Christ. This is possible because God in His grace imputed all your sin onto Jesus when He died on the cross, and in turn, Jesus’s perfect righteousness was imputed onto you. (2Cor 5:21) This is the only means for salvation, yet this essential doctrine is often hindered within the church. As we take another look at Galatians and other various passages, we will identify how false gospels cloud our understanding of justification.
One of the direst issues within the early church was the infiltrating influence of a false gospel. Some false teachers, sometimes called Judaizers, declared Christ was not enough for salvation, and that man needed to be circumcised to be saved. (Acts 15:1-2) There are many other types of false gospels- the reliance on religiosity, church participation, familial heritage- and they all lead to hell. The only way to avoid going after false gospels is to know the true gospel. The gospel has three parts- problem, solution, and response.
Problem– God demands perfect righteousness, but man is born depraved and cannot be righteous. Man tries to create his own religion and work his way to salvation, but he falls infinitely short of God’s righteousness. (Matt 5:48; Rom 3:11)
God’s Solution– Man cannot resolve his problem. But God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16) This is the gospel. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (1Cor 15:2-4) Jesus Christ is the only solution from God for man’s problem.
Man’s Response– You must repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Repentance is turning away from sin, and turning towards God. Man can respond in this way only as he recognizes his problem and sees the solution God provides in the gospel.
Believers are vulnerable to straying from the true gospel. (Gal 2:11-13) Those under the influence of a false gospel forget the gospel’s transformative power and become hypocrites. (Rom 1:16) Their external behavior does not truly reflect their inner heart, because true transformation is possible only by the gospel. As Jesus turned water into wine, He makes us new creatures through His death and resurrection. The true gospel leads us to repent and love the Lord. If you find yourself under the influence of a false gospel, repent, and return to Christ Jesus. No matter how hard we try to deal with sin through our own determination, resolutions, and good works, our sin is an indelible stain that declares us guilty. (Jer 2:22) The gospel is the only way to be saved and to stay saved. The Galatians began to depend on the law for their justification, but the law is not meant to be a means of salvation. The law functions as a spiritual mirror- it makes us see how holy God is, and how sinful we are. It is meant to turn us to Christ- to flee from the curse of the law and take refuge in Christ. (Gal 3:10-11) The law serves to restrain evil with its justice, and it shows God’s redeemed children what pleases Him. (Jn 14:15)
How can I be justified? By faith alone- you must know that Jesus is the only way to be saved, and recognize that salvation is by grace alone. You must then agree to this truth, and commit to Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Savior. Those who are justified enjoy the peace of God. They come before God in prayer through all circumstances, with a hope fixed in heaven. The justified obey God, because God produces good works in those who have living faith. (James 2:26) They experience the true freedom of living like Christ- because of Jesus’s freedom, you are set free to resist sin. (Gal 5:1) Jesus frees us from the penalty of the law and futile attempts to please God in the flesh. In our freedom we walk by the Spirit, as the word of Christ dwells richly in us. We practice the freedom of Christ as we love one another. Jesus has loved us and gave Himself up for us. He is always with us, and as we experience His love everyday through the riches of the gospel, we are more than able to love one another for His glory. This is the outcry of the book of Galatians- Christian, you are justified and free in Christ.
BIBLE COMMUNITY CHURCH 
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