Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Gal. 2 and 3. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- One of the most basic issues when it comes to a person’s relationship with God has to do with “THE GRACE OF GOD.” This is the principle point of God’s Word in our text. Paul makes clear that there are two opposing ideas about relationship with God: the first asserts that a proper and peaceful relationship with God, one that is pleasing to God, rests upon our “good works,” those prescribed in the law of God; the second, that asserted as the truth by Paul and God’s own Word, is that a proper and peaceful relationship with God, one that is pleasing to God, is based purely and solely on God’s grace – His free gift of mercy, forgiveness, life and salvation in Christ Jesus, and is received and entered into by faith in Jesus Christ, and faith alone.
- The first – that our relationship with God is based in our “good works” – is what makes sense to our fallen sinful nature, and is what seems most natural to us. So the vast majority of human beings adopt some form of this principle – like the “Judaizers” who were troubling the Galatian Christians and like Simon the Pharisee, at whose home Jesus was eating in the Gospel Lesson. However, it is clearly the case, as all three of our Scripture readings make certain, that this is utterly impossible and foolish – and brings people under a “curse,” the curse of the very law they are basing their relationship with God on. This same truth and reality is demonstrated and asserted in every book of the Bible.
- And if we are honest this same truth and reality is seen every day in our lives, that:
I. No One Can Live In Proper And Peaceful Relationship With God Without The Grace Of God – His Free Mercy And Forgiveness In Christ Jesus, Received Simply By Faith
Text: “By works of the law no one will be justified. . . . All who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, to do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.”
A. Certainly King David Could Not Have Survived Without The Grace And Forgiveness Of God
2 Sam. 12:7,9 “Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! . . . You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him by the sword of the Ammonites.”
B. Obviously, The Woman Who Anointed Jesus’ Feet Could Not Have Survived Without The Grace And Forgiveness Of God
Luke 7:37 “Behold a woman of the city, who was a sinner . . . Therefore I tell you, her sins which are many, are forgiven.”
C. Obviously, Simon The Pharisee Could Not Have Survived Without The Grace And Forgiveness Of God
1. Consider his lack of love and hospitality
Luke 7:44 “I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet. . . . You gave me no kiss. . . . You did not anoint my head with oil.”
2. Consider also his hypocritical and unloving judgment of the woman and of Jesus
Luke 7:39 “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
Statement: Now we might think that we would never do anything like David did, or ever be in the kind of circumstances as this woman who was a notorious sinner. In so thinking, we put ourselves in the place of Simon the Pharisee – judging ourselves to be better than others, not needing God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy! This is actually a far darker and worse place than that occupied by David and the sinful woman – for it asserts that we can stand on our own and relate to God on the basis of our “goodness,” our “good works,” and apart from His gracious mercy.
The fact is that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and that “if a man keeps the whole law and yet offends in one part, he is guilty of all.” This means that each of us, no matter how “good” and “just” we are, are just as guilty as David and just as guilty as the sinful woman. Yes, we are just as guilty as notorious murderers and publicly immoral people today.
Application: Strangely, to assert the opposite – which we immediately feel compelled to do when confronted with our complete guilt and culpability, is not only untruthful and rejecting “THE GRACE OF GOD,” it is also spiritually unhealthy for us, and ruins our ability to truly engage in good – as we see in our text. So it is important for to think correctly about this matter, so that we too can have proper relationship with God, can receive His gracious forgiveness, life, and salvation, and be blessed in true goodness, for:
II. The Only Way Of Salvation Is By God’s Grace And Mercy In Christ Jesus, Which Is Received Simply By Faith
Text: “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no long 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. I do not nullify the grace of God. . . . Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law . . . so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
Statement: Note that “the promised Spirit” comes through faith in the gracious forgiveness and mercy of God, faith in Christ “Who loved me and gave Himself for me . . . redeeming us from the curse of the law.” So, those relying upon their “goodness” and comparing themselves favorably to others reject the Holy Spirit and “nullify the grace of God.” Obviously, this will not turn out well for them – and they become spiritually impoverished in the process, by their own unbelief!
Application: This is not God’s will for any of us. This is why Paul writes God’s Word so forcefully in this matter – so that we may all come to repentance, including repentance for our innate “self-righteousness” and hypocritical judging of others!
Jesus does the same with Simon – not only assuring the “sinful” woman of God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy, but making clear to Simon that:
III. True Good Can Only Be Done By Those Sinners Who Have Been Forgiven Much, Those With True Faith In Christ Jesus – For Only They Love Much
Luke 7:47,48 “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven – you see that she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven. . . . Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”
Statement: Ask yourself what words you would prefer to have Jesus speak to you? Those spoken to Simon – the hypocritical judger who believed in his own superior “goodness,” or those spoken to the woman – the notorious sinner who believed in and relied upon the grace of God?
Consider also what you want for your life – to love much or to love little? To have the Holy Spirit – through this kind of faith, or to reject the Holy Spirit and repudiate Him, because of your trust and reliance in your superior “goodness”?
Application: So let us take care to properly understand this most basic issue of “THE GRACE OF GOD,” and to take our place with Christ, and with the Holy Spirit – which is the place of David who repented and was told “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die” and the place of the woman to whom Jesus said “Your sins are forgiven.”
God forbid we should ever take our place with “good works,” hypocritically commending ourselves to God, judging ourselves to be superior to others, and placing ourselves under the curse of the law of God!
For if we grasp the grace of God, and do not nullify it in our lives, we too shall have the promised Holy Spirit, and having been “forgiven much” we too shall love much!
God grant such goodness and blessedness to us all! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.