[Matt's Messages] "I Live By Faith in the Son of God"

“I Live By Faith in the Son of God”
Galatians: The Truth of the Gospel
July 9, 2017 :: Galatians 2:15-21

Our sermon series is called “The Truth of the Gospel” because that was what was at stake in Galatia.

The Apostle Paul has written what we called a Tornado Warning Letter. He has broken the glass and sounded the alarm because these churches were on the brink of abandoning the truth of the gospel of grace.

False teachers had snuck into the churches that Paul had planted on his missionary journeys and sowed false teaching, a false gospel, another gospel which really is no gospel at all. 

And they’ve discredited Paul as a faulty apostle, preaching a derivative and defective gospel. Derivative of Jerusalem’s apostles and defective because it doesn’t say enough about the Law of Moses.

And Paul was shocked to find out that these churches had been entertaining the ideas of these false teachers, so he picks up his pen and writes them the Epistle to the Galatians.

Paul uses some of the strongest language of all of his letters for this letter because he was concerned that these churches he cared so much about might flounder and sink into heresy and ruin.

So for last two chapters, he’s been setting the record straight on where he got his gospel.

Where did he get his gospel? Peter, James, John?

No, directly from Jesus Christ.

Paul wasn’t looking for the gospel, but Jesus came looking for him!

But even though he didn’t get his gospel from the apostles based in Jerusalem, he had the exact same gospel as the apostles based in Jerusalem.

They met once and agreed on everything central to the gospel!

Peter, James, John, and Paul all had the exact same gospel.

Which made it kind of awkward when the apostle Peter came up to Antioch and acted inconsistently with the truth of the gospel.

That’s what we looked at last week.

Peter came up to Antioch and, at first, lived up to his theological convictions of what he could eat as a Christian and who he could eat with as fellow Christians, equal in the gospel.

And then...certain men from James came up and Peter all of sudden chickened out.

He stopped eating with the Gentile Christians which sent the message that only those who were Jews were truly acceptable Christians.

Peter didn’t say that in so many words, but that’s the message that was being conveyed.

So Paul opposed him to his face. He called Peter out in public. Remember this?

He said that Peter was not acting in line with the truth of the gospel. He was a hypocrite. V.14

“You are a Jew, [Pete!] yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. [And that’s okay because of your freedom in Christ. But...] How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” To become Jews, in essence?

“That’s not right!”

Now, he wasn’t saying that Peter was teaching a false gospel, but that you could get the wrong idea of what the truth of the gospel was by how Peter was acting.

Peter’s life was sending the message that you had to take on the Law of Moses to be a good Christian.

Is that how it works?

Last week, we read through verses 15 and 16 but we had run out of time to really dive into them. So it’s fitting that we start with them today.

This section is really the heart of the letter. Paul has finally got to what he really wants to say to the Galatians.

He’s finishing up the history that brings him to this point and is transitioning into the theology that desperately wants the Galatians to get.

I’m not sure where the report of what he said to Peter ends and where his further reflections begin, but it doesn’t really matter. By chapter 3, he’s speaking directly to the Galatians and addressing their folly.

But here he’s making his central point and waxing eloquent on what it means to be united to Jesus Christ.

For the last 25 years, Galatians 2:20 has been one of my favorite Bible verses, and I’m excited that it is our new Hide the Word verse to learn together.

Let’s say it together.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Here’s one of those places where the Bible tell us how Jesus loves us.

He “loved me and gave himself for me.”

I love Galatians 2:20.

When I was a student at Moody Bible Institute, we had to memorize this verse for a class, and it just jumped off the pages at me.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

There is a mysterious connection between Jesus and me.

He has identified with me, and I have identified with Him.

Enough that there is something about me that no longer lives.

And Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, lives in me.

There is still a sense in which I do live, but it’s by faith.

“The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God...”

That’s our title for today.

What a precious truth!

But Galatians 2:20 doesn’t exist out there on it’s own.

It was written in a certain particular contexts in a certain particular letter of Paul to the churches in Galatia.

Paul says what he says in Galatians 2:20 a part a bigger point he is making, a more complex argument.

And it is very...complex.

I admit that the logic of a few of these verses (especially verses 17, 18, and 19, the logic of them) escapes me.

I’ve read and read the commentaries, and I have a vague idea, but I’m not sure I can adequately explain them.

It helped me that D.A. Carson, one of the leading evangelical Bible scholars of our day and one of my former professors at Trinity says that these are a “bit hard to understand.” I feel like I’m in good company there.

And Douglas Moo, another one of my old professors from Trinity, and an amazing Bible teacher himself, has end-notes that have footnotes on these verses in his commentary! Notes on the notes!

So there is some complexity here and some ambiguity on the details.

But at the exact same time, the main points are simple and obvious.

And precious.

I’ve got two points of application for you today and they are very personal for Paul and for us.

Point #1. I am justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Point #2. I am living by faith in Jesus Christ.

If you’ve got that, you’ve got it all.

Let me try to show you what I see here.

#1. I AM JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

Do you remember what it means to be justified?

It means to be declared in the right. To be counted as righteous.

To be recognized as right with God, possessing a right standing with God.

How does that work?

How does one be justified before God?

Paul had a lot to say about this in the book of Romans which we studied together in 2014, 2015, and the first part of 2016.

The Greek word is “dikaioo.”  “To be justified” or “made just” or “righteousified.”

How does one become justified before God?

Well one way is to be perfectly righteous every second of your life.

Like Jesus Christ.

When God the Father looked at Jesus Christ, His Son, He could easily say, “That Person there is justified! That Person there is just. He is righteous. I can declare it!”

“He is my beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased.”

But unfortunately, there is no one else, by nature, in that category.

Is there anyone here who has been perfectly righteous every second of your life?

If so, I want to shake your hand.

So if I can’t be justified by possessing a perfect righteousness on my own, how can I ever be?

That was the question that plagued Martin Luther, a Bible teaching monk in the 16th century.

He knew that God was perfectly righteous, and he knew that he himself was not, and he feared the righteousness of God.

And rightly so.

Because without being justified there will be no salvation, no eternal life, no enjoying the kingdom of God when it comes in its fullness.

There will only be what we learned about in Sunday School this morning, the judgment of God. The justice of God. The full payment due for un-righteousness.

You see why this letter is so important?

You see the stakes? You see why Paul uses such strong language?

Eternal life is on the line.

How does a sinner become justified?

Paul reminds Peter in verse 15 that they know the answer to that question.

It’s the gospel of grace. It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we know that they both believe that. V.15

“We who are Jews by birth [Peter and Paul] and not 'Gentile sinners' [our little pet name for those who didn’t have the privilege of being born a Jew, WE] know that a man is not justified by observing the law [or literally, “by works of the law], but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Did Paul just repeat himself?

I believe so.

I think he said the same thing three times in a row!

This is that important!

Paul is contrasting two different approaches to justification.

One is right and one is wrong.

Which one is wrong?

Last phrase, “by observing the law [by works of the law] no one will be justified.”

What law is he talking about there?

Well, the obvious one is the Law of Moses.

The Law God gave to Moses back in the Old Testament.

So the 10 commandments and the sacrificial system and the dietary restrictions and the purification laws and the civil justice code and the feasts and all of that.

Signified for the newborn males by receiving the sign of circumcision in the flesh.

“You, my son, are now under this Law.”

Now, was the Law a bad thing?

No, it was a wonderful gift to the people of Israel.

But...doing the Law, obeying the Law, observing the Law was never intended to be the basis of anyone’s justification. V.16

“...by observing the law no one will be justified.”

That’s not how it works.

How does it work?

Paul says that he and Peter (v.16) “have put [their] faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ...”

That’s it?
Just faith? Just trust?
Just putting your faith in Jesus Christ?
That’s it?
That’s all?
Nothing else?
Just putting yourself in His hands?
Trusting in Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done?
That’s all?
And then I’m declared righteous before God?
I’m declared righteous BY God?!

Just by faith in Christ and Christ alone?

Yes, exactly.

And that’s what Martin Luther rediscovered in the book of Galatians and the book of Romans back in the 16th century. And it turned the world upside down.

Here’s what we know: I am justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Are you sure?

Don’t you think we have to add some works of the Law in there?

Don’t I do something? Don’t I add some good works? Don’t I clean up my act? Don’t I become a good person first?

Pastor Jonathan Edwards once said, No, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”

Because Paul said, “...by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Well, that’s not what everybody thought. Paul’s enemies had an answer for that an accusation. They, apparently, said that this gospel of sheer grace makes Jesus a promoter of sin. Look at verse 17.

“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!”

Now, I’m not sure that I understand Paul’s logic here.

There are multiple ways of construing it.

My best guess for today is that he’s saying that if you trust Christ for justification and then you still end up sinning (which you still will!) then whose fault is that?

The circumcision folks say that it’s all that grace that’s being thrown around.

If you tell people that all you have to do is believe in Jesus, then they are going to sin, and sin and sin all the more so that grace may abound.

“Hey, come over here, there’s free sin!”

“Jesus is giving away grace, so He’s okay with us sinning!”

Does that sound familiar? Like something we read about in Romans 6?

What was Paul’s answer for that back then? In Greek, “May Genoita.”

“Absolutely now! No way, no how. That’s not how it works.”

People who have genuinely come to believe in Jesus Christ do not go crazy with sinning!

How about you?  Do you want sin a lot more now that you have trusted Christ?

Yes, I know you want to sin sometimes.

But do want to sin more because Jesus has been gracious to you?

I don’t think so. And Paul says, even more, in verse 18.

“If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.”

I’m not totally sure what that means either. But I think he’s saying that if put the Law back in the place where these people wanted it to be (something we trust in), then it would only provide more judgment, more condemnation. The law only kills. It doesn’t bring salvation. V.19

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.”

And I really don’t know what that one means!

I think he’s saying that the law kills, and it killed Jesus. Because He took on the curse of the Law (we’ll read more about that in chapter 3), and when He died fulfilling the Law, you and I died to the Law.

We are no longer under the Mosaic Law.

And, paradoxically, now we can live for God!

So, the opposite is true. I am not justified by observing the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

Do you see that? I’m sorry I can’t explain it better.

It’s following that statement that “through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God” that Paul gives us Galatians 2:20.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

What a powerful way of saying it.

When Jesus died, somehow, we died with Him.

Now, not physically, of course. We did not take the nails that we deserved! He did.

But somehow in spiritual reality, we were co-crucified with Jesus.

And we are still in that state. The Greek tense here is the perfect tense.

So you could accurately say, “I am in the state of having been crucified with Christ.”

And I no longer live.

The old me.

The old “I”.

The “I” that is a sinner who loves sin.
The “I” that was trying to justify myself.
The “I” that was an enemy of God and destined for Hell.

That “I” no longer lives.

Not really.

Not in the most meaningful sense.

That “I” still has a zombie life, of course. We’ll learn more about the flesh and indwelling sin when we get towards of the end of Galatians.

But the old me has been rendered virtually powerless by my co-crucifixion with Jesus.

And now “Christ lives in me.” I have resurrection life. I have the personal presence of the Son of God through the Spirit of God.

I was not just joined to Him in His death, but I am joined to Him in His new life!

So, I still live. The new “I,” the new me.

“I live by faith in the Son of God.”

#2. I AM LIVING BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

This is the living dynamic at work in life.

I am trusting in Jesus Christ and He is my life.

I am trusting Him daily.

I am trusting Him moment by moment.

I have a life-changing relationship with Him.

I don’t live by faith in my own good deeds.

I live by faith day to day, by faith in the Son of God.

Everything has changed.

Living by faith is not just nodding your head that some facts are true.

It is placing yourself in the hands of Jesus and trusting your whole life and your whole eternal future to Him.

It is trusting that you have been united to Christ and share in everything that He has.

You know what that means?

It means when God the Father looks at you, He sees the righteousness of His Own Son.

I think that’s part of why Paul calls Jesus, “the Son of God” here.

Because you and I are, by faith, united to God’s beloved Son.

And He can easily say, “That person there is righteous. They are in my Son.

They were crucified with Him. And He lives in them now!”

I don’t think that you and I disappear as persons in Galatians 2:20. We are still ourselves. It’s not saying that the person of Matt Mitchell got crucified and now I’m some kind of a puppet.

I’m more “myself” than I have ever been.

Because I am now united to Jesus Christ.

And now I am living by faith in Jesus Christ.

“...who loved me and gave himself for me.”

I love that Paul uses the personal pronouns here.

Jesus didn’t just love everyone.

Jesus didn’t just love His chosen people.

Jesus loved even me.

He “loved me and gave himself for me.”

And that gift of Himself was not in vain. V.21

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Do you see his logic?

Paul is not going to budge on this gospel of grace.

He will not nullify the grace of God.

He will not change his tune on what gospel he preaches.

He will not give in for a moment to the idea that we are justified by works of the law.

Because if he did, then he would be saying that Jesus never had to die.

Right?

I mean if I could get myself justified by simply obeying the Mosaic Law, then why did Jesus have to die? He didn’t.

I could have just done it on my own!

How insulting that is to Jesus!

“Why did you bother to give yourself for us on the Cross, Jesus?”

“Thanks but no thanks. I’ll do it my way.”

Paul says, “May it never be.”

“He loved me and gave Himself for me.”

I will not set aside the grace of God.

Does that make sense?

The application is obvious, I hope.

Put your faith in Jesus Christ.

And Jesus Christ alone.

I know that all of this is familiar to you.

At least, I hope it’s familiar to you! This is the gospel that we are trying to preach here at Lanse Free Church.

This is the message that we are going to give each day to the children, youth, and adults that come to Family Bible Week.

So, I hope it’s familiar.

But it’s not obvious.

Most people think that the gospel is about being a good person.

Go down to the Pumpkin House or Key Largo and do a survey. Ask them what it takes to be justified before God.

And so many will say, “Be a good person. Keep the 10 Commandments. Do more good than bad. Go to church. Give your money. Do good things.”

Those are all good things to do.

But “by observing the law no one will be justified.”

You’ve got trust in Jesus Christ.

You’ve got to trust in what He did on the Cross when He loved you and gave Himself for you.

Be justified by placing your faith in Jesus Christ.

And then live that faith every single day.

Because when you believe in Jesus, everything changes.

Your relationship with sin.
Your relationship with the Law.
Your relationship with God. You can now live for God!

Because you have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in you.

The life you now live in the body, LIVE BY FAITH in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you.


***

Messages in this Series
01. To the Churches in Galatia
02. Turning to a Different Gospel
03. Preaching the Faith He Once Tried to Destroy
04. So the Truth of the Gospel Might Remain With You
05. Acting in Line with the Truth of the Gospel

Read More

White Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid)

Read More

And the Winner Is....

.... Drumroll please! ...

I'm pleased to announce that Todd Dobo has won a signed copy of The Wild Man and Wild Mountain Tribe by Zeke Pipher!

Congratulations, Todd. I look forward to hearing how the Lord uses them in you and your boys' lives.

Thank you, everyone who participated!

If you want to buy your own set, visit the Wild Mountain to order your own copy of The Wild Man and/or Wild Mountain Tribe today!

Related:

Read my interview with Zeke about these two books.

Read my list of the 5 biggest things I appreciate about these "wild" books.

And watch the video about them below.

Read More

Wild, Man

5 Things I Appreciate About the New Books on Manhood from Zeke Pipher

All this week, I’ve been promoting The Wild Man fable and Wild Mountain Tribe by Zeke Pipher [read our interview here]. In fact, I’m giving away a signed set tomorrow morning (enter by 11:59 tonight!). I’m pleased to do this because I applaud what Zeke is trying to do with these new resources for followers of Jesus Christ.

I haven’t had the time or mental bandwidth to write a full review, but here is a quick list of some of the things I appreciate the most about Zeke’s “wild” books:

1. In writing The Wild Man and Wild Mountain Tribe, Zeke is doing his part to raise up godly men.

It’s easy to bemoan the lack of godly men in this world. I could quickly dash off a paragraph about the pitfalls and failings of “failure-to-launch” males, no problem. But it’s much more difficult to see the problem and then do something constructive about it. Zeke has “manned-up” and done the harder thing, creating something valuable that can be used by others to raise up godly men. I love that he wrote the simple, creative story for his son Aiden in the first place as an exercise in faithful fathering. As the father of 3 growing boys, I am encouraged by Zeke’s example to do my own part.

2. Zeke’s books are a valiant attempt at capturing masculinity.

It’s also hard to get the message of manhood right. Not only does the world offer many false and twisted versions of masculinity, but even when you’re trying to be biblical, there are various extremes that are tempting to fall into. I’m glad that Zeke has taken up the challenge of leading the expedition through the minefield. I love that he calls it the “quest to capture masculinity.” We won’t get everything right, but we are aiming in the right direction. And we’re doing it together.

3. Zeke knows that masculinity is not one-size-fits all.

People who write about manhood often try to pigeonhole all men into one mold. But God didn’t make us that way. He’s much more creative than that! I get frustrated when I read books on biblical masculinity that miss out on the inventive and diverse variations of faithful godly masculinity that are possible. Not all men look or act the same. And a lot of what we think is “masculine” is actually just culturally condition preferences.

Zeke gets that. So while his main characters in the fable do some “traditionally” manly things like hunting, fishing, or sleeping outdoors, he is also careful to not stereotype, especially in the guidebook.

In fact, Zeke has a introductory word on masculinity in Wild Mountain Tribe that says it really well:

In The Wild Man fable, masculinity is represented by hair and physical strength. However, you do not need to have a beard or large biceps to be masculine. Many of the young men who read The Wild Man and Wild Mountain Tribe are several years away from being able to grow facial hair or bench press impressive weights. Likewise, many of the older men who read these books have lost the thick hair and physical abilities of their youth. Neither situation limits a man’s opportunity to be wild. Many authors and speakers have reduced the definition of masculinity down to haircuts, clothing styles, and physical accomplishments. This narrow, external-focused explanation of masculinity pushes many of our manliest men out of the category, and that is a sad loss. To be masculine is to carry the right vision, do the right things, and follow the right King. Being masculine does involve being strong, but strength takes many forms. For this reason, the fraternity of wild men is varied, abundant, and multi-sided. You will find that it has plenty of room for your style, abilities, and skill-set as a man.

4. Zeke’s vision of manhood is biblical, not cultural.

Another way of saying this is that the vision of manhood that Zeke is developing and promoting is biblical, not cultural. If it’s not about being a one-size-fits-all kind of man, what kind of man is Zeke trying to get us to be?

In a word: Christlike.

Look at the list of manly virtues that Wild Mountain tribes will discuss when they get together and you will find a very counter-cultural set of values, including grace, honesty, humility, self-control, responsibility, proactiveness, protectiveness, courage, faithfulness, wisdom, discipline, submissiveness. Oh, what the Lord could do with a generation of men like that!

5. Zeke’s vision is the raising up of a generation (or more!) of wild, but not savage, men.

To tell you the truth, I was not “wild” about the adjective Zeke used to sum up his project.

I told him so when I first read it back in March. For me, “wild” came with too much baggage from other books with similar themes (but different visions) and sounded too...I don’t know...“wild.”

But Zeke has won me over to using this language by doing three things:

First, Zeke reminds me that God Himself is not domesticated. In the words of C.S. Lewis about his stories’ Christ-figure, Aslan is not a “tame Lion.” He is not safe, but He’s good.

Second, Zeke paints a picture of what “wild” means in the context of his fable and the guidebook, and it’s really good. I want to be like Zeke’s Ancient Man and Wild Man. They may seem scary at first, but I actually want men like that around me and walking with me through life. If that’s “wild,” then sign me up!

And third, Zeke explains in the very first week of Wild Mountain Tribe the difference between being savage men “brutish, rude, and cruel” with being wild men “powerful, and even at times fierce, but they are always kind and self-controlled” (pgs. 17-18). That contrast was really helpful for understanding what Zeke was trying to convey.

So, I’m glad that Zeke worked in a few of my suggestions for improving these books–his humility is another mark of manliness!–but I’m also glad that he’s retained the adjective “wild.”

So that now I can tell guys who ask me what I thought of Zeke’s new book, I can honestly say, “It’s wild, man, truly wild.”

Read More

An Interview with Zeke Pipher about "The Wild Man" and "Wild Mountain Tribe"

It's a privilege to have Zeke Pipher of The Wild Mountain visit the blog today and answer some questions about his excellent new books The Wild Man and Wild Mountain Tribe which just came out last month (enter our contest to win a free set for yourself).

Interview

Matt: Tell us about yourself and your family. Who is Zeke Pipher and how did you come to write this book?

Zeke: I was transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ in 1990, during my sophomore year in college. I’m an EFCA pastor and author from central Nebraska. I’ve been married to Jamie since 1997, and together we have three children who are in the throes of junior high and high school. Those are the most important things about me. Some lesser important things I could mention are—I’m fanatical about hunting and fishing, I have absolutely no golf game, I love to butcher meat and chop vegetables, I just bought a motorcycle jacket to go with my newest hobby, I contribute to several national hunting magazines, and most of my books have been geared toward men and boys.

The Wild Man fable came from someplace deep inside me. One of my strongest desires is to be a faithful husband, father, and friend. A couple years ago, when my son, Aidan, turned twelve, I felt an awesome responsibility to pass on a concrete vision of manhood. I decided to write a story for him to provide him images of strong, courageous, faithful masculinity. Many men today are looking to society (celebrities, sports figures, politicians) to give them a definition of masculinity; my hope is to show Aidan through these two books how the Scriptures and his conscience can provide the direction. The Wild Man fable provides the vision of masculinity, and the Wild Mountain Tribe guidebook helps men—young and old—have conversations about how to live it out.

Matt: Why is The Wild Man a fable?

Zeke: I chose to write a fable because the genre fit my message perfectly. Fables are timeless, tapping into ideas that transcend any one culture. When we discuss masculinity, we are talking about ancient values that find their origin in the person of God and the order and nature of His creation. There are unique ways that each culture exhibits masculinity, but there are clear, timeless qualities that define it. These qualities are best exhibited in Jesus, “the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15).” I chose to write The Wild Man as a fable so that I could illustrate the timeless qualities God has built into the idea of being a man.

Matt: What are you hoping to accomplish by publishing The Wild Man and Wild Mountain Tribe?

Zeke: There are few things I desire more than to see older men – fathers, grandfathers, mentors, and father-figures – teach younger men how to be strong, courageous, and faithful to Christ. It saddens me how many times I’ve heard fathers and grandfathers say, “I’ve dropped the ball when it comes to my son/grandson.” It breaks my heart for that older man. It makes me sad for the younger man. And it grieves me for our society. Everyone in a community benefits when men—young and old—are strong, courageous, self-sacrificing, humble, and justice-seeking. We are experiencing a crisis in our America surrounding issues of sexuality, gender, end of life, beginning of life, finances, and our stewardship of creation. When men are faithful to Christ as men, including in how they pass on a vision for masculinity, everyone in society wins. I wrote these two books to help men be the “image and glory of God (1 Cor. 11:7b) as faithfully as possible.

Matt: Where did you get the idea for the “Ancient Symbol of the Deep Masculine” (from The Wild Man)?

Zeke: That symbol is the ancient Chi Rho christogram that the early church used to represent Christ. It is formed by the first two Greek letters of the word Christos, the chi and the rho. I chose that symbol because it is a way of connecting the fable and its presentation of masculinity to the person of Christ. All the qualities and characteristics of masculinity find their origin and perfect expression in Jesus, and so I wanted the “Ancient Symbol of the Deep Masculine” to direct the reader back to Jesus.

Matt: In addition to The Wild Man, you wrote a 14-week guidebook called, Wild Mountain Tribe. What is that guidebook for, and who is it for?

Zeke: Men often have the right heart and desires, but struggle to have deep conversations over important subjects. I wanted to help fathers, grandfathers, mentors, and father-figures have some of the most vital conversations with the young men in their lives. Churches, men’s groups, college ministries, and families can use Wild Mountain Tribe as a resource. The fable will help cast a vision, and the guidebook will help men see how to live it out.

Matt: What word of encouragement would you want to leave any dads who are reading this interview?

Zeke: Fatherhood is one of the most noble, challenging, and rewarding endeavors God has given us. To do it well, we’ve got to be intentional. We must spend time with our children, and we must have the right conversations and experiences with them. This isn’t easy. The best fathers in the world struggle with discouragement and uncertainty at times. One of my hopes for us older men as we use The Wild Man and Wild Mountain Tribe to teach young men to be faithful is that we never feel alone. We have an enemy who knows our souls well, and knows that if he can make us feel isolated, he’s got us on the ropes. We are not isolated. We are a part of a tribe of faithful men that stretches back to the first family God created. My hope and prayer is that you take your roles as a father, grandfather, mentor, and father-figure seriously. And as you do, I pray that you feel us—the greater tribe of faithful men—cheering you on in your journey.

Matt: Thanks, Zeke, for your time in this interview, but even more for writing this book. I pray that it blesses thousands of men and soon-to-be-men and their families.

Our giveaway contest ends Thursday at 11:59pm.

Read More

Win a Copy of "The Wild Man" Fable and "Wild Mountain Tribe" by Zeke Pipher

This Spring, I finally had the privilege of meeting Zeke Pipher in person. He came to Pennsylvania to speak at our church's Wild Game Dinner. Zeke and I had been online friends for a few years as fellow EFCA pastors with mutual friends, and I'd been an admirer of his books for hyper-hobbied and outdoorsmen, but we'd never gotten to meet face-to-face.

We hit it off right away.

And right off the bat, one of the issues we connected on was the need to pass on godly masculinity to the next generation. I have 3 sons (and a daughter who will be an adult before too long!), so it's deeply important to me. The world offers so many false messages about manhood, and they are all not only flawed but dangerous.

So Zeke told me about a project he was working on--a fable that teaches about Christ-centered masculinity through an allegorical story and also a guidebook for men and young men to go through together. He even gave me pre-publication copies to review.

I like them a lot!

These are two books not quite like any others out there, and I think they would help any dads, granddads, or uncle-types who wanted to get some good principles of biblical masculinity across to the young bucks whom they care about.

Tomorrow on Independence Day, I'll be publishing an interview I did with Zeke all about how and why he wrote these two books.

Win A Set for Yourself

Today, I'm offering starting a contest to win a free set. Zeke will send a copy of each book to the winner picked at random.

Entering this contest is very simple:

1. Leave a comment on this post (either here or on Facebook) with your name on it.

2. Wait to see if you win. I'll be drawing the names out of a hat. It's that easy! (Don't forget to check back or subscribe to updates to find out if you win--I'll need your mailing address if you do.)

You can also increase your chances of winning by posting about this contest on your social media page (FB, Twitter, Blog, Pinterest, etc.). Just send me an email or leave a comment with the link so that I know that you've expanded the reach of the contest. For each time you link to the contest, you get your name added to the hat one more time (limit of 7 chances, the contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Thursday night, July 6th).

I'll announce the winner on Friday.

But if you can't wait, order your copy of The Wild Man and/or Wild Mountain Tribe today!

This video from Zeke's Wild Mountain website tells the story of what these books are all about.

Read More

Godforsaken

All three messages from the short series on the sufferings prefigured in David, fulfilled in Jesus, and vindicated by the resurrection preach in the Spring of 2017.

1. Godforsaken: David

2. Godforaken: Jesus

3. Forsaken No Longer

***

A neat fact that didn't make it into the last message:

Peter said this at Pentecost, "Seeing what was ahead, [David] spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned [οὔτε ἐγκατελείφθη] to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact." (Quoting Psalm 16)

Interestingly, the word for "not abandoned" is a form of the same word used in Matthew 27:46 for "forsaken" [ἐγκατέλιπες].

So, Peter was saying that David predicted that Jesus would not stay forsaken. Yes, forsaken on the Cross, but NO not forsaken to remain in the grave!

#ChristIsRisen!

Read More

[Matt's Messages] “Acting in Line with the Truth of the Gospel”

“Acting in Line with the Truth of the Gospel”
Galatians: The Truth of the Gospel
July 2, 2017 :: Galatians 2:11-16

Our sermon series right now is entitled “The Truth of the Gospel” because that was the very thing at stake–the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul was astonished to learn that these churches the region of Galatia were on the brink of abandoning the truth of the gospel and believing a different gospel, which was really no gospel at all!

There was danger in the churches of Galatia. False teachers had infiltrated the churches and accused Paul of having the wrong gospel. They apparently accused Paul of getting his gospel from the apostles in Jerusalem and getting that gospel wrong.

And because the gospel is at stake, Paul can’t just take that lying down.

He has to write a letter to set the story straight.

And to try to straighten out these churches on the gospel.

Because the gospel is no little thing.

If you believe the wrong gospel or you preach the gospel, you are damned.

So ever since chapter 1, verse 11, Paul has had one major overarching goal. Does anybody remember what it is?

Paul has been trying to demonstrate that his gospel, the good news that he preached, was not something he got from other mere men.

1:11-12, “ I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”

And Paul’s been giving his personal story to prove that point.

He didn’t go from persecutor to preacher because of some man-made story.

He didn’t get his gospel from Jerusalem. He hardly spent any time therein the first 14 years.

And after he did visit in Jerusalem, he had to defend his gospel against those who wanted his teammate Titus to be circumcised, and the other apostles there (Peter, James, and John) did not add one thing to his message.

Instead, they divided up the labor, agreed to fight poverty, and gave each other the right hand of fellowship.

They were 100% together on the gospel.

Peter, James, and John agreed with Paul’s gospel.

He didn’t get it from them. They didn’t get it from him.

They both had gotten it straight from Jesus Christ.

Now, Paul is going to get to the heart of this letter in the next few paragraphs.

He’s going to reveal the false gospel that was loose among the Galatians and he’s going to counter it with the true gospel of grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

But as he approaches that heart of this letter, he’s still trying to make the basic point that his gospel is not derived nor defective. Not derived nor defective.

He didn’t get his gospel from Peter, James, or John.

“Do you want more proof of that?

Well then, let me tell you about the time I had the public fight with the apostle Peter over the truth of the gospel.”

You heard me right. The apostle Peter and the apostle Paul went head to head over a gospel issue, and Peter was in the wrong.

The title of today’s message is “Acting in Line with the Truth of the Gospel.” I get that from verse 14.

Paul says that is the exact opposite of what Peter was doing in Antioch.

He was not NOT “acting in line with the truth of the gospel.”

Paul has one more story to tell before he gets into the heart of his letter.

It’s another story that shows just how independent he really was from the apostles in Jerusalem.

He was so independent, he wasn’t afraid to rebuke the apostle Peter to his face in public!

That’s interesting, isn’t it?

From the gospels and the first part of the book of Acts, it’s clear that the Apostle Peter was kind of the lead apostle.

I don’t think he was the first pope as our Roman Catholic friends do, but he clearly took the lead for the apostles. He was the chief spokesman for them on the day of Pentecost, for example.

But the Apostle Paul was not afraid to stand up to him when he was clearly in the wrong. Verse 1.

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.”

Paul’s gospel was clearly not dependent on the person of Peter!

In fact, Paul’s gospel stood over the person of Peter.

If Peter was opposed to Paul’s gospel, then Peter needed to be corrected, not Paul’s gospel.

Do you see how that works? We’ll come back to that.

What was going on here?

Apparently, the apostle Peter had left Jerusalem and taken a trip up to Syrian Antioch. Yes, the same Syria that’s in the news today.

The church in Syrian Antioch was the one that had sent Paul and Barnabas out as missionaries. Paul and Barnabas were the people on the fridge of the Christians at Antioch.

And there were both Jewish and Gentile Christians in that church.

Which are better Jewish or Gentile Christians?

That was a trick question!

Peter, a Jewish Christian, had come up to visit the church in Antioch, perhaps to see how things were going.

And while he was there, Peter had table fellowship with both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. He ate with both.

Is that a big deal?

You bet it is.

From what we know about the Jews of the first century, they were very careful to stay pure in terms of what they ate and with whom.

Think about Daniel and his friends back in Babylon in the Old Testament. How careful they were about their diets.

But Peter has had a vision. Remember the vision that Peter had in Acts chapter 10?

I call it, “Peter’s Pork Picnic.”

The Lord brought down a great big red and black checkered picnic blanket with a big feastful of food on it from Hog’s Galore?

And he said, “Eat it, Peter!”

Remember that? Peter had a hard time with that idea, but eventually he understood that the Gentiles had been included in the gospel. And that all foods were now declared clean.

So when he went up to Antioch, he had bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches. He had sausage and cheese omelets. He had whatever the Gentiles there were eating! He ate it, too.

Now, it’s possible that other Jews would have held off on what they ate. Maybe their consciences wouldn’t allow them to eat all of that stuff. Or even to eat with those Gentiles for fear of contaminating the purity of their consciences.

That might have been okay as long as they accepted one another as brothers and sisters in Christ the way we learned about last year in Romans 14 and 15.

But Peter ate it all, and he ate with the Gentile Christians.

Until...

Until a group of guys came from James. Look at verse 12.

“Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.”

Now, we don’t know much about these guys who came from James.

I always thought that they were “the circumcision group.”

“Certain men came from James” who were the “circumcision group” that Peter was afraid of.

And that’s very possible. Perhaps they had a message from James about being careful whom you offend or how you relate to the Law of Moses. Or perhaps they came from James, but they had their own message for Peter. Or maybe they just looked down their noses at him, and he noticed.

But I’ve come to think that maybe these certain men brought a message from James that persecution had increased in Jerusalem of the Christians by the non-Christian Jews (“the circumcision”) because word had gotten out that the Christians were attacking the Law of Moses.

And if you attack their law, they will attack you.

And not just you, but people you love.

That seems likely to me.

We don’t know what they said, but we do know what Peter did with it.

He slunk back on his principles.

He drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles.

From his Gentile brothers and sisters in Christ.

And not because his theology had changed.

Not because he realized that he had been in the wrong.

This was not repentance. This was not daring to be a Daniel. This was fear.

Paul says he did this (v.12) “because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.”

He was afraid.

He was afraid of what someone else would think or say or do.

Perhaps he was afraid of persecution, not just of himself but of people he cared about back home in Jerusalem.

Fear is a powerful motive.

Peter compromised on his principles.

And he became a hypocrite.

A hypocrite is someone who says they believe on thing but act in a way that shows that they really do not.

They act the opposite of what they preach.

They talk the talk, but they don’t what?  Walk the walk.

That was Peter at this point in his life.

A man who had walked with Jesus.
A man who had been commissioned and recommissioned by Jesus.
A man who had seen the risen Jesus.
A man who had preached on Pentecost and escaped from prison.
A man who led the church and led the apostles.

Here he is slinking back and taking his tray solely to the Jewish table in the lunchroom alone and never to the Gentile table that he had frequented just last week.

And others followed his lead.  V.13

“The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.”

Do you feel that? “Even Barnabas.”

Paul’s partner. The guy who helped him plant these churches in Galatia.

Even Barnabas was eating only with the Jews.

Because everybody else was doing it!

I don’t know where Paul had been, but when he got back to Antioch, he saw what was the situation, and he spoke up.

Maybe he did it privately, I don’t know, but the sin was public, therefore so was the confrontation.

When he left, there was one church in Antioch, one big happy church fellowshipping together.

When he got back, Peter had effectively divided the church into the Jewish Church and the Gentile Church, and he had given the impression that the Gentile Christians weren’t really Christians. V.14

“When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew [You know you are free to eat Gentile food with Gentiles]\. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? [To live like a Jew?]”

Do you see his point?

Peter is being inconsistent.

By separating himself NOW from the Gentiles, he’s sending the message that they are not proper Christians.

To be a proper Christian, you have to become a Jew first.

What’s next? Are you going to require they follow the whole Mosaic Law?

Are you going to require that they get circumcised?

I thought we’ve been over that with Titus?

By his actions, Peter was giving the impression that the only Christians who were acceptable as believers were those who had taken on the Mosaic Law.

And that would amount to another gospel.

Do you see why Paul calls this (in verse 14), “NOT acting in line with the truth of the gospel?”

Did Peter actually believe a different gospel?

No. They were 100% together on the gospel. Remember that?

But Peter’s actions were telling a different story.

He was not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.

Here’s application point number one:

#1. ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL.

We need, not only to believe the truth of the gospel, but to live in a way that accords with it.

You can preach a false gospel by living falsely.

You can have every box checked correctly on your statement of faith but live in way that denies every word of it.

For Peter, it was not accepting as brothers those whom he knew genuinely were.

How are you and I doing at aligning our lives with the truth of the gospel?

Do we walk the walk or just talk the talk?

If we say that God forgives ours sins, do we forgive those who sin against us?

If we say that God always keeps His promises, do we stay faithful to ours, even if it hurts?

If we say that Jesus changes us by His grace, do we demonstrate a changed life?

I’m not asking if we are living flawless lives of sinless perfection.

I’m asking if we have glaring discrepancies between what we preach and what we live out on a daily basis.

Because people are watching.

And because you are have more influence on others than you think.

If you claim to be a gospel-believing Christian and you live in a way that is not in line with the truth of the gospel, you are sending not only a false message about the gospel with your life, but you are sending the message that it’s okay for others to do it, too!

“Even Barnabas.”

“Even Barnabas was led astray.”

The King James translates verse 14 with the words, “they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel,” and that’s reflects the Greek really well.

The word in Greek is, “orthopodeo.”

What does that sound like?

It’s the root that we get our word, “Orthopedic” from.

Their actions were not in line, they were not straight, they were not upright.

Let me put it this way, “Peter was out of whack, so Paul gave him one!”

Are you out of whack?

Peter’s gospel was good, but he was (at this point) living out whack with his own gospel.

Are you living out of whack with the gospel?

Are there some areas of your life that are just begging for change?

Because they really don’t fit with the good news of Jesus?

I love it that it was Peter who was out of whack.

Because that gives me hope for my own change.

Peter obviously got the message. Maybe not at first. But the rest of his life demonstrated a closer correspondence between his gospel and his behavior.

How about us?

How are we doing at living in the fear of God instead of the fear of man?

Peter had temporarily succumbed to the fear of the circumcision group.

He was acting like he thought they wanted him to.

Whom are you acting for?  Whose drum are you dancing to?

Align your life with the truth of the gospel.

Number two: Call upon others to do the same.

#2. CALL UPON OTHER CHRISTIANS TO ALIGN THEIR LIVES WITH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL.

I’m still amazed that Paul stood up to Peter.

I don’t know that I could have ever done that.

But Paul thought it was necessary.

The gospel was a stake. So he spoke up.

Can you imagine being a fly on the wall for that conversation?!

Other people were following Peter into hypocrisy. Even Barnabas. So Paul spoke up.

Even to an apostle.

When was the last time you confronted a brother or sister in Christ about their behavior that was bringing shame on the gospel?

“Hey, buddy, think about what you’re doing.”

“Hey, friend, that’s no good. Christians shouldn’t do that.”

“Hey, brother, I have to say something to you about that. It’s the opposite of the gospel.”

“Hey, sister, can we talk about what you’re doing there? Because it’s sending the wrong message to the rest of the church.”

We do not like that sort of thing.

(I guess there are some people who do like that sort of thing, but they’ve got another problem!)

I don’t think that Paul liked to do it.

But the gospel was at stake!

And it didn’t matter who the person was.

It could be any Christian, including any church leader.

This was Peter for crying out loud!

What mattered was the gospel. The gospel was worth confrontation about.

Friends, if I live out of whack with the gospel, I invite you to point it out to me.

Give me a whack!

I’m not calling for us to us to run around whacking everybody we disagree with, especially on minor things.

But the gospel is a major thing, and we can’t stay silent. We must speak up.

Peter’s behavior may have seemed like a minor thing. He was just not eating with people he used to eat with.

But his behavior was actually a major thing. He was saying, with his behavior, that only those who were keeping the Law were saved and acceptable to be around.

Paul had to call him out on that.

Is there somebody that you need to call out?

Is there somebody you need to rebuke?

Somebody you have a relationship with?

I remember once I saw a Christian friend who was not acting like a Christian on social media.

They were spreading false stories and doing it in a rude way.

My instinct in most of those cases is to “hide” the person or just scroll by, but I had  a relationship with them enough that I felt I should say something.

So I was no Paul but I tried to say, “Friend, you are better than this. That’s not how a Christian should act on Facebook. That story is not true (here’s the true facts). I’d recommend you take it down.”

And they did. And they even thanked me.

I like to think that Peter thanked Paul, at least eventually, for this rebuke.

The Proverbs say, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (27:5).

Who do you need to love like this?

#3. PUT YOUR FAITH IN THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL.

Because that’s what this is all about.

Paul continues to Peter, verse 15.

“We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

There is so much there, and we’ve run out of time.

We’ll come back to it next week.

But the point Paul is making to Peter is that they know the gospel.

The gospel of grace!

Not the gospel of doing the law.

The gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ.

We are justified in Christ. Remember that from Romans? “Dikaiosunai?”

We just had a lesson in it in the adult Sunday School Class today.

Paul says, “As great as it is to be born Jew, we don’t want to make other people into Jews! We want to share the gospel of grace with them.”

You don’t get saved, you don’t get justified, by observing the Law.

You get saved, you get justified, by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Put your faith in Him!

Not in yourself.
Not in your works.
Not in your circumcision.
Not in your clean Jewish diet.

Or hanging out with your Jewish friends.

But in Jesus Christ alone.

Put your faith in the truth of gospel of grace.

Messages in this Series

01. To the Churches in Galatia
02. Turning to a Different Gospel
03. Preaching the Faith He Once Tried to Destroy
04. So the Truth of the Gospel Might Remain With You

Read More

Ferns and Moss on Granite Ledge

Read More