WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.100 --> 00:00:50.080 I want to start off with a question this morning, and I love this question because we've got 00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:54.620 kids sitting in here with parents, and parents sitting in here with kids. 00:00:55.160 --> 00:01:00.740 And what we're going to establish from the very beginning is a level of truthfulness. 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:02.500 In fact, let's do this. 00:01:02.680 --> 00:01:04.760 Can we bring the house lights all the way up? 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:08.260 Because I want to see the responses. 00:01:08.360 --> 00:01:08.860 There we go. 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:11.440 Kids, look at your parents. 00:01:12.460 --> 00:01:13.560 Parents, look at your kids. 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:17.900 If your kids are sitting over here, I see some parents trying to break their neck. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:19.200 Make sure you can see them, all right? 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:21.160 I'm going to ask this question. 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:22.920 Can't lie, you're in church. 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:24.240 All right? 00:01:25.240 --> 00:01:30.900 How many of you, by show of hands, have ever done something wrong? 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:32.320 Grayson's right here. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:33.020 Emma's right here. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:35.820 Not that you've ever done something wrong. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.120 A little over-eager on raising your hands first, all right? 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.760 Have ever done something wrong and gotten away with it? 00:01:43.100 --> 00:01:45.180 Like, still to this day, your parents do not know. 00:01:46.600 --> 00:01:48.580 Raise your hands, raise your hands, raise your hands. 00:01:49.160 --> 00:01:49.840 Keep them up. 00:01:50.740 --> 00:01:53.140 Keep Aaron Bradbury, raise your hand. 00:01:56.380 --> 00:01:57.740 I'm going to pay for that later. 00:02:00.300 --> 00:02:04.840 That was not the Holy Spirit in me in that moment. 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:05.960 I'm so sorry. 00:02:10.140 --> 00:02:10.540 Amen. 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:11.820 Let's take Lord's Supper. 00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:13.680 We're done. 00:02:13.900 --> 00:02:15.000 Oob, can you come preach? 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:15.740 There we go. 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:15.920 Okay. 00:02:18.380 --> 00:02:22.840 Years ago, my son got in a lot of trouble. 00:02:23.700 --> 00:02:28.420 I've told this story to some of y'all, tell the story to everybody, but Grayson got in the 00:02:28.420 --> 00:02:30.240 most trouble that he had ever gotten in. 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:31.880 He's about four years old. 00:02:32.880 --> 00:02:34.480 I came into our kitchen. 00:02:35.220 --> 00:02:42.160 I sat down at our kitchen table and carved right in the middle of our table was a G. 00:02:45.380 --> 00:02:46.620 And so I called him in. 00:02:47.700 --> 00:02:50.680 Hey, buddy, did you do this? 00:02:52.100 --> 00:02:52.580 No. 00:02:54.640 --> 00:02:55.080 Really? 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.160 Aaron, Bo, Emma. 00:03:03.880 --> 00:03:06.500 Grayson, gee, right there. 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:07.300 Did you do this? 00:03:08.420 --> 00:03:08.740 No. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.360 Buddy, I'm not really mad that you did it. 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:16.400 I'm mad that you're lying to me about it. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:18.580 So one more time. 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:20.980 Did you do it? 00:03:22.220 --> 00:03:22.740 No. 00:03:24.340 --> 00:03:25.460 Grayson, you know what this means? 00:03:26.420 --> 00:03:28.780 And he looked at me and said, let me get a spanking. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:30.560 I said, yep. 00:03:31.980 --> 00:03:34.280 Worst spanking he's ever got. 00:03:35.200 --> 00:03:36.620 We still own this table. 00:03:37.420 --> 00:03:39.240 This table is still in our house. 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:46.760 And several years ago, we're sitting there having dinner, and I'm recounting back to the time 00:03:46.760 --> 00:03:53.680 where my son got disciplined like he'd never been disciplined before and has never been disciplined since. 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:58.440 And I see a smile come across the face of my daughter. 00:04:01.440 --> 00:04:03.080 And I said, Emma, what's so funny? 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:12.880 And she said, well, Dad, I was sitting at the table, and I had a pencil, and the eraser was off. 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:15.100 And it had a sharp corner. 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:22.420 And I turned it over, and I carved an E into the table. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:37.300 And I heard you coming, so I grabbed the pencil back, and I drew a line from the bottom line of the E to the second line of the E, and I made a G. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.080 And Grayson, sitting at the table, said, I knew it. 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:46.120 I told you. 00:04:46.780 --> 00:04:49.580 And then demanded justice, right? 00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:55.460 Either she gets a spanking, or you get one, right? 00:04:55.460 --> 00:04:56.180 Either way. 00:04:56.940 --> 00:04:59.340 There's restitution that happens for this. 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:05.940 You know, there's something about us when we do something wrong. 00:05:06.780 --> 00:05:09.740 We don't want to be found guilty, right? 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:13.800 In that moment, Emma knew, Dad's coming. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.120 I got to cover it up. 00:05:17.200 --> 00:05:17.960 Dad's coming. 00:05:18.580 --> 00:05:19.480 I can't get caught. 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:30.360 Even in the midst of hearing her brother be punished, her mouth stayed closed. 00:05:30.460 --> 00:05:31.360 Now, I want to be honest with you. 00:05:31.380 --> 00:05:34.460 I asked permission from my daughter to share this story this morning, right? 00:05:35.380 --> 00:05:43.100 Because the truth is, she, at the age of four, is so much like all of us in here today. 00:05:44.200 --> 00:05:48.220 We've all done things and thought we've gotten away with it. 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:56.340 And the truth of the reality is, that the tension within our lives, whether because of the punishment 00:05:56.340 --> 00:06:03.340 that awaits, or the shame that is associated with it, we don't want to be found guilty. 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:10.620 It's an interesting dynamic that, spiritually speaking, before a relationship with Christ, 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:17.500 that what you and I need above anything else, above prayers for our health, 00:06:18.440 --> 00:06:23.820 above prayers for others, before knowledge of Scripture, before anything, 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:32.940 the greatest spiritual need of anyone who is lost is this, to be made innocent. 00:06:33.840 --> 00:06:42.200 Because the problem that all of mankind has faced since the fall of the garden is that we are guilty. 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:47.320 Paul writes in Romans 3, 23, and he says that we all are guilty. 00:06:47.400 --> 00:06:54.960 We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, or fall short of God's standard. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.960 And that's what I want us to deal with this morning. 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:04.680 Of what does the life begin to look like, and what does it mean that in Christ, 00:07:04.840 --> 00:07:08.420 and in Christ alone is how innocence is found. 00:07:08.760 --> 00:07:12.420 If you've got your Bibles with me, go ahead and open up to Galatians chapter 2. 00:07:14.340 --> 00:07:16.340 We'll continue on in our study. 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:19.060 Paul has been telling his story. 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:23.560 He's talked about his conversion, and his call to ministry, 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:26.960 and how the gospel came to him by God and God alone. 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:33.760 We've seen that where Paul's talked about the Jerusalem council and the unity of the gospel, 00:07:33.940 --> 00:07:37.440 that the same gospel is the gospel that is proclaimed. 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:39.500 It is the one true gospel. 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:44.960 We started last week with looking at the confrontation that Paul had with Peter, 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:49.180 concerning Peter not living in the gospel fully. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.760 Both the gospel that will save him, and the gospel that he will live by. 00:07:55.320 --> 00:07:57.360 And so he's dealing with these matters. 00:07:57.820 --> 00:08:00.140 And now what Paul is going to do, 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.720 he's going to bring the church of Galatia into the conversation. 00:08:04.960 --> 00:08:07.020 It's really going to culminate next week for us, 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:09.500 where we're going to see fully where he addresses them. 00:08:10.200 --> 00:08:13.720 But we're going to see here, starting in verse 15, 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:16.960 he begins to draw the church in. 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:18.920 So let's read starting in verse 15. 00:08:20.700 --> 00:08:26.300 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:31.400 Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.460 but through faith in Christ Jesus. 00:08:33.800 --> 00:08:40.680 So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ 00:08:40.680 --> 00:08:42.480 and not by works of the law. 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:46.380 Because by works of the law, no one is justified. 00:08:47.340 --> 00:08:51.060 But if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:52.940 we too were found to be sinners, 00:08:53.280 --> 00:08:55.180 is Christ then a servant of sin? 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:56.380 Certainly not. 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:58.900 For if I rebuild what I tore down, 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:01.340 I prove myself to be a transgressor. 00:09:01.880 --> 00:09:02.800 For through the law, 00:09:02.880 --> 00:09:05.340 I died to the law so that I might live to God. 00:09:05.800 --> 00:09:07.660 I have been crucified with Christ. 00:09:07.760 --> 00:09:09.500 It is no longer I who live, 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:11.300 but Christ who lives in me. 00:09:11.580 --> 00:09:12.200 In the life, 00:09:12.300 --> 00:09:13.660 I now live in the flesh. 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:16.160 I live by faith in the Son of God 00:09:16.160 --> 00:09:19.340 who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:09:19.760 --> 00:09:22.060 I do not nullify the grace of God. 00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:24.360 For if righteousness were through the law, 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:27.280 then Christ died for no purpose. 00:09:28.040 --> 00:09:29.940 And so this begins for us, 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:32.300 the conversation into, 00:09:32.520 --> 00:09:36.160 it is not only the gospel that saves us, 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:38.640 but it is the gospel that we live by. 00:09:38.640 --> 00:09:40.280 It is what he talked about last week 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:42.440 as we walk in our faith, 00:09:42.640 --> 00:09:44.640 that we walk in the gospel. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.200 And what we want to begin the discussion of us for today 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:49.600 and continuing on 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.260 is the essential nature of faith. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:54.820 That faith is going to be the means. 00:09:55.300 --> 00:09:57.080 That faith is how we are saved. 00:09:57.380 --> 00:10:00.960 That faith is the word that is chosen in this 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.080 as Paul writes this forward of what we need. 00:10:06.040 --> 00:10:07.900 And so he breaks this down for the church. 00:10:08.640 --> 00:10:11.780 And what we begin to understand at the very beginning 00:10:11.780 --> 00:10:13.620 as we long for innocence, 00:10:14.520 --> 00:10:16.220 as we are all guilty, 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.100 as we all have sin, 00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:22.420 as we all have not met the standard, 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:26.900 is that it is through faith we are justified. 00:10:27.760 --> 00:10:29.060 Look back at verse 16. 00:10:30.280 --> 00:10:30.600 He says, 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.620 So we have also believed in Christ Jesus 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:37.260 in order to be justified by faith in Christ 00:10:37.260 --> 00:10:39.040 and not by works of the law 00:10:39.040 --> 00:10:40.940 because by works of the law 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.760 no one will be justified. 00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:46.420 Arthur I read this week said that 00:10:46.420 --> 00:10:49.040 what you find in Galatians 2.16 00:10:49.040 --> 00:10:51.640 is Paul's summation of the gospel. 00:10:52.180 --> 00:10:53.700 And it's important for us to know 00:10:53.700 --> 00:10:55.540 that when he talks about justified, 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:57.240 that it is a legal term. 00:10:57.800 --> 00:10:58.920 It's a legal term. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:01.760 So if a person stands before a judge 00:11:01.760 --> 00:11:05.680 and as the judge declares them something, 00:11:05.680 --> 00:11:08.260 if he's going to declare them innocent, 00:11:08.260 --> 00:11:10.880 he declares that he's justified. 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:13.960 So when Paul says that we are by faith, 00:11:14.060 --> 00:11:15.220 we are justified, 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:17.100 what he is saying is 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:21.000 it's not by anything else that we're made innocent. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.440 It's not by anything else that we're justified. 00:11:24.780 --> 00:11:27.900 It is by faith and faith alone 00:11:27.900 --> 00:11:31.800 that we are made innocent. 00:11:32.560 --> 00:11:35.460 That we are justified. 00:11:36.220 --> 00:11:39.340 This goes back to what he's talking with Peter about. 00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:41.860 Of what he's accusing Peter of 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:44.160 in the previous section that we read. 00:11:44.500 --> 00:11:45.660 Remember the issue is that 00:11:45.660 --> 00:11:47.600 Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles. 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:49.660 Why wouldn't he eat with the Gentiles? 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:52.260 Because Peter didn't consider them clean. 00:11:53.380 --> 00:11:55.260 He didn't consider them innocent. 00:11:56.740 --> 00:11:58.280 And so Paul reminds him 00:11:58.280 --> 00:12:01.200 what makes us clean. 00:12:01.900 --> 00:12:03.440 What makes us innocent. 00:12:04.640 --> 00:12:06.620 Or maybe more importantly within that, 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:08.480 what makes us. 00:12:09.380 --> 00:12:10.300 What makes you. 00:12:11.180 --> 00:12:12.100 What makes me. 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:13.940 What makes a Jew. 00:12:14.540 --> 00:12:17.820 What makes a Gentile acceptable to God. 00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:19.560 That's a big thing 00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:21.080 when we begin to wrap our minds around that. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.000 What is it that gives you and I 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.800 the right to stand before a holy God. 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:28.220 What is it that's going to cause 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:30.660 you and I to have the opportunity 00:12:30.660 --> 00:12:31.920 to worship him forever. 00:12:32.520 --> 00:12:34.580 What gives you and I the opportunity 00:12:34.580 --> 00:12:36.660 to gather in this room today 00:12:36.660 --> 00:12:38.340 and sing praises to him 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:40.140 and for our words to lift up 00:12:40.140 --> 00:12:41.480 and for him to hear those. 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:46.280 What makes us acceptable to God. 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:48.380 Let me start by telling you 00:12:48.380 --> 00:12:50.140 what doesn't make us acceptable to God. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.460 What doesn't make us acceptable to God 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:55.460 is who we are in ourselves. 00:12:56.500 --> 00:12:57.360 Your race, 00:12:58.220 --> 00:12:59.480 your social status, 00:13:00.060 --> 00:13:00.960 your career, 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:02.400 your name, 00:13:02.640 --> 00:13:03.980 and your nationality 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:06.780 are not what makes you acceptable to God. 00:13:07.320 --> 00:13:09.840 Our culture is not what makes us 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.060 acceptable to God. 00:13:11.400 --> 00:13:14.440 Anything that we try to define 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.260 in and of ourselves 00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:18.540 does not make us acceptable to God. 00:13:19.020 --> 00:13:20.300 What we have done, 00:13:20.920 --> 00:13:22.320 what we have achieved, 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:24.400 what we have worked toward 00:13:24.400 --> 00:13:26.580 does not make us acceptable to God. 00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:27.980 Our good works? 00:13:28.640 --> 00:13:29.020 No. 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:31.380 Our observance of the law? 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:32.660 No. 00:13:33.500 --> 00:13:35.060 Paul even says in verse 19, 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:36.280 for through the law, 00:13:36.420 --> 00:13:38.080 I died to the law. 00:13:38.880 --> 00:13:40.360 So what in the world 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:43.380 makes us acceptable to God? 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.600 It's our faith in Jesus. 00:13:48.020 --> 00:13:50.020 And the remarkable thing about that 00:13:50.020 --> 00:13:52.800 is as much as it's not about who we are, 00:13:53.180 --> 00:13:55.340 as much as it's not about what we've done, 00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:57.340 it is fully our faith 00:13:57.340 --> 00:13:58.880 in who He is 00:13:58.880 --> 00:14:00.980 and in what He's done. 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:03.120 You see what the gospel does? 00:14:03.660 --> 00:14:05.800 It pulls off of us 00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:06.940 of who we are. 00:14:07.300 --> 00:14:09.200 The gospel pulls off of us 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:10.440 what we've done 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.520 and it plants on the Prince of Peace, 00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:14.860 the King of Kings, 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:16.240 the Lord of Lords, 00:14:16.540 --> 00:14:17.660 the Alpha and Omega, 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:19.420 the perfect spotless Lamb 00:14:19.420 --> 00:14:20.800 and plants it on Him 00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:23.280 of who He is 00:14:23.280 --> 00:14:25.420 and of what He's done. 00:14:26.300 --> 00:14:27.860 So in His perfection, 00:14:28.760 --> 00:14:30.180 in His holiness, 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:33.880 place all on Him. 00:14:34.520 --> 00:14:35.760 And then what He does 00:14:35.760 --> 00:14:37.880 is He moves us 00:14:37.880 --> 00:14:39.440 from being guilty 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:43.260 and He makes us innocent. 00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:45.980 But then a beautiful part of this 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:48.320 is when we're made justified, 00:14:49.400 --> 00:14:51.080 when we're made innocent, 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.460 there's two parts. 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:55.600 When we're made innocent, 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:57.760 not only do we not have 00:14:57.760 --> 00:14:59.740 the penalty of the guilty, 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.160 but we also have the benefit 00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:05.640 of the innocent. 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:07.320 Think about that. 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:10.000 Think about what that means for us 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.420 in our lives 00:15:11.420 --> 00:15:13.660 is that I no longer live 00:15:13.660 --> 00:15:15.220 as someone been found guilty. 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:16.980 Even though I did it, 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:19.580 even though that was me, 00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:22.000 even though I can't deny it, 00:15:23.060 --> 00:15:24.820 even though I can't wish it away 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:25.780 on someone else, 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.020 even though I did it, 00:15:28.180 --> 00:15:30.220 not only am I not found guilty, 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:31.660 but I am found innocent, 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:32.860 which means this, 00:15:33.040 --> 00:15:34.460 in spite of all that I've done, 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:36.240 in spite of all that I'm doing, 00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:37.980 in spite of all that I will do 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:38.860 in the future, 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:41.000 God looks at me 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:42.520 and declares me innocent, 00:15:42.520 --> 00:15:46.040 and that is what defines me. 00:15:47.540 --> 00:15:48.800 And so from our faith, 00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:51.860 our faith is what justifies us. 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:53.920 Our faith is what saves us. 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:55.920 But also through faith, 00:15:56.520 --> 00:15:57.300 we live. 00:15:58.600 --> 00:15:59.480 Verse 19, 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:01.980 Paul describes what a person 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:04.080 who is truly saved by God 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:05.800 will live their life like. 00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:07.240 He says a person 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:08.740 who has died to the law 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:12.360 so that I may live for God. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:14.860 The heart application 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:16.080 of the gospel. 00:16:16.940 --> 00:16:18.520 Not that I may live for myself, 00:16:19.060 --> 00:16:20.700 not that I may live for my agenda, 00:16:21.260 --> 00:16:22.960 not that I may live for my sin, 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:24.200 not that I may live 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:26.300 for anything else, 00:16:26.880 --> 00:16:29.220 but that I am made innocent. 00:16:30.300 --> 00:16:31.000 Paul says, 00:16:31.780 --> 00:16:33.180 I died to the law 00:16:33.180 --> 00:16:37.800 so that I may live for God. 00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:39.240 You see, 00:16:39.340 --> 00:16:40.900 before in Paul, 00:16:41.780 --> 00:16:43.240 before he was saved, 00:16:43.780 --> 00:16:45.460 you could look at his life. 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:48.080 He would look at his life. 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:50.600 He would look at his achievements. 00:16:51.180 --> 00:16:52.260 And he would say, 00:16:52.260 --> 00:16:53.200 to the law, 00:16:54.060 --> 00:16:55.200 I obeyed it. 00:16:55.940 --> 00:16:57.680 But his heart for obedience 00:16:57.680 --> 00:17:00.360 came as a means to earn 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:02.540 and not as a means to live. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.480 His heart before 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:05.820 was a heart 00:17:05.820 --> 00:17:08.220 of earning the salvation 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:11.000 and not transformed by it. 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:13.460 And so when God saved him, 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:15.060 when God came 00:17:15.060 --> 00:17:16.420 and radically saved 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:17.460 who he was 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:18.760 and where he was called 00:17:18.760 --> 00:17:20.140 and what he would do 00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:22.060 and granted him eternal life 00:17:22.060 --> 00:17:23.240 that comes with that, 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.220 it all began to change for him. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:27.420 And so now, 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:29.220 Paul's level of obedience 00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:31.420 is not just in order 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:32.720 to save himself, 00:17:33.100 --> 00:17:35.180 but Paul's level of obedience 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:36.760 is so that he can live 00:17:36.760 --> 00:17:37.920 for God. 00:17:38.760 --> 00:17:39.500 Look at verse 20. 00:17:41.040 --> 00:17:41.420 He says, 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:43.120 I've been crucified with Christ. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.020 It is no longer I who live, 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:47.500 he says, 00:17:47.580 --> 00:17:48.280 but Christ 00:17:48.280 --> 00:17:49.620 who lives in me. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:51.180 In the life, 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:52.380 I now live in the flesh. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:53.480 I live by faith 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:54.720 in the Son of God 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.080 who loved me 00:17:56.080 --> 00:17:57.980 and gave himself 00:17:57.980 --> 00:17:59.320 for me. 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.180 One of the more common verses 00:18:02.180 --> 00:18:03.280 that we're going to see 00:18:03.280 --> 00:18:04.480 in Galatians. 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:06.860 Paul makes the declaration 00:18:06.860 --> 00:18:09.220 that I have been crucified 00:18:09.220 --> 00:18:10.160 with Christ. 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:12.540 And it's not just Paul, 00:18:13.060 --> 00:18:14.780 but it's any of us 00:18:14.780 --> 00:18:15.700 who have placed 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:17.000 our faith in Christ. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:18.560 That the Bible says 00:18:18.560 --> 00:18:19.920 that you and I, 00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:21.880 that we have been crucified 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:23.040 with him. 00:18:23.620 --> 00:18:24.600 Now that's weird, right? 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:26.980 Because that happened 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:28.660 a long time ago. 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:31.500 That happened far away. 00:18:32.340 --> 00:18:33.880 We weren't there for it. 00:18:34.340 --> 00:18:35.680 So what does it mean 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:37.160 that you and I 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:39.040 are crucified with Christ? 00:18:39.620 --> 00:18:41.100 Well, theologically speaking, 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:42.300 what it means is this. 00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:43.960 Is that the old me, 00:18:44.420 --> 00:18:45.460 the old you, 00:18:46.120 --> 00:18:47.120 the us before 00:18:47.120 --> 00:18:48.600 a relationship with Jesus, 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:50.700 that we were, 00:18:51.040 --> 00:18:52.260 spiritually speaking, 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:53.800 theologically speaking, 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:56.120 crucified on the cross 00:18:56.120 --> 00:18:56.880 with Christ. 00:18:57.020 --> 00:18:58.120 And then what we get 00:18:58.120 --> 00:18:59.640 is a beautiful picture 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:00.700 of symbolism 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:02.200 of what takes place 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:04.100 and what new life looks like. 00:19:04.100 --> 00:19:05.440 That the old us 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:06.820 was put on the cross 00:19:06.820 --> 00:19:07.460 with him 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:08.920 and died to sin 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:09.960 and was buried 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:11.760 and then just as Christ 00:19:11.760 --> 00:19:13.060 came in life 00:19:13.060 --> 00:19:13.860 from the tomb 00:19:13.860 --> 00:19:14.960 that you and I, 00:19:15.080 --> 00:19:15.780 now that we are 00:19:15.780 --> 00:19:17.060 walking with him, 00:19:17.340 --> 00:19:17.840 you and I, 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:18.400 now that we've been 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:19.520 saved by the gospel, 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:20.380 you and I, 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.780 now that we are justified, 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:22.960 made innocent, 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:24.040 that you and I, 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.300 we walk in new life. 00:19:27.300 --> 00:19:28.700 We walk in new hope. 00:19:29.580 --> 00:19:31.660 We walk in what was different 00:19:31.660 --> 00:19:33.380 than what was before. 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:35.860 But all of Galatians 00:19:35.860 --> 00:19:36.640 is going to point us 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.780 back to something practically. 00:19:38.780 --> 00:19:40.020 What does that practically 00:19:40.020 --> 00:19:41.040 mean for you 00:19:41.040 --> 00:19:41.920 and for me 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.300 on a day-to-day basis? 00:19:44.120 --> 00:19:45.440 Here's what this means. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:47.080 Because we've been 00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:48.460 crucified with Christ, 00:19:48.940 --> 00:19:50.040 what we can do 00:19:50.040 --> 00:19:51.920 is we can repent with joy. 00:19:52.580 --> 00:19:54.140 We can repent with joy. 00:19:54.780 --> 00:19:56.100 Because the truth is, 00:19:56.860 --> 00:19:58.800 as much as what I've done, 00:20:00.020 --> 00:20:01.380 it's what I will do. 00:20:02.520 --> 00:20:03.580 As much as it was 00:20:03.580 --> 00:20:04.980 taken care of in my past, 00:20:05.560 --> 00:20:06.880 I still have my present 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:09.560 and I still have my future. 00:20:10.360 --> 00:20:12.700 And I can approach repentance 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:14.300 not with the nature 00:20:14.300 --> 00:20:15.440 of getting caught, 00:20:16.260 --> 00:20:18.280 but I can approach repentance 00:20:18.280 --> 00:20:19.880 with the opportunity 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:21.360 and the understanding 00:20:21.360 --> 00:20:22.660 of being set free. 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:24.440 And so repentance 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:26.080 means for me, 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:28.080 it is marked with 00:20:28.080 --> 00:20:29.560 not shame, 00:20:30.300 --> 00:20:31.360 not guilt, 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:33.460 but joy. 00:20:34.760 --> 00:20:35.360 Joy. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:37.000 The second thing, 00:20:37.060 --> 00:20:37.440 what it means 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:38.280 to be crucified 00:20:38.280 --> 00:20:39.580 with Christ is this, 00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:41.120 that we can live 00:20:41.120 --> 00:20:41.900 without fear. 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:43.280 We can live 00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:43.900 without fear. 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:45.880 Because we've been 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:46.980 crucified with Christ, 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:48.020 because we've been 00:20:48.020 --> 00:20:48.980 declared innocent, 00:20:49.760 --> 00:20:52.440 that doesn't go away. 00:20:53.340 --> 00:20:54.340 There's not someone 00:20:54.340 --> 00:20:55.360 that's going to appear 00:20:55.360 --> 00:20:56.880 before us with God 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.240 and bring up past charges. 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:00.720 There's not someone 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:01.400 who's going to stand 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:02.580 with us before God 00:21:02.580 --> 00:21:03.020 and say, 00:21:03.100 --> 00:21:03.840 but did you know 00:21:03.840 --> 00:21:05.100 about these things? 00:21:05.320 --> 00:21:06.500 That when we stand 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:07.540 before Him 00:21:07.540 --> 00:21:08.700 because of the power 00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:09.700 and of the work 00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:10.580 of Christ, 00:21:11.280 --> 00:21:12.620 where we are 00:21:12.620 --> 00:21:14.440 is declared innocent. 00:21:15.580 --> 00:21:16.520 And so I'm not afraid. 00:21:17.540 --> 00:21:18.320 I'm not afraid 00:21:18.320 --> 00:21:19.440 of what others may say. 00:21:20.100 --> 00:21:20.940 I'm not afraid 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:22.100 of what others may do. 00:21:23.340 --> 00:21:24.860 And as much 00:21:24.860 --> 00:21:25.580 as as humans 00:21:25.580 --> 00:21:27.740 we wrestle 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:30.040 with the fear of death, 00:21:30.820 --> 00:21:32.860 as much as we wrestle 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:33.880 with the sadness 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:36.080 that's associated with it, 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:38.320 what I know 00:21:38.320 --> 00:21:40.940 is that when I leave 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:42.440 this earth 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.020 and however God 00:21:45.020 --> 00:21:46.960 calls me home, 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.160 I don't need 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:50.940 to be afraid 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:53.020 to stand before Him. 00:21:53.340 --> 00:21:55.400 fear 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:56.940 is not 00:21:56.940 --> 00:21:58.300 what awaits me. 00:21:59.540 --> 00:22:01.400 And then it enables us 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:03.320 to walk 00:22:03.320 --> 00:22:05.200 in a true manner 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:06.860 of obedience. 00:22:07.860 --> 00:22:09.460 Not because we have to. 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:12.180 Not because we're forced to. 00:22:13.280 --> 00:22:14.420 Not because we're told, 00:22:14.780 --> 00:22:15.880 if you don't, 00:22:16.340 --> 00:22:16.980 then this. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.000 but we get to walk 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:20.740 in obedience 00:22:20.740 --> 00:22:23.320 because of who He is. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:25.160 Church, 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:25.680 when it comes 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.360 to the gospel, 00:22:26.860 --> 00:22:28.380 there's a phrase 00:22:28.380 --> 00:22:29.080 that we use 00:22:29.080 --> 00:22:29.980 all the time 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:31.520 and I want us 00:22:31.520 --> 00:22:32.400 to remind ourselves 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:33.140 of it today. 00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:34.620 When it comes 00:22:34.620 --> 00:22:35.240 to the gospel, 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:35.960 it's all or nothing. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:37.700 When it comes 00:22:37.700 --> 00:22:38.240 to the gospel, 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:38.900 it's all or nothing. 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:41.220 You can't place 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:41.680 faith 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.160 in yourself 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:44.340 and faith 00:22:44.340 --> 00:22:44.760 in Jesus. 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:46.700 You can't place 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:47.860 faith in your works 00:22:47.860 --> 00:22:49.120 and faith 00:22:49.120 --> 00:22:49.560 in Jesus. 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:51.260 You can't place 00:22:51.260 --> 00:22:51.820 faith 00:22:51.820 --> 00:22:54.240 in your race 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:55.800 and faith 00:22:55.800 --> 00:22:56.240 in Jesus. 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:57.940 It's faith 00:22:57.940 --> 00:22:58.660 in Christ 00:22:58.660 --> 00:23:00.200 and Christ alone. 00:23:01.260 --> 00:23:02.000 And if any 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:02.620 of that 00:23:02.620 --> 00:23:03.880 is placed 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:04.860 anywhere else, 00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:07.260 then it's not 00:23:07.260 --> 00:23:08.540 the faith 00:23:08.540 --> 00:23:09.760 in Christ. 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:24.380 Thanks again 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:24.900 for listening 00:23:24.900 --> 00:23:25.260 to the 00:23:25.260 --> 00:23:26.020 Willow Ridge Church 00:23:26.020 --> 00:23:26.820 weekly podcast. 00:23:27.340 --> 00:23:27.760 We hope 00:23:27.760 --> 00:23:28.340 that you enjoyed 00:23:28.340 --> 00:23:29.020 listening to this 00:23:29.020 --> 00:23:29.640 week's message. 00:23:29.940 --> 00:23:30.660 If you'd like 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:31.200 to learn more 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.040 about who we are 00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:32.700 or explore 00:23:32.700 --> 00:23:33.660 additional resources, 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.120 visit us online 00:23:35.120 --> 00:23:35.440 at 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:38.120 www.willowridgechurch.com. 00:23:38.540 --> 00:23:39.900 Or by searching 00:23:39.900 --> 00:23:40.920 for Willow Ridge Church 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:41.560 on Facebook 00:23:41.560 --> 00:23:42.260 and Instagram.