I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the outlines and discussion questions from my lessons on the G.A.P. page on Facebook. A while back I started posting these notes on the blog too. So, here is the outline and questions for our meeting on June 13, 2010. The lesson is on Galatians 2:15-21 and deals with the issue of being crucified with Christ and having his life/faith live through us. If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!
The Living Dead
Paul and the Crucified Life
Galatians 2:15-17
Introduction
Living Dead?
Not about zombies
But today’s lesson is a bit different
A bit more theological than “personal”
Our topic today
Sometimes called Sola Fide
Usually defined as the theology of justification by faith alone
More to the point, we will look at Paul’s defense of his gospel against a view that wants to add something to Jesus
Topic of Galatians: “Jesus plus” is not the gospel
For Paul, it is Jesus alone
The topic is justification: Having a right standing before God
For Paul this right standing is impossible without death
Life must be preceded by death
Ravi Zacharias: "Jesus didn't come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people live."
Christians become God’s living dead as they learn to live a crucified life
The crucified life is:
1. A life of faith
2. Living for God
3. Relying on Christ only
1. Faithful Living, Not Genealogy
Galatians 2:15-16
The context: Paul’s disagreement with Peter
God does not differentiate between races
Neither should we
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the same for all people
This gospel is Jesus alone, not Jesus plus something—this is the theme of Galatians
Paul’s statement here may continue this discussion with Peter
Paul is identifying himself with Peter: We are Jews
Paul acknowledges that being Jewish is not a privileged place with regards to justification—even the Jews knew that the Law does not result in justification (Psalm 143:1-2)
Works of the Law vs. Faith in Christ
a. “Works of the Law” refers to what the Law can accomplish, not the goodness or holiness of the law (cf. Rom. 7:12; 8:1-4): The requirements of the Law cannot make a person “just” in God’s sight
Even if we kept the Law without fail (cf. Phil. 3:4-6—”blameless”), we cannot have God’s righteousness except through Jesus
Legalism leads to death not to life
b. “Faith in Jesus Christ” may equal “faithfulness/faith of Jesus Christ”: Paul is contrasting what the Law can do with what Jesus (in his faithful life, ministry, and sacrifice) accomplished for us
We must rely on what Christ has done, not on our ability to accomplish something ourselves
Justification comes only from God—It is what Christ does that accomplishes right standing with God
This passage requires us to rely on what Christ has accomplished and to act on his faithfulness to us
The crucified life is a walk of faith
a. We must trust Christ and his accomplishments alone
b. Faith demands action—we must respond with faithful acts
2. Dying to Live, not Living to Die
Galatians 2:17-19
Paul seems to continue his thought on the Law here
Law cannot save, but it can expose sin for what it is—a willful disobedience to God (Rom. 7:7)
On the other hand, if Paul addresses legalism above, here he addresses licentiousness—even though the Law cannot make me right with God, I still cannot live however I wish.
The Law cannot make me right in God’s sight, but I am still required live for God. (Remember the greatest commandments? Matthew 22:34-40—loving God and loving my neighbor are the commandments on which the whole Law rests)
How can the Law be fulfilled? Romans 8:1-4
We fulfill the Law by relying only on what Christ has accomplished
Our faith in Jesus’ faithfulness puts us in position to “fulfill the Law”
We must live “for” or “to” God, not for our own righteousness (Phil. 3: 8-11)
The crucified life focuses on living to or for God
His righteousness becomes our goal, not our own benefit or “self-assurance”
3. The Living Dead, or Life after Crucifixion
Galatians 2:20-21
Crucified with Christ, yet alive
a. Christians are the living dead—dead to sin, alive through Christ’s resurrection and the power of God's Spirit
b. Romans 6:4-7—as in Adam we all experienced the price of sin (i.e., we died), so also in sharing in Christ’s crucifixion we are dead to sin and alive to God
c. Orthodox Church—Jesus sanctified each stage of human life. He is more than just an example, he is the means by which we can live God’s plan for us. He is the remedy for all sin.
The extinguished life=death to sin, law, and self (S. Olford)
We died with Jesus, we should live with him too.
The crucified life relies on Jesus
a. Christ’s resurrection makes it possible to die to sin
b. Christ’s life empowers us to live God’s plan
Christ lives in us
What does this mean? How does Christ live in us?
a. Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27)
b. When we surrender to Christ, he is the treasure we carry in jars of clay (2 Cor. 4:6-7 ; 13:4-5)
c. Hand in glove?
This is the relinquished life: Christ centered living (Olford)
a. We should walk as he walked
b. We should be directed, empowered, and enabled by the indwelling God
c. Live life faithfully because of what Christ did
This is the distinguished life (Olford)
a. Christ loved, so we should also love (1 John 4:7-11)
b. Christ gave, so should we (1 John 3:16-18)
The crucified life relies on Jesus
a. Christ’s life empowers us to live God’s plan
b. Christ’s indwelling presence provides us power to show God’s grace to others
Application
In light of this, how should we respond?
If we are dead to the Law (i.e., it can’t save us), and if we are dead to sin (i.e., we aren’t slaves to it), then what should our lives look like?
How can we be God’s “living dead” and live crucified lives?
Zombie example:
Remember that zombies do not have a will of their own, they only exist to satisfy the will of their master
Zombies continue to work towards accomplishing their master's plan regardless of opposition or obstacles
Christians ought to take a lesson from zombies
Here are some suggestions:
First, avoid adding something to Jesus for your right standing before God. It is faith in Jesus alone that produces a right relationship to God. What are you adding to God’s approach that needs to be removed?
Second, remember that freedom from legalism isn’t freedom to do what you want. Grace doesn’t mean that we can sin if we want. Where are we declaring “freedom” where we ought to be slaves of God?
Finally, we must look to Jesus’ faithfulness as both our power and our example. How can we internalize God’s gift of grace in Christ to empower us to live for him? What does being faithful look like? We must love as Christ love, even to the point of humble service or sacrifice (Phil. 2:5-8). This week we need to seek God’s empowerment and opportunities to love God and to love others. We must learn to live as Jesus lived. Find one person or one situation where you can serve this week, and do it. Rely on Christ to provide power and opportunity.
The crucified life requires us to die to some things so that we may live for God
Carefully consider where you need his life this week
Thanks for reading!
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