Sermon Central
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Grace At Work 5 (Law & Gospel Review) Series
Contributed by Dan Cormie on Sep 16, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: When we get our understanding of the division of law and gospel wrong, we get everything else wrong as well.
Dakota Community Church
September 16, 2012
Grace at Work - 5
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Before we get back into this I want to take a few minutes to quickly review correct division of law and gospel because we are navigating the “to do’s” of Christian unity and it is important not to fall back into legalistic self-salvation projects complete with self-righteousness and prideful or shameful comparisons even within the room here.
Galatians 4:21-26, 28-31
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
When we want law it is because we are unaware of what the law says. Plumber & Falls
Jesus + Observance = Salvation? - NO
“the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son”
If we do not get this right; we get everything else wrong.
The law is the “ordinary way” Glorious in holy perfection! The gospel is of a promise.
•Known from nature vs revealed by God
•Acceptable to the world vs offense (WWJD? vs WHJD?) WWJD loved by all, DR. Phil, Dr. Laura, Islam, Buddhism, New Age, Universalist, All ok with WWJD
•The Law condemns; the gospel liberates
•The law is a map, a compass; it shows us where we are off course but has no power to drive us back to the right way.
•The law is not doable; we cannot accomplish it with better strategies.
I am not supposed to be the Martha Stewart of your Spiritual Walk; today I’m going to teach you how to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic.
