Set Free 6 - Battling Perfection part 3

Today’s the day we bring it home. Perfectionism stops here.

Our text today is Galatians 5-6. (Specifically 5:1-8, 13, 15-18, 25-26; 6:1-3, 7-8, 14-18)

Read as much as you can and we’ll begin.

Galatians 5:1-2 “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.” NLT

Now replace “circumcision” with something on your list. (If you’re just joining us, read about the list here)

Look closely again at Galatians 5:2 and 5:6. Do you see the contrast?

It’s either one or the other. You can’t have such a focus on being perfect all the time- if we rely on one good thing (i.e. church going, good deeds, serving in poor countries, etc) to give us good brownie points with God, then Christ is no benefit to us. According to verse 3, if we are counting on good things to give us good standing with God, then we would have to uphold every. part. of. it. Every single rule. And let’s face it. We will fail.

On our own.

So would we rather try (and inevitably fail?) or would we rather choose to humbly accept (and know that it’s fail-proof)? Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

We are called to the latter. Called to freedom.

I don’t believe in destiny, but this is the closest thing to it in my opinion – God’s will.

Galatians 5:13 “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” NLT

1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” NASB

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” NKJV

So how do we pull it all in to the reality that is the every-day of this flawed world?

We will be tempted. Tempted to try to carry it on our own. Do perfection by ourselves. It will likely even be second nature to many of us – especially people pleasers, checklist people, and those with OCD tendencies.

Just remember (as God does, thank Heaven! Psalm 103:14) that we are human and we will fail. Others around us will fail.

Enter grace.

Enter Holy Spirit – for any holy living – actual holy-living comes from the overflow; comes from the Holy Spirit in us. Choose to surrender to His desires.

Galatians 5:16 “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” NLT

Your natural human tendencies will likely be opposite that of the Spirit. Actually, there is no ‘likely’ about it. They will be. God says so. (5:17)

See our flesh-tendencies in verses 19-21 and contrast them to the Spirit-tendencies in 22-23.

 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.” NLT

Indeed, we are new. Because it’s not us anymore.

If we keep our focus on our actions being prodded by Christ, keep in mind that it is the Spirit doing it. Picture yourself the latex glove, and God and His Spirit the careful surgeon. The glove doesn’t get the credit or the blame, does it?

Galatians 5:26 “Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” NLT

Galatians 6:3 “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” NASB

Keep a careful watch this week on our actions. If it is better this week to push pause on a particular ministry until you can determine your motive, I think God would honor that decision. He hates pride (Prov 6:16-17), and so if you need to take a step back to determine whether your service to Him is done out of pride or not, please do. Because you’re not fooling God. Galatians 6:7-8

Q: Do you think that self-imposed standards are always a matter of pride?

Q: Why or why not? Explain. (Use the space in your journal and share in the comments here.)

In my opinion I don’t think they always are. Sometimes we can set up rules to protect ourselves or others, just because we know our own flaws and tendencies and sometimes it is easier to draw the line at a safe distance from the actual breaking point.

Just bear in mind this picture. We are branded by faith. What we do because of that (or in spite of that) does not define us. It may show others Christ’s work in us, to God be the glory, but it does not make us who we are. Christ’s brand alone does.

We are His, and we are covered by His grace.

Let’s act like it; let’s allow that grace for ourselves and let’s allow that grace for others.

Galatians 5:14 “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” NLT

John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”” NASB

Galatians 6:17 “From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.” NASB

Set Free 5 - Battling Perfection part 2

How did your list making go?

It makes a lot of our do-goodery look pretty ugly, if yours looked anything like mine.

No, not all the things, or all the time, but enough.

Today we will look at our inheritance.

Ours is special. Most times for an inheritance, someone we love has to die, and that which they left behind, even if it is great, has a limit.

With our inheritance, however, even though Christ had to die for us to attain it, He did not stay dead, and His Spirit lives in our hearts as a part of that alive-ness.

Romans 8:10 “And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.” NLT

But yet, there’s no limit to the inheritance, and it will never run out.

Our inheritance is freedom. Our inheritance is grace. Free grace.

I ask you, did you do anything to get it?

No, of course not.

Q: So why then do we think we have to do and be so much to keep it?

Psalm 103:14 “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” NASB

So, dust-child, who did we think we were kidding? Not God, certainly. Ourselves, probably. Others? Most likely. Leave it to us to be so flawed even in our doing good. But He loves us anyway.

Let’s open with Galatians 3 and I’d like to highlight verse 3.

Galatians 3:3 “How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” NLT

Our text today is Galatians 3 and 4. (Specifically 3:1-7, 11-15, 21-29; 4:1-9, 22-31)

Look at Abraham. He was one of the “greats” right? A “good Christian” surely. But look at what saved him.

Not his lineage, not his place in the kingdom plan.

Q: What does it say in verse 6 that saved him? What made him holy in God’s eyes?

Please take the time to answer in your journal. I believe you’ll gain so much from physically writing it down.

So what saved him? His faith. That’s it.

And we can have that exact same thing. We can inherit the same, be accepted into God’s family the very same way. Faith.

Galatians 3:7 “The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.” NLT

Faith alone.

Jump down to verse 11.

Galatians 3:11 “So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”” NLT

Verse 12 says this is very different from what we’re used to, and that couldn’t be more true. Everything about what we’re used to is reliant on being better, doing more to rise higher.

But we are rescued from that.

Read that again and feel free to issue a sigh of relief. We are rescued from that. (Galatians 3:13-15). And nothing will ever change that fact. Praise Jesus!

So, you may ask, what is the law for? Why all the rules always associated with being a child of God?

Here’s our answer – find freedom in this. Read verses 21-29.

Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” NASB

It is here to teach us of our need for Christ. Like the mirror in James 1:23, it is here to reveal a need.

We needed the rules to train us. To know this is how a child of God acts.

As a child, we were no different from a slave, in that we had to obey the rules, no questions asked. Because those are the rules. (Any moms out there said that line?) But when the right time came for each of us to be saved, and we received His Spirit, in that moment we were no longer slaves, but children of God. And heirs.

Romans 8:17a “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…” NIV

Before that time, and in the old testament before Christ came to set us free, the people of God did need to do the elements. (The Greek word behind elements refers to marching in rank. The fundamental practices of a discipline) It was part of it, and they were required to do them. Yes it was still faith that saved them (Galatians 3:6, Romans 4), but they were required to do those things because Christ had not yet come.

Going back to the original discussion in Galatians (see our previous post) about circumcision. Again, you may apply this to practices we use today as our defining marks.

Before the time of Christ, to be that heir, that child  of God, to be adopted into the family, a mark (via circumcision) was required.

What we see here is that now, that mark, that sign, or thing that brands us as God’s people is faith. Faith becomes that public, no-going-back, change to distinguish us. Not our actions.

Faith is not a marching in rank kind of thing. It is a gift. A freedom, and a hope.

To wrap this all up, I’d like to ask you a question. Please answer honestly in your journal. If you feel comfortable, please also share here in our community.

Q: What have you been depending on as your defining mark to set you apart?

Is it your deeds? Attending church? Your language? Or is it just faith alone?

Please don’t remain enslaved by the “do”.

Galatians 4:9 “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?” NASB

We are heirs not because of what we do. We are not slaves. We are faith-children. (Galatians 4:31)

For more on this, you may read http://v3.blueletterbible.org/Comm/smith_chuck/c2000_Gal/Gal_004.cfm?a=1095008#anchor_Gal480

Don't forget to get your free printable of our memory passage here

Set Free 4 - Battling Perfection part 1

Text: Galatians 1-2 (Specifically 1:1-12, 2:4, 14-21)

Today we step into a pretty touchy subject. One where we all, perhaps, from time to time, are guilty.

Perfectionism.

Did that sting a little? Then listen up, because you are not alone.

I believe as Christians it is so easy to fall into this, perfectionism, picking at others and inwardly (or outwardly. shame on us.) boasting that “I am so much better than she is, and here’s why: look – just look at where she failed so miserably.”

Look – just look in the mirror with me.

James 1:23-25 “For if you listen to the Word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” NLT

And look at Isaiah

Isaiah 64:6 “We are all infected and impure with sin.    When we display our righteous deeds,
    they are nothing but filthy rags.Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,    and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” NLT emphasis mine

So now that we’ve got that cleared up, the playing field is leveled. So let’s begin.

We’re no better than the next guy. Even if we’re trying harder, meeting the “rules” better, or doing more things above and beyone.

So, Treasured One, now what?

This doesn’t mean to stop trying.

Here in our text in Galatians, there was a disagreement on Christian practices. (I will tell you the particulars on the disagreement so that you can understand our text, but I want you to broaden your application to other rules that Christians and church groups impose. Good ideas and morally upright decisions though they may be, they’re not all based on Scripture as a fundamental law we must all follow as God’s children. We will discuss further as we go along what this sometimes looks like.)

The particular disagreement was this: whether or not Christians needed to be circumcised to be saved. (At the time, it was only a practice of the Jews; or people who converted to Judaism would do this as a public way of showing their new allegiance.)

And the book of Galatians, while peppered with great principles and wisdom and instruction, is largely an answer to that question.

If you haven’t already, please read our text. If you have the time over the next couple days please take the time to read all of Galatians. All 6 chapters. If you do not have the time right now, at least read the selections I have listed above from chapters 1 and 2, as they contain key verses to our discussion.

Let’s dig in.

Notice how the letter opens up almost immediately with the statement of reassurance (1:4) that Christ came for our deliverance.

To set us free.

Romans 8:2 “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” NLT

But how quick we are to create our own bondage even though we are free.

Please do not misunderstand. I am not advocating that we throw all rules and holy-living out the window. I merely want to emphasize that that should not be what defines us, or what defines our salvation. We will fail sometimes. That we are living forgiven under grace, saved by faith, and that it is by nothing we’ve done – for we can never do enough to gain God’s favor.

What I am talking about here are the extra rules or extra standards that we impose on ourselves and then scoff at those who do not keep them, even when it is we ourselves who fail.

Do you hear me? So often we impose  a rule or standard upon ourselves and then become downcast when we don’t (can’t) hold up to it.

Where is grace? Where is liberty?

Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” NASB

Who are we trying to please?

If you relate to the preceding paragraphs, I encourage you to cover this in careful meditation and prayer.

Q: What are some things you might not realize you are doing just to look good? Either to save face, or because someone will think we’re a “better Christian” for having done them?

Being a Christian, (“better Christian” or otherwise) all boils down to one thing. Faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead to save us from our eternal punishment in hell.

That’s it.

Galatians 2:16 “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” NLT

If we try to add anything or do anything else to qualify, we have missed the boat. See 2:17-18.

Galatians 2:17-18 “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” NASB

Chuck Smith puts it this way “If I try to build again a relationship through the law, that which I destroyed when I came to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, then I would become a transgressor.” source

Let us not frustrate the grace of God.

Frustrate here comes from the Greek word atheteō, which means the following:

to do away with, to set aside, disregardto thwart the efficacy of anything, nullify, make void, frustrateto reject, to refuse, to slight.source

Let us not frustrate His grace. Frustrate His work and make it meaningless by trying to “do” and “be” so much in order to be good little Christians. Any work we do should just be a service from grateful hearts and nothing more.

DO: Today and tomorrow I encourage you to make a list of things you do. You’ll probably think of more throughout the day, and it’s okay to drag your journal around the house with you so you can add to it. This list should include as much as you can think of that you do because you’re a child of God (or behavior you avoid for the same reason).

Then, prayerfully, determine if they are actual rules in the Bible (it’s helpful to find Scripture to back them up, especially if you’re not sure), or if they are rules that you yourself or your church or some other group have imposed on you.

I am not necessarily telling you to change what you’re doing, but I’d really like you to evaluate why you’re doing it.

I’d also love for you to pray for God to reveal to you any time that you may have judged someone else as “not as good of a Christian” because their list doesn’t look like yours. Even if some of those things are in the Scripture-imposed part of your list.

Galatians 6:3-5 “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.” NASB

We will pick up in Galatians 3 in our next session. See you there.