(Psalm 107:29)

Have you ever felt as if you have no control over your life?  It is the kind of feeling you get that wakes you up in the middle of the night and refuses to let you sleep.  The emotion you experience is probably the same as one whose parachute is not opening even though every possible chord is pulled.  Regardless as to what you might think and what others might tell you, the ‘feeling’ you have is less than ideal and your emotional stability is shot.  When we find ourselves sucked into the vortex of the storm, what are we to do?

Why is God allowing us to experience a life out of control?  I believe there are at least four reasons why such times visit our lives.

• First, trials come to assure us that we are not in control (James 4:13, 14).

Because of depravity, we have this incredible capacity for unbridled arrogance.  For whatever reason, we actually believe the humanistic reports concerning our development and future.  Whenever we think we have “our act together,” God has a way of showing us just how fragile the best-laid plans are.

• Second, trials come to show us what is important (Acts 27:19).

• Third, trials come to magnify the sustaining grace of God (2 Cor. 12:9).

In the midst of our most difficult and sustained trial, God is ministering to us.  Your perseverance in the storm is a testimony to God’s relentless grace.

• Finally, trials come to declare the supremacy of God in all things (Job 40:6).

No event happens that He has not ordered.  Regardless as to how ‘nasty’ the event might be, God has so ordered providence so that you find yourself in the midst of His will.  This is what lends meaning to the most horrific act and smallest detail.  All things are rushing toward the ultimate goal of God being glorified (Philippians 2:10, 11; Romans 11:36).

In the midst of our sorrow, this can be a difficult pill to swallow. What is the alternative?  You and I are not victims of fate or evil men.  We are part of His loving and wise purpose.  We are objects loved.  Friend, we are not in control, God is.

My heart grieves for those whose situations and circumstances are less than ideal.  To see one drowning in the sea of emotional upheaval is heart wrenching.  You reach out and grab them with all your might, you make every effort to pray and to love, but in the midst of the storm, let us not abandon the boat of our theology.  Let us “Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”  Friend, do not let go.  Hold fast to sound words for grace and peace.  You are loved.  May grace continue to reign!

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in every thing, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

While teaching the teens in the earlier part of the year I spoke on “The Seven Laws of the Jungle.”  These “Laws” are dispensationally generic meaning regardless as to the dispensation they neither change nor become dated or irrelevant.  One of the seven is called, “The Law of Sowing and Reaping.”  In the providence of God this “Law” is no less true concerning giving.

At WBC we believe in what is called “Grace Giving.”  This means we believe God is big enough to supply the needs for the advancement of His ministry in us and through us.  We are equally convinced that God will use His people to meet the financial needs of the local church ministry.  Thus at WBC you will not hear perpetual pleas for financial assistance nor will guilt be used to motivate the people of God to give.  If somehow the corporate fellowship does not believe the ministries of WBC are worthy of continuation through financial giving, then they will come to an end.  God’s will, in some ways, can be determined by the availability or lack therein of financial backing.

Our passage before us gives the foundation for grace giving.

First, verse six gives us a timeless principle, “He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”  Whether we like it or not those who are generous with their finances will reap bountifully.  Generous does not mean foolish or careless, but it does mean, “bighearted, openhanded, and liberal (Proverbs 11:25).”  Whether the return is in this life or in the life that is to come is not stated, but there is a bountiful return on generous giving.

Second, verse seven provides three additional guidelines.  Our giving is deliberate (“as he has purposed in his heart”).  Our giving is voluntary (“not grudgingly or under compulsion”).  And our giving is agreeable (“cheerful giver”).  Grace giving gives because it has been the recipient of grace.  Grace forms the only legitimate motive for giving.  Grace giving declares that “He is enough in this life and in the life to come.”  Grace giving always sees the giver of the gifts greater than the gifts given.

Third, verse eight assures me that God will continue to meet all of my needs (Philippians 4:18, 19).  Because of God’s unconditional love for me I never have to fear of “outgiving” God.  I never have to give to God to get from God.  He already gave me His Son thus He will withhold nothing from me that I need (Romans 8:32). My motive for giving is always grace based and love motivated.  My giving simply says, “God I love you and you mean more to me than the gifts you give.”

Let us continue to prayerfully support His work through the gifts we enjoy as His children.  May you rejoice in what God is choosing to do in and through WBC to those around her.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Peter’s question in verse 21 is intriguing because it is either very sincere, innocent or it is deceptive and pharisaical.  Perhaps Peter thought he was already reasonably forgiving or he was maybe thinking of a situation where he was being “victimized” and wanted to know when he could “pull-the-plug” on another individual relationally.

Why did Peter say, “Up to seven times?”  Let us consider some historical insight.

“It was Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother three times.”  (Barclay, Matthew, 193).  The prophet Amos uses the formula, “For three transgressions and for four” which many have “deduced that God’s forgiveness extends to three offences and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth.”  When Peter suggested “seven times,” he thought he was going very far.  He expected commendation by His Lord.

Our Lord’s response in verse twenty-two, however, declares to Peter that our forgiveness is to be limitless.  Our forgiveness is to be as big as God Himself.  It is as abundant and as inexhaustible as the provided resource.

Jesus follows up His statement with a story of two debtors.  It is a familiar scenario.  The first debtor had a debt he could not pay (v.24) and he made a promise he could not keep (v.26).  The king moved by compassion cancelled the debtor’s debt (v.27).  At this point, a second debtor is introduced.  The emphasis is not on the second debtor’s ability to pay his debt, but on the first debtor’s response to the second debtor.  The first debtor had a heart he could not fix (vv.28-30).

He treated the second debtor without compassion, without consideration and without charity.  The message of any parable is singular.  This parable is NOT teaching the reinstating of our sins by the Father.  That is not the point.  The point is, “Those who have been forgiven an insurmountable debt forgive unconditionally and immeasurably.”

I found the contrast between the two debts interesting.  “The 100 denarii (v.28) could be carried in one pocket.  The ten thousand-talent debt would take an army of about 8,600 carriers, each carrying a sack of sixpences 60lbs. in weight; and they would form, at a distance of a yard apart, a line five miles long.

The contrast between the debts is staggering.”  (Barclay, 194).  Today I heard our nation has a debt of 7 TRILLION dollars.  I cannot begin to imagine just how large 7 TRILLION dollars is.  Yet such a debt pales when compared to the sin debt I had before the Father.  Whether my debt was 1 TRILLION, 7 TRILLION OR 700 TRILLION would not matter one iota.  The size of the debt would in no way affect my ability to cancel it.  I had to have forgiveness.

Verse 27 uses two key words, “release,” and “forgive.”  The word “release” is a compound word meaning, “To free fully.”  The word, “forgive” means, “To forsake, or deny.”  Both words are graphic.  God has “fully freed” us from our sin debt.  Our sin has been left behind.

In Luke 7:42 and 43 Jesus once more refers to two debtors.  The word He uses for “forgive” is charizomai.  It is rooted in the word, charis (or grace).  Charizomai is the same word used in Ephesians 4:32.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Thus, to forgive is grace expressed. Friend, we are always the greater debtors.  I am freely to forgive just as I have been forgiven.  Some people wait to forgive until the offending party asks them for forgiveness.  How tragic.  If God treated us this way, we would all perish.  We are to forgive just as we have been forgiven.  How has God forgiven us?  He has forgiven us completely (Col. 2:13).  He has forgiven us unconditionally (1 John 2:1, 2).  He has forgiven us freely (Rom. 3:24).

We, of all people, should be quick to forgive those who have committed wrong against us.  Who is it that you simply cannot forgive?  If you step back and look at it from God’s perspective, you perhaps will see that you are the greater debtor.

A little boy was asked what forgiveness meant.  He responded with this answer, “It is the odor that flowers breathe when they are trampled upon.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Perhaps one of the most painful experiences in life occurs when you are personally misrepresented or maliciously attacked through verbal assault.  Such things are sourced in either, the world, the flesh or the devil.  None of it is any good.  It will come through one of two channels either the saved or the unsaved.  Both are painful.  However to have the attack come from a brother or sister in Christ is self-destructive and bitter cannibalism.  Nowhere in the Scripture is such action justified.  I would like to answer two questions concerning personal slander.  First, what is slander?  And second, how are we to respond to slander?

First, what is slander? The English word comes from two Greek words.

The first is our English word “blasphemy.”

And the second is katalalia and means, “To speak against.”

Katalalia is found only twice in the NT (2 Cor. 12:20; 1 Peter 2:1).

2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

The noun form is used only once (Rom. 1:30).

Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

The word “Blasphemy” is used throughout the NT (Matt. 15:19; Mk. 7:22; Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; 1 Tim. 6:4).

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

To slander someone is to speak evil of them.  It is to denigrate their name.

Such actions originate in the dark heart of man.   Slander has no winner.

All suffer, all pay.  This is why Paul exhorts the slanderer to put off their evil speech.  All of us have, at some point in time, felt the sting of the serpent’s tail.  He delights in accusing the people of God (Rev. 12:10).  Gossip is slander.

To talk about someone behind their back is an artificial spirituality.

There is no fruit of the Spirit called “gossip.”  It is simply another work of the flesh.  May God break us over our evil heart and tongue.  May He give us a true heart of confession (1 John 1:9).

It is one thing to know what slander is, it is another thing to handle it “grace-fully.”  This leads us to our second question, “how are we to respond to slander?”

There are two verses that form for me my mainstay as it relates to this area.

The first is found in Ephesians 4:31 and 32.

The second is that of 1 Peter 2:21-25.

When I am the object of slander I can either let it go or become what I hate.

Ephesians 4:31 tells me to put it off.  In its place I am to be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving.  Such actions are beyond me to comply.  That is why it is a “fruit of the Spirit.”  I can’t, but Jesus can!  Slander has the inherent power of making the recipient bitter, hard, and resentful.  But we must let the offense go.  Our forgiveness of the slanderer is to be unconditional and Christ-like.  We must always see ourselves as the greater debtor (Matt. 18:21-35).

The second passage in 1 Peter 2:21-25 gives us the example of our Lord Himself.  Verse 23 has become a guideline and pattern for me.

“And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

I do not have to answer the charges raised against me by the slanderer or maligning “brother.”  “If God is for us, who is against us? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:31-34).  Can you not hear the ring of victory?

Oh what joy to rest in Him.  Nothing can touch you, nothing can bring you into bondage, . . . nothing.

Once the truth has set you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36)!

Continue to “dance in the ‘raign [rain + reign = raign]’ of grace.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

]]> http://www.reigninggrace.org/2009/09/being-%e2%80%98grace-full%e2%80%99-when-personally-slandered/feed/ 0 http://www.reigninggrace.org/2009/08/learning-to-see-jesus-christ-in-the-biblical-text-2/ http://www.reigninggrace.org/2009/08/learning-to-see-jesus-christ-in-the-biblical-text-2/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:24:16 +0000 Pastor Pat http://www.reigninggrace.org/?p=450 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, but the fruit of the Spirit is . . .”

(Galatians 5:19-23)

The contrast could not be more dramatic.  Even the word used to describe the outworking of both is telling: “Deeds/Works” versus “Fruit.”  In the context of Galatians the irony of the setting should not escape us.  The deeds of the flesh are those activities produced by seeking to gain spirituality through a system of rules and regulations whereas the fruit of the Spirit are those activities produced by resting in His finished work.   Let us consider for just a moment the two lists.

The two groups are clearly marked.  The contrast is established through opposites.  For example, the opposite of love, joy, peace is immorality, impurity and sensuality.  The person who is filled with enmities, strife and jealousy is not exhibiting patience, kindness, and goodness.  Likewise, the drunkard and carouser do not have self-control.

Only law works whereas grace rests.  Because it is the fruit of the Spirit it is not something the believer can do.

The tragedy of this is in trying to produce the fruit of the Spirit.  Any attempt on our part to produce the fruit of the Spirit manufactures fake fruit which is, in reality, a work of the flesh.  Hence what we hope to do in producing spiritual fruit in the end turns against us and will stand as our accuser.  The emphasis is not on trying to produce spiritual fruit.  The quest or real struggle is to rest in Him believing He will complete the work He began.  We are to assume and rest in knowing fruit is being born by the Spirit in and through the life of His people.

The question needing to be addressed is what am I to do if I am seeing the works of the flesh being manifested in me?  Because I still have within me an “old nature” I am going to sin.  At some point in time you will, against your desires, exhibit “flesh.”  So what is a believer suppose to “do” with sin?  Several actions are stated in the Scripture.  Each one of the following is to be viewed as a Fruit of the Spirit.  No one apart from the inward working of the Holy Spirit can “do” these actions.  In the midst of my personal inabilities and spiritual failures I am to be resting in the confidence of His divine strength in performing that which He promised (Phil. 1:6; 2 Thess. 5:23, 24).

There are more expressions of fruit than I am listing, but these seven are characteristic of the kinds of actions He is producing in me and through me concerning my response to the “flesh.”

First, we will see the fruit of laying aside the deeds of darkness (Rom. 13:12).

Second, we will see the fruit of making no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom. 13:14).

Third, we will see the fruit of cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1).

Fourth, we will see the fruit of laying aside the old self (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9).

Fifth, we will see the fruit of considering the members of our earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, etc. (Col. 3:5; Rom. 8:13).

Sixth, we will see the fruit of abstaining from fleshly lusts which wage war against our soul (1 Peter 2:11).

Seventh, we will see the fruit of agreeing with God concerning the nature of our sin knowing He has is and always will be forgiving us (1 John 1:9).

• Please do not see the Fruit of the Spirit as a work to be performed or a standard to be attained.
• Keep your focus on the author and finisher of your faith.
• Believe that He has and will take care of your sin issue for you.
• Learn to celebrate all that you are in Him and He is for you.
• Learn to stop trying to do what has already been done.

Grace enables us to live within the family of our fellowship with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Truly, against such there is no law.  May grace continue to reign at WBC.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

because love covers a multitude of sins.”    (1 Peter 4:8)

I have already stated several times how one of my presuppositions in reading the Bible is, “I do not read the Bible to determine how to live, but rather to discovery what He is like.”  Does your perspective matter?  I believe so.  When my life becomes disjointed and I am consumed by the mundane and distracted by the unimportant I have to step back and get my focus back on Christ (Heb. 12:1, 2).  It is only when I see the centrality of Jesus Christ that life in all of its little pieces makes any sense (Col. 1:17).  In Jesus Christ we have the perfect display and embodiment of grace.  Jesus Christ is the proper name for grace.

It is for this reason I will often use the two words as synonyms.

Often as I read my Bible I put the words, “Jesus Christ” and/or “grace” in the place of “love.”  For example in our text before us if we changed the words it would read as follows, “Above all, keep fervent in your grace for one another, because grace covers a multitude of sins.”

Think also of First Corinthians 13: 4-13.

Grace is patient, Grace is kind and is not jealous; Grace does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; He does not seek His own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Grace never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.  9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.  12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.  13 But now faith, hope, Grace, abide these three; but the greatest of these is Grace.

Ephesians 4:32 tells us, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

The word “Forgiving” is from the same root as the word “grace.”

Think about it.  We are being exhorted to “grace each other, just as God in Christ also has graced you.”  If I am to grace others as I have been graced, it would dramatically change the way I deal with hurts, conflicts and relational idiosyncrasies (Matt. 18:21-35).   Part of our difficulty in living the grace life is that we do not understand just how deeply God has graced us.  We treat people the same way we think God is treating us.  We need to change our perspective.  How much has God graced you?  Think with me of the text found in Romans 8:31-39.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”  37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is grace.  God is for me.  God has given me all things in Him.

God has acquitted me of my guilty standing.  He will never leave me nor forsake me.  He will never cease loving me.  I have all this because of God gracing me.  When I put my life and all of its little pieces into the larger picture of His grace . . . I walk away knowing that I have been blessed beyond my ability to perform.  This is the perspective I am to have as I live relationally in a fallen world and strained fellowship.

May this truth permeate our thinking and may grace continue to reign.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Who is Jesus Christ?  The Scriptures answer this question consistently and plainly.  However, space and time prohibit us from sounding it out completely.  Yet John provides for us a revealing look at our Lord Jesus Christ in what is commonly entitled, “The ‘I AM’ statements of our Lord.”

The first of the seven statements is found in John 6:35, 41, 48, and 51.  Jesus Christ identifies Himself as, “The Bread of Life.”  His promise to those who partake of Him is that they will never hunger nor thirst again.  In 6:35 John uses a double negative.  One Greek grammarian correctly notes how, “With the double negative and the subjunctive Paul is “ruling out even the idea as being a possibility: [the double negative] is the most decisive way of negativing something in the future.”  (Wallace, Beyond Basics, 468).

Jesus Christ completely and eternally satisfies.  John continues in verse 51 by telling us that the one who partakes “Will live forever.”

Although Jesus does not use the same grammatical structure, He also identifies Himself as, “The Living Water” (4:10, 11).  This would be in keeping with the thought behind “The Bread of Life.”  Jesus Christ is the sole satisfier of the innermost part of the individual.

The second “I AM” statement is found in John 8:12 and 9:5.  Here Jesus calls Himself “The Light of the World.”  Again John uses the double negative and again, the “I AM” statement corresponds with a condition existing within the individual.  When I follow Jesus I will [no] never walk in darkness again.

The third “I AM” statement stresses the eternality of our Lord Jesus Christ and His equality with the Father and it is found in John  8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’”  In this simple statement our Lord was identifying Himself with the I AM statement found in Exodus 3:14.  That the Jews understood the implications of our Lord’s declaration is seen in 8:59, “Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him.”

At His arrest in the Garden our Lord uses the same pointed, empowered, succinct statement, “I AM” (18:5, 6, 8).  What is interesting is the response of those who heard it, “So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.”  Jesus Christ, the great I AM, the Lord of all and creator of all surrenders and submits Himself to that which He created.  The power of that moment cannot go unnoticed.

The fourth and fifth statements are both found in John 10.  John 10:7 and 9 speak of Jesus Christ being, “The door.”  This highlights His unique positioning as the only way into the “pasture” of God.  Verses 11 and 14 identify Him as “The good shepherd” who lays His life down for the sheep and whose voice is known by His sheep.  This stresses His protective watch care for His sheep.

In the midst of our heartbreak and sorrow, Jesus Christ is “The resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  This is the sixth I AM statement.  These are the words that brought comfort and soothing to the agitated heart and mind of Martha upon the death of her brother Lazarus.

The seventh is found in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” What makes the last one interesting is its location.  The first six are uttered during our Lord’s public ministry the last of the seven is given during our Lord’s upper room discourse.  Events are unfolding at a rapid pace all around the disciples.  There world is caving in.  Thomas asks Jesus the question, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way?”  Jesus responds with, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  In the midst of their most pressing moment Jesus turns their attention back to the centrality of Himself.

The eighth I AM statements is noted in John 15:1 and 5.  Jesus Christ said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”  The essence of this truth is seen in verse five where Jesus declares, “For apart from Me you can do nothing.”  Temporal life was never meant to be lived apart from Him.  In fact, it is impossible.  We wear our “mask” of success, yet we despair and push ourselves to conformity though completely devoid of any inner empowerment.  His strength is found in our weakness.  It is only as we give up that He moves in.  We must forever remember that, “We can’t, but Jesus can.”

In the I AM statements we see the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.  Regardless as to what we are going through Jesus Christ declares that He is enough.  He is enough in this life and in the life which is to come.  Nothing more can be added and nothing less will do.

Are you spiritually hungry, than Jesus Christ is the bread of life.

Are you spiritually thirsty, than Jesus Christ is the living water.

Are you without direction, than Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

Are you groping for significance, than Jesus Christ is the eternal I AM.

Are you spiritually lost, than Jesus Christ is the door.

Are you seeking comfort and security, than Jesus Christ is the good shepherd.

Are you overwhelmed by loss, than Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.

Are you confused and perplexed, than Jesus Christ is way, the truth and the life.

Are you exhausted and discouraged, than Jesus Christ is the true vine.

As people we consume ourselves with temporal distractions hoping to silence the inner voice that craves for meaning, comfort and calm.  We have the remarkable capacity to fill the void with everything trivial and temporal at the expense of the truth and the eternal.  When the dust final settles we will come face to face with this simple reality, “Only Jesus Christ is enough in this life and in the life which is to come.”  May we never lose sight of this fundamental certainty.  This is the message of grace that our world needs to hear and embrace.  May you enjoy all that He is for us in Himself.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

We must keep in mind that legalism does not mean the setting of spiritual standards; it means worshiping these standards and thinking that we are spiritual because we obey them.  It also means judging other believers on the basis of these standards.  The old nature loves legalism, because it gives the old nature a chance to ‘look good.’ (Wiersbe, Galatians, 108-109).

Thus, legalism is not what you do it is why you do it that makes you a legalist.  John Piper correctly notes that “legalism is present whenever a person is trying to be ethical in his own strength.”  He equally argues that legalism is present whenever we try to make other people ethical through conformity to rules.  In so doing we are lacking confidence in the sovereign power of God to complete that which He alone began and He alone can finish. (Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, 153-155).

As I have meditated on these things I have noted nine observations concerning legalism.  I trust you will find this helpful.

1.      Legalism believes man’s obedience cooperates with grace instead of believing it is a consequence of grace. Any act of obedience on my part is simply a consequence of the Holy Spirit bearing His fruit in me and through me to those around me.

2.      Legalism believes what it merits by grace must now be maintained by works. What I could not merit by works I cannot now maintain by works.  The Christian life is from “grace to grace.”

3.      Legalism believes man’s obedience makes God a debtor to him for good.

The legalist believes that God is obligated to “bless” us with “good things” because we have lived exemplary lives.  When hardship comes we are shocked because we have done our best to “do right.”

4.      Legalism views the New Testament imperative as a moral obligation.

The New Testament was not written to tell us how to live, but to show us what He is like.  The imperative is the outworking of the Holy Spirit bearing His fruit through these “earthen vessels.”  To think the believer is now obligated to carry out the New Testament imperative is to place him under a burden he was never meant to bear.

5.      Legalism believes the saved individual is now capable, with the Holy Spirit’s enablement, to work in such a way as to merit divine favor.

The truth is found in John 15:5, “without Him we can do nothing.”  We are not co-laborers or sub-contractors with God, but tools and only tools.

6.      Legalism fears disobedience because of divine retribution.

The legalist lives in fear of “divine chastisement.”  Yet we are assured that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).

7.      Legalism believes its judgment of others is infallible.

Legalists delight in putting people into prearranged categories.  Judgment is immediate and swift.  Everyone and everything is guilty until proven innocent.

8.      Legalism places demands on others for conformity to their rules.

The legalist must control through conformity or it will lose its grip.  Diversity within unity is the great scourge to the legalist.

9.      Legalism judges others based on their appearance.

The legalist believes everyone must mimic them.  Yet the infiniteness of God and the diversity of personalities in limitless cultures assure us that there is great multiplicity within the body of Christ.

I have no desire to stand in judgment of the assumed legalist.  How tragic it would be for us to embrace grace and, in some twisted way, become legalistic toward those who differ from this fellowship.

Perhaps this short study will help us to “see” legalism in our own lives.  May our courage be such that we will not rest until every residue of this devilish way has been blotted out of our presence?  Grace living is “riskier” because it means we must take our hands off people and place them into the hands of Almighty God.  Yet is such a transfer “risky?”  Hardly.  I would rather have us live under the watch-care of omnipotence than under the bane-filled eye of impotent man.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Paul, however, uses it to describe the Christian life.  In fact apart from Revelation 1:13; 15:6 and 19:14 Paul is the only writer to use the word once we leave the Gospels and Acts.  I have listed each of the occurrences by its grammatical description.  Once you look at the grammatical description certain elements become evident.

Aorist Middle Imperative

Romans 13:14 “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

Colossians 3:12 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Aorist Middle Indicative

Galatians 3:27 “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Aorist Middle Infinitive

Ephesians 4:24 “And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Aorist Middle Participle

Ephesians 6:14 “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”

Colossians 3:10 “And have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

Observations concerning their grammatical description

First, they are all aorist in tense.  The action of putting on is being looked at as a whole.  As something that is a point in time.  The middle voice tells us that we do this to ourselves.  The various “moods” (i.e., imperative, indicative, infinitive, and participle) stress certain actions in time.

Observations concerning their theological application

The passages suggest there is an action we are to be doing today, right now.  Yet the tense suggests that this is something already done.  So how do we reconcile these two thoughts?  First, I believe we clothed ourselves with Christ the moment we believed.  At that moment in time we were baptized into the body of Christ and thus put on His righteousness.

The song writer wrote well when he said, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found: Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne” (The Solid Rock).

Thus I am, right now, clothed with the very righteousness of Christ.  So why am I now being called upon to put on Christ?  Paul’s exhortation is for us to practice our position.  Paul wants us to intentionally live in the reality of Him.  He wants us to show Christ through these earthen vessels to those around us.  No action on my part can add to or take away from the righteousness that I already have and am in Him.  My earthen vessel is simply the screen upon which His righteousness is being seen, it is the billboard that displays His righteousness to others.  That is what Paul is encouraging us to do.  Show the Christ who is in you, through you, to those who are around you.

How exciting to think that right now I have been clothed with the real righteousness of Christ.  As a believer, you and I are righteous.  May we thrill at every display of His righteousness through us.  And again, as always, “grace to you and peace.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

I have always found our text fascinating as it relates to grace, ministry and God.  As recipients of grace several truths emerge from the text.  First, grace is something given.  Because it is a gift we have no right to think of ourselves better than anyone else.  We did not deserve it.  We could not merit it.  In fact our depravity made it such that we did not seek it, understand it, or want it (Romans 3:10ff).  The idea behind, “to think more highly of himself,” is “to be arrogant, haughty, egotistical, and bigheaded.”  The synonyms show us the ugliness that our attitude can take toward others.  The second truth emerging from the text is that each of us has a different measure of faith/grace.  Whatever grace we have is through divine allotment.  This really shows us the foolishness of comparison.  Paul said, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10).  It is equally foolish for us to wish to be something we’re not.  You and I are special by design (Psalm 139).  Third, God has placed each of us in the body of Christ, His Church, intentionally, purposefully and thoughtfully.  First Corinthians 7:17 says, “The Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk” speaks of this divine allotment.    This same truth is brought out in 1 Corinthians 12:11 concerning our placement in His body, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”  I cannot be what others are and that is not God’s intent.  I can only be what I am by His grace.  I find the imagery breath-taking.  God has crafted me for His use within His body for His glory.  Each of us has a role, a function, a ministry and God is working in us and through us to those around us.

As I prepared these thoughts I was reminded of the various branches of our military.  We have those within the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.  Within each of the major branches there are various subsets such as Navy Seals or the Green Berets.  There are those within these various branches who take great “pride” in what they do and the service they render.  At times there can be “friendly” competition between the various branches, yet when a singular enemy threatens the common good of this great nation all differences are set aside and regardless as to personal preferences or “unique” idiosyncrasies there is a common enemy who will “feel” the strength of this great nation.  When war breaks out no one cares which branch you’re from only that you’re fighting the same enemy.

I could not help but draw the parallel with our Lord’s Church.  We have various label wearers within our church family.  Theologically some would call themselves one thing and others another and at times there is “friendly” discussion between the various label wearers, yet there is a common cause that draws us together to fight against the relentless enemies of our collective souls.  We must never allow ourselves to forget that we are in a war.  It is when we forget this that we become preoccupied by our differences instead of being consumed by what binds us together.  His cause is too great and the time too short for us to lose sight of His mission in time and for eternity.  He is gathering together in time an innumerable host of worshippers who shall come from every tribe, tongue, people and nation and we will join this host in worshipping Him forever.  And when all of the dust settles and we sit together worshipping our Lord I will care not a wit whether you were this or that, but only that we were at WBC a Christ-exalting, Word-centered, Global-impacting, Grace-based ministry.  As always, “Grace to you and Peace.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

If Galatians is the first of Paul’s letters (which is the assumption we are making), then he is using the word “justified” for the first time in Galatians 2:16.  What does it mean when the Scripture speaks of one being justified? “Justification is a legal term meaning to remove the guilt (liability to punishment) of the sinner.  It does not involve making one inwardly holy, but merely declares that the demands of justice have been satisfied.  Hence, there is no ground for condemnation (Rom. 8:1).”  ”Justification is a judicial act of God by which He declares the sinner righteous and treats him as such.”  Justification includes the forgiveness of sin as well as the imputation of righteousness.  Justification is one of those theological words that many are familiar with but few actually understand and fewer still enjoy.

We are embarking on a journey of discovery.  We wish to understand all that He is for us in Christ in order that we might find in Him our complete satisfaction.  This can only happen as we systematically study the Word of God.  We are equally convinced that such a discovery will move us to share this message with every tongue, tribe, people and nation.  This is our vision, our cause.  Such truths grips us and squeezes from us every ounce of our devotion.  To embrace this truth moves us from just “playing the game” to actually “praising our God.”

I would like us to consider four Scriptural ramifications of having been justified by faith.

First, our justification results in having peace with God.  We  are no longer in a state of fear (Romans 5:1, 2, 5, 9; :30-34).  We no longer tremble at our inability to measure up to God’s unattainable standard.  As Christians our depravity might want to control others and “lord” it over others.  We might wish for others to feel guilty and inadequate, but God who stands in our corner as our advocate (1 John 2:1,2) asks this penetrating question, “who shall lay anything to the charge of my elect whom I have declared righteous?  Who is there among you that can condemn those whom I have freed?”  The answer?  NO ONE!  We are free!  Gloriously free!  Jesus paid it all and now all to HIM we owe!

Second, justification results in His righteousness being credited to us resulting in true happiness (Romans 4:6).  We as Christians are truly happy.  Why, because we do not have to measure up to an impossible standard.  We are free to love and serve and give without restraint or fear of failure’s inevitability.  Because of His righteousness our lives are patterned by one victory after another.  Our circumstances no longer hold us in bondage.  We fly free of this world’s crushing burdens.

Third, justification results in having our iniquities forgiven and our sins covered (Romans 4:7).  We are so used to living in the temporal and material that we fail to appreciate what it means to have our sins forgiven.  Our sin debt, however, is not simply covered, but cancelled.  How pitiful to bear a burden that no longer has to be bourn.

Fourth, justification results in a man on whom the Lord will not impute sin (Romans 4:8).  Paul uses the double negative (ou mh [“no never”) to stress the absolute negation of any potential for sin to be imputed to the justified person’s account.  When we stand before God we will never be judged for our sin.  Ask God to let that simply but profound truth seep through your mind.  Let is saturate all that you are and do.

Justification is a tangible truth to be lived in the life of the justified.  You and I stand justified in the blood of His Beloved Son.  It is His resurrection from the grave and placement at the Father’s right hand that assure me that I shall never stand in a place of disfavor again.  This is good news to the poor, it is the proclamation of liberty to the captive, it is the recovering of sight to the blind and it is setting free those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18).  We have lived so long in bondage that we have to learn how to live as free men.  We sin so naturally that now we must learn how to live in righteousness just as we have lived in sin.  May grace reign!

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

The Pharisees started well.  Their intentions were noble, but somewhere along the way they lost sight of what truly mattered and in so doing their “traditions” took precedence over the very Word of God (Matt. 15 & Mark 7).  What does it mean to live under the laws of legalism?  It is tragic, but Paul’s battle with legalism in the Galatian church is not yet finished.  If we learn anything from our Lord’s temptation in Matthew 4 and Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 5:8 it is that the devil is a relentless foe.  Today’s victories are never sufficient for tomorrow’s battles.  We would be foolish to think that legalism has not wormed its way into our own lives and into the life of the church.  It is an obstinate antagonist that has absolutely no scruples.

A legalist believes his upbringing makes him a child of heaven (Matt. 2:9).  He actually thinks where he was born, to whom he was born and to what he was born makes him better than others.  He is more concerned about obedience to rules than about the salvation and deliverance of the hurting (Matt. 9:11, 14, 34; 12:2; Lk. 14:3; Jn. 9:16).  Rather than break their “traditions” they would rather see the hurting, despair and the hungry, die (Lk. 7:39).  A legalist loves money more than ministry (Lk. 16:14).  They have convinced themselves that a price can be put on the human soul.

They become so ensnared by “rules” that they have thrown out the proverbial “baby with the bathwater.” They have rejected the chief corner stone (Matt. 21:42).  A legalist in their pursuit of God rejects Christ (Lk. 5:21).  He is always concerned about control, power and conformity (Matt. 12:14).  They will always endeavor to crush what they cannot control and alienate what they cannot understand (Matt. 21:46; 22:15; Jn. 12:42).  They must always attack the character of the non-conformist in order to discredit their ministry (Matt. 12:24).

A legalist places more authority on their man made rules than on the principles of Scripture (Matt. 15:1-9).  He believes one can be defiled by contact with non-image bearing elements (Matt. 15:10, 11; Lk. 11:38). He is more troubled with taking in “filth” than talking filth.  One is the issue of appearance and the other of essence.  A legalist is so concerned with appearance they miss the essence of godliness (Lk. 11:42).  A legalist is worried more about their image than reaching the lost (Lk. 15:2).

A legalist is easily offended when confronted with their hypocrisy (Matt. 15:12).  Our Lord denounced legalism with some of the strongest words recorded in Holy Write (Matt. 23).  Though they are proud to be seen of men in the exercising of religious devotion (Matt. 23:5f), a legalist is incapable of maintaining their own standard (Matt. 23:3).  A legalist is more concerned about appearance than ministry (Lk. 5:30; 11:39).  They are more concerned about man’s perspective than God’s.  A legalist wishes to monitor others more than themselves (Lk. 6:7; 18:11).  They will strain at the “gnat” and swallow the “camel.”

A legalist lives for human applause and is offended when no one sees their “service” (Lk. 11:43).  Legalism is to be guarded against and warned of (Matt. 16:6).  May our courage be such that we will not rest until every residue of legalism has been blotted out of the assembly. Grace living is “riskier” because it means we must take our hands off people and place them into the hands of Almighty God.  Yet is such a transfer “risky?”  Hardly.  I would rather have us live under the watch-care of omnipotence than under the bane-filled eye of impotent man.  May grace reign!

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

In today’s culture of glitz, glamour, and glory it is easy to forget that we are but “jars of clay” (NIV).  We are clumps of clay waiting to be shaped under the Master’s touch.  It is only as He moves in us and through us to those around us that we echo His voice to others.  As I consider the infinity of God I am often staggered by our “puny” attempts to contain Him through our “monitoring” of other people’s spirituality.  Spiritual fruit is as diversified as the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.  Yet as I consider grace and its embodiment in “fleshly pots” I believe the following seven statements are the kinds of reflections we will see in us and through us by those around us.

1. We must never consider ourselves to be better than anyone else regardless as to where they were born, to whom they were born and to what they were born. In Christ’s Church, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

2. We must never allow ourselves to be, “Neglecting the commandment of God, by holding to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).

3. We must never “hold to a form of godliness, [but] deny its power” (2 Tim. 3:5).  We can never have Christianity without Christ, religion without a relationship and a ministry without a message.  Jesus Christ IS life.

4. We must never forget “there are many members, but one body” (1 Cor. 12:20). “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). Thus there should “be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25).

5. We must take delight in reaching the unacceptable with the unconditional love of God. May our enemies accuse us of being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 11:19).” We must always remember, “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox” (Prov. 14:4). The salvation of sinners and the sanctification of saints is a dirty (though gratifying) work.

6. As “those who belong to Christ Jesus [we] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). Grace living understands that “the life which [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave Himself up for [us]” (Gal. 2:20).

7. Let us have a God-like love for each other. Such a “Love is patient, kind and is not jealous; it does not brag and is not arrogant, it does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, and does not take into account a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; [a God-like love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

I would encourage you to study the Scripture in order to see Him.  Learn to see Him in the imperative.  He is there waiting.  Christ is to be seen all around you in the richness of the diversity within His body.  All those people who do not fit your mold are reflecting Him.  Because of our personalities we have a tendency not to see Him in the diversity…but He is there.  May we have the strength of will to stop forcing “square pegs into round holes.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

It is hard for us to imagine the abject horror of being awakened in the night by the screams of terror as men, women and children are carried off from knowing the joy of freedom into the chains of slavery.  They were becoming the victims of the slave trader.  Those people whose livelihood dealt with the cargo of humanity.  Our nation poured out its lifeblood to resist and eventually overthrow slavery.  Yet Paul continues to deal with spiritual slave traders, people whose intent is to make cargo of human souls.  Their delight is found in bringing into captive those who were once free.

What appears to be the Galatian problem?  Apparently the believers in Galatia were being “troubled” (Gal. 5:12) by “false brethren” (Gal. 2:4).  The agitation created by them was real (Gal. 4:17).  They were “bewitched” (Gal. 3:1) into leaving their position of liberty to be once more entangled with the yoke of bondage (Gal. 5:1).  Paul saw such a move as shocking (Gal. 1:6).  Why would anyone abandon a position of liberty for one of bondage?  They were running well (Gal. 5:7), but now were being “hindered” and thus “overtaken in a fault” (Gal. 6:1).  Those who turned back had “fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4) and needed to be “restored” (Gal. 6:1).

Within the book there is a contrast taking place.  On one hand you have the works of the law and on the other you have justification by faith (Gal. 2:16).  Yet more is included than just our justification.  Space prohibits us from noticing the strong contrast created throughout Galatians between “a system of works” and “a system of grace.”  However, when laid side-by-side the contrast is dramatic.  This is what all true believers enjoy in Christ.  Why would anyone turn back to a life of bondage, inability and failure?  To betray grace and turn back is to fall from a previously maintained position.  Because restoration is possible (Gal. 6:1) it does not appear that to “fall from grace” (Gal. 5:4) is to lose one’s salvation.

This issue in Galatians is inclusive and highly misunderstood.  The Christian life is to be one of grace by faith.  Nowhere in the Christian life is one’s work to be seen as cooperating with God in the dispensing of grace.  Neither salvation, sanctification or service is a work based activity.  All three are areas in which God’s unmerited and undeserved activity is taking place.  The Christian life is marked by fruit bearing (John 15).  It is something inherent within the dynamic of saving faith (Eph. 2:8-10).  Galatians attacks this whole idea of a man-centered theology.  The work is God’s work from start to finish.  For us to think we must somehow contribute to the work of God is an attack against the very core of God’s dealings with us.  To preach a man-centered work based theology is a perversion of grace and receives Paul’s highest condemnation (Gal. 1:7-9).

One cannot be saved by embracing a “works attained salvation” (Gal. 1:6-9).  John MacArthur has correctly concluded that, “It is impossible to be a legalist and a Christian.  To do a single thing to earn salvation is to vitiate grace.”  (Gal. 3:9).  But one can be saved and be embracing a “works attained sanctification and service”.  Such a person needs to be restored to a position of grace.  For such a person has fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4; Gal. 6:1).

After reading Galatians I must ask myself just how free am I?  Do I live like a free man or am I still in bondage to the things of this world?  Do I live in fear of what others might think if I fail to measure up to their expectations or if I somehow violate one of their “traditions?”  It would appear from Galatians I am far freer than I have ever thought or imagined.  The liberty expressed in Paul’s epistle is not for the fulfillment of the flesh but the license to love unconditionally.  What an incredible message.  We are free to love unconditionally.  A grace life is lived in dependence on Christ and manifests itself by an unconditional love.

Let us guard ourselves and the church from allowing present day slave traders to make cargo of the human soul and to sell us once again into slavery.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.