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1:36Have you been born again? This was a favorite question of an old country boy that I used to go to church with. I'm sure he's long since been with the Lord, gone to the Lord. But it was often the very first thing he would say to somebody, have you been born again? In fact, sometimes even before he'd say hello, have you been born again? One time his daughter was driving him around town and he was pulled over by a police officer, or she was. What do you think the first thing he asked this police officer was? You got it. Have you been born again?

2:21People looked down on him, and many made fun of him, even in the church. Yet he grasped something that the brightest minds, or some of the brightest minds in history, failed to understand. It's poor English, yes, but rich theology. He understood the one thing that was necessary for life, and he didn't waste any time talking about it. Something we can all imitate. Have you been born again? Are you. This morning, ready to let God do something new in your life. Where are you with the Lord? The last thought we looked at was Paul's statement in verse 14 as he's speaking about boasting in the cross. He says, This: May it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the cross the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. You see, when a person comes to Christ, the connection to the old world is severed and a new person emerges. Just as Christ's resurrection followed his crucifixion, so a new creation follows those who meet Jesus at the cross.

3:57Life under the law of Christ, as we continue looking at this theme, is about experiencing the new creation and everything that goes with it. So, this morning, I want to look at three aspects of this new creation. Three aspects of this new creation. First, a new creation is what really matters. It's what really matters when all is said and done. Look at verse 15. For neither is circumcision in. Anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. First, notice what Paul says doesn't matter. Circumcision or uncircumcision. What really matters has nothing to do with either of these.

4:52Whether you're circumcised or not circumcised. Circumcision was that controversial body mark of the day. So whether you had it or not, in Paul's statement, it's not anything. Not anything. You know, often we make much of something that really isn't anything in terms of salvation. And that's what was happening there in the church, Galatia. Some were making much about circumcision, some were making much about uncircumcision. Paul was saying, neither one of these matter. Both or people with both marks on their body were part of the crucifixion. So the presence or absence of the mark is really not an indicator of salvation or godliness.

5:51We know they're going to be both circumcised and uncircumcised according to the flesh in both heaven and hell because circumcision or Uncircumcision isn't anything. God is looking for something much deeper. A new creation is what really matters. Look at what does matter: a new creation. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Something fresh, something new, something that is eternally fresh. Something that isn't subject to decay. That is what is necessary. A new creation.

6:40Not something just cleaned up, spruced up a bit, but categorically new. Word for new creation involves a new ordering. That's what you really need. So what we need is a new ordering in our, a new creature, new creation, one that's not subject to wasting away or decaying. Something eternal. That's what really matters. Now, why do you and I need the new creation? Well, as we've been studying the book of Galatians, it's clear that the religion of the Judaizing Jews. Was inadequate. And you and I need a religion, if I can use that term in a generic way, a way of life that's going to be fruitful before God. It needs to avoid the pitfalls of the Judaizers that Paul was dealing with.

7:50Their religion had two major problems. And these major problems are still with us today in the church. Two major problems. And you need to recognize these problems and turn away from them in your own heart because they are prevalent. They stay with the church. They've stayed with us. So I want you to see two problems of this Judaizing religion. First, they had a focus problem. Their religion had a focus problem. They were focused on the external instead of the internal. It's the first major problem. That's the first major problem with any religion. That's just about the external conformity and not an inward transformation.

8:47They were more concerned about looking good on the outside than being what God calls good on the inside. External conformity. What is your life focused on? I mean, really be honest with yourself. Is your life focused merely on externals? Let me tell you what the problem with that. If you go through this year, this new school year and all that it holds, if you go through life about merely focusing on externals, then guess what? Your gods become the audience, the members of the audience that you're trying to please. And that's what was the problem.

9:33Those in Galatia wanted to please their audience, which happened to be a Jewish audience that says you must obey the law in order to be saved or in order to be sanctified. But here's the problem: if you're merely focused on externals, then your gods are really the audience that you're trying to please. And as you go through life, guess what's going to happen to you? Your audience is going to change. And so will your gods. What a way to live. God's constantly changing. You know, some statistics out there that indicate a lot of kids who grow up in Christian homes, they get to college and they leave the faith. There's a lot of commentary as to maybe why that happens. Why do so many young people leave the church when they go to college? And what's going to happen to some of you who are in college now, experiencing a lot more freedom? Well, I have an answer I think comes out of the text here. One answer is that their relationship with God is nothing more than Christian show business. You grow up in the church, and your peer group is your Christian friends, and you want to please men, please people around you, they become your gods.

11:07And then when you go on to college, you're no longer around your Christian peers, you have a whole nother group of peers, secular peers, or whatever group you identify with, and all of a sudden, there's been a sea change in your audience, and those you have to please, and therefore you start doing the external things that please that group of people. It's very wishy-washy. How surfacy is your religion here today? Let God be your focus, not people. It's a tragedy when you think about it, to think that relationship with God is all about mere. Show.

12:03Think about that for a second. What are you saying about God? If deep down your religion, your relationship with God is just about show, what does that say about your view of God? That somehow God needs me to look like I belong to Him? What's that? You think God's got such a self-egotistical problem that He needs a bunch of people to pretend that they're in relationship with Him? What's that? I mean, do you think Nancy and I want to go around and look like we're married?

12:45I've got my ring on. I mean, you would think that there's something more than just looking like you're married. I love marriage. Married life is better than just looking like you're married. Nancy and I really are married. We don't pretend. All this isn't to show, and then we go home and say, wow, wasn't that worth it? I mean, we looked like we were married. Now everybody thinks we were married. Isn't that great? No, there's. But many of us, that's how we go through life with God. We think somehow looking like we have a relationship with God is actually better than actually having a relationship with God.

13:25You see, an intimate relationship with God. In the deepest part of your being is what makes life worth living. God, who wants to be with you every day, all day, all the time, ever-present. That's so much better than just pretending you have a relationship with God. What's happening on the external, circumcision, uncircumcision, whatever mark, whatever conformity it is, pretending to have a relationship is tragic when you can really have a real relationship with God. That's what Paul is saying.

14:12I mean, why would anybody want to give up a real relationship with God just to look like you have a relationship with God? I mean, this is the first commandment: don't have any other gods before God. That's what God was saying. I mean, there's a lot of things in nature I love. You know, I love the cow. The cow's great. It eats grass. And what does it give you? Milkshake, cheese, hamburgers. I mean, where would pizza be without the cow? No cheese. You know, you go with steak. Oh, the yogurt, you know, Swiss cheese.

14:54I love the cow, but I don't, I would much rather have a relationship with the. God who made the cow than worship a cow. I would much have much rather have a relationship with the God who made all y'all than to worship y'all. And that's what God's saying. Look, this is elementary. Don't have any gods before me. A relationship with God dwarfs anything. In fact, it's kind of silly to start worshiping anything other than the Creator or a group of people. Or to substitute the worship of the true God with something else.

15:41And this is what Paul was saying at the very beginning. He's like, you foolish Galatians, the only way you would want to exchange a relationship, a true relationship with the true God, with something that is false and something that is not God, the only thing that can explain that is that you've been bewitched. Galatians 3:1, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Listen, if you are wanting to look like you're Christian, or look like you fit in some group and miss the whole relationship with the God of Scripture, the God who created you.

16:30Someone or something has bewitched you. Yes. Two problems with the religion of the Judaizers. The first was a focus problem. They focused on the external rather than the internal. Don't let that be us here today. Don't let that be Emmanuel Baptist Church or anyone here today. But the second problem with the religion of the Judaizers is they had a power problem. They had a power problem. They relied on the human rather than the divine. Their religion was based upon human strength. What they could do rather than God's power.

17:18You see, they were limited to what they could accomplish in their own strength rather than what God can do in His power. Listen, there is nothing more doomed to failure than trying to live up to God's standards on your own. You can't do it without His power. What a very small religion it is that lives for the external that is based upon what you can do. No, only God can make a new creation. All we can do is try to clean up the old, and that's destined to fail.

18:00Only God can bring about the inward change that leads to a life of lasting fruitfulness, lasting significance. You're not going to get there on your own. I've enjoyed reading Luther's commentary on Galatians through this study. He came to realize this truth about the externals. I mean, this was a monk of the monk, among the monks. This was the guy. Listen to what he says. As the doctrine, as he's working through Galatians and this truth started impacting him, that a relationship with God is by faith alone, in Christ alone, based upon what God alone can do. He says this: The changing of garments and other outward things is not a new creature, as the monks dream, but is the renewing of the mind by the Holy Spirit, after the which follows a change of the members and senses of the whole body. For when the heart has conceived a new light, a new judgment, and new motions through the gospel, it comes to pass that the outward senses are also renewed. For the ears desire to hear the word of God and not the tradition. And dreams of men. The mouth and then tongue do not boast of their own works, righteousness, and rules, but they set forth with joy the only mercy of God offered to us in Christ. These changes consist not in words, but are effectual and bring a new spirit, a new will, new senses, and a new operations of the flesh, so that the eyes, ears, mouth, and tongue do not only see, hear, and speak otherwise than they did before, but the mind also approves, loves, and follows something other than it did before. End quote.

20:14You see, our efforts at moral improvement are in vain, apart from his power. And this is why you and I need a way of life that is not merely external and not limited to what we can do. And that's why you're invited to come to the cross and to keep coming to the cross. This is where this life begins. Perhaps you've never come to the cross, but the way of life begins when you truly humble yourself before the cross of Jesus and you take in by faith what he accomplished there.

20:56It is that faith that has given Rise to the church. Why is this church here? Why is there this collection of people? Because many of you, core group of you that are here today that comprises Emmanuel Baptist church, faith has given rise to this collection of people. This is what we all have in common: this cross, the love of our Savior, common king, common shepherd, common awe in what he did. We've taken in a common satisfaction in his work and all that that says.

21:41In fact, Galatians 3:25, this is what Paul says, but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons. That is, you are all privileged people, all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. 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. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. This is what we all share in common here: common calling, common faith, one Lord, one. Faith, one birth. We just sung them.

22:35Some people ask me, why do we celebrate an open communion here? Open communion, which, by the way, we're planning on doing more frequently in the morning services as the year goes on. Why do we celebrate an open communion? That means we open it up to anyone who has had the same faith, a common faith. Why? Why do we do that? Why do we not limit it to somebody who is just members only? And the answer is: we do not deny access to a new creation.

23:14This is what really matters. You think about it, why would we deny somebody who has taken part of the realities themselves? Why would we keep them away from the symbols? If they've already taken in the reality of Christ's body and his death and all that, that's why we celebrate. If you have a common faith, this is what really matters. I think it's fine to test individuals to see if they are in the faith and that kind of thing. But if Christ, if they have partaken in the realities, we don't need to make them jump through our little hoops because. They are already joint heirs with us, as by faith alone. Ordinances are great illustrations and reminders of the religion that comes from above, but they're not the realities, but they point to the realities.

24:21Paul's statement in verse 15 affirms us. Look back. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. That's what really matters. And this is what Christ told Nicodemus in John chapter 3: you must be born again. That's what really matters. Second thing, second aspect of a new creation is it continues in God's peace and mercy. So not only is a new creation what really matters, but it continues. It continues. This new life, this new creation continues in God's peace and mercy. Look at verse 16. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. This is a difficult verse. There's two decisions that you need to make. We need to make. First, what is this rule? And number two, who is the Israel of God? Number one, what is this rule? And those who will Walk by this rule.

25:33This ruled rule, word for rule is standard, principle. It's actually the word canon. And those who will walk by this canon, think about the canon of Scripture. People refer to the scripture as a canon. Rule, standard, principle, guide. What is it looking to? Well, and some actually think that Paul is talking about the canon of Scripture. Well, we certainly need to walk by the canon of Scripture, but I don't think that's what Paul has specifically in mind here. And those who will walk by this rule, something he's just talked about. What has he just talked about? Well, he's just talked about this axiom of the new creation. This is what really matters. This is the principle. This is the standard.

26:25And in the greater context of chapter 6, this new creation is what's necessary to fulfill the law of Christ. Verse 2, bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. You'll never be able to fulfill the law of Christ without the new creation. Who can love like Christ love? Only he can, and that is why you need to be born of his spirit, because it's just not in us to do so. So those Look back at the text, and those who will walk by this rule, that is to say, those who are advancing in line with this rule, who hold to this rule, who are in step with this principle, the peace and mercy of God will continue to be upon them. It's a future. Those who will walk by this rule, this will be upon them. Peace and mercy. I'll come back to that in a moment because there's a second question that we need to answer. Who is the Israel of God? Who is the Israel of God? You really have two options. One, the church in whole, or a group of people that's a subset of the church. Those are really the two options. Is it the whole or is it a subset of the whole? Well, it's not the whole. It's clearly not the whole. And there's two reasons why it's not good to take it as the whole. First of all, if Paul really was saying, and those who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, upon the Israel of God, if he really meant the church of God, why didn't he just say so? Because for those of you who want to look at this and who struggle with this issue, turn back to Galatians 1 verse 13. Paul is speaking about his life. And he says, For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the Israel of God. Is that what it says? No, it's not. How I used to persecute the church of God. Paul, if he's wanting to talk about the church of God, he has it in his vocabulary to do so and has already done so in the letter. And it's clearly in verse 13, he's speaking about the whole church, Jew and Gentile. He used to persecute the whole thing.

29:14So if he intended to mean the church of God, we should assume that he would say so. You're reading into something if you don't. Second reason why it's best to take, not to take this as a whole, because at this stage in the letter, he's finishing out the letter. And to all of a sudden, introduce a new subject, the church of God is really the Israel of God, moves the subject from soteriology, doctrine of salvation, to ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church. That would be a very abrupt change. Change, and it would be happening right at the very end when he's landing the plane, he's not taking off into a whole nother subject.

30:13It's better to see this as a subset of the church, a subset of the church. You have the two options: is the Israel of God the whole church, or is it a subset of the church? It's best to see it as a subset. And this decision is supported by a couple of ways. Number one, notice the conjunction: peace and mercy be upon them and. And most translations translate the simple conjunction as and most reputable ones, pretty much all reputable ones, and indicating two, two groups.

31:00And they're expressly stated in the text. Verse 16: peace and mercy be upon them. There's one group. And upon the Israel of God. Two groups. Two groups. Another reason to see this as a subset is the terms themselves. Israel, think about this. Go back to the university for a second or a high school and you remember the vent. Diagrams. There's the Venn diagrams, the overlapping circles, right? The first, Israel. What is Israel? Israel is a subset of the world, a very specific tribe of people, a nation. Israel. That's the group. Get that in your hand. Israel. What is the phrase of God? Of God is another group of people who are from God, out of God, friends with God, in contrast to the world. So you have Israel, a nation that is separate from all of the other nations, and you have those who are born of God. You get the picture right here. There's the subset right there. The Israel, those who are born again, those who are friends of God, who are out of the nation Israel. That's the second blessed group. It's very plain.

32:38And you shouldn't be confused over this. So why in the world does Paul give this special shout-out to this subset of the church, the Israel of God? Well, the shout-out is distinct from the Gentile church members because the new birth isn't costing them as much as the Jewish converts. Think about what's just taken place. Those who are turning to God out of the Jewish nation are more subject to being persecuted than the Gentiles in that same region.

33:21You remember what happened when Paul started preaching the gospel in Galatia? These Jews follow him all the way over to Lystra, and then they stone him. They work the pagans into a lather and they stone him and they leave him to dead. But it's the Jewish instigators that are bringing. And Timothy, you can expect Timothy to be standing there watching this. This is where Timothy comes from, and he is seeing all of this. But these Jews were not as concerned for the Gentile Timothies, but they were concerned about those Jews who were defecting, embracing Christ, and doing what Paul was doing. That was costly. You know, one of the reasons that the Jerusalem church needed financial support from all the Gentile churches is because they were being brutally treated in Jerusalem. And Paul understood this because Paul instigated many of those persecutions. You remember Stephen?

34:30That's why they kept taking offerings up to the church in Jerusalem because they were being hit very hard. So, have I convinced you? The Israel of God is not the entire church, it's a subset. Well, if I haven't convinced you, let's still be friends, okay? I don't want to bury the beauty of this verse in an interpretive issue because what comes next is very important that we get our minds around. The good news is that the peace of God and the mercy of God does not diminish once we're saved. Somehow, I think we get in our minds that we come to Christ, we can see God's mercy upon us in drawing us to Christ.

35:24We see His peace and we experience His peace for a short while after we come to Christ and we realize our sins are forgiven, then we get on with life, and then all of a sudden we feel like we've got to keep up His favor in our own strength and that there is no mercy for our failures. I can assure you that the God who extended His mercy to you long before you were a believer continues to extend His mercy to us even after we're believers. That's what Paul is saying.

35:58Sometimes we forget this truth. We easily can shift to a performance-based relationship, can't we? But his peace and his mercy do not diminish once we're saved. All the more. I love the way it's written. There is no verb in the Greek. So some of your translations will say, make it a statement, like a wishful thinking. If we're not careful, that's what we'll come away with. That those who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon you, or will be upon you.

36:43But it's just as easily say, peace and mercy is on you and will continue to be upon you. There is no verb. It's peace and mercy are upon and will continue to be upon. And boy, there is peace in knowing that your sins are forgiven, isn't it? Even post-conversion sins, your forgiveness of sins are complete. That'll bring peace, won't it? It quiets your conscience when you look to the cross and able to rest in what was accomplished there. There's peace in knowing that the favor of God rests upon you. Not only the pardon of God, but also. Also, the favor of God.

37:32And when you understand that the cross says it all, that what was accomplished there, peace, and the favor is set to the same degree that favor is upon Christ is upon Christ's people. It's an incredible statement. This will quiet your anxious strivings. I think we have a lot of anxious people today having to get out and accomplish something to please somebody, to rest, let the truth, Christ's work, which Paul is boasting in, settle, quiet your conscience, quiet your anxiousness and your anxious strivings for significance. But also mercy. Mercy is upon you.

38:24And just knowing that God's continued mercy upon you brings a level of peace. It also quiets the soul. But you can expect that God's mercy, the same mercy that was upon you while you were completely oblivious to Him or lived as if you were completely oblivious to Him, there's pardon, mercy, pardon for your sins, there's help in your difficult times, there's counsel to guide, there's friends that He will send to accompany you, and there is the ongoing knowledge. Of knowing that God is mindful, that we are but dust.

39:06Yeah, once a new creation continues, the whole grace and mercy was there even before we became new creations, but don't think it disappears afterwards. The one who calls you is still very much merciful and gracious to you. Paul says this similar thought, Romans 5:8, but God demonstrates his own love towards us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. You see, we need a reminder of that. The early church needed a reminder that God's continued peace and mercy was upon them, and so do we.

39:58Third aspect of a new creation is that you can be sure a new creation will bear the stigma of Jesus. New creation is what really matters. A new creation is under the peace and mercy of God, and that is not ever going to change. And a new creation will bear the stigma of Jesus. Hence, we need the peace and mercy. Look at what Paul says in verse 17. From now on, let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus. From now on, what Paul is saying is, look, for whatever life I have left remaining, I don't let anyone be causing me trouble. Trouble, don't let anybody, he's saying, don't cause me any trouble, mental angst or grief, heavy labors, troubles.

40:59See, the Judaizers were causing trouble. They were causing trouble for Paul, and they were causing trouble for the church. And what they were doing is they were saying, Paul isn't really a true apostle. Don't listen to Paul. We're coming from the church of Jerusalem, and let me tell you, Paul's off base. He's not someone to listen to. So they saw him as an illegitimate apostle. So they were causing trouble for Paul. But they were also causing trouble for the church because they were teaching the church that Christ's sacrifice was not sufficient. And this was throwing the church into confusion. And so the whole letter that we've been looking through is a response to this trouble.

41:50When Paul met the Lord, he became a new creation. And the world that he loved all of a sudden turned on him. Came to despise him. And new marks started showing up on his body that he belonged to Christ. Brand marks. Like a brand. We, Texas, we understand a brand. A mark. Branded. The word can be tattoos. So. Think about it this way: like if you wanted to put your attack, like a Gothic cross on your bicep and put another gossip, you know, I'm going to go down to the gym and preach, you know.

42:42You've seen that number? I'm going to preach. Well, if that's you, I just want to say that I want to caution you on that front. We're not talking about tattoos here. Don't let it be all about yourself and don't get your justification for tattoos from this verse because that's not at all what Paul's talking about here. The word is stigma, stigma. I bear on my body the stigma of Jesus. You see, sometimes the enemies of Jesus are better at identifying who the real Christians are than churchgoers. They know.

43:30They know. And so, this hostility of the flesh against the spirit showed up in the scars on Paul's body. Probably some of the stonings left over from Lystra were still, I mean, they left him for dead. You can be sure that he bore some of those marks, but there were many others that he would endure. And so, what Paul is saying is: look, the physical evidence of the legitimacy of Christ, of Paul's relationship with Christ, is in the stigma that he bears for Jesus Christ, not in circumcision. That's the marks that Paul is talking about. The world crucified Christ, and it continues in its hostility towards Christ by taking it out on his people. Still, very much in a battle between the flesh and the spirit. But, friends, any persecution you may face is really aimed at Christ. You're identified with Christ. It's really just aimed at Christ. And you will be, if you are a new creation, you will bear the stigma of Christ.

44:54Just think of the marks that Christ bore for us. Consider what a privilege it is in this fleeting, brief world that we have, the time we have, how privileged it is to be someone who can bear the stigma of Jesus Christ. It may not show up in large lacerations, scars on us, but still, if you are a new creation, get ready for the stigma of Christ. And this is what Paul is saying, verse 14: But may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

45:52So may we never boast in anything except the cross. Let us live in such a way that the stigma of Christ is upon us. I'm going to call the music team forward to take their positions here on the platform and lead us for a closing hymn. But the law of Christ that Paul speaks about at the beginning of chapter 6. Is really a law about conformity to him. I hope you'll come back tonight. We'll talk a little bit about this Torah of Moses and the Torah of Christ.

46:47But the law of Moses required absolute conformity, and so does the law of Christ. Absolute conformity to Christ. That is God's work in us. But you can never be like him. It's not something we could do unless we are made new. That's why you must experience the new creation. It's the new creation that really matters. It's the new creation that continues in God's peace and mercy, and it's the new creation that will bear the stigma of Jesus Christ.

47:28We've looked at this so that we will be a people who experience this new creation, not just in our heads, but in our hearts, not just in our Sundays, but in our Mondays, and that we would learn to grow in living for his glory. But that's not the end result. The end result is that God wants you to experience the new creation now and experience the new heavens and the earth. New earth later. The new creation is certainly to come, but you must first experience the new creation in your own heart before you will experience it in the world around you.

48:23Have you been born again? It's good theology. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do come before you, recognizing that we easily get caught up in focusing on that which is outward and lose sight of that which is inward. Forgive us, Lord, where we have prioritized greater audiences in our mind and thinking than you. Forgive us. May you be our singular, most important audience. Forgive us for all of our defections. Forgive us for letting ourselves be bewitched when you have so clearly communicated who you are. Forgive us.

49:23Father, and forgive us for the times when we have sought in our own power. Father, help. us to be done with living in our own strength. We know that there can be no peace in our own strength. There is no lasting fruit. So Father, we lay all this stuff before you. Forgive us of our inward defections. Forgive us and may we walk in your ways. Transform us and give us this new creation and remind us of this new creation and let it have its full effect in our lives. And in this people assembled here this morning, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.