Bayview Church Guam: Recent Episodes
Bayview Church Guam
Welcome to the weekly sermon podcast of Bayview Church in Guam. To learn more visit our website at https://bayviewguam.com/.
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." ~Romans 8:1-4
2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 22:30, Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:23-27, Isaiah 65:16-17, 2 Peter 3:11, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Jude 1:21-23, Hebrews 10: 24-45, 2 Timothy 4:1-2
Paul addresses the age-old battle of continuing to sin that every Christian faces. Paul uses Greek word sarx which means "flesh" to represent the desire to sin. We see this great inward struggle by the contrasting appearance of the word Spirit (7x) with that of sarx (5x). Paul identifies the dueling presence of the words of the sarx with the fruits of the Spirit in this thought provoking and motivating sections of the letter.
How can we know we are really saved? Paul gives us THE TEST and he warns the Galatians if their salvation rests on performance they can be severed from Christ. You can't add anything to the work of Christ. How then does keeping the law matter once saved? Pauline theology shapes this view: The law is an expression of God's nature and keeping the law is a way to imitate him, but not to earn salvific favor. The gospel sets us free from the law for the law.
"If salvation is by works then only the fertile can have children." Wow - unpack that! Paul's brilliant use of the story of Sarah and Hagar condemns any dependence on works for salvation. Hagar was fertile and the effort to bring about God's promise through her failed. Sarah was old and barren, yet God in his own sovereign power and grace fulfills his promise through her. Paul is saying there are two ways of salvation - put your faith in the right one. The Ishmael path often persecutes the Isaac path and we see this occurring in the Galatians church Paul is writing to.
How does Paul go from position of "like and angel" to that of an enemy in the eyes of the Galatians? The answer: influencers. This message addresses the issues of influencers and their work to build followers. Paul exposes that influencers ultimately care about themselves when he says, "They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them." Paul wants to make much of Christ. Who are the influencers in your life today and is their ultimate purpose to make much of Christ?
The greatest position in all of the created universe is to be in the family of God. A child of the king of the universe and an heir to that kingdom - what other identity could ever overshadow that? Paul destroys man's proclivity for tribalistic identities. Even his clever use of a pronoun accentuates his point. our first identity should always be...Christian.
The word promise occurs 7x in this passage where Paul leads us to the guardian of that promise - the law? Paul explains how the law functioned as a teacher who is preparing a child live life in the future as a free adult. Paul touches on the depravity of man and his need for the law to show him what he is really like underneath. The law helps us see our need for Christ so we may receive him in faith.
Fools! Paul painted the perfect picture of Christ's work of the gospel in them. It was a spiritual work. He suggests the Galatians are under a delusion to think that something spiritual can be perfected through the works of the flesh. Anyone who tries to live this way is cursed. The alternative? Christ became a curse for us so we can receive the Spirit in faith. Paul gives us the example of Abraham and how faith is credited to those who have faith.
The word justified occurs 5x in these verses as Paul applies the fact our position before Christ is as if I died and was judged on the cross with Christ, but also we are seen by God today as if I lived the life the Christ did. Justified = Just-as-if I died in Christ and Just-as-if I lived His life. This is why we need to stop trusting in our moral efforts and trust in the work of Christ.
Clash of the Titans! One of the most astonishing scenes in all of the new testament is presented when Paul confronts Peter to his face in front of the church. Out of fearing man Peter had simply stopped acting in accordance with his convictions. This message addresses how unity is breached when we elevate other identities above that of Christians.
Traditions that become non-negotiables create legalism. Thus far Paul is laying groundwork to fight for freedom by defending his calling and expresses his concern now that his work for a fruitful ministry is being threatened because the Galatians are being pulled back into following unnecessary traditions. Spies against freedom have infiltrated Paul's ministry, but they will have to contend with the litmus test of Titus, the divine revelation given Paul and the agreement to Paul's position by the great pillars of the early church.
What was the pre-Christian Paul like? He was a superman of Jews. He was zealous in pursuit of moral righteousness and a violent persecutor of the church. What changed him? He affirms it wasn't because of personal enlightenment, intellectual reasoning or reflection. The gospel was received and God set him apart as an apostle (what is an apostle?). This is perhaps the greatest testimony in the history of the church.
Is Paul Angry? The tone immediately suggests his hatred for the false gospel that is reversing the work he did in building the gospel into the Galatian believers. You have been rescued! Christ's work as your substitute satisfied any debt you owed and to add anything else to the effort (works) is to be suggest more is needed and God doesn't take 2 payments. Any other truth being presented to you should be damned.