Today we start a new sermon series on the book of Galatians.
The subtitle: SET FREE.
Galatians is probably one of Paul's earliest letters, written to a group of churches in a region called Galatia.

THE PROBLEM:
Galatians 1:6-7 - "I am SHOCKED that you are turning away so soon from God who called you through the loving mercy of Christ. You're following a DIFFERENT WAY that pretends to be the good news, but it's not the good news at all. You're being fooled by those who deliberately TWIST the truth concerning Christ."

Paul starts right off: "You guys are following a different gospel."

WHAT WAS THE "OTHER GOSPEL"?
Acts 15 tells us. Some men from Judea taught: "Unless you're CIRCUMCISED as required by the law of Moses, you CANNOT BE SAVED."
When you become a Christian, you first have to become JEWISH.
It's hard for some to break with tradition they learned all their life. They grew up being Jews. They followed the law. They couldn't conceive of NOT following the law.

The basic truth of the Old Testament doesn't change: Man sinned. Man broke relationship with God. God had mercy and received mankind back through GOD'S GRACE and through MAN'S FAITH.

So they went a step farther: "If you want to follow Jesus, you must become a good Jew just like us."
I'm sure in their minds, they were trying to be good Christians.
BUT PAUL SAW DEEPER.

For Paul, the basic question was: Is Christianity a SECT of Judaism? (Like being a Pharisee or Sadducee?) Or is this something TOTALLY NEW?
All of Jesus' first disciples were good Jewish men. So it's natural to think as the church grows, everybody should become a good Jewish man.
But Paul's answer: NO. This is something TOTALLY NEW. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

HOW SERIOUS IS THIS?
Galatians 1:8-10 - "Let God's curse fall on ANYONE—including us or even an angel from heaven—who preaches a DIFFERENT kind of good news. I say again: If anyone preaches any other good news, let that person be CURSED."

This isn't Paul saying "I'd really prefer you didn't do that." This is Paul saying: "If you follow a different gospel, you are CURSED."
TWO GOSPELS COMPARED:
PAUL'S GOSPEL:

Comes by God's GRACE
Requires FAITH in Christ
Results in obedience to the LAW OF CHRIST (love God, love others)

THE OTHER GOSPEL (Judaizers):
Also comes by grace of God
Requires OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW (Moses' law)
Results in following Old Testament requirements

Paul's gospel is about FOLLOWING CHRIST. The other gospel says you must SUBMIT TO THE LAW.

THE QUESTION:
Why would they EVER go back to submit to the law after experiencing freedom in Christ?

This series will explore what it means to be SET FREE in Christ.

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Final sermon in our forgiveness series. This isn't directly about forgiveness, it's about RESTORATION. But when you restore someone, forgiveness is almost always involved.

GALATIANS 6:1-5 gives us 5 things to do:

1. RESTORE GENTLY

Usually when we forgive, we're forgiving an offense against US. That brings up anger. But Paul says: forgive GENTLY.

Leave your anger at the door. Yes, you're angry. That's okay. But when you talk about forgiveness, that's NOT the time to express your anger.

Start with FACTS. "You did this." State what happened. THEN talk about feelings: "When you did this, this is how I felt."

Paul did this with Corinth (2 Corinthians). He stated facts, then explained how their actions made him feel.

2. WATCH YOURSELF

We don't forgive because we're so much better than the person we're forgiving. Frequently we're just as bad or even worse.

Examine your OWN actions. Even when we forgive, it's very important to set BOUNDARIES.

3. CARRY THE BURDEN WITH THEM

If they ask for forgiveness and you forgive, help them carry the burden of CONSEQUENCES.

Their action brings certain consequences. Help them understand those consequences. Walk through Matthew 18 process if needed: go to them, take witnesses, take to the church.

4. SET BOUNDARIES

Forgiveness ≠ reconciliation. You can forgive and still set boundaries.

If they say "I'm sorry, let's go back to the way things were," you can say NO. That's okay. Saying no is a RESPONSIBLE way to respond.

You might limit personal contact. They broke your trust. You no longer trust they won't do it again.

Examples:

• "We can get together once in a while, but weekly isn't right yet"
• Setting social media boundaries
• Limiting time/contact

5. LET THEM CARRY THEIR OWN LOAD

Galatians 6:2 - "Bear one another's burdens" Galatians 6:5 - "Each man shall bear his own burden"

Contradiction? NO. Two different Greek words.

Verse 2: "Share each other's BURDEN" (heavy crushing weight) Verse 5: "Each responsible for own CONDUCT" (personal pack/responsibility)

We help carry the CRUSHING burden. But they still carry responsibility for their OWN conduct.

Jesus said: "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." We can help carry the crushing weight. But they must carry their own responsibility.

BOTTOM LINE:

Forgive gently. Watch yourself. Carry the burden WITH them. Set boundaries. Let them carry their own load.

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HOW can we forgive?

THE HARD TRUTH: WE CAN'T. NOT ON OUR OWN.

Many of us say "I'll forgive anything...but I won't forgive THAT." We draw lines in the sand. We say "this far, but no further." Often it's something that impacts us or someone we love deeply.

Here's the truth: That line isn't real. Not in Jesus' book.

I don't think we CAN forgive in our human nature. Jesus calls us to such a high standard that it goes beyond our ability. It has to be THROUGH GOD working in you that you can even do it.

MATTHEW 18: PETER'S QUESTION
Peter asked: "How many times shall I forgive? Up to seven times?" (Seven = number of completion. Peter thought he was being generous.)
Jesus answered: "Not seven times, but SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN." (Or 77, depending on translation.)

Jesus isn't giving a literal number. He's saying: FOREVER FORGIVENESS. It's not quantifiable. It's infinite. It's complete.

WHY WE CAN'T DO IT:
Romans 3:10-12 - "None is righteous, no not one. No one understands. No one seeks God. All have turned aside. They've become worthless. No one does good, not even one."

This isn't just Paul. He's summarizing FOUR other Bible passages. This is an over-and-over theme: You're not good. I'm not good. The best person you know isn't good. We're incapable of good.

Yet we're asked to TOTALLY remove the transgressions people lay on us. Set it as far away as possible. Forgive quickly, in the moment. No number of times someone can wrong you where you finally say "Now we're done."

FORGIVENESS ≠ RECONCILIATION

Reconciliation = restoration of relationship. Everything made right. Moving forward as friends, hand in hand.

Forgiveness = in HERE (your heart). I'm not gonna hold that anymore. I'm not counting it against you.

Forgiveness doesn't mean I put myself in a position where you can do it again. BUT, sometimes it MIGHT mean that. Maybe that's between you and God.

THE HILARIOUS PART:
You can't do it yourself (everything you do is evil in your flesh). YET through God you CAN. AND YET...you HAVE to.

God loves doing that. "You can't do it. Only God can. But you totally have to though."

MATTHEW 18:23-35: PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT
A king forgave a servant's MASSIVE debt (10,000 bags of gold—unpayable). That same servant went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a tiny amount. Refused to show mercy. Had him thrown in jail.

The king called him back: "You wicked servant! I canceled your ENTIRE debt because you begged me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?"

The king handed him over to jailers to be tortured until he paid back everything.

The point: God forgave you an UNPAYABLE debt. How can you not forgive others?

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