Living out the Gospel

On Tuesday night, Landmark Campus Ministry (LCM) took a trip to Auburn to worship with the Auburn Christian Students at their PB&J Devotional. The idea here was to forgo eating out, eat the Pb&j sandwich, and donate the money you would have used on dinner to their fund that helps two orphans they sponsor in Kenya. At first, I wasn't sure if I should go because I had a major Hebrew quiz to study for, but how glad I am that I did! 

*As a side note, this blog is mostly coming from notes and thoughts I jotted down while listening so I apologize if it seems a little disorderly.*

The group had been studying Galatians and the speaker, Micah was starting in chapter 2:11-21. His topic was Living out the Gospel.

11 But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

The Gospel is not only the good news that we preach to others. The Gospel is something that impacts our lives and something we strive to live out daily. Micah began by giving us a few quotes from a fellow brother in Christ and leader that had the mindset that blacks and whites should not greet and acknowledge each other in church and so forth. He also mentioned a few other churches in this day and age that would not marry an interracial couple or even a black couple because of the controversy it may cause within the church. Micah mentioned that this mindset was foreign to Paul as is evident in Galatians 2. Micah spoke on these divisions and others that occur within the church and said that Paul makes these divisions a Gospel issue. 

In Galatians 2, Paul confronts Peter because he is not living out the Gospel. Peter is shown eating with the Gentiles, who have not been circumcised as according to the law, but when those who came from Jerusalem who did not believe the Gentiles were right, Peter began to withdraw from his feasting with them. He withdrew because of fear. By eating with them he was showing that God accepted these people even those who have not obeyed the law. Why was he afraid?, Micah asked. Well, we can only speculate, but maybe he was fearful of what it would do to his reputation with the Jews, maybe he had a fear of losing his influence, and maybe he was concerned about how he could convert Jews when he was sitting with the Gentiles. 

Peter has not changed his beliefs in this moment (he believes the Gentiles are accepted), but he changes his actions which makes him a hypocrite and that is exactly what Paul calls him. 

We are justified by God. Justified means how we become acceptable to God. Paul points that obeying the law is not acceptable enough to justify you. Trust and faith in Him justifies you. Jesus was obedient to God and through faith in Christ we are justified. We should accept people on the basis of God accepting them. What does your life communicate about the Gospel? You are accepted because Jesus did all the right things and you trust in Him. This is all that Paul said in response to Peter in Antioch. He does not give us the end of the story because maybe the people did not all agree with him. 

You can't just know the Gospel, You have to live it out! Romans 15:7, "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." 

In practice how does the Gospel affect who you accept as friends as brothers and sisters in Christ. Is your life communicating I accept people just as Christ accepts them. Do you hang out with those who are the same as you? If you took away the Christianity in your friend group, would you still have things in common socioeconomically, ethnically, and racially? It should not be this way. It should not be comfortable. Preferences, also, should not be a barrier. There should be forgiveness in your relationships as well. There is no time for grudges.

I found this lesson very interesting, especially since the past week it seems like church and my small groups and discussions with friends has centered around this very same topic. Even the very next day we had the discussion similar to this in Counsel (bible study group), where we discussed justice. Why do we treat people the way we do? Why is it so easy for me to look at myself and realize I am not perfect but look at someone else and blame their weaknesses on their selves and refuse to accept them just as Christ accepts them?  Matthew 5:38-48 instructs us how to treat others. How often do we read these verses and NOT carry them out? We seem to still carry out justice as society does. We put people in prison then refuse to help them reintegrate into society when their sentence is up. 

Is God's justice different than the world considers justice? YES! Isaiah 53:4-6 reads, 

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

  But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

  All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Godly justice is this: The crime was punished and it is the intercessory nature of Christ; he takes on our punishment. We, as a society, have a miscarriage of justice. In I Peter 2:21-24, He trusted God to crucify him and to meet out justice. His mercy goes hand in hand with justice. Sometimes justice is as much about withholding as it is about punishing. For people to respect our beliefs we need to have Godly justice. This is where the recidivism of prisoners comes in as an example. We have one of the worst rates of recidivism in the world. We do not help them or accept them as Christ accepts them and do not help them to reenter into society. We are all sinners and Jesus’ blood was shed for EVERYONE.

EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. IN. THIS. WORLD.

Jesus broke the laws of temporality on the cross, our sins were put on Him, and time cannot have mattered at that moment. When you sin that price has already been paid if you atone for it. We are so quick to use our faith as a tool against people. Why is it our nature to act with retaliation?

Galatians 5:2-6 says, "Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love."

We cannot keep the law perfectly and you cannot treat people like they can keep it perfectly as well. Why can't we live our lives in such a way that is fundamentally different it is noticed and people see that we are not like them and they want to be like us because of the way we live our lives? We need to give them the same redemption we want for ourselves.