“Out-godding God?”
Acts 15:1-18; Galatians
Introduction””He had been with the Agency for years and was one of their best. He was like and trusted by his immediate supervisor, who thought he was doing a great job. But the scene changed dramatically when his secret came out””Aldrich Ames was a double agent, working against the United States on behalf of the KGB. In fact, Ames revealed the identities of several U.S. agents working in the Soviet Union, nine of whom were executed shortly thereafter. Suddenly, the CIA lowered the boom. No matter what they had previously thought of him””the Unites States government responded quickly and firmly, prosecuting Ames to the full extent of the law. Why? Because Aldrich Ames had caused the death of several Americans and endangered the freedom all Americans enjoy by his treachery. And we”™d all agree””anyone who jeopardizes our freedom as Americans ought to be dealt with severely!
But interestingly enough””in the church today, we are not so ready to fight for our liberty in Christ, for the freedom that we have through the Gospel!
Swindoll: “We”™ll go to the wall and square off against any enemy who threatens to take away our national freedom, but we”™ll not be nearly so passionate as Christians under grace to fight for our rightful liberty. Let enough legalists come aboard and we will virtually give them command of the ship. We will fear their frowns, we will adapt our lives to their lists, we”™ll allow ourselves to be intimidated, and for the sake of peace at any price (even though it may lead to nothing short of slavery), we will succumb to their agenda” (91).
READ Acts 15:1-18 [The Message]
*Anyone that requires anything in addition to faith in Jesus for salvation is guilty of trying to out-god God, because God says we are saved by depending on Jesus alone.
What does it mean to try to “out-god” God?
If we require something of ourselves or of others that God doesn”™t require concerning our relationship with Him, then we are acting as if we know better than God””we are arrogantly trying to “out-god” God!
What does God say is required to have a relationship with Him?
Acts 15:7-9, 11 [READ, NKJV]
We need God”™s grace, received by faith in Jesus!
Galatians 2:15-16 [The Message]””“We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it””and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.”
John 3:16 [Quote]
—Cup of Water + 1 Drop of Arsenic=Poison
(NOT Refreshment!)
Swindoll: “Faith plus works is a catchy tune. It sounds harmless, even helpful at first. If we listen long enough, we”™ll find ourselves humming it. Then singing it. Then living it. Then forgetting all about grace” (8).
READ Galatians 2:1-5 [NKJV]
1. Expect Grace-Killers Regularly
They”™ve always been around and always will be!
Jesus dealt with the Pharisees. Paul dealt with these guys. You and I are surrounded by many legalists here in the Bible Belt.
Legalists usually don”™t know they are legalists.
Are you consumed with religious things that are not Biblically-essential? Are you more worried about your personal standards in the gray areas of life than personally introducing others to Jesus?
2. Resist Grace-Killers Completely (5a)
Swindoll: “Trust me, legalists don”™t get the message if you”™re unsure and soft with them” (113).
As soon as Paul smelled the aroma of Hell in their legalism, he told them to shut up and, no doubt, explained with vigor the freedom from any performance mentality that is ours in Christ! He believed GOD, not religious people””and so he wouldn”™t submit himself to their petty rules, he didn”™t let himself feel condemned for breaking their traditions, he didn”™t let anyone tell him that he couldn”™t know God if he ate and drank certain things. And Paul didn”™t let these grace-killers intimidate anyone else either!
Is your freedom precious enough to you that you will firmly confront petty people when necessary?
Galatians 5:1””“Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take you stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you” (The Message).
With all your might, resist legalists””don”™t let anyone enslave you!
3. Understand Grace-Killers Clearly (5b)
The Gospel is at stake! This is no trivial matter! If we give in to legalism, we forfeit the only way of salvation that God has given!
Bridges: “Freedom and grace are two sides of the same coin. We cannot enjoy one without the other. If we are to truly live by grace, we must stand firm in the freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus” (131).
Acts 15:10””“So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too?” (The Message).
Swindoll: “Believing grace is one thing. Living it is another.”
So, here are 2 action points to summarize what we”™ve talked about today:
1. Don”™t be guilty of trying to out-god God by submitting to the fear of what others think.
FEAR of Others is the passive form of out-godding God!
Peterson: “Without being aware of it, we become anxious about what others will say about us, obsessively concerned about what others think we should do. We no longer live the good news but anxiously try to memorize and recite the script that someone else has assigned to us” (Swindoll, 113-114).
Do not let others bind you with their rules, their standards, their personal practices, when God doesn”™t make the same demands!
–Beverages, food, clothes, activities, music styles, etc.
–Other examples?
Mike Yaconelli: “Petty people are ugly people . . . They are people who have turned their eyes away from what matters and focused, instead, on what doesn”™t matter. The result is that the rest of us are immobilized by their obsession with the insignificant . . . it is time the church quit pretending that pettiness doesn”™t matter . . . Pettiness has become a serious disease in the Church of Jesus Christ””a disease which continues to result in terminal cases of discord, disruption, and destruction. Petty people are dangerous people because they appear to be only a nuisance instead of what they really are””a health hazard” (Swindoll, 117).
A lost and dying world doesn”™t have time for petty people in the church! They need us to be living and proclaiming freedom in the grace of Christ that they can know by simple faith in Him!
But, even as we resist what they stand for, we must love the legalist! God does! Just look at what God can do with a former legalist by remembering the life of Paul!
2. Don”™t be guilty of trying to out-god God by judging others”™ spirituality based on human rules (my own thoughts/”convictions”/standards or the rules of others).
LEGALISM/Self-Righteous Judgment is the active form of out-godding God!
“Cheer up! You”™re a lot worse than you think you are! But cheer up, God”™s grace is a lot better than you think it is!” (Steve Brown”™s friend).
Is your freedom””and the freedom of others””precious enough to you that you will throw away your list of do”™s and don”™t”™s concerning life”™s gray areas and allow others to enjoy life under the direction of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, while you do the same?
News Flash: The Holy Spirit is big enough and strong enough to straighten out your brother/sister if they are truly wrong about a particular practice in their lives that the Bible is not explicitly clear about!
By the way, next week we”™re going to talk about “How to make sure you don”™t hurt others with your freedom”””ie, how we sometimes must limit our use of our freedom in order to love others.
But make no mistake””the greater need will always be standing firm in our freedom in Christ, because there is a grace-killing pride/self-righteousness in every person on the planet!
Conclusion—Live in celebration of the fact that all of our supposed and attempted goodness is nothing but dung before God, but Jesus paid it all on the cross and He is our complete righteousness””we are fully accepted by the Father if we trust Jesus!
If we live that way, we won”™t have time to try to out-god God””nor will we waste time being victimized by others trying to out-god God . . . we”™ll stand firm in our freedom and boast in Jesus alone!
C.S. Lewis: “Grace substitutes a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our Need, a joy in total dependence. We become ”˜jolly beggars”™” (Yancey, 273).
Live as “jolly beggars”””honest about your own spiritual bankruptcy, but confident in the full forgiveness and complete righteousness that is yours by faith in Jesus!