Jumping Off Bridges

This sermon was preached for Capital Pres Fairfax on October 1, 2023 as a part of our series through the book of Galatians. Below is a manuscript of the message I preached, along with an extended reflection and application I didn’t have time for on Sunday. A recording of this sermon will be available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

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In 2015 I worked at a church in Nashville and went on a summer retreat with their middle school students. One of the activities that week was white-water rafting, which sounds way more exciting than it really was; it was more like a two-hour tube float down a lazy river. By the end, some of the students felt like they hadn’t gotten the adrenaline rush they signed up for. So they decided to climb up on the nearby bridge, walk across the railroad tracks, and jump about thirty feet into the water. 

That was not a great choice. The river was not that deep. They hadn’t even really thought about testing the depth before they jumped. Thankfully no one got hurt, but we shut that activity down as soon as we could and there were a few calls home to mom. How do you think that phone call went? What do you think mom’s reply was? 

“You did what!? Boy, I carried you inside of me for nine months! I gave birth to you, I nursed you, I changed your diapers for years, I’ve cooked your meals and cleaned your room your whole life, we’ve paid for your piano lessons and soccer equipment which I drive you to twice a week. I’ve taken you to doctors appointments and the emergency room, I’ve given you every privilege and opportunity, and you’re going to behave like this?” 

Kids, have you ever been on the receiving end of one of those speeches? Parents, maybe you’ve been on the giving end of one of those speeches! Either way, I think we can all resonate with that impulse. Sometimes to make a point when we’re really fired up, we wanna back up and tell the whole story. 

That’s the kind of intensity we find here in Galatians. Paul views his churches like his children, and he’s fired up. He’s caught them doing something far more dangerous than jumping off a bridge, and to make his point, he tells a whole story. He backs up more than twenty years to recount his own conversion and his interactions with Peter, including a time he caught Peter “jumping off a bridge.” Our passage today tags on to the end of that story and then, Paul makes his point. He turns his focus back to the Galatians, because they’re at risk of going down the exact same road. Hopefully you’ll see that you and I are in the same spot, this passage is a warning for us, too. Paul writes to us with all the fire and fervor of a loving parent so let’s see what he has to say. 

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. 

There’s a word we see repeated multiple times in this passage: justification. This is legal language; imagine we’re entering into a courtroom setting. In this picture, you and I are on trial, and God is the Judge. The question at hand is, “What determines whether or not you are guilty? On what basis can you be declared innocent?” That’s what “justified” means, it means proven innocent and righteous. Today we’ll see two roads, two different ways we try to find justification, and where those roads lead us. 

The False Gospel 

Let’s start with that first road, which we’ll call “the false gospel.” The false gospel says “You want to know what it takes to be justified? Easy, just follow these three simple steps.” First, You have to be an insider. Second, you have to keep the rules. Third, you cannot mess up. Let’s look at each of these steps. 

In the metric of the false gospel, there’s only two kinds of people: there are insiders, and there are outsiders. In the false gospel that’s presented to Peter and to the Galatians, you’re either a Jew, or a Gentile “sinner.” Here’s how the reasoning goes. When the Jews at this time read their history, they saw God choosing them from among all the nations of the world to be his people. The laws of Moses gave them tons of cultural markers to distinguish them from everyone else. There were circumcised people and uncircumcised, there were clean foods and unclean foods, there were appropriate ways to dress and inappropriate ways to dress. Or think about the temple in Jerusalem: when they went to worship God, there was literally the outer court for Gentiles and the inner court for Jews. 

That was the impression that most Jews had at this time. From birth, you’re either starting out as God’s friend or God’s enemy. If you wanna be his friend, you have to be a Jew. Even if you’re a really good person otherwise, until you become “one of us” by adopting our cultural markers you’ll never be justified. That might sound overwhelming, but don’t worry, that’s just the bare minimum. 

You also have to keep all the rules. These are the other things we read in the laws of Moses. You know the stuff—don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t eat any eels, don’t go into the home of an outsider, don’t boil a goat in its mother’s milk. Just the simple things! The point is, you need to know all the rules of the community and you need to keep them. If you’re an insider, you’ve got to live like one. 

And whatever you do, you cannot mess up. Here’s the thing: from the moment you wake up in the morning to the moment you fall asleep, from the moment you’re born to the moment you die, you’re on trial. God is watching your every move to make sure you’re keeping all these rules and laws. If at any point you mess up, you’re at risk of being judged guilty. God is pretty patient so if you screw up a few times on some smaller things, he might write it off—but if you make so much as one wrong move, that’s it. No hope, full guilty. Straight to hell. Hell. That’s what’s at stake here! If you mess up, you go to hell. 

So there you go, there’s your three steps: Be an insider, keep the rules, and don’t screw up. What does that sound like to you? You might think that sounds like a cult! Maybe you think that sounds like your high school or your office. I hope this isn’t the case, but maybe you’re thinking “That sounds like my old church!” 

Honestly friends, this is the way many of the world’s communities operate, whether conservative or liberal, whether religious or secular. “You wanna be accepted here? You want to be justified in our community? Be just like us, act the way we act, and if you ever mess up, you’re out.” And again, to be honest, churches really can be the worst enforcer of this. I hope and pray that’s not been your experience, but for many it has been. 

Churches sometimes demand that you be an “Insider” before you’re really accepted. Maybe it’s this: “You didn’t grow up in the church? You don’t know where Galatians is in the Bible? You better play catch-up before you’re one of us.” Maybe it’s about what type of Christian you are: “You have to understand Reformed theology. You can’t possibly claim to be a Christian if you don’t understand predestination.” Worse yet, sometimes people feel like outsiders because of physical or mental health struggles. “You’re an addict? You’re depressed? You’ve got a disability? Sorry, you’re not going to fit in here.” 

Sometimes churches are quick to call you an insider but then shove a list of rules in your face and say “You have to keep these to stay.” Go to church every single Sunday and wear dress clothes. Tithe at minimum ten percent. Don’t ever drink alcohol, don’t ever swear, don’t let your children misbehave. If you fail in any of these areas, you’re out. 

And I’m sure some of us have realized the moment we were no longer welcome in a church community. “You voted for WHO? You don’t belong here.” Or “You’re divorced? That’s a deal breaker.” Or “You’re attracted to the same gender? Not welcome.” 

Does that sound like church to you? Let me tell you what that sounds like to me: a false gospel. I pray that Jesus keeps us far away from this madness; may we never be a church like that. This is the danger greater than jumping off a bridge. That’s exactly what Paul is fighting against in Galatians. 

The True Gospel 

To counter it, Paul presents the second road: the true gospel. It has its own three steps, and Paul shows us how they differ from the false gospel’s path. Look with me at verse 16, he says still to Peter “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” This has massive ramifications. 

First, it means that they’ve got the insider-outsider divide all wrong. Paul retold the story of when he learned that lesson in Galatians 1. He was the most inside Insider to ever live. He excelled in the Jewish community beyond anyone else. He assumed if anyone was in good standing with God, it was him—until he actually met the Lord. Do you remember Jesus’ first words to Paul? “Why are you persecuting me?” There’s no clearer declaration of being an enemy of God. 

His whole notion of being an insider or an outsider was wrong all along. The line wasn’t between Jews by birth and Gentile “sinners”, it was between sinners and God. Think of it this way: the division wasn’t between the outer court and the inner court, it was between the Holy of Holies and everywhere else. With respect to our standing before God, the true gospel tells us that we all start as outsiders. 

That blows the roof off any notion that we can keep the rules. Keep reading with me in verses 17-18 and we see Paul having an imaginary debate with his opponents. They’re shocked that he’s saying being an insider is no longer necessary. Verse 17 essentially says “You’re telling me, Paul, that Jesus says you don’t have to be circumcised anymore!? You don’t need those cultural markers? Then Jesus is making Jews sinners!” 

Paul vehemently disagrees. Verse 18 gives us his reasoning: “if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” The implicit message of the false gospel is, “Paul, you’re way out of line. It’s time for you to come back to the law, you don’t wanna be found to be a sinner!” Paul tells them, “It’s too late. I’ve already torn all that down. I’ve proven myself to be a sinner. If I were to rebuild it, that would just confirm the fact that I tore it down in the first place.” That’s why Paul continues in verse 19 “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” In other words, we can’t run back to the law and seek life in obedience; we have to confess our guilt and look to God for deliverance. 

So here’s the road of the true gospel. Instead of “Be an insider,” the true gospel’s first step is “Recognize that you’re an outsider.” Instead of “Keep the Rules” the true gospel’s second step is “Seek forgiveness in Christ.” The third step of the false gospel is “Don’t screw up.” What is the third step for the true gospel path? We find it in verses 20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Step three of the true gospel is “Find life in Christ.” This is the most important difference, so we’ll close our time by focusing on this third point. 

Find Life in Christ

Let’s come back to that courtroom setting where God is the judge. This is the one thing the false gospel got right: there really is a trial going on, and if you’re found guilty, the sentence is death. If you follow the false gospel, you’re still on trial. You are still being judged. That makes sense, right? For as long as you live, you have to stay innocent—and you’re still alive. There’s a possibility you could be found guilty, either for something you did in your past or some mistake you might make in your future. You are gambling your whole life on your status as an insider and your own measure of innocence. Do you really think you can stand trial? The Bible is clear: by God’s standards we are all guilty. If you go to trial clinging to the false gospel, you will die under the law. 

But what about the true gospel? Come back to the courtroom and let’s see where that road leads. According to the true gospel, the trial is already over. Christians have been judged, and the verdict is innocent.  You read that right: innocent! You know why? The penalty has already been paid in full. See verse 20 “I have been crucified with Christ.” 

You see, friends, Jesus is the only person who has ever been justified by his own works. Jesus was the only true Insider, who could enter the Holy of Holies. Jesus was perfectly obedient to the laws of God, never once sinning. And the reason he came wasn’t to justify himself, it was to justify you. He chose to offer himself as a sacrifice for guilty sinners like me and you. He pays the price for our sin and replaces our guilt with his own innocence. The death penalty has already been executed, justice has been served and at the moment of Jesus’ death, the barrier between us and the Holy of Holies is torn in two. 

Paul continues “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Do you know what that means? When God looks at you, he declares you justified. In Christ, you have been made an insider. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t born and raised in the church. You may not understand predestination. You might not be dressed up in nice clothes. You might be attracted to the same gender, but to Jesus, you are just as welcome here. You have been made an insider.

In Christ, You have been declared innocent and spotless. Maybe you feel overwhelmed with guilt because you haven’t kept all the rules—you’ve done things that other people judge you for. No! If Christ is your life, you are innocent. Maybe when you think about yourself you sink in shame. You’ve heard all those lies for why you’re not welcome in church and walk around feeling impossibly stained. No! If Christ is your life, you are spotless. 

And finally, in Christ you have been made alive. Our worship started with this quote from theologian Richard Gaffin:

“It is not an overstatement to say, as Paul sees things, that at the core of [a Christian’s] being, in the deepest recesses of who they are…believers will never be more resurrected than they already are. God has done a work in each believer, a work of nothing less than resurrection proportions, that will not be undone.” (Gaffin, By Faith, Not By Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation)

Church, you are not on trial anymore. You are innocent, and you are alive. You are all these things because Christ is all these things. As he sits enthroned in heaven with angels pouring out their ceaseless praise, that is the life that fills your soul. You are justified because he is justified. 

This series, we’ve been working on our gospel fluency. Fluency implies that you know this language to its core. Uou have a deep understanding of the grammar of the language, the way it operates at a fundamental level. We’ve talked about justification by faith and union with Christ today. Know this: these aren’t just vocabulary words to memorize when you speak the language of the gospel. Union with Christ is the absolute core principle of our faith. This is the grammar of the gospel. This is the point Paul is making. Being a Christian means you are united with Christ; you fully share in his death and you fully share in his resurrection. 

That forever changes the way they live. We are no longer under the pressure of perfect obedience at risk of hell. We don’t need to justify ourselves, and we cannot demand others justify themselves. We are free from the burden of the law and we are sent to share this freedom with those around us, to invite outsiders in and point them to our Savior. Think about this the next time you want to justify yourself when you’re caught in the wrong, or when you hesitate to invite someone to church because you don’t think they’d fit in here. All are welcome, all are in need of Christ, and all are free to unite themselves to him through faith. We want this to be a community where that happens; we are all outsiders who have been brought in and declared innocent through union with Christ. 

I’ll end with this. Look at the rest of verse 20 “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.” Look at our Savior. No one else has a savior like Jesus.

The false gospel can make no sense of Jesus; verse 21 says “if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” If you are pursuing a false gospel, there is no love, there is only judgement, and Jesus means nothing to you.  Heed Paul’s warning. Flee from justification by works. Don’t jump off that bridge. The false gospel is no gospel at all. 

Instead, look to Jesus. Right there, at the heart of our gospel, is the Son of God, who loves you and gave himself for you. If you follow the true gospel, if you seek justification in Christ, Jesus is your very life. Bring your guilt to him, put your trust in him, and find your life in him. 

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When you see the road of the false gospel presented so clearly, you might think “That sounds miserable! Who would want to follow that?” I’d be willing to bet, that false gospel is actually far more alluring to us than we’d like to think. In fact, it’s so alluring that of all people the apostle Peter fell for it. Peter was the first one who received the message of Gentile inclusion! This was the belief Peter had going into Acts 10. It took three visions of Jesus, clear words from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit filling Gentiles in the exact same way Peter had received the Spirit for him to finally get it: outsiders were just as welcome by God to join his family as insiders. But then just a few years later, Paul finds himself forgetting this lesson in Antioch. How could that be? 

We’ve been using the language of gospel fluency this Fall. The problem is, we’re all learning true gospel fluency as a second language. Our heart language is the false gospel. We really like this sort of false gospel so long as we’re the insiders, we get to determine the rules, and we get to decide when we’ve broken them. It’s a way of exercising control to make ourselves feel justified. But in reality, we’re using our own standards to distract ourselves from the real dividing line between us as sinners and God. If we persist in holding to the false gospel, it places us under judgement. Unless we die to the law, we will die under the law. 

It’s also worth noting: the false gospel still claims Jesus as a Savior—but he is a very different savior than the true gospel’s Jesus. The false gospel says that Christ has come to save good people from sinners; he’s come to save insiders from outsiders. This was the expectation of the Jews in the time of Jesus. We even see his own disciples struggling with this misconception. Peter and his friends fully anticipated Jesus to claim the throne of David as king of the Jews and lead their nation into battle against all the Gentile kingdoms that threatened them. All Romans would die under his judgement. 

Imagine their shock when Jesus was the one dying under Roman judgement. Again, to quote Paul in Gal 2:21 “if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” The true gospel says that Christ has come to save sinners from themselves, he’s come to save outsiders from judgement. This ought to radically change our hearts when we look at “outsiders” in our own day. Paul elsewhere reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). Jesus has not come to save us from sinners. He’s sent us to show sinners the true gospel. 

That gay neighbor who flies the rainbow flag in their yard? They are an outsider. Yes, they’re a sinner. Christians do sinners no favors by leaving them to their sin. But the opposite side of that is just as important. We do outsiders a great injustice by treating them like they’re the problem–as if they are what Jesus is rescuing us from, and as if we are any less of sinners left to ourselves. 

If they’re an outsider, that means they are invited to your church to hear the true gospel, turn to Christ for forgiveness, and find life in him. That also means they need to feel welcome as an outsider. It is a false gospel to demand people conform to the “insider image” before they are welcome in your church. The same goes for your obnoxious coworker, or your gossiping hairdresser, or your racist uncle who only ever wears football jerseys. Our hearts should first and foremost take a position of mercy and empathy as we recognize their sins make them just as guilty as ours made us before Christ—and also a position of hope that they might find the exact same pardon we have through union with him. Remember, the alternative is hell. You were rescued from that. You might be the agent of their rescue with a simple invite and a welcoming church culture. Invite the outsiders in to our loving Savior.