On the 5th Sunday after Pentecost the Series C three readings are 1 Kings 19:9b-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25 and Luke 9:51-62. The text chosen to preach about is Galatians 5:18, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Two of the primary understandings of the Christian faith in the United States are Evangelicals land Reformation thinkers. The main difference is that Evangelicals–and in this case we would include Roman Catholics–beleive in a decision theology of sorts. In other words, Evangelicals believe that the natural man is not so fallen that he cannot cooperate in some way with God’s grace either to take the first steps in his salvation or to invite Christ into his heart. Reformation Christians, on the other hand, teach that there is nothing an unbeliever can do, say or think in order to become saved. To put it bluntly, God is not able to teach an unbeliever what to do, say or think in order to become saved. Instead, salvation is a gracious gift from God given to those who do NOT deserve it!

These two views of Christian theology have different understandings on many doctrines. Galatians 5 speaks of the difference between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh. For Evangelicals walking in the Spirit means to keep from sinning. The indication that a person is walking in the Spirit is that he has changed his life, he is more at peace, he feels God’s presence, he is blessed more and more. This is in stark contrast to the Reformation view that walking in the Spirit is what a believing sinner does in that he lives a life of repentance, not sinlessness. For the Reformation believer, walking in the flesh is not simply committing sin but enjoying it, practicing it and refusing to repent of it.

These differences are made clearer by what each means by not being “under the law” as verse 18 reveals. Reformation theology teaches that being under the Law means that a person imagines he can contribute to or cooperate with God to become saved. Such living under the Law results in living under the curse of the Law which God promised would lead to death. Living under the Law is living according to the thinking of Satan while living under the cross is living according to the thinking of the Triune God.

It is not surprising to find congregational members concluding that by going to church, praying a lot, helping out the neighbor and so forth that they are making sure that they go to heaven. But the Reformation revealed that if Christian’s motivation to do good works is for the purpose of staying saved, that is sin. God would prefer a dish of dirt rather than your works as a way of meriting your salvation. The Reformation Christian will do fruit of the Holy Spirit but not with the purpose of sealing salvation. God does not need or appreciate works done with such a motivation because it takes away the glory of Jesus and replaces it with our own. To some degree then, Evangelical thinking today stems from a theology of self-glory in contrast to Reformation theology which stands squarely on the theology of the cross.

The three assigned readings for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost are Isaiah 65:1-9; Galatians 3:23-4:7 and Luke 8:26-39. Chosen for the sermon text is Galatians 3:24, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

The interpretation and application of this verse all depends on how one understands the Greek word for “tutor” which is also our English “pedagogue.” Different translations use “guardian,” “pedagogue,” “tutor” and the King James has “schoolmaster.” Unfortunately, most of these have the concept of the office of a teacher as though the Law was teaching us how to get to the real teacher, Jesus Christ. However, of the options provided the closest to come to the real sense is “guardian.” For this individual was a trustworthy slave of either a wealthy Greek or Roman family. His task was not to teach the young boy but to guard and supervise his morals. In fact, the boy was not even permitted to step out of the house without this guardian until he reached manhood.

Not only was the Law a guardian in that is made us aware of sin (Romans 3:20) but it also had a curbing use to keep us from doing sin. For most young men this guardian was not so much a friend as a jailer keeping in check the behavior of the boys. By means of the motivation of either fear of punishment or hope of reward, the Law worked on the basis of the self-interest of the individual to keep him in check. The guardian was not so much a friend of the boy as a watcher and judge over all that he did.

The Law as a teaching tutor therefore is a total misunderstanding if one has the sense that it teaches us how to be saved. For no teaching is possible–even by God Himself–to help the natural man become saved. The Gospel of Christianity is NOT a set of teachings as to what you are to do in order to become saved. There are no steps to salvation that anyone can follow; there is no possibility for an unbeliever to make a right choice or provide an invitation to God to come into his life.

The bottom line is that the Law cannot teach anyone how to be saved because its purpose is to make natural man aware of his total inability to do, say or think anything that will help him to be saved. And the Gospel is also not a teaching of how one is saved. Instead, the Gospel is the announcement that your sins have been forgiven at the cross of Christ and that effort on the part of Jesus was absolutely successful in light of His resurrection from the dead. 

It is NOT that Christianity doesn’t teach. It’s just that the Christian faith doesn’t teach anyone how to be saved. Rather, the faith reveals how you have been saved. Only after you are totally saved does the faith begin to teach you. It teaches you how God and God alone became a human being to save you; it teaches about the mercy and grace of God; it teaches all the gracious promises of God for the believer in Christ and it teaches about the celestial heaven after the Day of Judgment. Yes, Christianity teaches. It just doesn’t teach an unbeliever how to be saved. God is not capable of providing you with a 4-step plan as to what you are to do in order to be saved.

Indeed, salvation come by grace through faith on account of Jesus Christ. And that came about for many because the Law made them aware of the impossibility of being able to do anything to get saved. Instead, salvation is a gift from God that comes not through hearing instructions as to how to be saved but through hearing the revelation from God Himself as to how God saves you without any contribution or cooperation on your part.

For the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, the three assigned readings are 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-14; Galatians 2:15-21; 3:10-14 and Luke 7:36-8:3. The text that will be used as the basis for the sermon this coming Sunday is Galatians 3:13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree).’”

Some passages of Scripture really hit the nail on the head in regard to the essential teaching of the Christian faith. This is one such passage. For while there are passages which appear at first reading to contradict Christianity when works are said to be what gets one into heaven, this passage from Galatians 3 reveals the true purpose of the cross of Christ. The sermon may begin by asking the hearers what they consider to be the true purpose of the cross. For some, the cross is an example we are to follow in setting aside our desires for the needs of another person. Others may speak of the cross as the event when my sins were taken away.

It has been my experience that even the answer of the forgiveness of sins as a benefit of the cross is not properly understood. For example, I recently heard a theologian speak of the idea that because of the cross, we are now innocent. That can be confusing. For it leads to the following analogy in a court room. The jury comes back and indicates that the evidence has not been sufficient to find a person guilty and therefore makes the judgment of “not guilty.” But that is not the message of Christianity. There is more than sufficient evidence to find each of us guilty as poor, miserable sinners deserving nothing but temporal and eternal punishment.

Then what is a more appropriate court room analogy? You are arrested for going over the speed limit. The judge declares you guilty and the sentence is either a $100.00 fine or ten days in jail. Now you have no money at all. However, your brother is in court and offers to pay the $100.00 fine. Will the judge accept the payment from someone other than  you? In such a case, he would. Having had the fine paid, you are free to go but are you innocent of the crime? The answer is no. You are still guilty; it’s just that the penalty was fulfilled by someone other than you.

The Christian faith reveals that from our conception, every human being is under the sentence or condemnation of eternal death because of our sins. At the cross, Jesus did NOT take away  your sins as though you no longer sin. What He did was pay the penalty of the curse of the Law. How did He then buy or redeem us from eternal death? The verse is clear, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree).’”

The concept of forgiveness does not mean that our sins disappear nor does it mean that suddenly we are now innocent. Insead, forgiveness can be be defined as God declaring that we are no longer held accountable for our sin! And the reason God does this is in light of Jesus Christ becoming your substitute and being held accountable for your sin. He was forsaken by God the Father at the cross so that the believer in Jesus will never be forsaken!

Just as God declared what seemed impossible to be true about Jesus; namely, that He became the worst sinner on earth because He carried every sin to the cross, so also God now declares what seems tobe impossible about you; namely, that you are no longer held accountable for any sin and therefore are regarded by God as a sinless saint. Thus, the paradoxical nature of the Christian faith is as follows:  From the point of view of the Law you are a 100% sinner deserving eternal death. From the point of view of the Gospel, you are a 100% saint receiving not only the full forgiveness of sins but also the robe of Christ’s righteousness in the sacramental waters of holy baptism.