What would the book of Galatians sound like if it were written to our church in 2011? Who would the false teachers be, and what would their message sound like? Obviously, they would not be teaching about circumcision and the Old Testament law, so what would legalistic teaching look like in our culture? As we summarize the entire Galatians series today, I want to help us to apply the book to our lives and situation one last time.

I have composed my version of the book of Galatians that I will read in a moment. Pretend with me that a faction within Willow Creek began teaching heresy in our church. In fact this group was led by a former pastor with seminary training. His credentials were golden, his personality was warm and engaging, and he seemed to have a good resume of ministry and many pastor friends who seemed to agree with his message. It didn’t take long for his influence to spread through ABF classes and small groups. In a short period of time, he had persuaded a third of the congregation toward his teaching.

What was he teaching? He convincingly argued from Scripture that in order for people to be saved, they must prove to God that they were faithful and worthy of salvation. He taught that God saves us through Christ’s death and resurrection, but when we reach the judgment seat, he will also check to be sure we proved our worth by loving him and living faithfully. In addition, God reserved special blessings for Christians who would sow wisely in this life. If you lived righteously, modeled Christianity, gave generously, and were right with God, then you were guaranteed to prosper in this life with large houses, nice cars, great jobs, godly children, and physical health. If you lack any of these things, it means you are not living by faith.

To make things even worse, he claimed that he and Pastor Mike were in agreement with these doctrines, but that Mike has intentionally strayed away from the true gospel, and is teaching a watered-down, less offensive gospel, the result of which will be depriving his church of God’s richest blessings. In order to combat this damaging heresy, Pastor Mike composes a letter for the people of Willow Creek and sends it to your homes. Here is how the letter would sound.

Modern-Day letter of Galatians:

Dear Willow Creek: I write you today in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died in order to take our penalty for sin so that we can stand before God with no fear of condemnation. I am completely shocked to hear that someone so easily persuaded you to believe a false gospel. In your hearts, you know that I do not agree with this message, and you would be wise to reject this new teaching and hold firm to the message that I have faithfully taught you since becoming your pastor. Let me make this clear: If you ever hear me preaching something opposite of what I have always preached, reject it and treat me as an unbeliever. Even if an angel or anyone else tries to sell you this garbage, tell them to box that message up and send it straight to hell.

You know me better than this! You know I would never believe one thing, but teach you something different. You know that I don’t believe works can save or that a person can gain material or physical blessing from God by being a good Christian. Think about it for a moment: if this were true, then I would be a very blessed person! I’ve sacrificed a promising career as a football player for the Denver Broncos in order to serve as a pastor. I started training for the pastorate in 1995, and I’m still in school because of my dedication to serve Christ better. I served faithfully in Waterloo for 7 years, and now have labored as your pastor for 3 years. Has God made me rich, or kept me from going through hard times? NO! Right in the middle of all this serving, my wife and I have been through the hardest times of our lives struggling with infertility and failed adoption attempts. If I were actually a proponent of this false gospel, then my very life experience would be a contradiction! I’ve always believed that works cannot save, and that we cannot do good things to make God love us more, and my life proves it.

I believe, and I’ve always believed that the only way we are justified before God is by faith in Jesus. By faith you accept Christ’s payment of your sin-debt and trust that when you stand before God, you will be judged on the basis of the applied righteousness of Christ. In light of this truth, attempting to gain favor with God by strict obedience is a concept that represents the system you were under before you were saved. Therefore, why would I propose going back to a failed system of works and earning favor with God when the perfect righteousness of Christ is ours by faith? You see, if you have placed your faith in Christ, then his righteousness is yours! You do not have to earn a standing before God. You ARE righteous in Christ. You are accepted. If the opposite of this is true, then Jesus died for no purpose.

Oh foolish Willow Creek members! You knew these things! How could you so easily have bought the message of this charlatan? Think back with me: when you were first saved, did you experience the power of the Holy Spirit by earning it, or by faith? It was clearly by faith! So if your life in the Spirit started by faith, then why wouldn’t your continued growth in the Spirit also be by faith? The Spirit’s work ignites by faith, and is squelched by works!

Now, I’m sure at this point you are thinking about some of the texts of Scripture that the opponent quoted and taught. He leaned heavily upon the book of James as well as some Old Testament passages relating to material blessing for obedience. James 2:24 says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” James is using Abraham to prove his point. However, look carefully, Willow Creek! James references Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac as that which “justified” him. However, Genesis 15:6, which came before the Isaac incident, says that Abraham believed God and was justified. You see, Abraham was already justified at the time of the Isaac account! Therefore, what James is saying is that Abraham’s faith was proven through his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. His status before God was not earned. As for the passages in the OT that indicate material blessing for obedience, you must be careful to understand the context and the original audience. God placed Israel under an arrangement where if they obeyed, they would prosper as a nation. However, those promises were for Israel alone and cannot apply to us today. I really don’t need to tell you these things. Your Bible study skills are better than this! You have just been sweet-talked by a certain condemned false teacher.

Another objection this man raised about my teaching relates to the practical daily living of the Christian. He claims that salvation by faith alone and growth in the Christian life without strict rules will lead to complete anarchy and rebellion. He proposes that gaining favor with God ensures that we have the motivation to live a godly life. Without this motivation, people would be tempted to live sinfully, knowing that God has already forgiven everything because of the death of Christ. I charge you to reject this notion! Receiving the new birth from the Holy Spirit completely precludes living a rebelliously sinful life. We do not need a strict code of conduct to govern our lives as Christians! Don’t let anybody drag you into that slavery! Keeping rules will not save you, sanctify you, and it will not gain you extra merit with God! Stand fast in your liberty from a list-driven, law-enforcing system of Christian living! In fact, I wish the false teacher’s message would be disqualified. He flaunts his material possessions and claims that God has rewarded him because of his righteous living. Wouldn’t it be awesome if his house burned down and he lost everything he owned? If that happened, it would certainly shut his mouth and make him reexamine his theology!

So, if we don’t need a list to govern our Christian lives, and if we really can’t do anything to make God love us more, then what motivates a Christian to live righteously? You see, the answer lies in the Holy Spirit. By faith he regenerates us at salvation, and God declares us righteous in Christ. We don’t earn that salvation, and likewise, the motivation for holy living, and even the righteous acts themselves are somewhat of a passive result of walking in the Spirit. What are we required to DO in the Christian life? What are the necessary “works” of being a Christian? Only one thing: Walk in, be filled by, be led by the Spirit. When we are staying in step with the Spirit and exercising our faith, he produces love in our lives, and as we love God and love others, we fulfill the law of Christ. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, then you will naturally act out of the desires of the flesh. So, if someone claiming to be a Christian consistently lives a rebelliously sinful life, then they are not truly saved, even though they claim to be saved. However, if you truly possess the Holy Spirit and have placed your faith in Christ, you will live a life guided by the Spirit, and your life will exemplify godly character. Thus, the false teacher’s insistence upon works as a means for motivation is a moot point. Those possessing the Spirit live by the Spirit. Those without the Spirit live by fleshly desires.

I’m already anticipating your next question! How does a Christian make sure he or she is walking in the Spirit? Well, therein lies the struggle of the Christian life. We still possess the flesh with its desires. When we are faced with decisions in our lives, we will hear the flesh, passionately lobbying for its cause. However, we also have the Spirit attempting to lead us into righteousness. The Spirit’s power to lead generates from the Scriptures and our interaction with the Scriptures. He leads us with the Scriptures. Therefore, as we fill ourselves with the Scriptures, the Spirit then can lead us more effectively. Every Christian, then, should fervently seek a disciplined life in the Scriptures and prayer. Why? Not in order to gain favor with God, but to strengthen our walk with the Spirit, and to give the Spirit the necessary tools to lead us in our daily living.

Just a few closing comments. Some of you have been duped by this ignorant counterfeit. However, the majority of you have not sold out so quickly. Therefore, those of you who are living a life apart from works; those of you who are led by the Spirit, please confront and restore those who have fallen into this doctrinal error. However, do it in a Spirit of humility, understanding your own depravity and propensity for sin. As you confront each other’s sin, don’t ever, ever, begin to feel superior to others as you compare your struggles with their struggles. Listen closely: when you stand before God, you will not be rewarded on a comparative basis. Because of this, none of us have any room to boast, unless we have achieved a perfect standard of holy living, which is impossible.

Never forget that if you attempt to live your Christian life by works, then you will reap a harvest of fleshly destruction. However, if you make the tougher choice and live by faith, then you will reap an abundant spiritual harvest. God rewards us with spiritual blessings….he has never promised that we will be rewarded with physical or material blessing.

I trust that you will listen carefully to the words of this letter. I pray that those who listen to this letter and abide by its truth will experience peace and joy in their lives. See to it that you confront and expel the one who has caused so much pain and strife so that I can continue my ministry at Willow Creek.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Mike

This letter was part of the final sermon in our Galatians series Pure. Click Here to listen.