Galatians:  Building a Faith that Liberates

Why Did Jesus Die?

Galatians 3:10-14

^{Matthew 1:21}“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

“the dignity of sin”

“blessed are those who mourn” - Matthew 5:4

Romans 3:23  ^“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

When we come to grips with our sinfulness we'll agree with:

Isaiah

Isaiah 6:5  “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

David

Psalm 51:5  “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

Peter

Luke 5:8  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Paul

Romans 7:24,25  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Galatians 3:10-14

¹⁰All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”  ¹¹Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” ¹²The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Jesus died because:

1.  We are under the curse of sin. (3:10)

          James 2:8-11 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

2.  True salvation is through faith. (3:11)

          Habakkuk 2:4

                    “the righteous” – Romans 1:17

                    “will live” – Galatians 3:11

                    “by faith” – Hebrews 10:38

3. We need change from the inside out. (3:12)

          Galatians 2:21  “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

 - rules can’t fix what’s broken

“locks only keep out honest people”

4.  We need to be freed from the “slave market of sin.” (3:13-14)

1 Peter 1:18,19  "with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

The Goats of Leviticus 16

⁹Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. ¹⁰But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat.

Leviticus 16:15,16; 20-22 (p121-22)

2 Corinthians 5:21  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

 1 Peter 2:24  "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."

 Colossians 1:20-22   ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  ²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Hebrews 2:14,15  ^"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

 2 Timothy 2:25,26  Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

 2 Corinthians 4:4  ^“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

How should we respond to this?

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift”

 – 2 Corinthians 9:15