Transcript Why Are There So Many Divisions? lesson notes and supplemental material is available at http://www.OneInJesus.info Jay Guin Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Why Are There
So Many Divisions?
lesson notes and
supplemental material is available at
http://www.OneInJesus.info
Jay Guin
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal. 1:6-7a) I am astonished that
you are so quickly deserting the one
who called you by the grace of
Christ and are turning to a different
gospel—
which is really no gospel at all.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal 1:8) But even if we or an
angel from heaven should preach a
gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be
eternally condemned!
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal. 1:9) As we have already said,
so now I say again:
If anybody is preaching to you a
gospel other than what you
accepted, let him be eternally
condemned!
Why So Many Divisions?
Two Questions:
• What is this
“different gospel”?
• Are we guilty of this sin?
Why So Many Divisions?
What were the Galatians doing that
was so incredibly wrong?
Paul doesn't say until
chapter 5!
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal. 5:2-3) Mark my words! I,
Paul, tell you that if you let
yourselves be circumcised, Christ
will be of no value to you at all.
Again I declare to every man who
lets himself be circumcised that he
is obligated to obey the whole law.
Why So Many Divisions?
What about circumcision
is so wrong?
(Gal 5:4) You who are trying to be
justified by law have been alienated
from Christ; you have fallen away
from grace.
Why So Many Divisions?
» (Gal. 2:15-16) “We … know that a
man is not justified by [works of] law,
but by faith in Jesus Christ.”
» “observing the law” is actually
“works of law”
» There’s no “the” before “law”
Why So Many Divisions?
» (Gal 2:16) “So we, too, have put our
faith in Christ Jesus that we may be
justified by faith in Christ and not by
[works of] law, because by [works of]
law no one will be justified.”
» Again, there is no “the” before “law”
in the Greek
Why So Many Divisions?
• And so, what is “law”?
• And why does seeking
justification through
“law” cost you your soul?
Why So Many Divisions?
• Notice that the Galatian heresy was
seeking to be saved by law
(Gal. 5:4) You who are trying to be
justified by law have been alienated
from Christ; you have fallen away
from grace.
• The Galatian heresy is in
seeking salvation in law,
not in obeying or teaching law
Why So Many Divisions?
• Two theories:
– The Law of Moses
– Works of law, meaning,
any works intended to
merit salvation
Why So Many Divisions?
• Most Church of Christ
commentaries support “law” as
being the Law of Moses
• What would this mean regarding—
– Treating Sunday as the Christian
Sabbath?
– Wearing Sunday “best” because
Leviticus commands that we give our
best to God?
– Circumcising our children?
• Do these practices damn?
Why So Many Divisions?
• So what's “law”?
(Rom 2:12) All who sin apart from
[ ] law will also perish apart from [ ]
law, and all who sin under [ ] law
will be judged by [ ] law.
[ ] indicates deletion of “the” not in
the Greek
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 2:14-15) (Indeed, when Gentiles,
who do not have the law, do by nature
things required by the law, they are a
law for themselves, even though they
do not have the law, since they show
that the requirements of the law are
written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and
their thoughts now accusing, now even
defending them.)
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 3:19-21) Now we know that
whatever the law says, it says to
those who are under the law, so that
every mouth may be silenced and
the whole world held accountable to
God. 20 Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in his sight by
observing [ ] law; rather, through [ ]
law we become conscious of sin. 21
But now a righteousness from God,
apart from law, has been made
known, to which the Law and the
Prophets testify.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 3:22-24) This righteousness
from God comes through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference, for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of
God, and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that
came by Christ Jesus.
Why So Many Divisions?
In other words, Gentiles are
condemned because they fail to satisfy
the law written on their hearts just as
the Jews fail to satisfy the Law of
Moses
Plainly, “law” means God's commands,
whether or not found in the Law of
Moses
Including the moral law within
Why So Many Divisions?
“You cannot add circumcision (or
anything else, for that matter) to
Christ as necessary for salvation,
because Christ is sufficient for
salvation in Himself. If you add
anything to Christ, you lose Christ.”
– John R. W. Stott, The Message of
Galatians, 133-134.
Why So Many Divisions?
“Law” is the same as “works”
(Gal 2:16 KJV) Knowing that a man is
not justified by the works of the law, but
by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified by the faith of Christ,
and not by the works of [ ] law: for by
the works of [ ] law shall no flesh be
justified.
Why So Many Divisions?
“Another gospel” is seeking
salvation through works
rather than faith!
Why So Many Divisions?
Romans 14 gives examples
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:1) Accept him whose faith is
weak, without passing judgment on
disputable matters.
This applies only to those in the church,
of course.
But if we in the church are disputing
about a matter,
how can it not be disputable?
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:2-3) One man's faith allows
him to eat everything, but another man,
whose faith is weak, eats only
vegetables.
The man who eats everything must not
look down on him who does not, and
the man who does not eat everything
must not condemn the man who does,
for God has accepted him.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:5a) One man considers one
day more sacred than another;
another man considers every day alike.
In Romans, Paul doesn't bother to say
who is right on the sacred-day issue.
Why not?
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:4-5b) Who are you to judge
someone else's servant?
To his own master he stands or falls.
And he will stand, for the Lord is able
to make him stand. ...
Each one should be fully convinced
in his own mind.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:6) He who regards one day
as special, does so to the Lord.
He who eats meat, eats to the Lord,
for he gives thanks to God; and
he who abstains, does so to the Lord
and gives thanks to God.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:10) You, then,
why do you judge your brother?
Or why do you look down
on your brother?
For we will all stand before
God's judgment seat.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:13a)
Therefore let us stop passing judgment
on one another.
Why So Many Divisions?
Notice this:
The Romans were disputing
about matters of doctrine! And
Paul commanded them to stop
passing judgment.
This is so even though Paul gave
the right position on eating meat
(and even though he didn't
bother stating the right position
on sacred days)!
Why So Many Divisions?
If Paul knew the right answer, why
was it still wrong to pass judgment?
Why were they commanded to
“accept” those teaching falsely?
Who among us is comfortable saying
“Each one should be fully convinced
in his own mind”?
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 14:4) Who are you to judge
someone else's servant?
To his own master he stands or falls.
And he will stand, for the Lord is able
to make him stand.
Why So Many Divisions?
Grace applies to doctrine as well as
conduct!
Grace applies to disputable
matters—which is anything we can
dispute over and still be Christians!
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 15:7) Accept one another, then,
just as Christ accepted you, in order to
bring praise to God.
Why So Many Divisions?
We are commanded to accept as fellow
Christians all who remain true to what
brought them salvation—
even if we disagree about something
else
Why So Many Divisions?
Therefore, insisting on adherence to
any doctrine, other than
the gospel itself, as the ground
of our salvation is a work and
creates another gospel
We must accept one another based
on the gospel and nothing else,
because the gospel is how
we were accepted
Why So Many Divisions?
By “gospel” I mean those terms on
which we were accepted
at the beginning:
Hear, believe, repent, confess,
be baptized
Grace covers doctrinal sin as well
as moral sin, so long as
we remain true to the gospel
Why So Many Divisions?
And insisting on adherence
to more than the gospel as essential
to salvation risks teaching
another gospel!
Why So Many Divisions?
H. A. (Buster) Dobbs,
“Does Grace Guarantee Final Salvation?” The
Firm Foundation (September 1996):
“We are required to keep every specific of the
law of Christ, if we receive spiritual blessings,
which include forgiveness and the promise of
eternal salvation. …
“The grace of God guarantees our final
salvation. This, of course, does not mean grace
alone, but grace accessed by faith, which
includes works of obedience.”
Why So Many Divisions?
Paul says that if you add any law to the
gospel as a condition to salvation, then
you’ve made yourself accountable for
every law as a condition to salvation,
and thereby you’ve fallen from grace.
Why So Many Divisions?
Being wrong and being lost are
two very different things, and
we sometimes get them confused.
If being wrong damns,
then there is no grace and
Christ died for nothing.
Why So Many Divisions?
Phil Sanders, The Christian Chronicle
(Feb. 2006), 18-19:
“I believe baptized believers in the
Independent Christian Church are
my brethren, since everyone who is
scripturally born of water and the
Spirit is a child of God …
Another Gospel
“Should those who worship with
instruments forsake them, I would
gladly seek some relationship with
them.”
How can they be our brothers and yet
we refuse to seek some relationship
with them?
Why So Many Divisions?
This is the part where I hope I’m
wrong
Why So Many Divisions?
You see, in teaching that
certain doctrines other than
the gospel are essential to salvation,
we’re effectively saying that to be saved,
you not only must hear, believe, repent,
confess, and be baptized,
you must also join a congregation with
a scriptural name, with a scriptural
organization, and with a scriptural
pattern of worship.
Why So Many Divisions?
I fail to see how insisting on these rules
as conditions to salvation is
any different from insisting on
circumcision as a condition to salvation.
Either way, you’re insisting on
obedience to a law
in addition to the gospel.
Why So Many Divisions?
The gospel is meant to take us away
from legalism.
The imposition of any rule as a
requirement for salvation —
even a single morally neutral rule —
beyond the gospel is a return to
legalism and damnation.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal. 5:15)
If you keep on biting and devouring
each other, watch out or you will be
destroyed by each other.
Why So Many Divisions?
Fortunately, it’s not altogether clear
that all who are taught this lie
are damned.
For example, in
Gal 3:26-27, Paul declares that his
readers are
“all sons of God.”
In several verses, he calls his readers
“brothers.”
Why So Many Divisions?
Perhaps the key verse is
Gal 5:10—
“I am confident in the Lord that
you will take no other view. The
one who is throwing you into
confusion will pay the penalty,
whoever he may be.”
and
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal 1:8-9) But even if we or an
angel from heaven should preach a
gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be
eternally condemned! 9 As we have
already said, so now I say again: If
anybody is preaching to you a
gospel other than what you
accepted, let him be eternally
condemned!
Why So Many Divisions?
I am not qualified to judge the fate of
those among us who teach modern
equivalents of circumcision, and less
so to judge those who’ve been
deceived by such teachers.
Why So Many Divisions?
I only know that, having become
aware of the problem,
I must speak out and call for
repentance—urgently—desperately.
Out of love, not condemnation—
out of concern for souls.
Why So Many Divisions?
It is not enough to be less legalistic
than the church down the road.
It’s not enough to be less legalistic
than you used to be.
There is only one gospel, and
it won’t admit of any additions at all.
Nothing is required to be saved or to
stay saved other than the gospel.
Why So Many Divisions?
Why are there so many division?
Because we insist on saving ourselves,
rather than letting Jesus do it for us.
Because we’ve ignored Galatians
Because we’d rather get the credit for
being the ones who care enough to get
all the answers right.
Lesson notes are available for free at
http://www.OneInJesus.info
Do We Teach
Why So Many Divisions?
Part iI
Why So Many Divisions?
Lesson notes are available for free by
leaving your email address with the
speaker or by writing
[email protected]
Why So Many Divisions?
Yesterday, we considered
Rom. 15:7—
“Accept one another, then, just as
Christ accepted you, in order to bring
praise to God.”
Why So Many Divisions?
When were we “accepted” at a point in
time?
Why So Many Divisions?
Hear,
Believe,
Repent,
Confess,
Be baptized
Why So Many Divisions?
Hear, believe, confess faith in Jesus as
Son of God
Turn away from sin and
commit to serve Jesus
Why So Many Divisions?
Accept Jesus as Son of God
Accept Jesus as Lord
and Galatians adds—
Accept Jesus as Savior
(rather than looking to your own
works)
Why So Many Divisions?
To repent is to commit to love
(Gal 5:6b) The only thing that counts
is faith expressing itself through love.
(Gal 5:14) The entire law is summed
up in a single command: “Love your
neighbor as yourself.”
Why So Many Divisions?
Relying on Jesus rather than our works
is the basis for our hope.
Tit. 3:4-7
Why So Many Divisions?
We are saved when we accept Jesus—
Son of God: faith
Lord: love
Savior: hope
Why So Many Divisions?
Gal. 5:6
Faith
Love
Only
(which is how we hope!)
Why So Many Divisions?
If this is how we are saved,
then how are we lost?
Why So Many Divisions?
(1 John 4:2-3a) This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that acknowledges that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is from
God, but every spirit that does not
acknowledge Jesus is not from God.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Heb 10:26-27) If we deliberately
keep on sinning after we have received
the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, but only a
fearful expectation of judgment and
of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God.
Why So Many Divisions?
(Gal 5:3-4) Again I declare to every
man who lets himself be circumcised
that he is obligated to obey the whole
law. You who are trying to be justified
by law have been alienated from
Christ; you have fallen away from
grace.
Why So Many Divisions?
How do you fall away?
Lose your faith
Lose your repentance or
Lose your reliance on Jesus
That is, add reliance on self
Why So Many Divisions?
Stop believing
Stop loving
Stop hoping in Jesus
Why So Many Divisions?
This is the gospel:
faith, hope, and love
Jesus—
the Son of God, Savior, and Lord
The only thing that counts is faith
expressing itself through love
Why So Many Divisions?
This is how we are saved,
and losing this is how we are lost
Why So Many Divisions?
• Does this contradict our teaching
about baptism?
– Paul says in Gal. 3:26-27 that all the
Galatians had been
“baptized into Christ.”
– Baptism is not a work
– Baptism is not something you do: it’s
something you receive
(it’s always in the passive voice)
Why So Many Divisions?
• Many have argued with us saying
that our insistence on baptism
contradicts
Paul’s teaching on grace
• It does not
• Sadly, many of us have bought this
argument and
so denied the gospel believing
that in so doing
we were defending baptism
Why So Many Divisions?
• Does this mean we don’t have to do
good works?
• Of course not
(Eph 2:8-10) For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith—and this
not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do.
Why So Many Divisions?
• Then why do good works if our
salvation doesn’t depend on them?
• This question only makes sense if
you start with a legal mindset
Why So Many Divisions?
• Why do I honor my parents even
though I’m too old to spank?
• Why do I honor my wife even
though I’m not afraid of being
divorced?
• We have to see love,
not as a response to a command,
but as our new nature
Why So Many Divisions?
• Of course, love is commanded, but
just as you only tell the immature to
love their parents, you only need to
tell immature Christians they are
commanded to love Jesus
• The mature already love Jesus
Why So Many Divisions?
Even our love is not entirely our own
doing
• (Phil 2:13) …for it is God who
works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose.
• (Rom 5:5) And hope does not
disappoint us, because God has
poured out his love into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit, whom he has
given us.
Why So Many Divisions?
• And so, our salvation works
something like this—
– We accept Jesus
– We’re baptized
– We receive the Spirit
– God changes our hearts
– Our repentance (love) matures
– We do good works because it is our
new nature to do good works, because
we are like Jesus
Why So Many Divisions?
(Rom 8:5-6) Those who live
according to the sinful nature have
their minds set on what that nature
desires; but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have
their minds set on what the Spirit
desires. The mind of sinful man is
death, but the mind controlled by
the Spirit is life and peace
Why So Many Divisions?
• If we aren’t lost for believing false
doctrine,
then why study the Bible?
Again, you can’t start with a law-based
mindset.
Why So Many Divisions?
• If you love Jesus and have truly
repented, you will want to follow
his teachings.
• Teachings don’t have to end with
“or you’ll go to Hell!”
to be obeyed
• My wife honors me even when I
don’t threaten to divorce her— and
even though she knows dishonor
won’t lead to a divorce
• In fact, threatening divorce would
destroy our relationship!
Why So Many Divisions?
• Therefore, we can believe in
salvation by faith,
without adding works,
and still—
– Not deny baptism
– Not deny the importance of good
works
– Not teach license
– Not teach “once saved, always saved”
Why So Many Divisions?
It is, therefore, just as dangerous to
teach a
works-based salvation as it is to
deny faith in Jesus or
to intentionally continue to sin
Why So Many Divisions?
• A works-based salvation also—
– Denies the joy of willing service
– Forces devout believers to either
• live in dread of their damnation or else
• arrogantly suppose they have achieved
perfect obedience
(or a perfect doctrine and practice)
Why So Many Divisions?
• Arrogance damns.
• In the gospel, “there is no room for
boasting.”
Rom 3:27; 1 Cor 1:29-31; 2 Cor
10:17;Gal. 6:14; Eph 2:9
Why So Many Divisions?
H. A. (Buster) Dobbs,
“Does Grace Guarantee Final Salvation?” The
Firm Foundation (September 1996):
“We are required to keep every specific of the
law of Christ, if we receive spiritual blessings,
which include forgiveness and the promise of
eternal salvation. …
“The grace of God guarantees our final
salvation. This, of course, does not mean grace
alone, but grace accessed by faith, which
includes works of obedience.”
Why So Many Divisions?
Phil Sanders, The Christian Chronicle
(Feb. 2006), 18-19:
“I believe baptized believers in the
Independent Christian Church are
my brethren, since everyone who is
scripturally born of water and the
Spirit is a child of God …
Another Gospel
“Should those who worship with
instruments forsake them, I would
gladly seek some relationship with
them. …
“To cooperate with those who
continue to act outside [God’s] will
is to send a mixed message.”
Why So Many Divisions?
• We have become guilty of a new
Gnosticism, believing we can earn
our salvation only by having the
right position on all the issues.
• We thus teach that, although our
flesh is fallen and not perfectible,
our minds are capable of perfect
doctrinal knowledge
Why So Many Divisions?
• In reality, we need only understand
the simple facts of the gospel.
• Indeed, just enough to
– Hear the good news about Jesus,
– Believe the good news about Jesus
– Repent by making Jesus Lord
– Confess our faith
– Be baptized into Jesus
– And accept Jesus as our Savior
Why So Many Divisions?
• And the relationship with Jesus this
creates will keep us saved until the
end—
if we stay true to it
• Indeed, we have to rely on Jesus —
and not ourselves
• Rather, we celebrate God’s gift by
living lives of joyous service,
working out the love poured into us
Why So Many Divisions?
Lesson notes are available for free by
leaving your email address with the
speaker or by writing
[email protected]