St. Matthew Lutheran Church

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 16, 2013

“Justified by Faith, Crucified with Christ, Redeemed from the Curse” (Galatians 2:15-21; 3:10-14)

Today we continue with the third in our six-part sermon series on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians. We began by looking at Paul’s opening assertion that there is “No Other Gospel” than the one he preached to them, yet the Galatians lately have been falling for a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Then last week we found out more about “The Gospel Paul Preached,” that it comes from God, not from man, that it is a gospel of grace, and that this gospel changes lives.

Now today Paul takes us further into the changed situation in which we Christians live. In our text, Paul describes this changed reality in three ways: 1) We are justified by faith. 2) We have been crucified with Christ. And 3) We are redeemed from the curse. So now, let’s consider these three wonderful realities for us to rejoice in. Because of the gospel, we are “Justified by Faith, Crucified with Christ, Redeemed from the Curse.”

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Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 9, 2013

“The Gospel Paul Preached” (Galatians 1:11-24)

Today is the second of six straight weeks in which the Epistle reading comes from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians. And we’re doing a six-part sermon series on Galatians to go along with that. By the way, last Sunday I encouraged you to read through Galatians at least once a week over the course of this series. If you haven’t done that yet, I hope you will. I think you’ll get a lot out of it.

Last week, to start our series, we began under the heading, “No Other Gospel.” Paul opens his letter by telling the Galatians how astonished he is that, since he left, they are so quickly falling for another gospel than what he preached to them, a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Some false teachers had come along and told the Galatians that Paul hadn’t given them the whole story, that, yes, Jesus did his bit on the cross, but what Paul didn’t tell you is that you also have to keep all the laws of Moses in order to be saved–circumcision, the dietary laws, Sabbath laws, etc., etc. But Paul in this epistle tells the Galatians that if you fall for that, you are missing the whole point of the gospel of Christ.

Paul now develops this idea further in the rest of Galatians 1, our text for today. And what Paul is telling the Galatians, he also is saying to us. These are things we do well to hear and heed and take to heart. So then, now let’s find out more about “The Gospel Paul Preached.”

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Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 2, 2013

“No Other Gospel” (Galatians 1:1-12)

Today is the first of six straight weeks in which the Epistle reading comes from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians. And so that is what I intend to use as the basis for a sermon series over these weeks, namely, Galatians. I think you will find this series helpful, because as we make our way through Galatians, we will gain great insight into some very important topics, for example: the exclusive nature of the gospel of Christ, that it alone saves; the proper distinction of Law and Gospel; the central doctrine of the Christian faith, that is, justification; the Sacrament of Baptism; and the Christian life of sanctification, the fruit of the Spirit vs. the works of the flesh. Galatians is a very rich epistle in its teaching.

And may I suggest a little devotional exercise to do over these coming weeks: Try reading through Galatians at least once a week, each time all the way through, in one sitting. It won’t take you that long, it’s only six chapters. It may take you, oh, a half-hour or less each time. Get to become very familiar with this epistle as we preach our way through it.

To begin with, then, since we’re going to spend a good amount of time in this epistle, I suppose it would be helpful to start out with a little background information. Who were these Galatians? Where was this place, Galatia? And what was it that prompted Paul to write this letter?

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