Grace Changes Everything, February 1, 2026

welcome to the long well good morning, fellowship man. It's great to see so many of you joining us online. We did bring the chapel in the worship center together today, obviously with a week of weather and our roads still a little patchy and ice. We thought the best thing to do would be to combine those two venues today. Hopefully next Sunday, Lord willing, we'll have our chapel in our worship center opened up together. So thanks for being patient with us. My name is Mark. I'm one of the teaching pastors here. Man, we're thrilled you're with us. We realize in a city like ours, there's so many great churches. So thanks for being here this morning. We hope that today really encourages your heart and challenges you in different ways. Well, I do before we jump into our study in the book of Galatians, I want to take just a moment here. As all of you know, our country has been an

incredible amount of turmoil over the last few weeks, over the last few months, in particular up in Minneapolis. And there's been a lot of issues that are going on, a lot of anger, a lot of division, a lot of pain, a lot of hurt that is going on in our world today. And I would say a lot of that is happening outside of the church, but it's also happening inside the church. And because all of that is swirling around, in a couple of weeks, we actually want to have a gospel conversation here at Fellowship about immigration. We want to sit down and talk about that because for a lot of us, maybe we're getting our information from Fox News or our direction from CNN or other places of media, but, you know, it's healthy to come together and realize that to get our direction from the word of God, what does the scripture have to say about this? I think as I kind of look out on the world so

often, I see that we kind of have two positions out there. And they're constantly in opposition and angry with each other and fighting with each other. Or maybe two different ways of looking at a situation or people. And I would argue there's a third way. It's the one that I would argue is the way of Jesus Christ. It's the way of the gospel. And so I think it's incredibly important for us as a church, as a people of God, every once in a while to stop and to have a conversation about things that are going on in our world. We don't do this all the time. But there are moments where we need to stop and do that. There are other things that we have spoken to in the past that those of you that are regular attenders around the world, I want to encourage you to be here. Be a part of that on February the 16th. It will be a great night for us to have a gospel conversation about something that's incredibly

important to each and every one of us, to us as a church, to our community, and certainly to our country. So with that being said, let me just stop and pray for us. Pray for our country. Pray for us this morning. And then we'll jump into our time here in our church. Let's just pause for a moment. Father, we know that there is a lot going on in our world today, much of which we don't understand. We're confused by. We do pray, as only you can do, that you would give us wisdom, insight, that you would help us understand your ways, even in the midst of a world that oftentimes is confusing and complex and doesn't make sense. We know that you are the king of kings. We know that you are the king of kings. And that you're working out good, even in the most difficult and challenging of situations like we're facing in our country right now. And so Lord, we do pray over these next few minutes, as we open up your word, would you speak to us?

Would you challenge us? Would you encourage us? As we get into your word, would your word get into us? And we pray that in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you've got a Bible with you, let me encourage you, go ahead and join me in Galatians chapter 6. That's where we're going to be here in just a moment. We'll pick it up in verse 11. We're wrapping up our Galatians series today that we've called Grace Changes Everything. And we're going to be talking about the thing. Next week, we're starting a series in the book of Isaiah. We're going to be talking about grace that changes everything. And we're going to be talking about the grace that changes the infinite glory of God, and we're going to cover all 66 chapters. Just kidding. All right. everything. And we're going to be talking about the grace that But I wanted to see if you were paying attention. All right. Seems like you are, but we will start our new series next week in the book of Isaiah. But today we're going to close out and talk about focusing on Paul's final words here to the churches in Galatia. Paul's going to draw attention to two very important things, the cross and grace. Man, this book began with a focus around the cross, and it's going to end around the cross. Paul started his book talking about grace. He's going to finish talking about grace. These closing verses are really a summation of all that Paul has been teaching us in Galatians, that it's not about us and our efforts. None of that can save us. It's all about Jesus and what he has done for us on

the cross. That's what saves us, and we receive that by grace through faith. Galatians chapter 6, verse 11 is where we're going to start. Please follow along with me in your Bible or your Bible app. Here's what it says. See with what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand, it is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it for me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. And from now on, let no one cause me trouble for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit brothers. Amen. Now notice that this text starts in verse 11 with Paul talking about that he is writing this with his own hand and he's doing so with large letters. Paul's method of writing his letters is that he would speak and a secretary or a assistant would write down what he was saying. So Paul would speak and they would write. But here, this is such a big deal that Paul grabs the pen and he begins to write down the end of this letter. Now what's incredibly important is that even though Paul is a human writing this letter, what he's writing is the word of God. God superintended the humans that were writing the words of the Bible to make sure that it was his word that came through for his people, for his church, for you, for me. God sovereignly made sure that what they wrote was exactly what he wanted them to write. I like the words of 2 Timothy chapter three, verse 16. It says it this way, all scripture is God breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. I love that phrase there. All scriptures breathed out by God. This idea that every letter, every word, every part of our Bible, that God has his imprint through the work of the Holy Spirit on everything. That even as Paul grabs this pen, he begins to write these words. This is God's words to his people. It's the spirit of God that worked through human authors to make what we have in these 66 books that we call the Bible, the living, active word of God. That is inerrant. and infallible, and it's all sufficient for life.

Which is the reason every Sunday, by the way, that we study the Word of God together. Oftentimes, like today, going verse by verse. We're not giving you our ideas. Or coming up here and walking through the latest Christian book. Or giving you three ways to improve yourself. No, we open the Word of God, because it's only His Word that can teach us. That can reprove us, correct us, and train us in righteousness. That book that you hold in your hands is God-breathed. And let me tell you, friend, it's powerful. It's very powerful. If you'll let it into your life, I promise you it'll do stuff to you. It will start changing you. It will divide things in your life. It will get to places in your life that no podcaster, TED Talk, can go. Because it is the living Word of God that will shape and change your life. It's God-breathed. Now, there are a couple of theories that scholars have, as to why Paul is writing this with large letters. One of those theories is that, at this time, Paul, as he's getting a little older, he started to lose his eyesight. And because he has poor eyesight, he's writing in large letters

so that he can actually see what he's writing. And some of us that are struggling a little bit in our eyesight, we can relate with that, right? Yes, amen over here, yes. And so there's a sense in which he's writing big so he can actually make sure that he's seeing clearly what he's writing to the Galatians here. There's another theory, though, and it's one that I really like, that Paul is writing this in large letters because of how important it is. That he's writing this in large letters for emphasis. This is what we do when we send a text in all caps, right? Or we send an email. Sometimes what we'll do is we'll bold something. And why do we do that? Because we're telling the reader, hey, this is important. This is something I want you to read, I want you to see. It's significant. What is so important to Paul here? There's something important that he wants us to understand. What he's gonna tell us can really make or break your life. Make or break us as a church. Because there's nothing more important than what we think and how we relate to God. And so Paul is gonna say here, there's two very, very different ways that we can approach a relationship with God. One, you'll see there on your outline, I say is a false way of thinking about it,

and then one is a true way. Now, Paul's been talking about these ways throughout the book in Galatians, but he's gonna drive these points home one last time to us. One way is that we can think about, you know what? As I relate to God, it's all about what I do. It's what I do. The other way is, as we relate to God, it's all about what Jesus has done. It's all about what he's done. Look what Paul says about this, starting in verse 12. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and not only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross, excuse me, only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they might boast in your flesh. See, the first way, the false way, it's the way that Paul's going to warn us here against is that you can boast in yourself. And what you've done. Another way to say this is you boast in your flesh. Where you try to make yourself acceptable or right to God based on your righteous actions or your best religious efforts. And Paul has been arguing throughout this book

against this way of thinking and relating to God. And I love what he says here. These phrases, look what he says. He says in verse 12. We want to make a good showing in the flesh. He's talking about, this is a group, man, they got a lot of spiritual pride and arrogance. Hey, look at me, look at the things that I'm doing. Notice that, I'm doing for God. Look at my obedience. It's all about them, it's all about the way they look, it's all about the way they appear. He says at the end of verse 13, that they might boast in your flesh. Not only do these people have spiritual pride and arrogance, but they're actually pushing that off on others, asking them to do certain things. And Paul's warning against that. He's warning us against a false gospel that can sometimes begin to seep into our lives and into our churches where we begin to think that there's something that we have to contribute to our salvation. Like there's something we have to do. That our salvation is dependent on our human efforts rather than the power of God's grace alone. Man, Paul's been attacking this errant way of thinking all throughout Galatians. Man, he's been pushing back from this group of false teachers called Judaizers

who were undermining the gospel of grace by saying, man, faith in Jesus isn't enough. It's faith in Jesus, plus you gotta be circumcised if you are a man. Plus you gotta follow certain Old Testament laws. And they were adding these requirements to salvation. These Judaizers were boasting in their flesh is what Paul says. Because they were making salvation about themselves. And their spiritual efforts and their obedience. And by the way, this is what a lot of people in our day do. They say, you know what, it's not enough to believe in Jesus, you also have to get baptized. Or how about this one? Some of you grew up in these kind of churches. It's not enough to believe in Jesus, you also have to walk an aisle. Those aren't bad things, they're actually good things. They can be really good things. But that's not what contributes to your salvation. That's not what makes you a Christ follower. What makes you a Christ follower is your faith in Jesus Christ. And listen, nothing else. That's what Paul's arguing here. That's what Paul's arguing here. It's not about our works. It's not about being a good person. It's not about baptism or circumcision or anything else for that matter.

It's all about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. And it's all by his grace. Man, I love what one author says about this. I think he says it so well. He says that the only thing that we actually bring to our salvation is our sin. Man, how true is that? In other words, the only thing that we contribute to salvation is need, nothing else. And Paul is warning us again against that. One last time here at the end of Galatians, he's saying guard your thinking. Thinking that you can somehow earn God's approval, somehow earn God's acceptance through your work. Now, I've said this before and the slides already come up, okay? But I'll say this again. Because I think it's incredibly important. I think it's the point that Paul's been driving home this entire series. That salvation is simply by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Man, that's it. Grace alone in that we don't deserve it, we don't earn it. There's nothing we do through faith. We put our faith, and who's it in? In Christ alone. It's not in your efforts. It's not in your work. It's not in you trying to become a better person.

It is in Christ alone and what Christ has already done for you. That's what it's in. And how do you receive that? It all comes to you by way of grace. By the way, this is what makes the gospel such good news. You realize that? No other world religion is talking about grace. Every other world religion, you know what they say? They say, work hard, keep climbing. Maybe you'll get there. Maybe you'll prove yourself. Maybe you'll earn your way there. Jesus says, I earned your way there. Put your faith in me, I'll get you there. I'm perfect, I'm holy, I obey the law for you. Man, I don't know about you, that gets me excited. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So we don't want to boast in our flesh, but we do want to boast in Jesus and his sacrifice for us. Look what Paul says, continuing here in verse 14. But far be it for me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world's been crucified to me and I to the world, for neither circumcision counts for anything nor earned circumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. So Paul's warned us against this false way, now he's gonna talk to us about a true way

that we think and relate to God, and that is, is that you boast in Jesus Christ and what he has done for you. How incredible is verse 14 here? You know, sometimes you just come to certain things in the Bible, and you just gotta take a highlighter and you gotta highlight it. This is one of those moments. If you like to write in your Bible, you need to underline this phrase, far be it for me to boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, boasting is more than bragging. As one commentator puts it, to boast in something is to revel in it, to love it, to cherish it, to trust in something. The object of our boast engrosses our attention and absorbs our time and our energy. In a word, what we boast in is our obsession. It's where we find our identity. It's where we put our confidence. That's what we boast in. By the way, everybody boasts in something, right? It could be your intellect, your appearance. It could be your athletic talents, your influence, or maybe even like your religious accomplishments. I mean, that's what these Judaizers are doing. They're kind of boasting in who they are and what they're doing.

We all boast in something. But for Paul, he says that his boasting, his identity comes from one place, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is everything. The cross arguably is the most important thing in the whole Bible. And Paul says, if I'm gonna brag, I'll brag about Jesus and what he's done for me. And how he has loved me so deeply that he gave up his life for me at the cross. Do you boast in the cross? Is the cross the most significant and important thing in your life? If we were to go and look at the last seven days of your social media, what would it scream about is the most important and significant thing in your life? If we were able to kind of follow you around for a week at work and at home, would there be an overwhelming sense that the most significant, the most important thing in your life is Jesus and his cross? Are you boasting in the cross? Paul says, man, when it all comes down to loving and following Jesus, the most important thing where I find my identity, where I put my confidence, all of who I am, it's in the cross.

The cross. And man, when the cross, Scripture says, is the most important thing in your life, and man, when the cross grips your life, it'll change you forever. It'll change the way you live. It'll change your attitudes. It'll change your actions. It'll change everything about you, what you care about, what you value. Notice what Paul says about it. Verse 14, he says, the world has been crucified to him and I to the world. What's Paul saying here? He's saying that when the cross grips your life, it completely changes your identity, your values, what's important to you. Changes the direction of your life, the way you think, the way you operate. When the cross of Christ grabs you, you begin to see that it's the only thing that truly matters. And you don't wanna live like the world anymore. It's as if the world, when the cross is everything to you, it's as if, Paul says here, it's as if you've been crucified to the world. It's as if the world and all that he has to offer

is dead to you. Why? Because you've been made alive in Christ. And what you have in you is so much more beautiful, so much more wonderful than what the world has to offer. Man, boast in the cross. When the cross of Christ is your everything, I'll tell you, it changes the way you see the world. It changes the way you live. Paul says, notice in verse 15, it's because you are a new creation. See that? I love what he says. He says, it doesn't matter whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised, verse 15. What matters is you are a new creation in Christ. You're a new creation in Christ. Paul's saying, listen, all this external stuff doesn't matter. None of it matters. You hear what I say? None of it matters. It's all secondary stuff. What matters is internal. Have you met Jesus? Has Jesus changed you from the inside out? Has he transformed your life? Has he given you a new mind, a new heart, a new life? That's what matters. Because when that happens,

you don't wanna do the things that you used to do. You don't wanna chase after the patterns of this world anymore. That's who you used to be. That's the old you. But now you're a new creation. There's a new you. A new you that's been crucified with Christ and now you're a brand new person. Who you used to be is dead. But now you're alive in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 says, if anyone, anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Behold, the old is gone and the new has come. That's what the gospel does. The gospel doesn't make bad people better. It makes brand new people in Christ with new desires and new passions. A totally new person. St. Augustine, one of the early church fathers, he lived a pretty checkered past. Before he came to faith in Christ, there's a story told about him that one day he went back to his hometown and he was walking down the street. On the other side of the street came a woman that he had had an inappropriate relationship with a few years before. She recognized him and started hollering at Augustine and saying, Augustine, Augustine, it is I,

it is I. And Augustine looked at her and said, yes, but it is not I. See, Augustine understood this truth. That was the old Augustine. There's a new Augustine, a new man with a new purpose, a new life, a new mind, a new heart, new passions, new desires. That he was a new creation, a changed man. That's what happens when you encounter the Lord Jesus Christ. Changes your life forever. He doesn't make a better version of you, he makes a new you, a totally new you, a new creation in Christ. And where does that power come from? Where does the power come from to make us a new creation? To transform us from the inside out? Well, I love what Paul closes with here. These great words that answer that question. Verse 18. He says this, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. Man, if you had to summarize Christianity in a sentence, I'm not sure you could find a better sentence. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. It's all about grace and grace comes from Jesus

Galatians started with grace. What's Galatians ending with? It's not a trick question grace Do you know why? It's all about grace. The sum of the Christian life is this it's all about Jesus and his grace. That's it It's about Jesus and his grace. That is the sum of the Christian life We don't deserve love but we've been loved by Jesus that's grace We're not clean but we've been made clean by Jesus that's grace We don't we don't deserve to be in the presence of God, but Jesus has made us worthy We're not perfect But Jesus has made us perfect. That's grace We're not faithful to God, but Jesus is always faithful to us. That's grace And grace is Magnificent it's what saves us Paul said in Ephesians 2 8 that it is by grace. You've been saved It is by grace that our sins are forgiven. It's by grace that were brought into a relationship with God It's by grace that were made into a totally new creation Given a new mind a new heart a new life. That's all because of God's amazing grace It's all Jesus and his grace and listen if that's not enough grace God is so kind and generous in his grace That he not only saves us. He chooses to use us in his purposes so we can have a measure of joy in Satisfaction in our life by being co-workers with him on in his work here on earth, you know what that is grace And and God even gives us a Spiritual gift or gifts to be used to serve him and his kingdom. That's grace Everything we do is by God's grace the skills talents abilities. We have are by God's grace The the fruit that we bear in our lives is by his grace Listen, the whole message of Galatians can be summed up in this verse for us the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ That's it Listen friend, I I don't know what you came in here carrying with you. I Don't know what burden or trouble you brought in this room today. I

Don't know what difficult circumstance you may be going through in your life But here's what I do know The answer to every situation every circumstance in your life is this You need the grace of the Lord Jesus That's what you need. It's what I need. It's what we all need All of us need His grace And what is our response to Jesus in his grace What's Paul's final word here to us in verse 18, do you see it It's amen Amen, you know what? Amen means it means may it be so or may it always be so May we always Be about Jesus and his grace Fellowship our church. May we always be about Jesus and his grace it But that's that's what this is all about about Jesus and his grace God couldn't love us any more than he already has He came to seek and to save those who are lost. He's loved us and pursued us Sending his one and only son to to die on the cross. He saved us by grace He'll never leave us or forsake us. He's our God and we're his people and nothing Nothing can ever pluck us out of his loving hand You know why because our relationship with him does not rest on our flesh it rest on Jesus and his grace and You know, we have to respond to that grace That that's the whole point. I Mean God sent his son to reveal himself to us in The person in the work of Jesus and we have to respond to that For those of you that don't know Jesus You need to respond by realizing that there's There's nothing you can do in yourself

to make yourself acceptable to God. You need Jesus to make you acceptable. What that means is you have to recognize your sin. You have to confess that, and you have to put your faith in Jesus. And then it's the power of his grace working in your life that begins to change you from the inside out, giving you a new heart, a new life, a new mind. And guess what? A new future, an eternal future. That's what the Lord Jesus does. But some of us in here that already love and follow Jesus, maybe we're struggling with sin in our life. And maybe the way we need to respond is we need to come to Jesus this morning and ask him for his forgiving grace. Maybe you're one of those people that I spoke about just a moment ago. You just feel burdened by life. You're worn out, you're tired, and everything just feels so heavy, so difficult. And maybe the way you need to respond this morning is just come into Jesus and asking him for his empowering grace to give you the strength that you need to just keep going, to push through whatever you're facing in your life. Maybe you're here today and you're in pain. You're suffering. Maybe you've been diagnosed with cancer.

Maybe you feel pretty hopeless today. Maybe you're not in physical pain. Maybe you're in emotional pain. You've been rejected somehow. Maybe you're going through a divorce. Maybe you feel an overwhelming sense of shame and guilt. And maybe the response you need to have today is to come to Jesus for his healing grace. Here's what I know. Every single one of us in here today, what we need is the grace of Jesus Christ. All of us. And the great thing is Jesus will meet us exactly where we are. We need Jesus and his grace today. So let's go to the only one that can give us that, and that's the Lord Jesus himself. So let's pray together. Friends, I don't know where you are today. I don't know what's rattling around in your head and heart. I know a lot of us came in here with heavy hearts. A lot's happened this week, maybe this month. We feel overwhelmed. Would you just take a moment right now and just respond to that grace, to Jesus and his grace? I don't know what grace you need this morning, but I know you need it. I know that I need it. Would you just open up your heart, your life today to it?

Maybe you need that healing grace, that forgiving grace, that empowering grace. Listen, maybe you're here today and you need that saving grace. Hey, you've never come to the place where you've put your faith and trust in Jesus. No better time than right now. Jesus, thank you that we don't have to try to perform for you. We don't have to try to jump through a bunch of spiritual hoops. That we are loved and accepted by grace through faith. We are righteous, holy, perfect, loved, cleansed, redeemed, all because of you. It is all by your grace. So we give you our hearts, we give you our lives. We worship you because you alone are worthy of our worship. You made it all possible at the cross and you finished it at the empty tomb. We give you the glory and the honor and the praise today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thanks again for listening to the word of God. We are blessed to be part of your ministry. We are blessed to be part of your ministry. Thank you for listening to the word of God. We are blessed to reach you throughout the week through whatever platform you're listening on. If you're needing prayer or you want to talk to someone about your walk with Jesus, reach out to us at fellowshipar.com slash contact.

Have a great week.