Grace Changes Everything, November 2, 2025

I want to welcome those of you that are with us in the chapel, those of you that may be joining us online today. Thanks for being here. If you're new to us, my name is Mark. I'm one of the teaching pastors here at Fellowship. We're thrilled that you're with us today, particularly this your first time here. I want to encourage you after the service, drop by the Connection Center just so you can get to know us a little bit, we can get to know you. Well, last Sunday, we had an incredible time here on this campus. We hosted something called Family Fest. And the weather finally cooperated with us and we were able to have a great time together. A huge crowd ended up coming out. I want to say a special thank you to our staff and volunteers who helped pull this off. Just a great time to get together, to celebrate together, to have some fun together. And you may be wondering, why does Fellowship host an event like Family Fest? Well, our mission here is to make disciples. And one of the ways that we can make disciples is by having fun opportunities and events, and we don't do a lot of them, but we can have these kinds of events like Family Fest, where we get the opportunity to have people that are maybe disconnected from a church or disconnected from Jesus come on our campus. And I have an opportunity here to have some fun and to be around us and hopefully in turn, come back and be a part of what we're doing this morning. Where maybe in time we can help them get connected to a church, get connected to God and get connected to other people, which is part of that discipleship journey. In fact, if you're here today, and maybe you were here last Sunday for Family Fest, and this is your first time here, man, we are thrilled that you're with us today. And you picked a great Sunday to be here because

we are continuing in our series called Grace Changes Everything. And we've been working our way through the book of Galatians together. Today we find ourselves in chapter two. And so if you have a Bible or a Bible app, however you like to follow along, let me encourage you to start making your way to Galatians chapter two. That's where we're going to be today. And as you do that, let me give you a little review because it's easy to forget where we've actually been. The Apostle Paul is writing this letter and he's upset about what's going on in the churches that are located in Galatia. He's upset because a group of people have come in called the Judaizers. And they're saying that Jesus is not enough to save you. They're actually teaching that it's Jesus plus human effort. They're undermining the gospel of grace. They're distorting the truth of the gospel. They're saying in order to be right with God, in order to be good with God, there are certain spiritual things, certain, there's certain spiritual stuff that you have to do in your life to be okay with God. And friends, that's a false gospel. False gospels focus on what man can do and not on what Christ has done. And so Paul says to these Galatians and to us, listen, you've got it all wrong. It's not about rules or rituals or some spiritual performance to be right with God. It is about Jesus and the gospel and his grace and nothing else. And so thus far in the book of Galatians, what Paul has been doing is holding up this banner of grace for us to see because grace is everything. Grace is what is at the center of the gospel. Grace is what we believe. Grace is the source of our salvation. And he's been holding up this banner of grace. And last week we saw Paul arguing against legalism. Now, legalism is when a person tries to earn God's acceptance or approval by their moral

or religious behavior. And legalism is the enemy of the gospel. It's the enemy of the gospel because it's anti-grace. And today we're going to get introduced to another enemy of the gospel, and it's hypocrisy. Two enemies of grace. You have legalism that we talked about last week, and you have hypocrisy. So let's look at this together. We're in Galatians chapter 2. We're going to start reading here in just a moment in verse 11. And what's going to happen in this text that we're going to look at today is Paul's going to give us two pictures. The first picture is a picture of hypocrisy. He's going to contrast that picture of hypocrisy with a picture of faith. He wants us to see what the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of grace, what it really looks like. He's going to contrast these two for us here in this text. We're in verse 11. Here's what it says. But when Cephas, that's Paul's nickname for Peter, just simply means rock, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back, separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him. So that even Barnabas, good old Barnabas, was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, if you though a Jew live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? So what's happening here? Well, Peter, all the way back in Acts chapter 10, had a dream where God revealed to him in a dream that there were no unclean animals.

And so Peter began eating and hanging out with the Gentiles, even sharing the gospel with them. And this was a really big deal because back then Jews and Gentiles didn't intermingle together because the Jews saw the Gentiles as unclean. And also some of their foods as being unclean. And so Peter began hanging out with the Gentiles every night, probably eating bacon and pork tenderloin, okay? Foods that the Jews were against. And all of a sudden some Jews from Jerusalem come into town. Notice Paul calls them the circumcision party. And what does Peter do? He withdraws. He goes back to his old ways of not eating and hanging out with the Gentiles. And so Paul finds out about this and he confronts Peter to his face. Do you see that in verse 11? This confrontation had to be something to watch, right? Paul confronting and taking on Peter, I mean, this is pay per view stuff. I mean, this is so much better than Mike Tyson and Jake Paul trying to box it out, okay? And why is Paul so upset? Because Peter is being a hypocrite and his hypocrisy is impacting Barnabas and others. Now you may know this, but the word hypocrite, what it literally means is someone who plays multiple parts or roles. The word finds its meaning in a play or a production and if someone had multiple parts or roles in that play, they were referred to as a hypocrite. That's where that word comes from. And when we act in different ways at different times, we're a hypocrite, right? You know, one of the biggest reasons people say they don't want to go to church is because the church is full of hypocrites, right? You ever heard that before? Man, I had a guy tell me that one time

that the reason he never came to church was because the church is full of hypocrites and I told him, you know what? You'll fit right in. He didn't like that response much. You know, to some extent, let's be honest, we are all hypocrites. And it's why we need Jesus and his grace. But let's be honest. Some of us are blatantly living in a hypocritical way. What I mean is, we say we believe in Jesus. We say we want to follow Jesus. But our actions tell a whole different story. You know what that is? Hypocrisy. That's what that is. We act differently. We speak differently. And so we come to church, a place like this, we show up at our discipleship group and we're a certain way in those kind of environments. We have a certain way of kind of talking and handling ourselves. Monday morning comes, we're a completely different person altogether. That, friend, is called a hypocrite. And that's what Paul is putting his finger on when it comes to Peter. And notice the specific hypocrisy that Paul's calling out here.

We see it in verse 14. He says, your conduct is not in step with the truth of the gospel. Paul here is talking to Peter. He's saying, you know, Peter believed the gospel. Peter believed the gospel. He knew the gospel. He preached the gospel. But his life was not reflecting the gospel. In his conduct, Peter was being self-righteous and judgmental because he was withdrawing back from the Gentiles. In essence, what he was saying is, I'm superior, I'm better, I'm separating myself from a people and a group that God loves and wants to redeem. And he was acting in a hypocritical way. By the way, let me stop here just for a moment. If Peter struggled with hypocrisy as an apostle, as a disciple of Jesus, I think most of us in here are gonna struggle with it. Can we put that on the table together? None of us in here are not gonna struggle with this. That's why we desperately need the gospel. We need Jesus. We need his grace. Because my goodness, if Peter's struggling with it, we're gonna struggle with it as well. And we become a hypocrite when our conduct is not in step with the truth of the gospel.

Do you get that? When our life and actions begin to wander and get all out of step with the gospel, the truth of the gospel, that's hypocrisy. Now I wanna mention a couple of things we need to see in light of this confrontation that we see here between Paul and Peter. A couple of things that I want you to see. The first is this. There are times where we need to lovingly confront someone, to protect the truth of the gospel. That seems obvious, but I wanna speak to the obvious here. Now when I say confront, we don't ever do that through social media. That's not something we do through texting. In fact, notice that we're told very clearly here that Paul speaks to Peter face-to-face. The kind of confronting that I'm talking about is in relationship. It's eyeball-to-eyeball. It's out of care for someone. And we do that in a spirit of love. We do it with respect, and we do it in a spirit of gentleness, as Galatians 6 says. And we'll get to that here in a few weeks. The kind of confronting I'm talking about is not a shouting match. It's not something that's done in anger. Rather, it is us speaking the truth in love to someone

who is out of step with the truth of the gospel. And some of you have friends or family members that you need to confront around something in their life. Maybe they have an addiction, or they're making some disastrous decisions in their life, or they're being destructive in their actions, and you need to warn them. You need to lovingly confront them with the truth. And man, that takes guts, doesn't it? It is hard to have these kind of conversations, these hard conversations. I remember years ago at my last church, feeling all this anxiety and stress leading up to a hard conversation that I was gonna have to have with a friend. Sitting down in that moment and having a loving confrontation with him because he was having an emotional affair. He said he believed the gospel, and that he wanted to follow Jesus, but his life and his actions were telling a whole different story. You know, that conversation forever changed our relationship. It's never been the same. And I hate that. But sometimes we have to love people and love the church and love the gospel enough to confront people when we see that they're not in step with it.

Here's the second thing I would mention. The grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ changes both our thinking and our conduct. It always should be changing our thinking and our conduct, what we think, say, and do. That's what Paul tells Peter. He says you can't act one way with this group in a different way with this other group. The gospel changes the way you think, the way you act, even when the Judaizers come to town. Peter. See, Peter wasn't living in step with the truth of the gospel. Here's a great application point for us as we think about this passage. I want you to think about this question. What are some things in your life that are not in step with the truth of the gospel? Let me ask that again. What are some things in your life, in my life, that are not in step right now with the truth of the gospel? Now, if you're like me, it's not just one thing. It's several things that are in my life that are not in step with the gospel. That's why we need God's grace to continue changing our thinking and our conduct. The grace of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ changes us from the inside out. It makes us new creatures.

It's always conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. And if it's not doing that, then we're probably playing the part of the hypocrite because that's what the gospel of grace does. It changes and continually changes the way we think and the way we live. Philippians 1, six says, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will see it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. This means where I start is not where I'm gonna finish because God is working something in me, changing me, shaping me. The way I think, the way I speak, the changing the things I do, the grace of God is constantly changing us the way we think and the way we act. And so Paul starts this off by giving us this picture of hypocrisy. And now he's gonna contrast this by showing us a picture of faith. And this has been a picture that he's been painting really throughout the book of Galatians so far, that it's faith in Jesus plus nothing else. Not faith plus circumcision, not faith plus following the law, not faith plus abstaining from certain foods. Faith in Jesus alone is what makes us a follower of Christ. And he's gonna paint this beautiful picture for Peter, for us in contrast to this picture of hypocrisy.

Look what he says, starting in verse 15. He says, we ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ, not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove to myself to be a transgressor. For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. Look at this all-important phrase. I want you to underline it in your Bible. It's right here in verse 16. Says this, a person is not justified by works of the law, but through what? Faith in Jesus Christ. Everything with Jesus hinges on faith. It's faith alone in Jesus and nothing else. Paul is saying to Peter, it's not the law. It's not your works that make you right with God. It's faith in Christ. To put it in our language today, it's not baptism. It's not, as wonderful as baptism is,

it's not coming to church. It's not being a good person. It's not your generous giving that makes you right with God. It's only faith in Jesus Christ. Only. And when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we receive, Paul says here, two beautiful, glorious benefits. The first one is this. He says when we put our faith in Christ, we're actually accepted by God. The word he uses here for acceptance is the word justified. Now that can be a churchy word, a theological word, a doctrinal word. Sometimes it's justified, sometimes it's justification. It's a legal word, which means that when we are justified, now God sees us in a right position as being just. Just as he is just. And this word is actually mentioned four times here. This word justified in these few verses. Listen, this is one of the most important words in all of the New Testament for us to understand as it relates to our salvation. We're on it right here. The picture that Paul is giving us here is the fact that we're justified before God by faith in faith alone. I can't stress enough how important it is for us to understand this biblical concept or theological concept.

This idea of being justified by faith alone is what was at the center of the Protestant Reformation. It's what sits at the center of Christianity. This idea that it's faith alone in Christ that justifies us. So what does it mean to be justified by faith? Let's talk about that for a moment. Before Christ, every single one of us is a helpless, hopeless sinner standing guilty before a holy God. God is righteous and we are not. Romans 3 says it this way, verses 10 and 11. Romans 3 says it this way, verses 10 and 11. None is righteous, not even one. No one seeks after God. Think of it like a bank account. Before Christ, our spiritual bank account is zero. We are spiritually speaking bankrupt because there's no righteousness in our account at all. There's no balance because of our sin. And there's no human way we can make ourselves right with God. We can't do it through the sacraments or good moral behavior. If that was possible, then what was the purpose for Jesus dying in the first place? I mean, if following the law could make us right with God, then why did Jesus die? If being a good person could make us right with God, then why did Jesus die?

die. I mean, there's no reason to make a way if there's already a way. The only way to be justified is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. And what happens when we put our faith in Christ in that moment using this picture of a spiritual bank account, when we put our faith in Christ, all of a sudden we get all of his righteousness. The work that Christ has done for us comes into our spiritual bank account. So what started out with a zero balance, if you will, now I'm a multi, multi-millionaire, if you will. Not because of anything that I've done or you've done, but because I've put my faith in Christ and now I have all of his righteousness in my account. And that happens at the moment that I put my faith in Christ, I get his righteousness. I'm made right because of the work that he's done for me. And listen, there is nothing that I can do that will ever lower that balance of righteousness. And you say, well, Mark, what if I leave here today and do the most horrible sin imaginable? I would tell you, absolutely do not do it. Please don't do that. But here's what I would tell you. If you are in Christ, no matter what you do, it will not lower your righteousness because your righteousness doesn't count on you. It's a work that's been done for you in Christ and it will always be the same. That's what it means to be justified. You've been made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. And if I haven't said this enough, alone, Jesus plus nothing else, faith alone. And when I put my faith in Christ, I'm adopted into his family. Even though I'm a sinner, I'm made right with God. Even though I'm a sinner and I stand guilty before God, I'm set free because I have all of the righteousness of Christ. He gives me that. He puts that in my account. It's not based on anything in me. It's based on everything that Christ has done for us. That's what Paul is reminding Peter about here and reminding us about. It is central to what Christianity is all about. That we don't somehow earn our way or deserve anything. We receive it by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Man, what an incredible truth, a glorious work that God has done for you and for me through his son, Jesus. And so friends, if you have faith in Jesus Christ, when the God of the universe looks upon your life, he sees the shed blood of his son. And he says, I have no record of anything you have ever done wrong in your life. Wow. How awesome is that? No record of sin. That's why Romans eight says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because God has taken the full record of your sin and my sins. And he put them on his son at the cross. They've been paid in full. You

are now forgiven. And so when he looks at you and me, there's no record of sin whatsoever. All he sees is the righteousness of his son. Wow. We have been justified, accepted by God. And how does that happen? It only happens through faith, faith in Jesus. A second benefit. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we're made alive to God, made alive to God through faith in Christ. We're not only accepted before God because we receive the righteousness of Christ. When we put our faith in him, but we also are made alive to God. Look how Paul ends this discussion with Peter here. He says, verse 18, for if I reveal what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor from through the law, I died the law so that I might live to God. See, faith is not only what makes us acceptable to God, it's also what enables us to live for God. Faith is more than just a one-time moment where we pray a prayer of salvation. It's what is central to every part of the Christian life. Every part of our life with Jesus requires faith. Paul is saying that we're not just justified by faith, we also live by faith. In other words, faith is not just what saved us and made us righteous, faith is also what enables us to live our salvation out day by day, moment by moment, as we live for God. Just like we need oxygen every day as a human. That's what keeps us alive, we have to breathe. Faith is what we have to breathe, breathe, to live for God. Man, you wanna obey God's word? You need faith. You wanna resist temptation? You need faith. You wanna be a more generous person with your resources? You need faith.

We need faith in every aspect of life. If we wanna live for God, it requires faith in everything that we do. Faith is so much more than just one day kind of walking down an aisle and putting your faith in Christ. That's important and certainly a big step we take. But from that day on, every moment, every day, as we seek to live for God, we need faith. And so I close with this question. Do you have faith? Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? Are you trusting in the finished work of Christ on your behalf or are you not? And by the way, those are the only two options. It's one or the other. And my invitation to you today is that the gospel is good news. Because God has made a way through the work of his son, his life, his burial, his death, and his resurrection for you to be accepted by God, for you to be adopted into his family. To have life in him, to be justified, to declare right with God. And the only way that happens is through faith in Christ alone. Not faith in your religion. Not faith in your church attendance. Not faith in your moral efforts, as good as those may be. It's faith in Jesus, the righteous one.

The only one who can make you right. The only one who can save you, friend. And so you say to yourself, well, how do I put my faith in Jesus? Well, the Bible's pretty clear about it. Romans 10. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him for the dead, you will be saved. Because in the heart, you believe and you're justified. And when you confess with your mouth, you're saved. It comes to you through faith in Christ. You don't earn it. We don't deserve it. It comes to us by way of grace. It's what Paul has been talking about here. This whole book about the grace of Jesus Christ, all we have to do is receive through faith the work that he's already done for us. We get everything. It is Jesus plus nothing else. We just put our faith in his finished work. I wanna invite you today, if you haven't done that, today can be the day for you to do that. Right where you are. To just open up your heart and your life to Jesus. To confess with your mouth and believe in your heart and know that when you do that, your life is forever changed. In that moment, you are justified

and you receive all the glory. the righteousness of Christ. Let's pray together. Well, Father, I wanna pray for us, for those of us in here who have already crossed the line of faith, for those of us who are in Christ. As we think about that question, what are those things in our life that are at a step with the truth of the gospel? Lord, as you even bring those things to mind in this very moment, would you give us the grace that we need to confess those things, the power that we need to help overcome those things in our life so that we can walk and live in the truth of the gospel, the gospel that you've accomplished for us at the cross? Lord, would you help us day by day to be men and women of faith that as we seek to live for you, that we would just have faith in you in all that we do, all that we say, all that we do. And Lord, I pray for those that are here today that maybe they've never come to that place in their life, where they've opened up their heart, they've confessed you to be their Lord and Savior. Lord, I pray now, as only you can do, you would draw them to yourself. Listen, friend, right where you are,

would you open up your heart today? It's not about your religion. It's not about your works. It's not about your performance. It's not about what you have done or are doing. It's all about what Jesus has done for you. All you have to do is receive that through faith in Jesus Christ. He can do everything in and through you. Open up your heart, even in this moment. Receive him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thanks again 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.