La Gracia Cambia Todo, Febrero 1, 2026

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Good morning, family. Buenos dias, familia. It's good to see you this morning. My name is Cody. I am, as Alfredo said, I am the Benton campus pastor. I've been a part of fellowship for 12 years. I've been here since the beginning of Español. And I'm proud to say this, other than my campus, this is my favorite campus. I love being here. I love worshiping with you. I believe that when we get to heaven, the language of heaven will be Spanish. Because English sounds ugly. Spanish sounds beautiful. So when I get to heaven, the glory of my new body will be fluent in Spanish. And I can't wait. Until then, you have to listen to my bad English. I love going through the book of Galatians. Several weeks ago, I got to do a video about my story. About how I grew up in the church.

A precious church. But a church that really, in the culture of the church, was not one of grace. And then 12 years ago, I got to fellowship. As we were going through the book of Galatians. And the Lord changed my life. And gave me a heart of grace. And I'm so thankful for fellowship. I'm thankful for the staff in Español. I'm thankful for my brother Alfredo. My time to get to know him. I'm thankful for Jonas, who sang all of my favorite songs this morning. I'm thankful for Miss Dane. I'm thankful for everyone who serves here. I want you to know that we're a part of one team. And anytime I get to be here, it is an honor. And I've been praying for you. So I'm blessed to be able to open God's word with you today. We're finishing the book of Galatians. We're down to the last eight verses. And this morning, we're just gonna go verse by verse. And we're gonna get to see Paul's last words to the church of Galatia in this letter. Galatians chapter six. Verse 11 through 18. We do this on the Benton campus. As we read God's word, would you stand with me if you are able? If you're not, it's okay.

See with what large letters I am 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 in only an 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 from 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. 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. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for my brothers and sisters today. And I thank you for the opportunity to open your word. Lord, we do not treat this lightly. And I pray that today you give me words to speak. Would you prohibit me from saying anything that I don't need to say this morning? We love you. We are thankful for our salvation. And we are thankful for your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. This morning we're going to look at three things. Why do we boast? Why do we take moments to say, look at me?

As believers, there's, through this text we see that we have a reason to boast. Not in ourselves, but instead one who is greater. These three things we'll see today. We boast in the gospel and not hypocrisy. We boast in Jesus. And we boast that we get to walk by grace. Paul is writing this letter to a church that he loves. This is a church he helped create, or helped to be the starter. He knows these people. He loves these people. And he has seen people come into the church and steer them away from the gospel. So as he's closing this letter, you can hear his heart. You hear his love for the people. And his challenge to the people one more time before he closes. He is reminding them, you boast in only one. Let's see what Paul says again. That we boast in the gospel and not hypocrisy. Let's read verse 11 and 13 again. See with what large letters I am 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 in only 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. Paul is pulling them back to the gospel. Paul is pulling them back to his words over and over again in the book of Galatians. He loves his people. He describes his love for his people in Galatians 4.19. My little children from whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. You see that?

He sees that they are his children. You see that? You see that? And he sees how they are walking away from the truth of the gospel. And his heart breaks for them. So this part of the passage, he is saying, I am writing this to you. See what large letters I am writing, that it is me that is writing to you. He is not just speaking to someone and they are writing down what he says. These are his words. And we don't have the picture of what the letter look like, but you can imagine, he is writing big here. There's a document in the United States called the Declaration of Independence. When the Americans separated from England, they wrote a nice letter to the king saying, we're leaving. Saying, we're done with England. And the men that signed the letter wrote their names just kind of normal, except for one man. His name was John Hancock. To write your name meant the king knew that you were a traitor. So many wrote their names small. This man named John wrote his name very large. He wanted to make sure that the king of England knew who he was.

And knew that he was proud to write his letter. Paul is writing his letter big. Saying, this is who's writing to you. I love you and I'm proud to write to you. And I'm challenging you to stay true to the gospel. Those that were coming into the church, that were preaching a different gospel, that you had to take the Old Testament law and keep the law. In order to earn salvation. These were pulling people away of the truth of the gospel. But most importantly, they were taking one ceremony, one part of the Old Testament law. And saying, if you want to be accepted by God, you have to keep this part of the law. It was foolishness that Paul's speaking of. To believe that if you kept part of the ceremony, but you ignored the heart behind the law, you were actually hypocrites. As we've learned all through the book of Galatians, the law was not given to save us. The law was given to show that we are sinners. And that we cannot be perfect. We need grace. We need Jesus, who kept the law for us. And those that were saying, oh, you have to be circumcised, you have to keep this law. Not only were they hypocrites, they were boasting in those that would become like them. They were taking Gentiles and turning them into Jews.

Instead of understanding that under the gospel, we're just one. And it's not about the ceremony. It's about believing the gospel. They were getting comfortable. They weren't being persecuted because they were on the outside look like Jews. But if they preached the gospel, that it's apart from the law, but that we are justified by Christ, they knew they would be persecuted. They knew that they would be beaten. They were embarrassed of the gospel. And Paul is telling them, do not be comfortable. And Paul is telling them, do not be comfortable. Don't be comfortable. with a pretty outside. When you don't truly believe the gospel, that sounds a lot like our culture. So many have taken Christianity and made it about being nice. The gospel's not about being nice. The gospel's about being new. It's not about looking, pretending, performing. None of these will save us. It is only Christ, and we cannot neglect the gospel, even when it's uncomfortable. So how does this challenge our hearts? A holy God created humanity for His glory, created it for a relationship with You. And yet because a holy God created us, out of that creation we sinned and disobeyed God. Our sin separates us from a holy God. We can't have a relationship with Him because we have chosen disobedience when that's all we have ever known.

Our sin separates us. And if we die separated, we spend eternity separated. It doesn't matter how much good I do. All my good is still bad because it's not done in faith of Jesus Christ. Your bad is bad. Your good is bad. And you can't close that gap. It's impossible because you're not perfect. That's what the law requires. That's the bad news. Do we know the bad news? I can't do anything about this gap. It's not that I dress myself up and I look better than my friend. It doesn't matter what we look like compared to them. It matters what we look like compared to a perfect God. It requires perfection. But the good news is this. God loves you. He loves you so much that He willingly gave His Son for you. That this Jesus was perfect for you and is perfect for you. When He lived, He was obedient to the law. And He willingly went to the cross, bearing your penalty, your sin upon Himself. He didn't deserve it. But it was why He came. That your sin would be placed upon Him. That He would suffer and die and bleed for you. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. And they placed His dead body into a borrowed tomb. And the reason it was borrowed, because He would only need it three days. That was it, three days.

Because what happened after three days? He rose again. On the cross, He defeated sin. And this resurrected Savior has defeated death for us. Where do you see yourself? Do you see yourself adding to this? You don't earn it. Your goodness had nothing to do with it. Jesus has done it all. And how do I get the gift of His forgiveness of sin and His rescue of sin and death? I don't perform. I don't try to get everything in order. I don't pretend I'm a good person. None of us are good. Repent and believe. Repent of the sin that needs to be forgiven. Believe in the one who made the payment. And the gift is yours. His obedience is yours. His life is your life. It's not about keeping the law. Although you become a new creation. And we'll talk about that. But it's now living in Christ and only what Christ can do. It's only grace. And our hearts want to justify ourselves. We want to prove ourselves. But Jesus has already proven himself. So that you don't have to prove yourself.

It is the gift to receive. And it's only done by Christ. Praise God for grace. Praise God that even though we may be uncomfortable with others by proclaiming grace. We don't stop preaching grace. So we boast in the gospel. We boast in Jesus. Verse 14. Verse 14. But far be it from 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. If today you go down to the gas station. You're putting in gas in your car. And a man walks up. And he hands you a set of keys to a brand new Lamborghini. Beautiful. Car's worth about $500,000. He walks up to you. Hands you the keys. And says, it's yours. Here is the title of the car. It has your name on it. And he walks away. Are you gonna drive that car? Are you going to show that car off? And someone's gonna ask you, how did you get this car?

What are you gonna say to them? I'm a good person? Someone finally saw how good I am and they saw that I deserve this car. And you're gonna brag on, you'll boast in yourself. Look, I've been so good. Clearly I deserve this car. And this man saw how good I was and he gave me this car. We would never do that. We would go the rest of our life boasting in the one who gave it to us. That we didn't deserve it. This man just showed up with keys and he gave them to me. And now this is mine. I would boast in the man, I wouldn't boast in myself. I would talk about his generosity. I wouldn't say, look at me. Now that's a terrible example. Because what you have in Jesus is much better than a Lamborghini. What you have in Jesus is worth boasting. What you have is worth boasting forever and ever. Look at my life. Look how I was lost. Could not save myself. And yet God came with flesh on. To save me. Forgive me of my sins. Rescue me. Give me heaven instead of the hell I deserve.

Isn't he so good? When you see bigger and bigger what Jesus has done for you, you boast. You don't boast in Jesus. You don't boast in yourself. When Jesus saved you, he didn't save you 99% and wait for you to put in your 1%. Because you know what we would do with that 1%? Look at my 1%. If we owed a million dollars, and it gets paid all but 1 penny, we would walk up to the desk, drop our penny, and say, look at my penny. Because that's the way our hearts are. We want to boast in what we do. But that's not the gospel. The gospel is 100%. It is what has been done in Christ, not what you do. What do dead people do? What do they do? Nothing. Nothing. There's no 1%. We don't do anything. It's only Christ. He has paid it all. That ought to make us the most joyful people. The deeper we look in Scripture, the deeper we see the grace of Jesus to us, the more we boast in Jesus. I didn't do anything except for sin that needed to be forgiven. I didn't add to any of my salvation. He did it all. So I boast in Christ.

Paul is writing, may I never boast in anything but Jesus. Only the cross of Christ who paid for my forgiveness that I owed, I deserve death. Jesus took my place. I deserve punishment. Jesus took my place. I deserve separation. Jesus fixed the gap, closed the gap between me and God. Praise Jesus. Not me. I did nothing. He is the one that saved me. He is the one that woke up or awakened my heart. When I was dead, He changed my heart and made me alive. It's only Him. Where is my hope? The cross of Christ. Where is my righteousness? The cross of Christ. Where is my hope in life and death? The cross of Christ. Where can I go to plead my case? The cross of Christ. Where will I go to receive comfort and blessing? The cross of Christ. Only Jesus. When our eyes are tempted to look inward, may we remember it's not what I've done. It's only what Christ has done. That will turn to make your heart boast in the Lord. And it will change the way that you look at this world. The people of this world you will love dearly.

You will show grace to others. But the things that this world offers you does not compare to Christ. And you will turn your back to the world. Not the people we love, but this world of sin that says, if you believe this or do this, you will be happy. I only find my happiness and joy in the cross of Christ. pero solo encuentro mi felicidad y mi gozo en la cruz de Cristo. I only find my rescue in Jesus. Y solo encuentro mi rescate en Jesús. And those things don't compare to Jesus. Y esas cosas no se comparan con Jesús. When you come into the faith cuando entras en la fe by repenting and believing in Jesus al arrepentirte y creer en Jesús what you lay down lo que hemos dejado looks like trash se ve como basura compared to picking up Jesus. comparado con el alcanzar a Jesús. And that is why we can be crucified to the world so that I can live for Jesus. Those things, they don't the longer I get in my faith the more those things should not taste good. I will still sin. I will sin the rest of my life. And it will break my heart the rest of my life.

I am more aware of my sinfulness today than I was 30 years ago. I am more aware of my need for grace than I was 30 years ago. And though I don't look the way I'm supposed to look today by God's grace through His Spirit I don't look the way I used to look either. He has changed my appetite. The more that I'm in this faith the sweeter Jesus is to me. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and see that the world is bad. And every day find it a little bit more bad. Because Jesus is a little more sweeter. Lastly, we boast in walking by grace. Verses 15 through 18. 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. From now on let no one cause me trouble when I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. What our life looks like now is new life. When we have baptisms here

buried in death raised to walk in new life. You're a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. There's a beautiful picture here. There's things that happen in science. As you study when you're little that the caterpillar creates a cocoon, creates a new body. It turns into a butterfly. New creation. A change. It doesn't look the same anymore. When you and I come into the faith, we don't look the same anymore. That is, grace has saved us. And grace holds us. Grace changes us to look more like Christ. Little bit by little bit. For the glory of God. We've been called to new life. Not to perform. But to love. The reason we obey now is not to manipulate God. It's because he has saved us. And we do so out of love. I have three daughters. One of them is here today, so she is my favorite.

But when my daughters obey me out of love, and not because I'm going to take their phone, that is sweet. When they do what I say because they love me, man, that makes my heart feel big. When my three daughters get along, though it's very rare, those couple of minutes a week are sweet. What does that do to a father's heart? Oh, finally. I ask you, what does it do to the Lord's heart? When he sees his children that are still broken and sinful and still being molded into his image, but with new hearts want to obey him, they want to boast in him, that's worship. We love to sing, but that's not the only way we worship. New hearts that want to love Jesus. With all that we do is our worship to him. As Paul is writing this, he's so thankful for grace. He has worn the scars of standing for the sake of the gospel. And for those that would follow him and say it is only God's grace and mercy. Paul opens the door and says, come on in. As you come in, may peace and grace be upon you. When you know that you owe Jesus everything, you live with grace.

You're thankful for grace. You don't try to justify yourself by the law. You boast in Christ. I want to close with this. There was a pastor a long time ago. Everyone loved him dearly. His name is Thomas Hooker. And he's dying. People are gathered around his bed. This man has lived a wonderful life of glorifying God. And one of his dear friends comes close to him and whispers in his ear. Brother Hooker, you go to receive your reward. His friends had seen his life. Seen all that he did for the Lord. Seen all that he did for the Lord. And this man whispers, you're going to get your reward. Brother Hooker looks him in the eyes. Shakes his head. Says, no, no, no. I go to receive mercy. That's boasting in Jesus. Y eso es gloriarse en Jesus. My life is not my reward. The mercy and grace of Jesus is my reward. All the bad I have done has been forgiven in Christ. All the good I have ever done has been because Jesus has done it through me. And at the end of the day, I have nothing. But Jesus.

So I boast in Jesus. If you've never put your faith in him today, the invitation is for you. It's not about your good. It's about being forgiven. Repent and believe in Jesus. For those that have been saved by his grace, there's only one name that has saved you. There's only one who has lived through your life. And you have only one reward. That is Jesus Christ. May you boast in Jesus. No matter where you find yourself. No matter how hard life is. Boast in Jesus. Jesus, and when we get to heaven, we get mercy and grace. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for my brothers and sisters. Thank you that we're all on the same path, broken, sinful people who have nothing to offer, that you have saved, that by your grace you use for your glory. Lord, thank you for your cross, the cross that has saved us, that redeems us and makes us one, that over time becomes sweeter and sweeter to us, that we turn our back away from the things of this world because you are more precious to us.

Today, can we walk out, Lord, finding you sweeter than what we did when we walked in. And may we boast in you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.