Is God's grace really for everyone?

Yes. In Galatians 2:1-10, the Apostle Paul shows that God welcomes outsiders into His family by grace, without making them earn it. Dr. Toby Holt explains why this was such amazing, unexpected good news. For centuries Jews and Gentiles were bitter enemies, so it shocked many to learn that God planned all along to bless "all the families of the earth," as He promised Abraham. Paul brought Titus, a Gentile believer, as a living test case — and the Jerusalem leaders did not force him to be circumcised, proof that faith in Jesus needs nothing added to it.

Questions this study answers:

1. Did God always plan to save people from every nation? Yes. His promise to Abraham was that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him; welcoming outsiders was His design from the start.

2. Who were the Judaizers? Teachers who said believing in Jesus was not enough, and that people also had to be circumcised and keep the Jewish law. Paul resisted them for adding human rules to God's free grace.

3. Why is there no "first class" or "second class" in the church? Because everyone is saved the same way — by grace through faith in Christ. In Him there is "neither Jew nor Greek."

"Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised." — Galatians 2:3 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

For centuries, there had been conflict between the Israelites and the Gentiles.

2

Because of that, it was very difficult for some Jewish Christians to accept their Gentile counterparts.

3

In today's study of Galatians, Paul will talk about the grace and salvation that Christ brought to Jews and Gentiles alike.

4

If you had spent years in prison, if you had spent years in prison,

5

And if you'd spent years behind bars and then someone let you out, someone let you free,

6

someone opened the doors, ushered you out, and for the first time you felt the sun beating

7

down upon your face, for the first time you breathed the free air, so to speak.

8

If this were to occur after a lifetime spent in jail, that you were to be freed, you would

9

feel great in that moment.

10

You would feel the relief wash over you.

11

You'd feel freedom and you'd be excited about it.

12

But what if, what if, say, 10 seconds after you were out those doors, breathing the free air,

13

feeling the sun, what if 10 seconds later someone came in and laid shackles upon you once more and

14

ushered you back into your jail cell and the iron bars drew shut once again? You'd feel terrible.

15

You'd feel horrified. You'd feel like this was just a tease, what you had received. You'd been

16

misled into thinking that you were free when you were not. This, in a nutshell, is what was

17

happening in Galatia. Paul had come in to the churches in Galatia and he had preached the

18

freedom that we find in Christ. He had said, we are set free from bondage to sin and to death and

19

to all the horrors of this world. We've been set free. We have liberty in Christ is what he had

20

preached and we receive it through faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. He had

21

preached this message and then he'd left town and what had happened? Well, again, the equivalent,

22

the spiritual equivalent of 10 seconds later, the Judaizers had come in.

23

And they had said, well, that's good and that's great that you have faith.

24

That's important. It's good and great that Christ did what he did.

25

But don't forget the law of Moses still applies.

26

Don't forget that the ceremonial aspects of what we did before for all the centuries are still applicable.

27

Don't forget to be circumcised. Don't forget to honor the feast days.

28

Don't forget to do any number of other things on top of that which Paul told you.

29

Don't forget to do these things because these things are essential.

30

They are important if you are to be a first class, first rate citizen in the kingdom of God.

31

Paul had preached freedom from the law, freedom from sin, freedom from death.

32

The Judaizers had sought to make captive the people to the law once again, whether it was one law or a thousand.

33

The principle was the same, that faith plus, faith plus keeping this law or that law or these laws or those laws.

34

But that was necessary if you were to be saved.

35

Now, in the case of the Judaizers, we can look at that and go, well, that's silly.

36

It shouldn't work that way.

37

But I tell you, that principle exists in cultures and even in brick buildings with crosses out front to this very day.

38

Let's pick an easy example.

39

Let's pick something outside of Christendom, so to speak.

40

The Jews, even in our present day, if you were to ask a Jew, what must I do to be right with God?

41

What must I do to be saved?

42

Well, I hope you've got some time to listen to the answer because it'll take a while.

43

There are a lot of things.

44

There's a lot of hoops you have to jump through in order to have right standing with God.

45

And they'll tell you that.

46

An Orthodox Jew will tell you that.

47

What about a Roman Catholic?

48

If you were to ask a Roman Catholic, what must I have to have confidence in this thing,

49

to have assurance of pardon, assurance of salvation?

50

What do I have to have?

51

Well, faith is a good starting point.

52

But they'll start to add things.

53

Start to add things.

54

You have to be baptized.

55

You have to keep this sacrament and that sacrament.

56

You have to confess.

57

You have to go and chase and kiss relics.

58

you've got to have indulgences, all these different things.

59

There's any number of different things that other worldviews,

60

other religious worldviews add on top of the idea of faith

61

in order for you to have security with God.

62

To Paul, it was simple.

63

To Paul, it was this.

64

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

65

and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

66

you will be saved.

67

It was simple, it was straightforward.

68

And it was over and against the prevailing view of those in his age or ours

69

that always, always, always seeks to add works on top of faith.

70

Paul contended against it in his day.

71

We contended against it in our own as well.

72

Let's dive into our text, see how he contended,

73

what his argumentation was, what the principles were

74

that he planted his feet squarely upon.

75

Let's look at verses 1 through 2,

76

and then we'll work our way through the balance of this text.

77

Verse 1.

78

Don't forget that last part. It's going to be central to our study.

79

I took Titus with me, and I went up by revelation, and I communicated to them the gospel that I preach to the Gentiles,

80

but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run or had run in vain.

81

All right. You know, a lot can happen in 14 years.

82

In 14 years, a lot can take place.

83

In the Apostle Paul's case, 14 years had gone by since that time when he was converted on the road to Damascus.

84

14 years had gone by between that time and the time of the second visit to Jerusalem to meet

85

with the other apostles. Now, during that time, Paul had grown in his faith and his understanding

86

and his ministerial gifts and the like. He had certainly grown. There is some debate, for those

87

of you who've studied the book of Acts, whether the visit that we're looking at in these verses

88

corresponds with what you'll find in Acts 11 or Acts 15. I'm persuaded it's Acts 11, but Paul went

89

up to Jerusalem on a number of occasions, and sometimes we try to figure out exactly which one.

90

I think it's Acts 11. With that said, whatever the case, when Paul went up to Jerusalem, his

91

intent was to meet with the apostles. His intent was to meet with the apostles, with the church

92

leaders, and to share with them some of his experience across these 14 years, to demonstrate

93

and tell them what God had done through him in the Gentile nations. You remember, Peter and the

94

others had focused their ministry primarily, primarily on sharing Christ with their fellow

95

Jewish brethren. But Paul had been commissioned of God to go afar, to go to the Greek, to go to

96

those in Corinth and Ephesus and Philippi and Thessalonica and the like, and share the gospel

97

with people who didn't understand Christ and who didn't understand the Jewish background from which

98

Christ came. This was Paul's ministry, and it had borne great fruit. It had borne great fruit. And

99

so when he talks to the apostles, he's saying, look, guys, what God has done. Look what he's

100

done through me. That it was mind-boggling, the outreach of this gospel message. Now, in order to

101

demonstrate the fruit, in order to prove to the apostles what was happening, Paul brought someone

102

with him. He brought Barnabas, but he also brought Titus. Now, who was Titus? Well, Titus, we know to be

103

a Gentile from the region of Crete. He was a Greek. He was a non-Jew. He was a Gentile, or Goya, the

104

hebrew term this was not a jewish convert this is someone from a gentile nation this was someone who

105

was uncircumcised and yet a believer in christ jesus now why did paul bring titus why did he

106

bring titus well we weren't in his head we don't totally know this but we can perceive from the

107

text that titus was sort of a test case here comes paul he's going into jerusalem he hasn't been

108

there for a great period of time and along with him he brings titus he brings this gentile he

109

brings this Greek, he brings this individual that was outside of the Jewish covenant

110

promises, outside of the Jewish context and community, and he brings him straight

111

into the heart of Jerusalem where people would recognize that he was different, recognize that he was

112

someone other than one of their own, and he would bring them to the apostles.

113

And he would present Titus to the apostles as proof of God's

114

Christ outreach into the Gentile nations. And Paul might have wondered

115

how would the apostles receive Titus? Paul's walking

116

with Titus, they're going to Jerusalem. It must have crossed Paul's mind. What's Peter going to

117

say when I introduce Titus, when I introduce this Gentile, this man from a pagan nation

118

who also loves Jesus? What's Peter and James and the others going to say? Are they going to make

119

my friend Titus jump through any hoops, do anything, perhaps be circumcised in order to

120

prove that he's really one of us? What are they going to do prior to welcoming him into the church?

121

Well, let's find out. Let's see what they did. Let's look at verses three through five. Verse

122

three. Yet, not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. Not even

123

Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of

124

false brethren secretly brought in who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have in

125

Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. Remember, there was folks who had gone into Galatia

126

who were adding things on top of the word, on top of the gospel, that ended up bringing people back

127

into bondage to the law. Some were saying that circumcision was a must. It was a must. It was a

128

must. You had to be circumcised. It was great if you had faith, but you had also to be circumcised.

129

There were some who were doing this, looking to bring people back into bondage to the Old Testament

130

ceremonial law. Paul knew this, and he wanted to see whether the apostles would do the same thing.

131

And in verse 3, he says, not even Titus was compelled to be circumcised. He's writing to

132

the people in Galatia and he's saying, look, I brought my friend Titus

133

to the apostles in Jerusalem. If ever there was a time and ever there was a place

134

where a Gentile convert to Christendom you would think would be compelled

135

to be circumcised, if indeed that was godly and biblical, it would have been here and it would

136

have been by these guys, the apostles. But that's not what they did.

137

That's not what they said. Not even Titus.

138

Despite being a goyim, despite being from a pagan nation.

139

Not even he was being compelled to be circumcised.

140

If he wasn't compelled to be circumcised,

141

then you and Galatia, what are you doing?

142

What are you doing compelling others to be circumcised?

143

If this one went straight to Jerusalem,

144

met with the apostles,

145

and they didn't tell him to be circumcised,

146

how dare you listen to these Judaizers

147

who are saying something different?

148

They're saying something different

149

than I've been telling you all along.

150

They're also saying something different

151

than the apostles, the other apostles,

152

have been telling you.

153

If ever there was a situation

154

in which a new convert from a Gentile nation

155

might have been pressured to be circumcised,

156

it would have been in this place and at this time with Titus.

157

But that's not what happened.

158

And the reason why it didn't happen is because the apostles knew

159

that it would add nothing.

160

Peter, James, John, they knew that circumcision would add nothing.

161

There's no work that you can do that can add anything, an ounce to that,

162

That can add anything to the perfect and atoning work of Jesus Christ.

163

Nothing you can do.

164

Even in our own days, you know, one of the greatest frustrations,

165

even in the modern church, is that there are denominations that do just the same thing.

166

That add other things.

167

They say, well, you can believe and that's great, but you also have to do this.

168

You have to be baptized.

169

It has to be immersion by water.

170

You can add any number of things and they can sound godly.

171

And yet, if you add something on top of faith loan to grace loan

172

as the means by which we access God's kingdom, we're wrong.

173

It's good to have fruit that demonstrates we're saved.

174

It's good to be baptized.

175

It's good to do those things which are appropriate and are biblical.

176

And yet, the minute you start saying that you have to also do this, this, or that,

177

whatever those things might be, and add it on top of the work of Jesus Christ,

178

you're preaching another gospel.

179

And that was Paul's, remember a couple weeks ago, that was his contention.

180

He opens the book to the Galatians and saying, this is what you're doing.

181

You're adding something to the gospel.

182

And he says, I don't care who comes and tells you to add something.

183

Be it myself, another apostle, be it an angel from heaven.

184

If anyone comes in and adds something to that,

185

adds something to the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ

186

that we apprehend through faith alone, through grace alone.

187

If anyone adds anything to that and says, you must believe it, anathema.

188

Let such one be accursed because that, that is not the gospel.

189

Paul's point is consistent throughout the work of Galatians.

190

It's consistent throughout all his letters.

191

It's consistent throughout all the scripture.

192

It's consistent, and yet, yet culturally it was hard.

193

Because in the first century context, Christendom was coming out of a Jewish expectation

194

and centuries and centuries and centuries of traditions.

195

And in fairness, it's not easy to shift gears on some things.

196

And yet it was essential, and Paul knew that it was hard but necessary.

197

For he had said, I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisee, a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

198

I studied the law, I was zealous in all these things,

199

and yet I understand that the law was fulfilled in Christ.

200

If you don't yet get it,

201

and you still think you're being saved through law-keeping,

202

you are wrong.

203

You're undermining the gospel.

204

This was his message to the Galatians,

205

and to everyone else he ministered to.

206

And Titus, Titus was this wonderful case study

207

that they all could learn from if they would pay attention.

208

All right, let's look at verses 6 through 10.

209

But from those who seemed to be something,

210

Whatever they were, it makes no difference to me because God shows personal favoritism to no man.

211

For those who seem to be something, added nothing to me.

212

In other words, when I went to the apostles, when I went before the learned men,

213

when I went and shared what I was doing and what was going on in the Gentile nations,

214

they did not add a thing to the gospel I was preaching.

215

I wanted to double check and make sure I wasn't running in vain,

216

that I wasn't doing something that would be viewed by my peers in ministry as unrighteous, unbiblical.

217

They added nothing to it.

218

They added nothing to it.

219

On the contrary, when they saw the gospel for the circumcised had been committed to me,

220

as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter,

221

when they saw the gospel for the uncircumcised, for the Gentiles, was committed to me,

222

and the gospel for the Jews was committed to Peter.

223

For he who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised

224

also worked effectively in me towards the Gentiles.

225

And when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars,

226

perceived the grace that had been given to me,

227

they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship.

228

that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised they to their Jewish peers they

229

desired only this that we would remember the poor the very thing that I was eager to do the apostles

230

the other apostles verified and validated what Paul was doing and their only sending grace or

231

sending words was remember the poor as you minister share the gospel by all means share

232

from the highest to the lowest. Remember the poor, and Paul says, that's in my heart too.

233

That's in my heart as well. Now, we've used the word Gentile on a number of occasions this morning.

234

What does that mean? Who are the Gentiles that we hear so much about? I'm looking at them. The

235

Gentiles are everyone who's non-Jewish. If you ask a Jew what a Gentile is, a Gentile, goyim,

236

the Hebrew word, is everyone who is not Jewish. It's all those from what you might have called,

237

especially in antiquity, the pagan nations. Now, historically, what relationship did Jews and

238

Gentiles have? It varied from none to terrible. They didn't have really any real formal relationship.

239

The Jews and Gentiles didn't have any real formal relationship. And at times, the relationship that

240

they did have was terrible. There's Goliath bellowing insults into the Jewish camp, Goliath

241

of Philistine, and all of his later day peers. The relationship between Jews and Gentiles was bad,

242

typically. Now, on the one hand, it was bad or non-existent because God had told the Jews at

243

the outset, he said, look, I'm calling you out of the world. You are my own special people. He told

244

this to Abraham. There's a message given to the patriarchs and to the rest of the Jews. He says,

245

I'm calling you out of the world. You are mine. You are my special people. Jacob, I have loved.

246

Esau, I have hated. He called them to himself. And because of that, he says, you have to be careful.

247

He says, if you start intermarrying with the Philistines or the Moabites

248

or any number of folks outside the covenant community,

249

you start doing that, what's going to happen?

250

Pagan foreign practices will come in.

251

Jezebel, Jezebel, the worst queen in the history of Israel,

252

was a pagan.

253

And she brought with her pagan practices and pagan gods.

254

She wasn't the only one.

255

Any number of other occasions, Solomon married a bunch of pagan wives

256

from foreign nations, and they brought pagan gods.

257

When Israel, when they had treaties or relationships or the like with other nations,

258

it typically ended up bad for Israel.

259

It typically ended up bad because what it did was it polluted or corrupted their faith

260

and their trust in the one true God because other gods, lowercase g, came into the picture.

261

So it was bad. It was bad, bad, bad.

262

And God said, don't marry outside of the covenant community.

263

Don't become allies or rely or trust in them instead of trusting in me.

264

have nothing to do with him. By and large, it was God's message to Israel during the Old

265

Covenant. Well, guess what? The feeling was mutual. The Gentiles, for their part, the pagan

266

nations, the Philistines, and the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the like, the Canaanites,

267

there was no love lost. They didn't like the Jews either. There was continually animosity

268

between God's people, those called out of the world, and those who remained in the world.

269

There was continuing animosity between these two, and across the centuries, the Jews felt that

270

opposition. They felt that oppression. They felt the oppression that came with being in bondage

271

to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians.

272

They felt the oppression that came during exile

273

to the Assyrians or the Babylonians. They felt and heard

274

the blasphemy that roared from Goliath or the Philistines.

275

They felt in Paul's own day the oppression that came from who? Which people?

276

The Romans.

277

Romans, Egyptians, Philistines, Hittites, Canaanites, Amorites, Jezebelites, Babylonians,

278

Assyrians. The relationship historically was always bad. The experience they had with these

279

four nations was consistently bad. There's consistent hostility between the Jews and the

280

Gentiles. Now, let me ask you a question. Was that hostility always going to be part of God's plan?

281

Was it always going to be part of God's plan that there would be this hostility between

282

Israel, the covenant community, the covenant nation, and the rest of the nations, the rest

283

of God's people? Well, not according to what God told Abraham, the very first Hebrew. The very

284

first year. You go back to Genesis 12. Remember, God called Abraham out. God said, of you, I will

285

make a great people. Now, remember, Abraham was an old guy. Sarah was his old wife. They had no

286

expectation that they'd have any kids. And yet, God says, Abram, out of you will come a great

287

people. Out of you will come a great nation. There will be more than the stars of the sky, more than the

288

sand on the beach. Out of you will come a great nation and I will make a covenant to you

289

and thy seed and thy seed after thee. I'll give you a great land and most importantly

290

out of you will come the one, the Messiah. Out of you

291

will become the light, not only to the Jews, but to

292

the Gentiles as well. This is what he said in Genesis 12. He says this,

293

Abram, I will make you a great nation. I will bless you

294

make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse

295

him who curses you. And in you, all the families

296

of the earth shall be blessed.

297

Now, who are all the families of the

298

earth? In a word, Gentiles.

299

God calls Abram out, and Abraham's

300

house out, his lineage, his descendants, calls them out.

301

And yet a very critical and important special way,

302

God says to Abraham that out of you

303

and out of one who would ultimately come from your house

304

will become blessings that will not be limited to your house,

305

but which will extend to all the nations.

306

Earlier, Jordan read from Isaiah 56.

307

It's a prophecy in Isaiah's time, 700 years before Christ,

308

of what would happen, the expansion of the kingdom

309

beyond the borders of Israel.

310

god's intention was always that men and women like you and i would be engrafted into the true vine

311

that wild vines gentile vines goyim vines would be engrafted into the healthy branch

312

this was always his intention simeon even when he held the baby held the baby jesus there in

313

the temple he knew this this would be a light to the gentiles few understood it or appreciated

314

even in Paul's day. But you know what? When Titus walked into Jerusalem, confessing his faith in the

315

personal work of Jesus Christ, there was proof. There was proof. God's plan was no longer limited

316

just to the nation state of Israel, but there was now others that are being engrafted. This had even

317

occurred in the Old Testament context. Sometimes we forget people like Ruth, Rahab, and the like,

318

and yet here it would be widespread, this widespread engrafting of Gentile believers

319

into the tree of faith. Now Paul, from his standpoint, he had tried to educate and teach

320

people about this. It was hard. Remember, this is the first century. Everyone had difficulty with

321

these things, especially then. But he had consistently, every church he wrote to, he talks

322

along these lines. He wrote to the Ephesians, he said this, he says, you can perceive my insight

323

in the mystery of Christ that the Gentiles, the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same

324

body, not lesser members, equal members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ

325

Jesus through the gospel. When Titus stood before the apostles in Galatians 2, he was the literal

326

fulfillment. He was a prototype, so to speak, a literal fulfillment of the promise that the

327

gentiles would be welcomed into the kingdom if ever there was someone who could who could in

328

that context before the song even existed have sung amazing grace it was titus he who was not

329

only lost but who was outside of the old testament covenant economy had been brought near to the

330

throne through the blood of the one who sits there the blood of jesus christ with that said let's go

331

back to the judaizers for a moment remember we said the judaizers were those in galatia who were

332

saying, well, faith in Jesus is good, but, but, but, but, let's add the circumcision and the feast

333

days and the things like that. Let's go back to the Judaizers for a minute. Now, the Judaizers

334

were all for guys like Titus coming into the church. That wasn't their problem. They wouldn't

335

have even gone to Galatia if they had a problem with that. They were okay with that. But again,

336

they were trying to add stuff that those Gentile believers needed to do. We said before that they

337

were trying to convert men like Titus, Gentiles. They were trying to convert them to Moses before

338

converting them to Jesus. They were trying to make them Jews before they made them Christians.

339

They said you have to be circumcised, and the feast days have to be part and parcel to what

340

you're doing. There's other ceremonial aspects of the law. You do that, that plus the faith you're

341

professing, you'll be good. If you don't do that, if you don't do that, the Judaizers, some would

342

have said that the people were outside the kingdom if they didn't do it. Others would have said that

343

they're lesser in the kingdom. And that was the primary view that many had. Many Jewish converts

344

looked at Gentiles, the Gentile converts who came into the church, that came to Christ. They didn't

345

really like them. They didn't really trust them. Why? Because that was the nature to their religious

346

practice for centuries. They didn't like Samaritans. They sure weren't going to like guys from Corinth

347

and Ephesus and Galatia and the like, even if they did say and profess the same things. So what they

348

did in Galatia and elsewhere is they created this tier system. This tier system where a top-notch

349

Christian was someone who, like Paul or Peter, someone who was a Jew of the Jew, a Hebrew of the

350

Hebrews, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, who also was a believer in Christ. Someone who came out of the

351

Jewish stock, so to speak, had all those boxes checked and had turned to Christ. They would have

352

said, well, that's A+. That's a top-ranked, top-ranked Christian. Gentiles from Crete who

353

were uncircumcised, if they were even in the kingdom, they were the lowest, they were on the

354

lowest floor. A number of years ago, I don't know, this was four or five years ago, we went on a

355

cruise. I didn't know a whole lot about cruising. And they put you on different decks on the boat.

356

If you've ever seen Titanic, you know kind of how this works. They put you on different decks. We

357

had gotten like the value saver, you know, tickets for the cruise ship. So, you know, we were on

358

something that was called the fiesta deck. Now that sounded good, right? The fiesta deck, that

359

sounds pretty promising. Well, as we got on the boat and began to realize exactly where we were,

360

we saw that first class, you know, that was up above, you know, the shiny, you know, you go on

361

the elevator and you look out, the doors open and you go, ooh, this looks nice. Is this our floor?

362

Oh, no, our floor's still several below. And you keep going down, you keep looking out and, you

363

know, the hallways, you know, start to become a little more, the carpet's a little more stained

364

and the like. By the time you get down to the fiesta deck, this is no place you want to be on

365

the boat. Now you can see why this is the value saver. You know, the walls, there's green stuff

366

on it and the carpets are built there we had it was an interesting experience on the cruise but

367

one of the things i learned right there is that this is what happens when you don't pony up for

368

a cruise ticket and the whole time we were on the cruise we had to show it you know i forget whether

369

it was something on the wrist or a card or something but whether it was buffets or other

370

things you know the people who were on the upper decks they got the free drinks and got all sorts

371

of different stuff man alive we were just lucky to get the midnight buffet sort of stuff so that

372

in, I guess, a very kind of silly anecdote. That's a picture of what it's like to have a tier system.

373

Well, in Galatia, in Galatia, they were telling the Gentiles from Crete that you're on the fiesta

374

deck. You might be in, so to speak, and yet you are less privileged, less esteemed than your

375

circumcised counterparts. To Paul, that's unacceptable. That's unacceptable. That's not the way it works.

376

to God that's unacceptable. Any Christendom that makes room for racism is wrong. Any Christendom

377

that makes room for classism or chauvinism, these are wrong. They're unscriptural. That's not the

378

way it works. Christianity does not prioritize one set of believers, one set of sons and daughters

379

of the Most High King, and make them better or worse than some other set. Christianity does not

380

do that. And to prove the point, later on in Galatians, Paul will say it this way. He'll say

381

there's neither Jew nor Greek. The wedding supper of the lamb. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's

382

neither slave nor free. There's neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus.

383

No fiesta deck. You are all one in Christ Jesus. When he wrote to the Colossians, he said the same

384

thing using different language. He said this, there's neither Greek nor Jew. There's neither

385

circumcised or uncircumcised or barbarian or Scythian or slave or free, but Christ is all in

386

all. In the church of God, there is no room for the sort of man-made distinctions we make among

387

ourselves. There are no lesser or greater sons and daughters. There are no lesser and greater

388

brothers and sisters. There's no context, be it skin color, classism, anything related to the

389

amount of money you have in your wallet. None of this makes one Christian inherently better,

390

inherently worse than another. And these distinctions, if they don't exist with God,

391

they shouldn't exist with us. And this is why Paul would keep returning to this point

392

throughout his letters, saying, no, if the Judaizers come in these doors and they make

393

a distinction and say you're better or worse on the basis of something you've done. I was baptized

394

by sprinkling. I was baptized by immersion. These are the sort of distinctions they're making in

395

their day. Some we could be tempted to make in our own. In our own day, we're tempted to make

396

distinctions. In our own day, we're tempted to see others in the body of faith as better or worse

397

than their peers. It's wrong, and biblical should stop. With the remaining time this morning,

398

I'd like to ask us to think of our friend Titus once again. You know, when Titus walked into

399

Jerusalem. Imagine how he must have felt. Titus goes into Jerusalem. Paul's invited him along.

400

Titus goes. And for the bulk of Titus's life, this was not something you just ordinarily did,

401

or at least you didn't do it and feel welcomed when you went. For Titus to go to Jerusalem,

402

dressed as he was, perhaps his beard cut at a certain length, for Titus to walk into Jerusalem

403

and to be identified as a Gentile, this would have given him a certain level of anxiety,

404

to have a certain sense that he didn't belong. There may have been some anxiety that people

405

would treat him as something less than he was. Perhaps even in the church, that might

406

have been a fear of Titus as he stood before Peter and the others. Maybe that was an anxiety

407

that Titus had. Have you ever felt that way walking into a new church? Have you ever felt

408

that way walking into a different church? Sometimes people go to church or are invited

409

to go, as Titus went, but they're worried about how they'll be perceived. Because it's something

410

about them. Maybe it's the way that they've dressed. Maybe it's the credit cards on their

411

wallet. Maybe it's the color of their skin. Something about their background, their culture.

412

Maybe it's sins, things they've done. And they wonder, will I be welcomed? How will I be treated?

413

Maybe you can relate to that. Maybe you can't. But I can assure you it's not unusual.

414

It's not unusual, especially for new folks, those that God is reaching out to and drawing to himself to feel that way,

415

at times, in the context of a new church.

416

It's not unusual for those who know themselves to be wild vines, so to speak,

417

to feel a little bit of unease as God engrafts them into the tree of faith,

418

and to wonder how they'll fit into the local church community.

419

Although I hate to say it, sometimes churches can exacerbate these problems through their actions or their omissions.

420

Whatever the case, we have to be intentional to show the same love and companionship and grace as Peter and James and John and the others showed to Titus, showed to this Greek from Crete, as uncircumcised as he was.

421

We have to show that same sort of grace to others.

422

Every last one of us, be it Jew or Gentile or man or woman, white or black or what have you, was at one point on the outside looking in at the promises of God.

423

And yet God drew us close.

424

Who are we then to look down on someone else?

425

Who are we to look down on someone else?

426

In God's time, because of His grace, He has called a people out of the world.

427

He has called sons. He has called daughters.

428

And they are equal in His eyes.

429

You and I are spiritual siblings of one another and of so many around the globe even this day.

430

And we are equal in His eyes.

431

This is amazing grace.

432

Again, Titus walking into Jerusalem uncircumcised outside of the Old Testament covenant community

433

and yet drawn near by the blood of the Lamb, which we'll celebrate in a few moments at the

434

Lord's table. It was amazing grace. Again, he didn't know the song, but he must have felt what

435

it was like. He must have felt the verses, so to speak. It was grace, amazing grace that saved

436

Titus, this Gentile from Crete. It was amazing grace that saved pagans from Corinth and Thessalonica

437

and Galatia and Ephesus and elsewhere.

438

It was amazing grace that saved a Roman centurion.

439

It was amazing grace that saved a Philippian jailer.

440

It was amazing grace that saved you and I.

441

Amazing grace.

442

How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

443

I once was lost, but now found.

444

Was blind, but now I see.

445

It's been said by others that the ground is level

446

at the foot of the cross.

447

We're all saved by faith alone, grace alone, and Christ alone.

448

The ground is level.

449

And so this morning, no matter who you are, no matter what you've done,

450

Jesus Christ's arms are open to welcome and accept you.

451

So are the churches.

452

Let's pray.