A Confrontation Driven By A Rejection Of A Interracial Marriage...

At the church where I serve, we have been spending our time together in a sermon series entitled mosaic: the gospel and race. During this series, we are going to examine the issue of racism from the prism and lens of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. During this series, our hope and our prayer as a church is to demonstrate that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides both the explanation as to why racism exists and the solution to the problem of racism.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together addressing the issue of the gospel and interracial marriage. Specifically, what does the message and teachings of Jesus say when it comes to interracial marriage. There have been followers of Jesus throughout history who have maintained that interracial marriage violates the message and teachings of Jesus. In the past, Bob Jones University, along with other Christian colleges and churches, maintained that interracial marriage violated the message and teachings of Jesus.

And today, there are many followers of Jesus who would still argue that interracial marriage violates the message and teachings of Jesus. But is that the case? To answer this question, I would like for us to look at an event from history that is recorded for us in a section of a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Numbers.

The book of Numbers is the fourth of the first five letters that are recorded for us in the Bible, which the Jewish people referred to as the Torah, or the Law. These letters contained a list of commands that revealed God’s nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people would need to display and possess in order to live in a right relationship with God. The book of Numbers records the travels of the Jewish people after God had delivered them from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt prior to entering into the land that God had promised them.

At this time in history, the Jewish people were led by a man named Moses, whom God used to perform the miraculous and lead the Jewish people from Egypt and towards the land the He had promised them. However, the further from Egypt that they traveled, the more that the Jewish people seemed to yearn to go back to Egypt and to the good old days. The closer the Jewish people came towards the Promised Land, the more the Jewish people began to grumble, complain, and rebel against God and against Moses. And it is in this context that we jump into this event from history beginning in Numbers 12:1-2a:

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);  and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?"

Moses, the author of the book of Numbers, brings us into this event from history by revealing for us a conflict that occurred between himself and Miriam and Aaron. Now Miriam and Aaron were Moses sister and brother. Miriam had been used by God to bring Moses into the household of Pharaoh after he had been placed into the Nile River by his mother. Aaron was Moses spokesperson who would eventually become the first High Priest of the Jewish people.

However, Miriam and Aaron became angry and envious of Moses and decided that it was time to speak out against Moses. Moses reveals that the reason that Miriam and Aaron spoke against him was because of the Cushite woman whom he had married. Because of the marriage that Moses entered into with this Cushite woman, Miriam and Aaron proclaimed to the Jewish people "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?"  

In other words, Miriam and Aaron decided to challenge Moses leadership and authority in front of the entire nation and attempted to overthrow Moses from his position of leadership and authority so that they could instead be in the position of leadership and authority over the Jewish people. Now a natural question that arises here is “why would Moses sister and brother attempt to overthrow Moses from his position of leadership and authority so that they could be in a position of leadership and authority?’

The answer to this question was stated in verse one: Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married. There is no other reason implied or stated, is there? The reason is staring us straight in the face. Miriam and Aaron did not like the fact that Moses had married a Cushite woman. But why did Miriam and Aaron not like that fact that Moses had married a Cushite woman? One possibility was that God had forbid the Jewish people from marrying those from the Cushite people.

However, Moses marriage to this Cushite woman did not violate God’s command because the Cushites were not among those whom God had commanded the Jewish people not to marry in a section of another letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Exodus, in Exodus 34:11and16. So, if Moses did not violate any of the commands that God had given the Jewish people by marrying a Cushite woman, then why were Miriam and Aaron attempting to overthrow Moses from his position of leadership and authority so that they could be in a position of leadership and authority?

To understand the answer to this question, we first need to understand who the Cushite people were. The Cushite people comprised the region south of the nation of Egypt in what is now known as the Sudan and Northern Ethiopia. And just as it is today, in Moses day the inhabitants of the region known as the Cushites were dark skinned, black people. So Moses, being a Hebrew, had married a black person. As we will see in a few minutes, Moses did not enter into an interreligious marriage; Moses entered into an interracial marriage.

And as a result of Moses entering into this interracial marriage, Miriam and Aaron felt compelled to challenge Moses leadership and authority. Miriam and Aaron felt compelled to challenge Moses leadership and authority because they believed that they were superior to Moses. They believed that they were superior to Moses because Moses had demonstrated that he was inferior by marrying someone from another race that they believed that they were superior to. Miriam and Aaron’s racism led them to challenge their brother as being inferior as a result of his marriage to someone that they viewed as being from an inferior race. We see what happens next in the last part of verse 2:

 And the LORD heard it.

Now if we were watching this event from history on a DVD, at this point some ominous music would begin playing, wouldn’t it? At this point, we would hear “Duh, duh duhhhh” in the background. Moses then makes a seemingly incorrect and arrogant statement in verse 3:

 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

Now some have used this verse to argue that Moses was not the writer of the Book of Numbers because, after all, if Moses had made this statement, it would have been an untrue statement, because the moment that you say you are humble you reveal the reality that you are not. So, if this statement is true, then Moses must not have written it, or so the argument goes. However, I believe that Moses did write this letter and that this statement is true. And the reason that I hold that position is due to the fact that this statement was not designed to focus so much on Moses character as it was on God’s entry into this event from history.

God inspired Moses to include this statement in this letter because God wanted the readers of this letter to clearly understand that in his humility, Moses was going to let this racial slight go unanswered. Moses, in his humility, did not feel the need to defend himself. However, while Moses humility was driving him to not defend himself, as the Lord heard the racism of Miriam and Aaron, He was driven to defend Moses. We see this reality unfold in Numbers 12:4-5a:

 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." So the three of them came out. Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam.

Out of the blue the voice of the Lord proclaimed to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." Now can you imagine what that must have sounded like? I mean, imagine being a member of the Jewish nation who had witnessed Miriam and Aaron challenge the leadership and authority of Moses. And as you are listening to Miriam and Aaron challenge Moses, suddenly you hear the voice of the Lord say, you three come to the tent of the meeting, right now.

Now the tent of the meeting was a tent that was set up in the midst of the Jewish people where God would come and meet with the Jewish people. Can you imagine what that must have been like? Can you imagine the Jewish people gathering around and following Miriam, Aaron, and Moses as they headed to the tent of the meeting? Can you imagine the conversations that would have been occurring among the Jewish people? “I wonder what’s going to happen? Someone’s getting in trouble?”

I wonder how many of the Jewish people were taking Moses side and how many were taking Miriam and Aaron’s side? After all, many people had already begun to complain about Moses. And then he marries someone that is from a different race than them? Can you imagine the scene as they approached the tent of the meeting? Can you imagine the scene as the Lord appeared at the tent of the meeting as a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent of the meeting? Can you imagine hearing the voice of the Lord call Miriam and Aaron to step forward? Can you imagine the sense of expectation when it came to what they thought would happen next?

Tomorrow, we will see what happened next…

The gospel produces a community of faith that walk in step with Jesus and embrace all races...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Galatians as a man named Paul shared the story a major conflict that occurred between himself and Peter, who was the undisputed leader of the twelve closest followers of Jesus and the early church.

This conflict was so heated that Paul states that Peter stood condemned. In other words, Peter was convicted of wrongdoing. We talked about the reality that when Peter first came to Antioch, he was mixing and mingling with the members of the church at Antioch, which was primarily composed of Gentiles. And as Gentiles, these followers of Jesus did not follow the Jewish dietary laws; they enjoyed BBQ ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. And Peter was going to their church dinners and eating some pulled pork and BBQ with them.

However, things changed when some Jewish followers of Jesus from the church at Jerusalem came to Antioch to visit. Peter stopped mixing and mingling with the Gentile followers of Jesus. Peter stopped attending the BBQ’s at the church. Instead Peter only hung out with fellow Jewish followers of Jesus at their BBQ and only ate Hebrew national hot dogs.

Since the Jewish followers of Jesus viewed themselves as being superior to the Gentile followers of Jesus at Antioch, they would not hang out with the Gentile followers of Jesus. And Peter, who did not want to get on the wrong side of his fellow Jewish followers of Jesus, changed his behavior so as to no longer hang around the Gentile followers of Jesus. Paul explained that Peter’s change of behavior, combined with the influence that he had as a leader, resulted in every other Jewish follower of Jesus at Antioch following his example.

Previously, Peter clearly and accurately communicated and advocated for a gospel centered lifestyle that was based on faith and that strove to follow the message and teachings of Jesus. Previously, Peter had no problem hanging out with Gentile followers of Jesus who were different in their customs as a result of being from a different ethnic and racial background.

But now, Peter was clearly communicating and advocating a religious centered lifestyle that was based on faith in Jesus plus keeping a list of rules in order to be right with Jesus. Now, Peter was clearly distancing himself from other races so as to hang out solely with those who were of the same race and who had the same customs

When Paul saw that Peter was not being straight with the gospel, when Paul saw that Peter was beginning to distort the message of the gospel in a way that resulted in a religious centered life instead of a gospel centered life, Paul responded by confronting the undisputed leader of the Christian movement in front of the entire church. You see, this was not an open handed issue that was open for debate. Instead this was a closed handed issue regarding the essence of the message of the gospel.

Is the gospel faith in what God had done through Jesus regardless of race? Or is the gospel faith in Jesus plus works for Jesus as a result of being a part of the Jewish race? Is the gospel open to every race? Or do other races first have to become like the Jewish race before they can be a part of the community of faith? And since Peter’s distortion of how the gospel was to be lived out had impacted the entire church, Peter needed to be confronted in front of the entire church.

The issue for Paul then led him to confront Peter in front of the entire church at Antioch was that his behavior was not lining up with what he said he believed and had been proclaiming. There are things that we believe about the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel and those beliefs should drives us to behave in a gospel centered way. Here, however, Peter’s behavior was clearly contradicting what he said he believed about the gospel.

And because of that reality, Paul called Peter out in front of the entire church because of the disconnect between his beliefs and his behavior when it came to how he was engaging the different races with the gospel. While Paul does not tell us how Peter responded, we know from the subsequent church council that is recorded for us in Acts 15:3-30, that Peter responded to Paul’s confrontation and question by being straight with the truth of the message of the gospel and a gospel centered life.

You see, Paul shared what happened with the members of the churches of Galatia not to focus solely on what Peter had done. The reason why Paul shared what happened was to bring the focus on what the members of the churches of Galatia were doing, because the members of the churches of Galatia were acting just like Peter had acted in Antioch. Paul wanted to use the what happened with his confrontation with Peter to address the similar error that was occurring in Galatia. We see Paul transition from sharing what happened to the addressing the error that the churches were making in Galatians 2:15:

 "We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;

At first glance this seems like an arrogant and even racist statement, doesn’t it? It is as though Paul is saying “Us who are Jews by race are better than those sinful Gentile races”. However, Paul is not contrasting Jews and Gentiles in terms of being non-sinners and sinners as a result of race. Paul is contrasting something all together different. This sentence, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today would have sounded like this: “We, as Jews are insiders when it comes to living religious lives while the Gentiles have always lived irreligious lives”.

You see, the Jewish people, as a race and a culture, had always tried to follow a list of religious rules in order to be right with God. By contrast, the Gentiles, as a race and culture, were irreligious people. Paul here is contrasting the religion of legalism that the Jewish people had embraced with the religion of license that the Gentiles embraced. Paul then takes that contrast and then exposed the problem with a religious centered life in verse 16:

 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

Now, the word justified, in the language that this letter was originally written in, was a legal term that means to be declared not guilty of having a problem with God. The works of the Law refers to the deeds that the Law, which are the first five books in our Bibles, which were referred to as the Law or the Torah, commanded the Jewish people to do.

Paul is saying “since we know that it is not what we do for God that results in us being declared not guilty of having a problem with God, even we have left a religious centered life. Even we, who were formerly trying to do things for God in order to be right with God, now recognize that it is only by placing our confident trust in what God has done for us through Jesus that we can be declared not guilty of having a problem with God.”.  

Paul then makes a powerful statement to hammer his point home: “since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” Paul’s point here is that there is nothing that any human being can do, regardless of race, that can cause us to be not guilty when it comes to having a problem with God. No human being, regardless of race, is able to earn their way into Heaven by what they do for God.  And that is the definition of religion. Religion is man’s attempt to do things for God in order to be right with God.

And it is here that we discover another reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the only solution to the problem of racism. And that timeless reason is this: The gospel best addresses the issue of racism because the gospel produces a community of faith that walks in step with Jesus and embraces all races. You see, our belief in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel should produce behavior that walks in step with the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. And the behavior that walks in step with the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel will produce communities of faith that embrace all races.

As followers of Jesus we are to embrace all races because we are all declared not guilty of having a problem with God the same way, regardless of race. We are declared not guilty of having a problem with God not because of our performance for God, or our racial background or religious activity. Instead, we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God as a result of placing our confident trust in what God has done through Jesus, regardless of race.

But the message of the gospel does not simply address how we are declared not guilty of having a problem with God so that we can experience the relationship with God that we were created for. The message of the gospel also addresses how we are to live out our day to day lives as followers of Jesus in community with one another. And the message of the gospel is clear that we are to live in a community of faith that walks in step with Jesus and embraces all races.

Yet while Peter had initially understood and embraced that reality, over time and under the influence of those who viewed their race as the better race, Peter ended up reverting back to the beliefs and behavior that had dominated his life prior to encountering Jesus and the message of the gospel. And as a result, Peter needed to be confronted about the reality that his behavior was clearly contradicting what he said he believed about the gospel.

So here is a question to consider: if you were to find yourself in this event from history as a character in this event from history, who would you be? Would you find yourself in this event from history as Peter? Would you find yourself as a person who believes one way when it comes to how the gospel impacts our relationship with the races, but behaves an entirely different way?

Or would you find yourself in this event from history as Paul? Would you find yourself as a person whose belief in the message of the gospel has transformed how you relate to people of different races?

Because the timeless reality is that the gospel best addresses the issue of racism because the gospel produces a community of faith that walks in step with Jesus and embraces all races.

One Man's Response to the Isssue of Racism...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Galatians. Yesterday, we looked on as Paul shared with the members of the churches at Galatia the story a major conflict that occurred between himself and Peter, who was the undisputed leader of the twelve closest followers of Jesus and the early church. This conflict was so heated that Paul states that Peter stood condemned. In other words, Peter was convicted of wrongdoing.

When Peter first came to visit Paul and the church at Antioch, he was mixing and mingling with the members of the church at Antioch, which was primarily composed of Gentiles. And as Gentiles, these followers of Jesus did not follow the Jewish dietary laws; they enjoyed BBQ ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. And Peter was going to their church dinners and eating some pulled pork and BBQ with them.

However, things changed when some Jewish followers of Jesus from the church at Jerusalem came to Antioch to visit. Paul explains that Peter began to withdrawal and hold himself aloof. Peter separated himself from the Gentile followers of Jesus. Peter stopped mixing and mingling with the Gentile followers of Jesus. Peter stopped attending the BBQ’s at the church. Instead Peter only hung out with fellow Jewish followers of Jesus at their BBQ and only ate Hebrew national hot dogs.

Since the Jewish followers of Jesus viewed themselves as being superior to the Gentile followers of Jesus at Antioch, they would not hang out with the Gentile followers of Jesus. And Peter, who did not want to get on the wrong side of his fellow Jewish followers of Jesus, changed his behavior so as to no longer hang around the Gentile followers of Jesus. Paul explained that Peter’s change of behavior, combined with the influence that he had as a leader, resulted in every other Jewish follower of Jesus at Antioch following his example. Paul explains that the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy.

We talked about the reality that previously, Peter clearly and accurately communicated and advocated for a gospel centered lifestyle that was based on faith and that strove to follow the message and teachings of Jesus. Previously, Peter had no problem hanging out with Gentile followers of Jesus who were different in their customs as a result of being from a different ethnic and racial background.

But now, Peter was clearly communicating and advocating a religious centered lifestyle that was based on faith in Jesus plus keeping a list of rules in order to be right with Jesus. Now, Peter was clearly distancing himself from other races so as to hang out solely with those who were of the same race and who had the same customs. Today, we see Paul reveal how he responded to Peter in Galatians 2:14:

 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

When Paul saw that Peter was not being straight with the gospel, when Paul saw that Peter was beginning to distort the message of the gospel in a way that resulted in a religious centered life instead of a gospel centered life, Paul responded by confronting the undisputed leader of the Christian movement in front of the entire church.

You see, this was not an open handed issue that was open for debate. Instead this was a closed handed issue regarding the essence of the message of the gospel. Is the gospel faith in what God had done through Jesus regardless of race? Or is the gospel faith in Jesus plus works for Jesus as a result of being a part of the Jewish race?

Is the gospel open to every race? Or do other races first have to become like the Jewish race before they can be a part of the community of faith? And since Peter’s distortion of how the gospel was to be lived out had impacted the entire church, Peter needed to be confronted in front of the entire church. Paul confronted Peter about not being straight with the gospel by asking him a question in front of the entire church.

This question, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “Peter, if you, being a Jew who grew up as a religious person trying to follow a list of rules to be right with God, but now have embraced a life that is freed from religion and instead follows Jesus by faith, if that is who you are, then why are you trying to make these non Jewish people, who are trying to follow Jesus by faith, live a life where they have to become Jewish and follows a list of religious rules in order to be right with God? Peter, why are you trying to make these people follow a list of religious rules that you yourself have said do not need to be followed in order to be right with God?”

You see the issue for Paul then led him to confront Peter in front of the entire church at Antioch was that his behavior was not lining up with what he said he believed and had been proclaiming. There are things that we believe about the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel and those beliefs should drives us to behave in a gospel centered way.

Here, however, Peter’s behavior was clearly contradicting what he said he believed about the gospel. And because of that reality, Paul called Peter out in front of the entire church because of the disconnect between his beliefs and his behavior when it came to how he was engaging the different races with the gospel. While Paul does not tell us how Peter responded, we know from the subsequent church council that is recorded for us in Acts 15:3-30, that Peter responded to Paul’s confrontation and question by being straight with the truth of the message of the gospel and a gospel centered life.

You see, Paul shared what happened with the members of the churches of Galatia not to focus solely on what Peter had done. The reason why Paul shared what happened was to bring the focus on what the members of the churches of Galatia were doing, because the members of the churches of Galatia were acting just like Peter had acted in Antioch. Paul wanted to use the what happened with his confrontation with Peter to address the similar error that was occurring in Galatia.

Friday, we will see Paul transition from sharing what happened to the addressing the error that the churches were making and reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the gospel and race....

A Confrontation Over The Issue Of Racism...

At the church where I serve, we have been spending our time together in a sermon series entitled “Mosaic: the gospel and race”. During this series, we are going to examine the issue of racism from the prism and lens of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. During this series, our hope and our prayer as a church is to demonstrate that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides both the explanation as to why racism exists and the solution to the problem of racism.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Galatians. Now the book of Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul around 48 A.D., which was within 20 years of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to confront a group within a group of churches who seemed to be abandoning a gospel centered lifestyle of lifestyle that placed their confident trust in Jesus and followed the message and teachings of Jesus by faith to instead embrace one of two different forms of religion so as to live a religious centered life.

The first form of a religious centered life that this group within the churches was embracing is the religion of legalism. For the legalist, the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel seems just too easy, too simple. There has to be more than faith in God’s grace. So what a legalist does is make a list of religious rules to follow in order to be right with God. The legalist lives a life that is driven by faith in Christ plus works for God in order to be right with God.  Or the legalist is driven by works for God apart from faith in Christ in order to be right with God.

The second form of religion is the religion of license. For the licentious person, they live a life that is driven by the belief that, as a result of God’s grace, they can do whatever they want and still be right with God. The licentious person can lie, cheat, steal, sleep around and have friends with benefits, because at the end of the day, we are saved by grace.

And it is in this context that we are going to jump into this section of this letter, where we are given a glimpse into a conflict that occurred between two men who played a major role in the life of the early church. And it is in this conflict that we will discover another reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the solution to the universal problem of racism. We are given a glimpse into this conflict in Galatians 2:11. Let’s look at it together:

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the churches of Galatia by sharing with them the story a major conflict that occurred between himself and Peter, who was the undisputed leader of the twelve closest followers of Jesus and the early church. This conflict is recorded for us in another letter in the New Testament of our Bibles, called the book of Acts, in Acts 14:26-15:2. After his first missionary journey, which resulted in the gospel being proclaimed and the churches of Galatia being planted, Paul returned to Antioch, which was his base of operations, and began to share all that God had done through himself and Barnabas.

Peter, who also had been used by God to share the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel with the non-Jewish world, came to visit Antioch and rejoiced at the evidence of God’s activity. However something happened between Peter and Paul the resulted in Paul being in open conflict and opposition with Peter. This conflict was so heated that Paul states that Peter stood condemned. In other words, Peter was convicted of wrongdoing. Paul then reveals exactly what Peter did that resulted in him being condemned in verse 12-13:

For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

To understand what is happening in this event from history, we first need to understand who the characters are in this event from history and define some words. When Paul refers to the coming of certain men from James, he is referring to Jewish followers of Jesus who were from the church at Jerusalem. By contrast, when Paul refers to Gentiles, he is referring to non-Jewish followers of Jesus who did not follow the Jewish dietary laws. The party of the circumcision refers to Jewish followers of Jesus in general.

Now that we know the characters in this event from history, let’s look at what happened in this event from history. When Peter first came to Antioch, he was mixing and mingling with the members of the church at Antioch, which was primarily composed of Gentiles. And as Gentiles, these followers of Jesus did not follow the Jewish dietary laws; they enjoyed BBQ ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. And Peter was going to their church dinners and eating some pulled pork and BBQ with them.

However, things changed when some Jewish followers of Jesus from the church at Jerusalem came to Antioch to visit. Paul explains that Peter began to withdrawal and hold himself aloof. Peter separated himself from the Gentile followers of Jesus. Peter stopped mixing and mingling with the Gentile followers of Jesus. Peter stopped attending the BBQ’s at the church. Instead Peter only hung out with fellow Jewish followers of Jesus at their BBQ and only ate Hebrew national hot dogs.

Since the Jewish followers of Jesus viewed themselves as being superior to the Gentile followers of Jesus at Antioch, they would not hang out with the Gentile followers of Jesus. And Peter, who did not want to get on the wrong side of his fellow Jewish followers of Jesus, changed his behavior so as to no longer hang around the Gentile followers of Jesus. Paul explained that Peter’s change of behavior, combined with the influence that he had as a leader, resulted in every other Jewish follower of Jesus at Antioch following his example. Paul explains that the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy.

Now to understand what Paul is communicating when he uses the word hypocrisy, we first need to understand what the word hypocrisy actually means. The word hypocrisy, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means to join in playing a part of pretending. The word hypocrite was used to describe someone who was an actor in the Greek theatre. A hypocrite creates a public impression that is at odds with ones real motivations or purpose. So, to be a follower of Jesus who strives to follow the message and teachings of Jesus, yet sometimes falls short is not to being a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone that says “here is the message and teachings of Jesus, and you need to follow them, but I am not going to follow them”. A hypocrite fails to follow the message and teachings that they impose on others.

And that is exactly what Peter had done in Antioch. Previously, Peter clearly and accurately communicated and advocated for a gospel centered lifestyle that was based on faith and that strove to follow the message and teachings of Jesus. Previously, Peter had no problem hanging out with Gentile followers of Jesus who were different in their customs as a result of being from a different ethnic and racial background.

But now, Peter was clearly communicating and advocating a religious centered lifestyle that was based on faith in Jesus plus keeping a list of rules in order to be right with Jesus. Now, Peter was clearly distancing himself from other races so as to hang out solely with those who were of the same race and who had the same customs.

Tomorrow, we will see how Paul responded to Peter…

The gospel calls us to find our identity in Jesus and not our race….

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul around 61 A.D. to early followers of Jesus who lived in the city of Colossae to address false and heretical teaching that was occurring in the church. You see, some early followers of Jesus were teaching a combination of Jewish legalism, a Greek philosophy which was known as Gnosticism, the worship of angels, and asceticism, which views the material as evil and the spiritual as good.  Paul responded to this false teaching that was occurring by writing a letter to these early followers of Jesus to prove the supremacy of Jesus as the co-Creator of the universe and the head of the church.

Yesterday, we saw the Apostle Paul command followers of Jesus throughout history to have a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective. In addition, Paul commanded followers of Jesus throughout history to set their minds on things above. Paul’s point is that, as followers of Jesus, we have security in our relationship with Jesus that should result in us having a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective that gives careful consideration to the things that are eternal and that are of ultimate importance.

Paul then gave the members of the church at Colossae, and followers of Jesus throughout history, a third command to put to death, or separate themselves, from living their day to day lives in the power of their old nature that once dominated their lives prior to following Jesus. Paul explained that the reason why we are to put to death, or separate themselves, from living our day to day lives in the power of our old nature that once dominated our lives prior to following Jesus was due to the fact that for it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. In other words, At the end of God’s story here on earth, God’s right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity will be unleashed upon those are following the footsteps of the “fatherly influences” of the world and the devil to align themselves and live out their day to day lives in a way that rejected and rebelled against the message and teachings of Jesus.

Paul then commanded followers of Jesus throughout history to strip ourselves of our old nature and separate ourselves from the attitudes and actions that flow from our old nature apart from God. But not only are we as followers of Jesus to put to death and separate ourselves so as to strip ourselves of our old nature and its attitudes and actions. In addition, as followers of Jesus, as a result of our relationship with Jesus, we have replaced what we have rid ourselves with something that is altogether new. Paul reveals what we have replaced that which we have rid ourselves with in Colossians 3:10:

 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him--  a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Now to fully understand what the Apostle Paul is communicating here, we first need to define some terms. When Paul uses the phrase “put on the new self”, he is referring to the new identity we have as a follower of Jesus who has been rescued by Jesus. As followers of Jesus we are to rid ourselves of the attitudes, actions, emotions, and language of our old nature apart from Jesus because that is no longer who we are as followers of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are to strip off our old nature because we have a new nature in Christ as a follower of Jesus.

As we talked about earlier, as a follower of Jesus, God now sees us in Christ. We now have a new identity and we are now to live out our lives in light of our new identity. Paul then explains that this new self, this new identity is “being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”. Now the idea of being renewed is passive. In other words, this is not something that you do to you; instead this is something that happens to you, this is something that is done to you. With this phrase, Paul is revealing for us the reality that it is by God’s activity through Jesus that we are becoming in our behavior what we have already become in the eyes of God as He sees us in Christ. While we are already seen by God as having been rescued and identified as a follower of Jesus, God is actively at work in our lives through Jesus to make us more like Jesus in our character and our conduct.

Then in verse 11, Paul explains that this renewal, this activity of God in our lives through Jesus that results in us living out our new identity in a way that is becoming more like Jesus in character and conduct is without distinction. Whether you were a Greek that worshipped a multitude of gods or were a Jew who worshipped only one God; whether you were a Jew ethnically or were non-Jewish ethnically; whether you were upper class or lower class socioeconomically; whether you were a slave or you were free; God was equally at work in every follower of Jesus through Jesus in such a way that they would be empowered to live out their day to day lives in light of their identity as a follower of Jesus.

This was the case because, as Paul points out at the end of verse 11 “but Christ is all, and in all.” When Paul uses this little phrase “but Christ is all”, he is basically saying that Christ is everything. However, when Paul uses the phrase “Christ is in all” he is revealing for us the reality that when we become a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit moves in to help us to see our desperate need for Jesus and the forgiveness that Jesus offers us as being of ultimate value as He takes up permanent residence in our lives.

What Paul is talking about here in this phrase is referred to in church mumbo jumbo talk as irresistible, or as wholly desirable, grace. When we talk about irresistible or wholly desirable grace, we are talking about the reality that as a result of God’s transformational activity in our lives, our eyes are opened to how desirable Jesus is and how detestable our selfishness and rebellion is. Our eyes are opened to hate the selfishness, sin and rebellion that separates us from God, and to love Jesus who came to rescue us from that selfishness and rebellion.

God overcomes our selfishness and rebellion by overwhelming us with His gracious, or transformational activity in our lives in a way that results in us responding to what He has done for us through Jesus by giving our lives to Jesus in a way that results in us experiencing forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for. And this irresistible, or as wholly desirable, grace of God is lavished out by God regardless of race, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of socioeconomic status.

 And it is here that we discover a reason why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the solution to the universal problem of racism. And that timeless reason is this: The gospel best addresses the issue of racism because the gospel calls us to find our identity in Jesus and not our race. You see, God’s transformational intervention and activity in our lives through Jesus that overcomes our selfishness and rebellion and overwhelms us with the love of God is irrespective of race. No race is excluded; instead every race is included.

That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the lens and prism of the gospel. Racism is ridiculous because God is actively and graciously at work through His Son Jesus in every race to give followers of Jesus a new identity and to empower followers of Jesus to live their day to day lives in light of their identity as a follower of Jesus. Regardless of race, the Holy Spirit is actively at work to help people from every race see their desperate need for Jesus and the forgiveness that Jesus offers us as being of ultimate value as He takes up permanent residence in the lives of people from every race.

And that is why the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel alone provide the solution to racism. The claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provide the solution to racism because there is only one identity that all of humanity, regardless of race, receives upon being rescued from their selfishness and rebellion as a result of being overwhelmed by God’s gracious activity. And that identity is that of being in Christ. That identity is the identity that comes a as result God the Father seeing followers of Jesus, regardless of race, in a mystical and spiritual way in Christ, in Heaven. It is Jesus Christ that unites us in a new nature apart from and regardless of race.

Just as no race is above the need for rescue from selfishness and rebellion that enslaves us and separates us from God, no race is excluded from experiencing God’s gracious choice to be rescued from that selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God through faith in Jesus. And just as no race is excluded from being rescued by God’s grace, as followers of Jesus who have been overwhelmed by God’s grace, we should live our lives in light of our identity as a follower of Jesus and not our race. That is why racism is ridiculous when it is placed in the lens and prism of the gospel. Racism is ridiculous because the gospel calls us to find our identity in Jesus and not our race.

So here is a question to consider: Where are you finding your identity? Are you focused on finding your identity based on your race? Because as we discovered in the opening sermon of this series, that is the road that leads to racism, isn’t it? To find your value, your worth, your identity based one ones race inevitably leads to comparison. And comparison will lead us to the place where we selfishly believe that our race is better than every other race.

Or are you focused on finding your identity in your relationship with Jesus as one who has been chosen and adopted by God the Father, rescued from your rebellion by Jesus Christ, and having the very Spirit of God residing within you as a result of God’s overwhelming activity in your life? Because it is when we find our identity in Jesus that we will destroy the problem of racism.

Finding our identity in Jesus destroys racism because God does not look at His followers based on their race. Instead, God looks at His followers in His Son Jesus as a result of being overwhelmed by His grace. That is why the gospel provides the best solution to the problem of racism.

The gospel best addresses the issue of racism because the gospel calls us to find our identity in Jesus and not our race….

Having a perspective that considers what is of ultimate importance...

At the church where I serve, we have been examining the issue of racism from the prism of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Our hope and our prayer as a church is to demonstrate that the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel provides the best explanation as to why racism exists and the best solution to the problem of racism.

This week, I would like for us to look at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Colossians. The book of Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul around 61 A.D. to early followers of Jesus who lived in the city of Colossae, which was located in what is now modern day Turkey while he was imprisoned by the Roman Empire. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to these early followers of Jesus to address false and heretical teaching that was occurring in the church.

You see, some early followers of Jesus were teaching a combination of Jewish legalism, a Greek philosophy which was known as Gnosticism, the worship of angels, and asceticism, which views the material as evil and the spiritual as good.  Paul responded to this false teaching that was occurring by writing a letter to these early followers of Jesus to prove the supremacy of Jesus as the co-Creator of the universe and the head of the church.

In the first chapter of the book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul proclaimed the absolute supremacy of Jesus in His character as being in very nature God who Created and holds the universe together. Then, in the second chapter of the book of Colossians, Paul proclaimed the absolute supremacy of Jesus and Christianity over the religious systems of Gnosticism, legalism, the worship of angels, and asceticism.

After proclaiming the absolute supremacy of Jesus in His character and in His message and teachings over every other religious system, the Apostle Paul turned his attention to how followers of Jesus should live out their faith in light of being rescued by Jesus from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God. And it is in this context that we jump into this section of this letter, beginning in Colossians 3:1. Let’s look at it together:

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Paul begins this section of his letter to early followers of Jesus by commanding followers of Jesus throughout history to keep seeking the things above. Now the phrase, keep seeking, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to devote serious effort with a desire to possess something. What they were to devote serious effort with a desire to possess was the things above. The phrase “things above” refers to things in Heaven.

The reason why they were to devote serious effort with a desire to possess the things that are in Heaven was because that was where Jesus was seated at the right hand of God. When Paul states that Jesus was sitting at the right hand of God, this phrase refers to Jesus assuming a position of power and rule over the universe. Paul’s point to these early followers of Jesus, and to followers of Jesus throughout history, is that since we have received new life as followers of Jesus as a result of placing our confident trust in the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead never to die again, we should have a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective.

As followers of Jesus, we should no longer live our lives as followers of Jesus focused only on the things on earth which are temporary. Instead, we should have a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective as a result of the new life that we have with Jesus. And we should have a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective as a result of a desire to reveal and reflect Jesus to the world around us. Paul then follows up this first command with a second command in Colossians 3:2-3:

 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Not only did Paul command followers of Jesus throughout history to have a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective. In addition, Paul commands followers of Jesus throughout history to set their minds on things above. The phrase “set your mind” literally means to give careful consideration to something. Paul’s point here is that, as followers of Jesus, we should not consider the things of this temporary world as being of ultimate importance. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are to consider that which are eternal as being of ultimate importance.

Paul then explains that the reason why we are not to consider the things of this temporary world as being of ultimate importance was due to the fact that “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. But what does that mean? With this phrase, Paul is revealing for us that reality that, as followers of Jesus, in a mystical and spiritual way, we are united with Jesus. This is what the letters that make up the Bible mean when they use the phrase “in Christ”.

As we discovered in the “identity” series, when God the Father looks at us as followers of Jesus, He does not simply see us. Instead, He sees us in Christ. Right now, in a mystical and spiritual way, God the Father sees you, in Christ, in Heaven.

And because we are united with Jesus, because we are in Christ, we were with Jesus in a mystical and spiritual way when He died on the cross for our selfishness and rebellion and we are in Jesus as He was raised from the dead and is now in Heaven with God.  The point behind the Apostle Paul’s command here is that, as followers of Jesus, we are to carefully consider that we had died with Jesus to the temporary things of this world as being of ultimate importance and were are to instead give careful consideration to the things in Heaven as being of ultimate importance.

Paul then encourages followers of Jesus throughout history in verse 4 by revealing for us the reality that when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. In other words, at the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus returns to earth, we will be revealed with Jesus and will participate with Jesus in the glory that comes as a result of Him ushering in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense.

Paul’s point is that, as followers of Jesus, we have security in our relationship with Jesus that should result in us having a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective that gives careful consideration to the things that are eternal and that are of ultimate importance. Paul then gives the members of the church at Colossae, and followers of Jesus throughout history, a third command in Colossians 3:5-7:

 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

Now when Paul uses the phrase “consider the members of your earthly body dead” this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to put to death. So Paul here is basically saying “in light of the reality that as followers of Jesus, we have security in our relationship with Jesus that should result in us having a serious desire to possess an eternal perspective that gives careful consideration to the things that are eternal and are of ultimate importance, I am commanding you to put to death the desire to be engaged in immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed.

Paul here is commanding followers of Jesus to put to death, or separate themselves, from living their day to day lives in the power of their old nature that once dominated their lives prior to following Jesus. As followers of Jesus we are to put to death, or separate ourselves, from a life that engages in sexual activity that goes against God’s desires for our lives. As followers of Jesus we are to put to death, or separate ourselves, from a life that engages in moral corruption, inappropriate and dishonorable passions or desires, and the desire to have more than one’s due, which is greed and which reveals a desire to worship something other than God as God.

Paul then explains that the reason why we are to put to death, or separate themselves, from living our day to day lives in the power of our old nature that once dominated our lives prior to following Jesus was due to the fact that for it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. In other words, At the end of God’s story here on earth, God’s right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity will be unleashed upon those are following the footsteps of the “fatherly influences” of the world and the devil to align themselves and live out their day to day lives in a way that rejected and rebelled against the message and teachings of Jesus.

And there was a time, before they were rescued by Jesus, that the members of the church at Colossae lived out their day to day lives in their old nature apart from God in a way that rebelled and rejected God. But now, as followers of Jesus, they had been rescued by Jesus. And as a result of their recue by Jesus, they were to put to death, or separate themselves, from living life in the power of their old nature. Paul then further unpacks what a life that is lived in our old nature apart from Jesus looks like in Colossians 3:8-9:

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Now when Paul uses the phrase “put them aside”, this phrase literally means to rid oneself of something. And what the members of the church at Colossae, and followers of Jesus throughout history, were to rid themselves of was anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  Paul here is commanding followers of Jesus throughout history to rid themselves of the emotions that flow from our old nature apart from God.

As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of a desire to express an emotionally strong displeasure, along with a mean spirited attitude or disposition toward others. And as followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of any speech that denigrates, that defames, that is in poor taste, or that omits the truth or makes intentionally false statements.

Paul then explains that the reason why we are to rid ourselves of the emotions and speech that reflects a life that is driven by our old nature apart from God, was because, as Paul points out in the second half of verse 9, “since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices”. As followers of Jesus we are to strip ourselves of our old nature and separate ourselves from the attitudes and actions that flow from our old nature apart from God.

But not only are we as followers of Jesus to put to death and separate ourselves so as to strip ourselves of our old nature and its attitudes and actions. In addition, as followers of Jesus, as a result of our relationship with Jesus, we have replaced what we have rid ourselves with something that is altogether new.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal what we have replaced that which we have rid ourselves with that is new…