This past Sunday, we continued our T2 Forum examining how gospel doctrine creates gospel culture. A review and resources are below.
Gospel Doctrine Is Important But Not Enough
The book of Galatians is a letter the Apostle Paul is writing to the church in Galatia to correct some false teaching. Essentially, there are some false teachers who are saying, “Yes, the gospel is good; but the gospel is not enough. Not only do you need to believe the gospel, you also need to follow all the traditional Jewish customs as well – things like following clean/unclean food laws and circumcision.”
In the first 10 verses (1:1-10), we see that Paul is both astonished and angry. He’s astonished that the Gentile Christians in Galatia would even entertain a “Jesus-plus” gospel. And he’s angry that these false teachers would promote a “Jesus-plus” gospel. Paul is essentially saying, ““This is an absolute denials of all that I have been telling you! There is one true gospel and anything other than this gospel is not gospel!” In verses 3-4 we see the one true gospel explained.
We all might nod our heads in agreement with this theological truth. But here’s what we must realize: simply agreeing with these facts is not enough. But just as critical as it is to realize right gospel doctrine, it’s also critical to realize gospel doctrine alone is not enough.
GOSPEL DOCTRINE CREATUES GOSPEL CULTURE
Galatians 2:11-14 reminds us faithfulness to the gospel includes believing and behaving. You can almost feel the tension as you read these verses, can’t you? Paul, who in Chapter 1 was condemning the false teachers, now confronts Peter – none other than Peter! – saying he “stood condemned.” This is the same Peter who in verse 7 of chapter 2 says, “Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised.” For Paul, this is not just personal rivalry; this is a turf war. This is about contending for the gospel in belief and behavior!
What was Peter doing? Peter changed his behavior when the “circumcision party” arrived – that is those who kept the Jewish tradition. When the Jewish people showed up Peter stopped hanging around the Gentiles. This was not out of love for his fellow brothers in the gospel, but out of fear of man. He was living as a hypocrite crumbling under the fear of man. Peter has the right gospel doctrine (he was entrusted the gospel to go to the circumcised, 2:7), but is not living out gospel culture.
If hypocrisy is the result of believing the gospel, but not living the gospel, what is the result when you have Gospel Doctrine + Gospel Culture? Galatians 5:1, 13 tell us: Gospel Doctrine + Gospel Culture = Freedom.
It’s when our gospel doctrine and gospel culture converge that we will live in freedom and bear living witness to the power of Jesus.
HOW CAN WE CULTIVATE GOSPEL CULTURE
Gospel culture is shaped by the members of our church as we, by God’s grace, seek to live out our freedom in Christ allowing that to shape our priorities, relationships, service and hospitality. We will have diverse and committed relationships; some of which exist only because of the gospel. Our personal preference will bow to gospel priority as we seek to serve not just where we like, but where there is the most need.