Gospel Shaped Community ~ 20240121 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
24/10/21 Gospel Shaped Community (Acts 10-11; Galatians 2); Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240121_church.mp3
Last time we looked at Acts 2 and talked about followers of Jesus being given a new identity, a corporate or group identity. Followers of Jesus publicly identify with Jesus and his community by being immersed in water. This is an outward expression of being immersed with the Holy Spirit, who was poured out on them when they received the good news about Jesus and entrusted themselves to him. They became connected with Jesus, united with him in his death and in his resurrection.
Individual Identity
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The me I used to be is dead and gone, crucified and buried. A new me has been raised to life, because Christ now lives in me; he has taken up residence in me, he is re-making me. The life I now live is defined by the gospel and my new identity in Christ; I now live dependent, trusting in the God-man who loved me, who gave his life on the cross for me, who now fills me with himself and defines who I am. I now lean into him for strength, for courage, for direction, for everything. My new identity is defined by Jesus in me.
Corporate Identity
But this is not only individual and personal. As a follower of Jesus, I am also immersed into a new community. Jesus redeemed and purified ‘a people for himself, for his own possession’ (Titus2:14; 1Pet.2:9).
We looked at 1 Corinthians 12;
1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
As believers in Jesus, we have been immersed into one body in the Holy Spirit; diverse unique members made part of something bigger than ourselves, individually parts of an organic whole; the body of Christ, the church.
Community Defined By The Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18-24)
The church is a community defined by and shaped by the gospel.
The gospel creates the boundaries of this community. The gospel divides all people into two categories; believers and unbelievers; those who are being saved and those who are perishing. Paul in 1 Corinthians proclaimed the good news, the powerful cross of Christ;
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The good news of the cross divides people into two categories; those who are being saved, and those who are perishing. The good news of the cross may sound oxymoronic; how can crucifixion be good news? This sounds foolish to the world, but to those who believe in Jesus, to whom it has been given to understand what we as sinners deserve, and what Christ paid and purchased for us there on the cross, the cross is the most soberingly beautiful thing in the world.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ... 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The good news of Christ crucified divides all humanity into two categories, those who reject this message as foolishness, those who are perishing; and those who are being saved by it, those who are believing in Jesus. The gospel of the cross is what defines this new community called the church; blood-bought believers, to whom Jesus is their only hope. Believers immersed in the holy Spirit, and then immersed in water as a visible sign of their belonging to Jesus, and to his people.
The gospel creates clear lines; but these lines are not always clear to us. We ought not assume those who are in the church building are part of the church. We ought not assume even that all those who have been baptized with water have been regenerated and baptized with the Holy Spirit. So, we ought to preach the gospel to everyone, and trust God’s Spirit to do his work to convict and draw sinners, whether inside or outside the visible church, to true repentance and faith in Jesus.
United In One Body; One Building (Acts 10-11; Ephesians 2)
In Ephesians 2, Paul outlines the great divide between Jew and non-Jew, and points to the powerful gospel of the cross that breaks down the barrier and unites these two irreconcilably diverse peoples into one body.
God had to reveal this to Peter, in a three times repeated vision; so when invited in to a Gentile’s house,
Acts 10:28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
Peter proclaimed ‘the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all’ (10:36). He preached Christ crucified and resurrected (10:39-40). He said:
Acts 10:43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” 44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
The Jewish believers with Peter saw that God had poured out his Spirit on non-Jews just like he had on Jewish believers in Jesus. Peter saw no reason for withholding the outward sign of unity with the church when these Gentile believers had experienced the spiritual reality. When answering criticism from the Jewish church in Jerusalem, he reported:
Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, in Ephesians 2 lays out the great divide between Jew and Gentile, and says
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Jew and Gentile made one in Christ, one new man, given access in one Spirit to the Father, made fellow citizens, members of the household of God.
Our Shape Is Fixed By The Foundation
Paul describes the church here as the household of God, one whole structure joined together, one holy temple, built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. A building, not of brick and mortar, but of people. Peter also described the people of God this way:
1 Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
This spiritual house, the church, is built on one foundation, the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus himself the cornerstone. Jesus establishes the shape and contours of the structure. Both Old and New Testaments point us to Jesus. If you don’t start with Jesus, and build on the foundation laid in Scripture, you are building on sand. According to Jesus himself:
Luke 6:47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Jesus the cornerstone is rejected by many. Many see the cornerstone, and turn and build in a different direction, in the dirt or sand. Jesus the cornerstone sets the shape and direction of the building. According to Ephesians 2, Jesus is not only the cornerstone, but also the mortar that binds the living stones together. It is in Jesus that the whole structure is joined together (2:21).
Walk In Step With The Gospel
Peter knew these truths, he taught these truths, but even for Peter it was difficult to live consistent with these truths. Paul records for us
Galatians 2:11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Peter was rebuked because his conduct was not in step with the gospel; his life was not in line with Jesus the cornerstone. Peter understood that God shows no partiality; that whoever believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (Acts10:34,43). Peter understood that those who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, that Jesus has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Peter had commanded that baptism be extended to Gentile believers, and had advocated for them in Jerusalem, that God had given the same Spirt to believing Gentiles as he had to Jews who believed in the Lord Jesus.
Peter knew and believed the right things. But out of fear of what other people would think, he separated himself from the Gentiles. What he did might not seem to be that big of a deal. He stopped eating with Gentile believers. Maybe he sat at a different table; after all, brothers from James were visiting; it would make sense to extend hospitality to them and sit with them, right? But however he justified it in his own heart and mind, what he did was contrary to the gospel he proclaimed. His conduct was not in line with the good news about Jesus. He broke fellowship with other believers. He acted hypocritically, two-faced, and he led others astray into his own hypocrisy. He acted as if he were better than other believers, This was a serious offense against the gospel.
The Priority of Unity
Unity among believers is a big deal. So big that Jesus prayed for our unity 4 times the night before he went to the cross (Jn.17:11,21,22,23). Jesus makes this a big deal, because he says to his Father in his prayer that it is because of this unity that the world will believe that Jesus was sent by his Father; so that the world would know that the Father loved them like he loved his own Son (Jn.17:21,23). He prays that the kind of love the Father has for his only Son would be in them; that they would love one another (Jn.17:26).
This was such a big deal, that Paul didn’t pull Peter aside privately and ask him what he was doing. Since this was such a central gospel issue, Paul rebuked him pubicly, in front of all the Gentiles he was snubbing, and in front of all the Jews he was fearing and seeking to impress.
The Dangerous Power of People-Pleasing
A few things we can learn from this. Don’t underestimate the powerful desire to please or impress other people. Peter was paying attention to what others thought of him, and he lost sight of the gospel. He began to fear other people more than he feared the Lord. This is why we need to be meditating on and reminding ourselves of the gospel daily.
We Need One Another
This also teaches us that we need each other. Peter may have been humiliated and devastated, but remember this wasn’t the first time Peter was publicly rebuked. Jesus himself said ‘get behind me Satan’ (Mt.16:23). Peter learned how to receive rebuke and not resent it but grow from it. I believe he recognized his error and ultimately came to thank Paul for caring about him enough to rebuke him. In his final letter, Peter refers to Paul as ‘our beloved brother’ and refers to his letters as Scripture alongside the Old Testament (2Pet.3:15).
We need each other. We need loving correction to keep in step with the gospel. We need each other because we can’t see our own blind spots. We often can’t see where we are out of step with the gospel, until a brother or sister who loves us points it out to us. The Scriptures are profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness, and we are called to ‘reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2Tim3:16; 4:2). We are called to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and then we are to teach and admonish one another (Col.3:16; cf. 1Thess.5:11-14), as well as encourage and build one another up.
Gospel Shaped Community
The gospel must shape our community. Because God sought us and brought us near when we were far off, we pursue others with the gospel and seek to introduce them to Jesus. Because God is patient with us, we are patient with those who do not yet believe. Because we have been forgiven by God, we forgive those who sin against us. Because God’s process of sanctification takes time, we do not expect or demand complete change in others overnight. Because God treats us as holy, even though we have a long way to grow in holiness, we assume the best of others, and treat them as blood bought brothers and sisters. Because Jesus humbled himself, we ought to walk in humility. Because Jesus extended self-sacrificial love to those who didn’t deserve it, we ought in love to serve one another. Because Jesus laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. We must allow Jesus to define our community, the community of blood-bought believers, his church.
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2024.01.21 Sermon Notes
Gospel Shaped Community (Acts 10-11; Galatians 2)
Our individual identity is in Christ
Galatians 2:20
Our corporate identity is in the body of Christ
Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Corinthains 12:12-14
Community defined by the gospel of Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians 1:18-24
-those who are being saved
-those who are perishing
We are united in one body
Acts 10-11; Ephesians 2:11-22
Our shape is fixed by the foundation
Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:5-6; Luke 6:47-49
Walk in step with the gospel
Galatians 2:11-14
The priority of unity
John 17:11, 21-26
We need one another
2 Timothy 3:16; 4:2; Colossians 3:16
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org