4 reasons that explain why our hearts should be fixed on Jesus
Reason #1 - Christ Granted Us Victory Over the Power and Penalty of Sin (2:20a)
Galatians 2:20a - I have been crucified with Christ…
A. We were crucified means we died to ourselves
B. With Christ means that believers are in union with Jesus
Romans 6:5-7 - For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
Reason #2 - Christ Makes Our Heart His Home (2:20b)
Galatians 2:20b - …and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me…
Ephesians 3:14-17 - For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Reason #3 - Our Lives Belong to Him
Galatians 2:20c - …and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
A. He loved me
B. Gave Himself for me
“Church life was not designed to be comfortable. What is the church? It’s a chosen gathering of unfinished people, still grappling with the selfishness of sin and the seduction of temptation, living in a fallen world, where there is deception and dysfunction all around. There is nothing comfortable or easy in this plan. The church is intended to be messy and chaotic, because the mess is intended to yank us out of our self-sufficiency and self-obsession to become people who really do love God and our neighbors. God puts broken people next to broken people (including leaders), not so they would be comfortable with one another but so they would function as agents of transformation in the lives of one another.” (Tripp, Paul David. Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church. Crossway: 136-37. Kindle Edition)
Reason #4 - We Need to Magnify God’s Grace by Emphasizing Christ’s Worthwhile Death
Galatians 2:21 - I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 - …the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.
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