I want to talk with you today about Lent. We are entering the Lenten season in 2024 at this reading, and I want to talk to you about the dangers of approaching Lent, this Lenten season, in a way that alienates you from Christ, in a way that is in fact a falling away from grace. Let's begin by reading my text, Galatians chapter 5, verses 2 through 4. Galatians chapter 5, verses 2 through 4. There we read, quote, Mark my words, I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourself be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again, I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace." So it is my purpose today to help you avoid such a falling away as just described. And instead, refresh your hope and joy as you recall the death and resurrection of our Lord and only Savior, Jesus Christ. And to do this, I'm going to remind you of the one gospel principle that will serve as an anchor for your soul and ensure you do not drift away from Christ and toward destructive religiosity during this Lenten season. And that principle is this. The biblical command to repentance and faith is preceded by God's prior acceptance. Now let me say that again because it's very important. This is the framework. If you are a person who observes the Lenten season, I beg you to hear what I'm about to say. because this is the only legitimate framework through which you should even begin to consider keeping Lent. And that is this, the biblical command to repentance and faith is preceded by God's prior acceptance. In other words, repentance and faith are the result God's prior acceptance of you in his Son and his finished work on your behalf. This means no one turns from sin and death and looks to Christ alone for salvation apart from first being born of God. That's John 1 12 through 13. It is the kindness, forbearance, and patience of God, says the Bible, that leads you to repentance. It is not something that originates in you. Yet many people enter the Lenten season believing just the opposite, that is to say, they believe repentance and faith originates in themselves. They engage in fasting and other acts of deprivation, believing these things are a necessary preparation in order to move themselves toward the cross and Resurrection Sunday. But this is not the biblical gospel. It is another gospel, and is in fact no gospel at all. This is because God has already dealt with our sin at the cross. and therefore the gospel is the proclamation of an accomplished salvation on our behalf by an all-sufficient Savior. There are no supplementary acts of piety that can ever prepare us to come to true repentance and faith in Christ. Another way of saying this is to say the biblical imperative is always preceded by the indicative. We repent and place our faith in Christ because it is indicative of the regenerate mind and heart to do so, and not in order to evoke regeneration. But even for those who have experienced this gracious work of the Spirit, the danger remains of reverting back to the thinking that works of piety somehow ensure God's continued acceptance. So the danger gets us coming and going if we're not careful. There is a world of difference between the Christian life that is marked by obedience to Christ's teaching in response to God's acceptance and performing works of righteousness in order to secure or retain God's acceptance. The former is biblical and the latter is heresy. and does in fact alienate you from Christ and leads you to a falling away from grace. This is precisely what was happening with the new converts in the ancient region of Galatia. These people had heard the Gospel and had a genuine experience of the Spirit as a result. but false teachers had entered the region and began to teach that, to be true Christians, they must supplement their newfound spirit-birth faith in Christ with circumcision and other Jewish identity markers. Therefore, in Galatians 3, beginning with verse 1, Paul says this, You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? You, before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain, if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who have faith are the children of Abraham. That's Galatians 3, 1-7. The false Christian leaders insisted that Paul's gospel was incomplete, and genuine conversion must include the religious rite of circumcision, the sign of God's covenant made with Abraham. That's found in Genesis 17, 9-14. And on the surface, the argument of the false leaders seemed sound, even biblical, so much so that many within Christendom later came to view baptism as New Testament circumcision. But for the converse at Galatia, it turned out that circumcision only led the parade of other requirements. Soon the Galatians were also observing special days and months and seasons and years. Galatians 4.10. In response, Paul writes again, I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. Galatians 4.11. Likewise, throughout the centuries, much of Christendom has adopted a Judaized mindset by also requiring special observances of days, months, seasons, and years. True Christians, it is thought, must do these things. The question we must ask, therefore, is this. Would Paul also fear that somehow his letter was wasted on you? Now I realize these are sobering words. It is very difficult to now call into question a tradition many of you have observed for decades. So let me make this suggestion. Let me suggest that you use this Lenten season to consider what I have said. then search the scriptures for yourself, and pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. And then, do something very much in keeping with Lent, and that is, repent of any thinking that places you either in an initiatory position with God as a respondent in conversion, or if you are confident that you are in Christ, repent of any thinking that God's continued acceptance of you is due to your works of piety. These things must be repented of, and then rejoice in the Lord, your Savior, and boast in Him alone, and not ever in your works of piety. Let me close this brief exhortation with this apostolic exhortation from Titus 3 verses 3-8. At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of our God and Savior appeared, our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might come become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying, and I want to stress these things so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." May the Lord's grace allow you to see His mercy and His kindness and first acting to save you when you were powerless to save yourself. And may you continue in the knowledge and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, never looking to yourself to earn or to bargain for God's acceptance, but relying continually in the finished work of Christ. Amen.