Let's pray. Heavenly Father, You truly are
an amazing God, and in spite of how frail and fickle, how
rebellious, how broken, how set upon we are in this world, there
is a spiritual reality that You have made us perfect in Your
dear Son. the words of your scriptures
today that you would just reveal that to us again, that you would
impress upon us how amazing the reality of salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ is. We pray, Father, that your words
today would be spirit and they would be life to us and that
you would bless us and refresh our souls. Thank you, Father,
that you promised to meet with us. Thank you that you promised
to administer your word, your gospel to us. Father we just
think of those that couldn't be here today and we pray in
your mercy you will draw alongside of them and bless them in their
own lives with your presence that you will continue to work
in their lives to remind them of the wonders of your grace.
And we do thank you heavenly Father for your church throughout
the world and we pray your mercy upon it. In Christ's precious
name, Amen. Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians
3. As we continue to look at the
Book of Galatians and the heresy introduced by the false teachers,
one thing seems to be at the heart of the issue, and that
is how do Christians live for God? How do they please Him that
they may be in better relationship with Him? The false teachers
in Galatia and throughout time pervert a very real desire in
Christians to live more faithfully before their God. They do so
by sending them back to the law as a guide to pleasing and gaining
favour before God. However, the reason that they
are so successful is because in all of us, saved or unsaved,
there is a natural desire in our flesh to think that we can
earn some merit some way into the Kingdom and presence of God.
When we all left the Garden of Eden we believed that by our
own knowledge and abilities we can be as gods. Today I just
want to consider one verse in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18, but
I want to consider it in light of how God sees His chosen children
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's just consider the context
surrounding this verse first. In 1 Corinthians, Paul rebuked
the church for the sinful way they were living, and it would
have left them just like the Galatians, repentant and desiring
to live more faithfully before God. Now this made them both
vulnerable and susceptible to the subtle influences of the
false teachers. just like we saw in the book
of Galatians. They came supposedly representing
the apostles. They came declaring that to live
more faithfully before God, one must turn back to the law. So
now in 2 Corinthians, Paul is writing, just as we saw in the
book of Galatians, to expose the false teachers, to warn of
the dangers of turning from Christ back to the law. and of course
to declare the Gospel and how God saves His chosen children
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our verse today comes in the
midst of a section of 2 Corinthians where the Holy Spirit is comparing
the ministry of the false teachers to that of the true and faithful
Gospel declaration in this world. So just look back at 2 Corinthians
for a moment. Faithful gospel preaching comes
from God, and it speaks of salvation being found only in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at verse 14. Now thanks
be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and
makes manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every
place. God never fails, and His purpose
in evangelism and any sort of ministry is to magnify the glory
of His Son as the only source of salvation. Look at verse 15,
for we are unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved
and in them that perish, whether we are preaching to the elect
or not. Christ Jesus and Him crucified is the Gospel. Verse 16. To the one we are the
saver of death unto death, and to the other the saver of life
unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things? For those perishing Christ is
a judge. To the elect children of God
He is a saviour. The Gospel itself is God's sword
of division, administered to by servants, which he makes sufficient. Verse 17, For we are not as many
which corrupt the word of God, that's the false teachers, but
as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak
in Christ. Now, no matter what they look
like on the outside, no matter how moral their lives are, we
need to examine the heart of the gospel of false teachers. We need to examine their confession.
Test or prove all things, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5. And
when you do, you'll find that if it doesn't attribute every
facet of salvation every facet of all our Christian life to
Christ alone, then it's not from God. Only God can make us sufficient
and able to preach the Gospel faithfully. Look now at 2 Corinthians
3. The Gospel is a ministry of life,
whereas the Law is actually a ministry of death. Verse 5 in 2 Corinthians
3. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God, who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament,
not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life. False teachers send men back
to the law for eternal life. But see what the Holy Spirit
is saying here. The law is actually a way of death. It can only condemn
righteousness other than the righteousness of Christ. We have
no righteousness of ourselves. It's filthy rags. If there is
to be any hope of salvation, it's only to be found in the
Gospel. This is why the apostles and
every faithful teacher preached the finished work of Christ as
the only source of salvation. You see, the Lord just veils
the truth. Look down at verse 12 and 13. Seeing then that we have such
hope, we use great plainness of speech. In other words, He
doesn't use craftiness, or deceitfulness, or the stealth that we saw the
false teachers use in Galatians. And not as Moses, which put a
veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not
look steadfastly to the end of that which is abolished. Did
you catch that? The law has been abolished in
Christ in regard to his people. In Exodus 19 the law was actually
given as a punishment for the unbelief and arrogance of Israel
in thinking that they could live before God on the basis of their
own wisdom and their own activities. Moses delivered the law as a
veil to blind them from seeing Christ who is the end of the
law for those who believe. However, the false teachers preach
it not as Moses did. They preach it as a way of gaining
life. It was never intended for that.
And it has the same effect on us today. Look down at verses
14 and 15. But their minds were blinded,
for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in
the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even to this day when Moses
is read, when the Lord is proclaimed as a way of salvation, the veil
is upon their heart. See, nothing has changed. The
law still blinds one from seeing God's salvation accomplished
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how dangerous it is.
And this is why Paul is so passionate about this in his letters. And
we can only be freed from it by grace itself. Look at 16 and
17. Nevertheless, when it shall turn
to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The only hope for any salvation
for anyone is that God the Holy Spirit would turn them away from
the Law to Christ, that he would open the eyes of their spiritual
understanding and that he would reveal Christ as an all-sufficient
Saviour. Now he does that through the
preaching of the Gospel. Now this brings us to our subject
verse today. In 2 Corinthians 4 the Holy Spirit
goes on to continue to make this comparison between the lie of
the false teachers and the Gospel. He attributes salvation to God
alone, and He reveals that even creation itself is just another
illustration of the miracle of God's saving grace in the lives
of His people. However, before He does so, He
blesses us with this absolutely beautiful verse. A verse that
explains to us both where the holiness of God's children lies
and exactly how by His grace they grow in it. And see, that's
the question at the heart of the false teachers and their
lie. How do we live for God? Today I just want to read this
verse. I want to speak briefly about how others interpret it. I want to consider some very
clear statements or promises in scripture that compare these
verses to what the false teachers say, and then I want to just
reconsider this verse in light of what we've just read. And
I want you guys to be kind of like a jury. I want you to piece
together the evidence. I want you to remember that our
God cannot lie. He doesn't lie because he chooses
not to. He cannot lie. Let God be true,
says Paul in Romans 3, and every man a liar. As we read these
scriptures, this is the Word of God. This is a reality we
are going to read. I want you to piece it together
and gather it together, put the information together, put the
puzzle together for yourselves. So let's read the verse first.
2 Corinthians 3.18 But we all, with open face, beholding as
in a glass or a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord. You know, even after the clear
warnings of 2 Corinthians 3, There are many that still read
this verse as speaking of a progressive moral transformation which begins
when someone becomes a Christian. It's a transformation, they believe,
ironically, that's led under the guidance of the law. Some
see it relying completely upon our own wisdom and activities.
Others see it as a cooperative work between man and spirit.
Others see it as all the work of the Holy Spirit, but sadly
all seem to see this transformation as something that is displayed
consistently in our flesh. They see it as an indicator of
how pleasing or how faithful we are to God. Sadly, they all
tell us that certain facets of our salvation are conditional
upon this outward moral performance. I just want to read some of these
promises from God and I want to compare them to the things
that the false teachers say are conditional in our Christian
lives. They are statements written by
the Holy Spirit which declare plainly the standing of all God's
chosen children from eternity to eternity no matter where they're
at in this world, and no matter what's going on in their lives
at the moment. Now I've put some sheets out
there. You can follow along in your Bibles. You can follow along
in these sheets to make it easier. You can just listen and meditate
on these verses. Now you'll find that most of
them are common verses that we use a lot. I have to admit that
in a sense I've become complacent to these verses. Sure, as soon
as the lie raises its ugly head, we draw them out of the scabbard
and we use them, and they are a great defence. But I've found
that I've sheathed them often, and they're more than a defence.
They're life and truth and the basis of our salvation. There's
a gravity to them. there's a reality to them, which
I guess preparing this message I've learned to embrace again.
So let's begin with the first one, saved. How often do we hear
that the way a man performs, the way he follows the law, either
affects his state of salvation or at least, as the more reformed
people say, is an indicator of whether he's saved or not. Let's
read 2 Timothy 1, 8-10, and like I said, you know most of these
verses. Be thou not therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. But
be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, notice that's in past tense,
and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, not
according to our law keeping. but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. It's eternal brothers and sisters.
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus
Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel. How often do we hear that we
are more blessed or we receive more blessings, we are more accepted
by our law keeping, by our obedience to the law. Ephesians 1, 3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Is there anything
that he would have left out? In heavenly places in Christ,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having predestined us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. It seems that
we've been eternally blessed and accepted in our Saviour. How about sanctification? Now
sanctification means separation from the world in a sense, set
apart. These false teachers would assume
that that's the truth but they would see the setting apart indicated
by our activities, by our moral obedience to the law. But where
does our sanctification come from? 2 Thessalonians 2.13, But
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath, there it is again, from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Peter opens his first letter
saying something similar. He addresses it, according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. What about justification? Often
justification is just seen to be a way of proving, a way of
establishing ourselves. Where does our justification
lie? Isaiah 45, 25. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. And if you want that explained,
Romans 3, 24-26, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare
His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness,
that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believes
in Jesus. What about our righteousness?
So often we hear of our personal righteousness. We need to grow
that by obedience to the law. When the scriptures talk about
a righteousness, the righteousness in which salvation lies, there
is only one righteousness they are talking about. Look at Isaiah
54.17. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against
thee in judgment shall thou condemn. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. As I 6110, we know it well, I
will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
adects himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself
with her jewels." What about redemption? We need
to make up for those sins. God has forgiven the past sins.
But we need to live now and somehow make up for those sins by our
holy living now. Ephesians 1.7, in whom, that
is in Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins and according to the riches of his grace. Hebrews 9, 11 and 12, but Christ
being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, not of the obedience of men to
the Lord. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, forever forgiven. That's the state of Christians.
That's the state of the Lord's people. How often have we heard
that God's angry at His people and then when they obey He loves
them and then when they disobey He's angry at them again. Where
does our reconciliation lie with God? 2 Corinthians 5.18, and
all things are of God who hath, there's that past tense again,
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given us the
ministry of reconciliation. That's the Gospel. How often have you heard it toned
down, the gravity of that, and rather than talk about God being
wrathful one minute and loving the next. How often have you
heard it described as a married couple relationship where you
were always loved but you loved less, you pleased him less when
you disobeyed him. Where do we have peace with God?
Ephesians 2, 13-18. But now, notice, right now, In
Jesus Christ, you who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ, for He is our peace, who hath made both one
and hath broken down the middle wall of petition between us,
having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in the ordinances." It's interesting, isn't it? He's
abolished the Law of Commandments. For to make in himself of twain
one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached
peace to you who were far off and to them that were nigh. That's
the Gospel. for through Him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father." Now having read verses like that
and many more like them, and many of the false teachers know
their Bibles better than us, you can count on that, but they
still say, but you must still. It's some way that we still try
and retain our pride in the act of salvation. You must still come to God. How often have you heard, I've
prayed the prayer. We need to encourage people to
walk down the aisle. Brothers and sisters, we are
dead in our sins and transgressions and no one seeks God until God
creates new life in us. John 3, 5-6 Jesus answered Nicodemus
and said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
of water and spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is
flesh. Men's activities will only resolve
in men's activities. That which is born of spirit
is spirit. Now even then, God must draw
us. The Lord says in John 6.44, No
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up at the last day. What about faith? How often do
we hear, well I still had to come to God in faith. We still
have to encourage people to believe, to accept the gift. Faith must be given to us. Ephesians
2.8, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God. It not only has to be given,
it has to be sustained. Hebrews 12.2, we are encouraged
to look to Jesus. the author and finisher or perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and he sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. He's a mediator on our behalf
right now. All these blessings, all these
requirements flow graciously from God on the basis of His
finished work, our Great Representative. What about good works then? We
must be diligent in good works. That's a reason for the Law.
Ephesians 2.10 says, For we are His, we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath ordained
before that we should walk in them. Philippians 2.13 For it
is God that works in us, both to will and to do, for his good
pleasure. And I love this Isaiah 26.12
Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us For thou hast wrought
all, not most of, all our works in us." What about evangelism? We still need to be zealous for
mission. We still need to support ministry. We still need to witness
whenever we can. Where does our witness come from?
Luke 21.12-15 When the Lord sent his disciples out into the world,
He said to them, But before all these they shall lay their hands
on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and
into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's
sake." It's no different these days. This is a description of
opportunities that God creates to witness the Gospel. Verse
13, And it shall turn to you for a testimony Settled therefore
in your hearts, not to meditate before what you will answer,
for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversities
shall not be able to gain say or resist." Isaiah 57.19 I says
God, I create the fruit of the lips, And what's the fruit of
the lips? Peace, peace to him that is far
off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal
him. That's our gospel. Finally, there
are rewards, they tell us. Somehow by our moral activities,
our law obedience, we'll increase our reward in heaven. We've all
heard it. shinier crowns, shinier Christians,
closer to God. It seems like they're clutching
at straws really. But what they are suggesting
is there's something better in man's activities than what God
has provided in the Lord Jesus Christ. What's our reward? Isaiah 52.12. For you shall not go out with
haste, this is when he draws his people back to himself, nor
go by flight. For the Lord will go before you
and the God of Israel will be your reward." You see brothers
and sisters, if we have God we have everything and there is
nothing better. So what could possibly be left
for us to do in our salvation? What can we possibly expect to
gain from God by the progressive moral transformation of our flesh
when the scriptures tell us that all our righteousness are filthy
rags, that the spirit of man may be
willing but his flesh is weak, that the flesh profits nothing,
Not a little bit, absolutely nothing. That this flesh will resist and
wrestle and lust against the spirit within us. That no matter
how moral we become, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom
of God. In other words, No matter how
much we polish the outside of the cup, in the world's eyes,
we have all we need in Christ. Our God says He loves us with
an everlasting love. He says He's blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. He's
made Christ our all and in all. So I've put there 1 Corinthians
1.30.31. It's a verse we use so often
in the Church. But of Him, i.e. in Christ Jesus,
who God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. That's our comprehensive salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there anything that you need
to know for salvation? He's our wisdom. Is there anything
you need to do for salvation? He's our righteousness. Is there
anything you need to be for salvation? He's our sanctification. And
what about our sin? Our Lord's our redemption also.
And why? that according as it is written,
He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. Every aspect of
salvation must rebound unto the glory of our great God in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in Him we have eternal unity,
glory, perfection and love. Look there at John 17 verses
20-23 As our Lord prays, Neither pray
I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word, that they may all be one. As thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they may also be one in us, that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which
thou hast given me I have given them. that they may be one even
as we are one, I in them and Thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one, that the world may know that Thou hast
sent me and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me." So with such a great weight of
information, and let's face it, All the Scriptures from cover
to cover support these things we've been reading, these promises
we've been reading. Every natural illustration, every
historical illustration, every prophecy, every parable, every
clear word that has been spoken about in the New Testament letters
to the churches, they all support these truths. I want to go back and just consider
this little verse, 2 Corinthians 3.18, in light of these promises. It begins, but we all. The but
is given to us as an alternative. It's an alternative to the blinding
of the law. Now it's meant for those elect
of God who have turned to Christ, for those faith children of Abraham
who, by the work of the Holy Spirit, have liberty. For those
chosen children of God who have been made free from the bondage
and the threatenings of the law and now have eyes to see spiritually
the salvation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. But we all with open face beholding
as in a glass or in a mirror the glory of the Lord. These
people are those who now see themselves by faith clothed in
Christ's righteousness, complete and qualified in Him. They see
themselves by faith represented before the throne of God on the
basis of Christ's perfect work and worth. They see by faith
as in a mirror that His glory is their glory right now, even
in this life, in spite of our flesh or our circumstances. It's a very simple, it's a very
plain and a very clear verse, but it's incredible. It's unbelievable
but by the grace of God. Do you realise brothers and sisters
that what this says is this is our spiritual reflection in the
mirror of the Gospel. This is the reality of God's
elect children. And that's why in Jeremiah we
have the exact same name as the Lord before our Father in Heaven,
the Lord our righteousness. At the moment we see this reality
dimly, which is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians
13 when he says, for now we see through a glass, again a mirror,
darkly or dimly, but then face to face now I know in part, but
then shall I know even as I am known." You see, as the eyes
of our faith are grown in clarity to see our reflection in the
Gospel, the more we embrace this amazing spiritual reality, which
brings us to the next part of this verse, are changed into
the same image It's by this growing spiritual
view of faith that we're changed, not outwardly. Our flesh will
always be sinners and whatever we do we're told that which is
flesh is flesh. The more we embrace this amazing
reality, the more we see ourselves grown inwardly in our spiritual
perception of who we are in Christ. And it's no different. We read
the same thing in Romans 12 where Paul says, and be not conformed
to this world. What he means is be not conformed
to this world, be not subject to the law, be not responsible
again for one's own standing before God. We heard it last
week in Galatians when Paul said, the weak and beggarly elements.
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. And how? By our own wisdom and strength
under the guidance of the law. That's not what he says. By the
renewing of your mind and the purpose that you might prove
what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And what's the perfect will of
God? It's the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the salvation
of the children that God gave him before the foundation of
the world. That's why this growing revelation is, as our verse continues,
from glory to glory. The saints' view of themselves
has grown by one glorious, saving revelation to another, and they
come to us in many ways. Most of them seem to come in
God's rescue of us from our trials and from our chastisement. When
the Holy Spirit talks to us in Hebrews 12, he compares the chastisement
of our natural fathers to our God. In verse 10 he says, For
they verily for a few days chastened us under their own pleasure,
but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. How do we partake of God's holiness? Is it by our wisdom or our work
or is it by faith? Of course it's by faith and as
our Lord grows that faith through our trials and our chastisements. He also grows our perception
of who we are in Christ. Another way that these revelations
are experienced is through the preaching of the Gospel, which
is why church is so important. This is the only place that God
promises to be every time on the earth and promises to administer
to his children. We saw it in Solomon. It's important. Another way that these saving
revelations come to us is by the fellowship with the saints
and that's another reason why church is so important. Colossians
3.16 says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. That's in
the church, richly. in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your heart to the Lord. Our interactions with one
another, especially in church, just remind us again of who we
are in Christ, where our salvation lies, and how amazing our God
is. The verse ends with, Even as
by the Spirit of the Lord. You see, even this, it's not
our work as the false teachers suggest. It's God the Holy Spirit's
work as he continues to gather us together to open the eyes
of our understanding, to reveal who we are and whose we are. It's just one simple plain verse
in scripture, but it disperses all the lies
of the false teachers and it should encourage us to continue
to rest heavily upon our Saviour. God's not in the business of
growing men's righteousness. Not like the false teachers say
He is. Rather, he's in the business of revealing the perfect righteousness
of Christ, his Son, on our behalf. We're so susceptible to the influence
of the false teachers and that causes us to look to our flesh,
causes us to think that there's something necessary for us to
do to please God, and it leads us back to the law as a guide
to Christian living. It is good to be good. It's good
to do good. But you'll always find that it's
inconsistent in the life of a Christian. There's a battle going on. But even when we do do good,
it's the work of God as we've just read. So rather than look
to our flesh, or look to the motivations of the law, Let's
come to our Father in Heaven as little children in faith,
trusting that He will fulfil those promises which He has made
to us. I hope this has been an exercise,
as it has for me, to remind you that no matter what men say,
no matter what you think in the flesh, no matter what the current
circumstances of your lives are. The saints of God are right now,
if you are the Lord's child right now in Christ, you are holy,
blameless and above reproach in God's sight. And we can have
a boldness on the Day of Judgement no matter what the law threatens We can have a boldness in the
Day of Judgement because as He is, so are we in this world. May our gracious God bless us
with saving faith that we might see ourselves as He sees us.
May He grow us in that faith that our standing in Christ might
become more clear and more of a reality to us on a daily basis. May He cause us to see our Lord
Jesus Christ alone as all of our salvation for His glory sake.