It's a joy to be here. Good to
meet some of you folks I've never met before. And good to see some
of you I have. I don't know of any place I'd
rather be than here. It's a miracle that you folks
are being brought together like you have. I just pray the Lord,
and I know He will, for His own glory, He'll meet your need.
And it's wonderful to know that Christ is the head of His church
and He loves His body. And I'm just sort of looking
forward to see what's going to happen in the time ahead for
you folks. And see how the Lord is going
to use you and honor and glorify His name among you. I want you
to turn to my text this morning in Galatians chapter 2. The epistle
of Paul. to the Galatians in the second
chapter. And I want to begin reading down
around verse 11. This is where the apostle Peter
and some of his Jewish brethren had come down to Antioch in Syria
where this rather large church was. And I imagine they had a
worship service and they had a fellowship dinner, sort of
like we're going to do after our service today. And something
happened at this dinner. that teaches us a Bible lesson. And that's what we're going to
begin with here in verse 11 of Galatians chapter 2. But when
Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him, I opposed him to the face,
because he was to be blamed. For before that certain men came
down from James, from Jerusalem, he did eat with the Gentiles.
But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing
them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away
with his dissimulation. And when I saw that they walked
not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live after the manner
of Gentiles and not as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles
to live as do the Jews, we who are Jews by nature and not sinners
of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ? Even we
have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while
we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners,
is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid! For if I
build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. For I through the law am dead
to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I do not prostrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ
is dead, Christ has died in vain. The Colossian Epistle basically
teaches two things. How a sinner is justified before
God. And then secondly, how that sinner
lives. And we're told that in my text.
How is a sinner justified? By Christ alone. By faith in
Jesus Christ alone. We saw that in verse 16. The
only way to be accepted with God is in Christ. The only way
to be justified is how the Scripture says, faith in Christ. How does that man live? How does
a justified man live in this world? Verse 20 says, I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me. But the amazing thing about chapter
2 of Galatians, it teaches us these two things. how we're justified
and how we live. But it doesn't do it so much
in doctrine, in setting forth the doctrine of those things,
but it teaches us by an illustration what happened at this dinner
down in Syria and Antioch. Now Paul begins this epistle,
and I'm sure you saw this, he begins this epistle in the first
two chapters by defending his apostleship. He was not an apostle. And here's the trouble that the
apostle Paul faced everywhere that he went and preached the
gospel. And people believed the gospel and were converted to
Jesus Christ. When Paul left, these false apostles
and false teachers would come behind him and say, listen, he's
not really an apostle. You know, he never sat under
those apostles up at Jerusalem like we have. He's never been
taught of those apostles like we have. And He's not come out
from those apostles like we have. So you really shouldn't receive
Him as an apostle of Christ. And you know Paul never denied
this. But he embraced the truth of that. Look what he says in
chapter 1. And look in verse 1. Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by men. In other words, he said, I'm
not of men. Man has not called me. Man has not taught me. Man has not sent me. But he said,
I am an apostle by Jesus Christ and God who raised Him from the
dead. And then he goes on in verse
11. Look at this in verse 11. I certify you, brethren, that
the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for I
neither received it of man, Neither was I taught it by man, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to tell about
his conversion, and he says in verse 15, But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me
by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him
among the Gentiles, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before
me, But I went into Arabia and returned again to Damascus."
And what Paul is telling us here is that they're telling you the
truth. Peter and John didn't call me. I didn't learn this gospel from
them. He learned it in a way that you and I don't learn. When
the Lord is going to teach us the gospel, what does He do?
He sets us under a man, doesn't He? He sets us under a preacher,
and through that preacher, He teaches us of Himself. It didn't
happen to the Apostle Paul that way. He received this Gospel
from direct revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I live
to give the Lord praise and thanksgiving that He called that Apostle and
sent him to the Gentiles. You and I are just dead dog Gentiles,
but we have this Apostle that learned the Gospel directly from
Jesus Christ by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He makes a tremendous
statement here in chapter 2 in verse 6 regarding these other
Apostles. It told us a little bit later
after this verse that James and John and Peter seemed to be pillars.
Boy, they were. They were somebody. They got
underneath the church and upheld the church there in Jerusalem.
But notice when Paul went up to meet with these apostles,
and they had this conference there in Jerusalem, notice what
he said in verse 6. But of these who seem to be somewhat,
whatsoever they were, it makes no matter to me, God accepteth
no man's person. For they who seem to be somewhat
in conference, added nothing to me." Now, he made a tremendous
statement here concerning these apostles. He said, they didn't
teach me a thing, and they don't have authority over me. It wasn't
that he was casting contempt upon these other apostles, and
it surely wasn't that he was preaching another gospel, but
what he's saying is, they don't have the authority over me, not
even James or John. God accepteth no man's person. You know, the Pope of Rome, poor
thing, he thinks because he's been chosen as the Pope, that
he has some kind of authority, he has some kind of a right,
that he can come up with new doctrine, he can come up with
new ceremonies, new acts, or whatever, and everybody is supposed
to submit to his authority. He has no author. God don't recognize
flesh. He's not impressed with flesh. I don't care if he's Billy Graham.
I don't care if he's Franklin Graham. I don't care if he's
the Pope of Rome. I don't care if he's Bruce Crabtree.
God accepteth no man's person. You remember, we got a good illustration
of this. Remember when the Lord was telling
Peter that, I'm going to be betrayed, and I'm going to the cross, and
I'm going to die and raise the third day. Remember what Peter
said? Peter rebuked him and said, Lord, be it far from you. Remember
what the Lord told him? You get behind me, Satan. The
Lord don't accept flesh. I don't care what your position
is. It don't matter to Him. And it shouldn't matter to us.
I don't care who a man is. And I know when the Lord sends
you a pastor, I know you'll love him. I know you'll support him
in every way. But you won't follow him any
farther than he follows the Lord Jesus Christ. If he leaves Christ
as He's revealed in the Word, then you'll leave Him, won't
you? We've all had that experience. And that's what this story is
about. Paul tells us here beginning in verse 11, that, boy, he rebuked
Peter, this great apostle, right to his face. He was to be blamed
because he left the Gospel. He left the Gospel. Boy, isn't
it easy to fall? It's so easy to fall. I thought
when the Lord saved me, I thought, man, I've got it made. I'm going
to live on cloud nine the rest of my life. Little did I know
how easy it was to fall. Did you suppose that morning
when Peter got out of bed and went down here to this worship
service, he thought within his heart, now, I could deny the
Gospel today. But he did, didn't he? How easy
it is to deny the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And not just in word,
but in action. Peter would never have blatantly
denied the Gospel with his word, but he did with his actions.
He did with his actions. We can fall so easy. It behooves us, brothers and
sisters, to stay low, to stay humble, to depend upon the strength
of the Lord to teach us and to keep us. Because if we don't,
if this great apostle could deny the Gospel, then we can. We can. And this was Peter's sin. Peter
was eating here with these uncircumcised Gentile believers, and he was
eating contrary to the law, just like God told him he could. In
Acts 10, the Lord taught the Apostle Peter, when he refused
to go down to the Gentiles and preach to them, and he said,
I can't go. Lord, remember the sheep that
come down from heaven, all the four-footed beasts and the worms
and the creeping things was on it. And the Lord said, Peter,
rise, slay, and eat. And he said, not so, Lord. Nothing common or unclean has
never entered my lips. So the Lord said, Peter, don't
say that. Don't say that. You can eat anything you want.
Nothing's common or unclean. And the Lord taught him that,
and he believed that, but now he denies what the Lord had taught
him. When these Jews came down from
Jerusalem, Peter got afraid, and here's what he said. He said,
well, I can't let these Jewish brothers see me eating with these
Gentiles and eating chicken. Moses law forbids me to eat anything
that don't chew the cud and part the hoot. I can't let them see
me eating this chicken and this pork. So what does he do? He
gets up from the chiptos, where they're all set in fellowship,
he takes his chicken, he throws it in the trash can, and he goes
and sits by himself. Goes and sits by himself. And
verse 13, it says, that others followed him also. Barnabas even,
that loved the Gospel of Christ, he got up and he followed Peter
and sat by himself. We can't be caught eating with
these Gentiles. We can't be caught breaking the Law of Moses. And verse 13 teaches us something. Right back to what I said before,
how quickly we can lose the Gospel. They lost the Gospel here, didn't
they? If the Lord hadn't been pleased to raise up the Apostle
Paul and correct this error, they would have lost the Gospel
altogether. And Peter loved the Gospel. He
had been taught the Gospel and he had stood in opposition before
when those Pharisees had raised up and said, we must be circumcised
and keep the Law of Moses. Not enough to have Christ. It's
not enough to believe in Christ. We must be circumcised and keep
the law of Moses. And here's what Peter said. That's
not so. That's not so. We believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as those Gentiles. He said, we have to be saved
just like the Gentiles. It's not that the Gentiles have
to be saved like us. We have to be saved just like
the Gentiles. Through the grace of Jesus Christ.
And now by His actions, He's telling these Gentiles, well,
no, Christ is not enough. Christ is not enough. You have
to be converted to the Jewish lifestyle and live the strict
lifestyle like the Jews, or you can't be saved. That's what he
was teaching here by his actions. And then here in verse 14, the
last portion of verse 14, here's what Paul says to him. If thou
being a Jew liveth after the manner of the Gentiles, and he
was, wasn't he? He was eating with the Gentiles.
He was eating things contrary to the law of Moses. And Paul
said, why are you trying to force the Gentiles to live as do the
Jews? How did the Jews live? Man, they
had a rigid lifestyle, did they not? A rigid lifestyle. And it started at an early age.
When they were born, their parents had to take a sacrifice and offer
a sacrifice for them. When they were eight days old,
they were circumcised. They were raised in this rigid
lifestyle. There were certain foods they
could eat, certain foods they couldn't eat. There was certain
company that they could keep. It was a rigid, strict lifestyle. Peter made the statement, he
said it was so strict that it was a yoke upon our necks which
neither we nor our fathers was able to bear. That's what a strict
lifestyle that it was. And he goes on here in verse
15, and look at this. He said in verse 14, If thou,
being a Jew, live after the man of the Gentiles, and not as do
the Jews, why are you compelling the believing Gentiles to live
as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature am
not sinners of the Gentiles. Now, he's not saying here that
the Jews weren't sinners by nature. Everybody's a sinner. Paul said
we've proved before whether we're Jews or Gentiles. were all born
in sin. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But what he was saying here is
the Gentiles, by nature, lived a completely different lifestyle
than the Jews. When the Jews were born and as
they grew up, it was almost second nature to
them to embrace these ceremonies, embrace these rites, and just
live this strict lifestyle. It was second nature to them.
They accepted all of the ceremonies and feast days. Then when it
come Friday evening, everything shut down. They didn't cook a
meal on the Sabbath. They rested on the Sabbath and
did nothing until Sunday morning, Saturday evening came. And they
accepted that. That was their lifestyle. The
Gentiles didn't accept that. They didn't submit to the Jewish
law. They had nothing to do with it.
They were sinners against the law of Moses. And that's what
he's saying here. We who were of this Jewish lineage,
we lived our strict lifestyle, we weren't like the sinners of
these Gentiles who denied the law of Moses and didn't eat or
live like we Jews lived. Now he begins here in verse 16
and he's going to teach these two things. How are we justified
as sinners before God? How can we stand before the living,
eternal God and be cleared of all our charges and be counted
righteous and accepted in God's sight? That's what he's going
to teach you in verse 16. And then secondly, how does that
man live? Now that's what he's going to
teach in these verses. How is a sinner justified? He first tells us how we're not
justified. Verse 16, not by the works of
the law, not by religious duties. We're not justified by religious
duties. I don't care how strict those
duties may be. We're not justified by the works
of the law. We were talking last night. Everybody
has their criteria how to be just before God does. I think maybe Darwin said this,
it depends on where you go in the country. If you go down south,
you can smoke a cigarette because they grow tobacco down there,
you see. So they allow you to smoke, but you can't drink a
beer. If you go north, you can't smoke because they don't grow
tobacco up there, but you can drink a beer. So wherever you
go in the country, everybody has their own criteria set up.
The Pharisee who stood in the temple to pray said, God, I thank
you that I'm not like other men. I fast twice a week. Where did
he get that? He didn't get it out of the Bible.
God never commanded anybody to fast twice a week. And as far
as I know, he never commanded anybody to pay tithes of all
that he possessed. Why did he say that? He thought
that's what he had to do. I'm going to be stricter than
what God required. I'm going to fast twice a week.
If a man wants to know what it's going to take to be just with
God, well, here's what it is. Cursed is everyone who continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
him. That's what it takes to be just with God. Everything
the law requires from the time we're born to the time we die.
Perfect obedience to that law. I used to talk to my dad, he
was a free will Baptist preacher, and I talked to him about this
very thing. And I said, you keep the law? He said, well, no, but
I try. I try. That amounts to nothing,
brothers and sisters. The law doesn't accept that.
The law accepts nothing but perfect obedience to it. You've got to
know what it demands, then you've got to do it. We don't even know
everything it demands, let alone do it. So Paul begins here and
he says, not by the works of the law. You can't be justified
before God by the works of the law. Then how? How are we justified? Well, he goes on to tell us,
but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Now some read this, and it may
be so, by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. were justified
by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. I don't know if that's
the way this should be written or not. It may not be taught
here, but that's taught in other places. It's said in Hebrews
chapter 3 that Christ was faithful to Him that appointed Him. Faithful. Another place said He was obedient
to death, even the death of the cross. And what the Apostle Paul
is teaching us here, we're justified by the doing and dying of someone
else. We're justified by His faithfulness
and by His obedience, and we mustn't enter on with it. Justified
by faith in Jesus Christ. God demands absolute obedience,
doesn't He? He demands absolute faithfulness.
There's never been but one person that renders such faithfulness.
And that's Jesus Christ. And Paul said that's the way
we're justified by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you don't want to put
faithfulness in there, if you put by the faith of Christ, then
we're justified by the faith that He gives us. in Himself. We're born without faith. We
can't muster it up. If we're to ever believe in Jesus
Christ as the Savior of our soul, He has to give us faith. You
read it, Carl. Faith is a gift of God. Not of yourselves. It's not of
yourselves. He begins it, doesn't He? And
He upholds it. And He's called the finisher
of our faith. In verse 16, the Apostle Paul
said this, Even we Me and you, Peter. He's still talking to
Peter. We have believed in Jesus Christ. That is, we've fully
trusted. We're fully relying upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. That we might be justified by
the faith of Christ, or the faithfulness of Christ, and not by the works
of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in His sight. And he makes a distinction
here in how people seek to be justified, doesn't he? There's
one way that's wrong. There's one way that men seek
to be justified, and that's by the religious works, by the works
of the law. And that way is the way of death
and destruction. Remember when the Lord said,
straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life?
Write you a good commentary on that verse. It's the way men
seek to be saved, to be justified before God. Wide is the gate,
broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat. The Jewish nation as a whole,
they stumbled over this right here, and they missed Jesus Christ,
and they perished. By the works of the law shall
no man be justified in his sight. Many men seek to be justified
that way. Here's the right way. We seek
to be justified by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the way that
leads to life and glory. Hold that verse and look over
here in Romans, how the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9, look
how he says this in Romans chapter 9, and look in verse 29. Romans chapter 9, look
in verse 29. The Jews as a nation, boy, they
stumbled. They were seeking to be saved
and seeking to be accepted of God. They stumbled over this
very thing of being accepted and being justified with God.
Look what he says in verse 30. What shall we say then? That
the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, They
have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which
is of faith. But Israel, the nation of Israel,
which followed after the law of righteousness, they have not
attained to the law of righteousness. Why? because they sought it not
by faith in Christ alone, but as it were by the works of the
law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written,
Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." They stumbled
and they fell. And you know to this very day
they never arose. That nation has still never found
out the way that they can be justified before God. They're
still seeking it by the works of the law, by silly traditions
and ceremonies. Look back in our text again.
Look back in verse 17. This is a very interesting way
the Apostle says this. He said in verse 17, But while
we, me and you, Peter, seek to be justified by Christ, And that's
the way they were seeking it, by Christ. That's the way I'm
seeking it. Aren't you seeking it that way?
How are you seeking to be justified before God? How are you seeking
that? Is it by Christ? Is it by Jesus
Christ alone? That's the way these apostles
sought it. That's the way we seek it if we seek it rightfully.
And look at this, we also, just like these poor Gentiles, are
found sinners How were they sinners? What's he talking about? We ourselves
are found sinners. Well, sinners against Moses.
There in verse 3, he said when he went up to Jerusalem, he tied
us with him, and he said he was uncircumcised. Well, you know
that's contrary to the law of Moses. Moses' law commanded them
to be circumcised. And he said, Peter, you're still
a sinner against Moses, because you're eating with these Gentiles,
you're eating chicken, you're eating pork, you're a sinner
against the law. So he says there, while we, we
who are seeking to be justified by Christ, are found sinners
against the law of Moses. And they did. Is therefore Christ
the minister of sin? Now, this is so important to
see this. And what the Apostle is saying here is Christ teaching
us to sin when He's telling us to turn away from Moses and believe
in Him alone to be justified? God forbid. God forbid. But to the contrary, this is
the way the law is honored. This is the way that justice
is satisfied and God is pleased when we seek to be justified
by Him who has been faithful to God and honored the law and
satisfied justice. It's not a sin in Christ to teach
us to forsake Moses and trust in Him alone. That's the way
the law is honored, isn't it? I'll tell you what's a sin. when
you turn from Christ back to the Law. Then you dishonor Christ,
you say He's not enough. You dishonor the Law because
you say, I can keep it. Paul is saying in these verses,
when I cease to trust in my own works, I quit working altogether
Boy, this gets these self-righteous people who are working their
way to heaven. And here Paul says, when I cease to do that,
and I quit it altogether and believe in Christ alone for all
my salvation, all my life, all my justification, then I am righteous
before God. Then I am accepted indeed. It's
then I see the smile of God. It's then I fellowship with God
as my Father. It's then I see all my sins taken
away, and then I see Heaven's door open. All of this, even
though I have denied this rigid lifestyle that all the Jews are
living according to the Law of Moses. Boy, this would have been an
excellent place for the Apostle Paul to have inserted these words. Now wait, and let's don't carry
this too far. Now, I'm telling you that Christ
is a lot. When it comes to your justification
before God and acceptance and rapture, I'm telling you He's
a lot, but He's not everything. This has been a perfect place
for Him to say that, and said, now listen! You come to Christ
for your justification, But to stay justified or to be sanctified,
you've got to go back to this wretched law. Been a good place
to say that, wasn't it? But he didn't say that at all.
You see, the Apostle Paul wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid to teach people
that were saved by grace. He wasn't afraid to say, well,
if I tell him that, and he's too free, Then they may go off
and live ungodly. They may let go of the reins
of their lust and just live as they say like the devil wants
them to live. He wasn't afraid of that, was he? He didn't want
to regulate men's life by this rigid, strict lifestyle that
the Jews lived. He wasn't afraid to tell them
so. But he tells them the right opposite. He tells them the right
opposite. Look in verse 18. But if I build again those things
which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. What did Paul
destroy? Well, we remember what he destroyed.
Remember what he said in Philippians chapter 3, if any man thinks
that he can trust in flesh, I more? Then he goes into all of these
things he trusted, and he was circumcised on the eighth day
of the stock of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, and goes
into all of these things that were profitable to him. And then
what did he say? Those things that were gained
to me, those I counted lost for Christ. All of that self-salvation
business. All that self-justification.
All that self-sanctification. He said, I counted it all lost. Why? For Christ. To be found
in Him alone. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. The righteousness of Christ alone. And now He comes
to you and He says, listen, if after I have found this salvation
in Jesus Christ. And I turn from Him back to that,
then I really make myself a transgressor. It's when I'm trusting Christ
alone, when I'm looking to Him alone, finding all my life and
my living in Him alone, that's when I'm accepted of God. That's when I'm righteous. That's when God don't impute
any sin to me. That's when God forgives me for
all my sins. But if I turn from Christ now,
or I seek to add something to Him now, I make myself a sinner
indeed then. Not only against Christ, but
against God and against the law. There was a fellow that came
and preached for a group of people that I knew, and he got up in
the pulpit and he made this statement. He said, we've got to get beyond
Christ. And as soon as he left the pulpit, a friend of mine
confronted him. He said, how do we get beyond
Christ? What's out there beyond Christ? Nothing but wrath. Nothing but
God's frown. I tell you, we see God as a Father
to us, tender and merciful, and He accepts us as His children
when we stand in Christ alone. Look here at what he said. If
I can find it, I think it's in the 5th chapter. Look here in
the 5th chapter how the Apostle Paul said it. Look in the 5th chapter. There in verse 1 in chapter 5,
he said, Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you
free, and don't be entangled again with this yoke of bondage.
And then down in verse 6, for in Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything to uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.
Look at this. You did run well. Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of
him that calleth you. When did they run well? When
Christ was everything to them. As newborn babes, they just looked
to Christ. That's all they had. As poor,
empty sinners, they had Christ. And Paul said, you ran well when
you were there. When you just had Christ to live
upon, Christ was your righteousness. But he said, now look at you.
Now you think you're something. Now you think you can add something
to Him. He said, God didn't teach you
to do this. This persuasion cometh not from God. It comes from the
devil. It comes from flesh. Brothers
and sisters, anytime, anybody or any spirit tempts us and teaches
us that there's something besides Christ or beyond Christ that's
not of God. It's not of God at all. It's
of the devil. It's of the devil. Is Christ
enough? Is Jesus Christ the Son of God
and Him crucified and living again, is He enough? Well, some people say he's not.
Somebody asked Scott Richardson that one time. He said, he crossed
him up, and Scott said, if he's all you've got, he is. I don't
have anything else. Do you? I absolutely don't have
anything else. And I don't want anything else.
I don't want anything else. Now, here in our text, look back
in Galatians chapter 2 again. And here in verse 19, Paul is
going to tell us his relationship to the Law of Moses. Am I going
too long? What time is it? Is it alright? Alright. Alright. He's going to tell us here in
verse 19 his relationship to the Law. This is very interesting. Look what he says. For I through
the Law am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. What's Paul's relationship to
the law? He tells us that he's dead to it. He's dead to it. I, through the law, am dead to
the law. What does that mean? I, through
the law, am dead to the law. Well, what does the law teach
us about ourselves? That we're sinners. That's all
it can teach us. by the law is the knowledge of
sin. It lets us see sin in us when
we can't see it in ourselves. We think we've done something
good and here comes the law and shows us our motives have been
awful. Sin mixed with everything we do. Paul said, I was alive
without the law once. It's self-salvation. I thought
I was giving myself life until the commandment came and its
power to my heart and my conscience, my understanding. And then I
died. And that law which was ordained
to life for those who keep it, I found to bend to death because
I sinned against it. When the law comes to us and
it just beats us down, shows us that we're ungodly, we're
sinners and sin mixed with everything we can do, that's all the law
can do. It can't do anything else. It can't help you. Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everybody that believes. I deny flatly the law being a
believer's rule of life. It's a rule of death. It's a
rule of condemnation. The letter kills. That's what
it's for. That's its office. It's to kill
you. To self-salvation. has been accepted
and righteous before God. The Jews used to have a saying,
if we keep the law, we live to God. But the Gospel says, until
we die to the law, we cannot live to God. Until we are alive
in Christ, we cannot live to God. Here's the second way that
it means to be dead to the law. It's through union with Jesus
Christ. Through union with Christ, we
are dead to the law. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. I imagine sometimes when these
Jews read these epistles, these self-righteous Jews, don't you
imagine it confused them to death, made them angry? You'd think
the Democrats are mad today. That poor old Trump. These men
hated the Apostle Paul. Can you imagine them reading
something like this? I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I
live. What does this mean? Look at this stupid man, they'd
say. Look at this confusing language. He's not crucified with Christ.
We saw him just the other day. He's alive. What did He mean
when He said this? When He said this, He said, I
have this old man, this old sinner. And He said, He's crucified with
Christ. That the body of sin might be destroyed. I have such
union with Jesus Christ, He said. When He was crucified, I was
crucified with Him. Why is that so important? Because
Jesus Christ died under the curse of the law. The law condemned
him to death, not for his own sins, but for our sins. But when
he died, the law could condemn him no more. He had nothing to
do with the law, and the law had nothing to do with him anymore.
If you go to the law and say, what about this Jesus of Nazareth
who died under your curse? What about him? What about him?
He's dead. I condemned him to death. I've
got nothing else to do with him, or me, or him with me. He's dead
to me. When you're dead to this world,
you don't participate anymore. When they put you in a casket
and in the ground, you don't participate in the things of
this world anymore. And brothers and sisters, we died in Jesus
Christ. And we arose in Jesus Christ. And we ascended to heaven. And
we're there in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. That's this
new life that we have. We have this old life. This old
sinful man that pleads to us. He's always despairing. He's
getting old and he's grumpy and he's mean and hateful. We have
to pack him around all the time. But you know something? He's
crucified with Christ. He's dead. But we have this new
man. We're risen with Christ. And
now Christ lives in us. That's the new life that we have.
And he's so hopeful. He's so hopeful and he looks
at life and he's so encouraged. The life of Christ in us. Christ liveth in me. How does a man like this live?
What's his rule of life? I love how the Apostle Paul says
this in verse 20 again. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. Not I, but Christ lives in me. This new life, this resurrected
life that never grows old or gets discouraged. A new life.
And the life which I now live in the flesh. Here's the way
I live. I don't live my life like those
Jews live, Paul said. I don't live this rigid, strict
lifestyle that they live, this discouraging, this self-righteous
lifestyle. I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I live by faith. My neighbor
told me the other day, she said, you make too much of faith. You
just make too much of faith. You can't make too much of faith
if it's in Christ. How did Paul live? You say, Bruce,
this was a great man. You can't compare him to us and
the way we lived. Man, he was caught up into heaven
and saw these things and heard these things and he received
all of these revelations and he established all these churches
and healed people, even raised people from the dead. You can't
compare us to him. Well, listen, brothers and sisters,
Paul lived his life in the flesh just like you and I did. We lived
and He lived the very same way. You know He was a tent maker.
He made tents for a living to support Himself and others. If
you go in some little community, you go by this tent shop, and
you look back in there in the shop, and you sense this fellow,
and he's sweaty, and he's got blisters on his hands, and he's
punched his hand, and he's bleeding because of the needle, you'll
say, is that the great Apostle Paul? What's he doing in there? He's living his life. He's working. When there's sticks to be picked
up and built apart, who does it? He goes and does it. He's
not too proud to do that. He lived just like you lived
and just like I lived. In the flesh. He worked and He
lived in this body. But how did He live? By faith
in the Son of God. I'll tell you one thing, brothers
and sisters, you won't live They talk about holiness. You won't
live a more holy life. You won't live any straighter
and God-pleasing than when you live by faith in Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's when you'll live your
life. And it'll be an encouraging life. A life that's well-pleasing. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. But living by faith upon His
Son is pleasing to Him. Is faith in Christ enough to
live by? Paul said it was, didn't he? You know, the Bible says
that the Lord purifies our hearts by faith. I plant a garden every
spring. I used to have one of these,
you've probably seen them, these little big plows that's got a
big wheel on the front of it and handles, and you push through
the garden and you lay off a little row with it. And when I first
started using that thing, the rows were as crooked as they
could be. And because I used to look down to see how deep
the plow was. I'd look back to see how straight
a row I was. I'd look around, and I'd just
be going crooked as I could be. And I learned how you lay off
a straight row. You put an object. I have these
cones, and I put one of those cones, just like you see out
here on the highway when they're working. I'd set it on one end
of the garden. I'd get back on this end, and
I'd put the handles in my hand, and I'd keep my eyes right on
that cone. And I'd plow the whole road just
to look into that cone. And when I got to the end and
looked back, I laid off the straightest road that you've ever seen in
your life. And that's what I'm saying by living by faith in
Jesus Christ. Just look to Him. Every day,
just live upon Jesus Christ. Believe in Him. And when you
finish this life, and you get up to glory, you'll probably
look back and say, man, man, did I live like that? Everything
will turn out just fine living by faith in Jesus Christ. Joseph Orrin said this, Arise
my soul, earth cannot give a taste of true delight. By faith in
Him who loved thee live, be strong in Jesus' mind. The life of faith
will arm the soul against ten thousand foes. The rage of death
and hell control whenever they oppose. The life of faith is
life divine. Tis heaven begun below. May but
this precious life be mine, I'll all things else forgo. Tis peace
in war, in storms, tis calm, tis riches to the poor, It brings
for every woe a bond and points to heaven's store. I live by
faith in Jesus Christ. That's where we begin. That's
the way we must continue. And that's the way we must end
our earthly life. Look into Christ alone. I live
by faith in the Son of God. And when you live that way, you'll
live good. You'll live good. Lord, bless
you. Lord, we do thank you. Blessed
Father in Heaven, we thank you for your Word. How gracious,
how good you are to leave us your Word, to give it, to preserve
it. Oh, we'd surely err so quickly, Lord, without your Word. Thank
you for the Spirit of promise that abides in our hearts, that
teaches us and reveals Christ to us in the Word. Thank You
for Your people who have come here this morning to listen so
patiently. We thank You for them. Oh, may
You bless us all for Christ's sake. Amen.