Okay, today we're going to be
starting a new chapter. We're moving into chapter 3,
which is exciting. And Paul's going to continue
the same theme, justification in and through Christ alone.
But in this portion, not today's portion, but probably in three
weeks, we'll start looking at the first of three or four questions
that Paul asked, actually a little bit more. He actually starts
asking the Galatians questions, which the answers are obvious,
but I love it because it makes them look inward. It makes them
look to who they're looking to. Are they looking to their flesh?
Or are they looking to Christ? Which is important for us. That's
when the scriptures tells us to examine, if we're in the faith,
examine who's the object of your faith. Is it Christ and Him alone? Or is it Christ with something
you do? Because if it's with Christ and something you do,
then that's a false faith. But if it's in Christ alone,
oh, what a sure hope we have, beloved. It's wonderful. What
a sure hope we have. So again, we're seeing Paul bringing
forth that salvation is in Christ alone, by faith alone, apart
from any works of ours. And Paul's going to ask again
the Galatians several questions. We're going to see that as we
read the text in context. We'll see that he asks several
questions. Setting before setting before the Galatians the fact
that salvation is of the Lord. That it's not of our flesh, it's
not of our will, it's not by anything we do, but it's by,
it's like the scripture says, it's not by might nor power,
but by my spirit saith the Lord. It's by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God. He's the one. He's the one that regenerates
us. He's the one that gives us faith to believe on Christ. And salvation is apart from what's
called law works. law works. It's apart from the
works of the law. And it's also apart from any
other works we would do. So law works would be, again,
the Ten Commandments and all the Mosaic Law. And then any
other works, they don't count either. Cannot be saved by our
works. So let's read, I want us to read
Starting in verse 19 of chapter 2, and going all the way to verse
9. Now we're going to get the full
context of our verse today, which will be verse 1. And we're going
to split the verse up. We're going to look at the first
and the middle part of this verse today, and then the latter part
of the verse we'll look at next week. So let's start in verse
19. We see here that the Holy Spirit
has said, Paul, pen down. these words, and may God the
Holy Spirit, the true author of these words, may He teach
us. May He illuminate the Scriptures, like Brother Jim said, so that
we can apply it to our lives. Right? Each day, beloved. You
know, I love what he said in verse 19, that I might live unto
God. See, there is true practical
Christianity, isn't there? We don't go out and do whatever
we want. No, we live our lives now unto God. We're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. We're new creatures in Christ.
So let's read what's here. He says, for I, through the law,
am dead to the law that I might live unto God. Oh, and every
believer wants to live unto God. Well, that's what we desire.
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. We know that crucifixion is spiritual
crucifixion. We were in Christ. at Calvary's
cross, but Christ liveth in me, in the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me." That's a part to underline right
there. Christ loved me, and he gave his life for me. Every believer
can say that. That's talking about me. Then
he says, I do not frustrate. Last week we looked at that as
void in the Greek. to make void. He says, I do not
make void the grace of God. For if righteousness, which we
looked at last week again in the Greek means justification,
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Why did he die
then? If we can work our way to heaven,
why did Christ die? That's what Paul's bringing forth.
And remember again, the true author who's setting this before
us is God the Holy Spirit. And in our verse today, O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey
the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath evidently, hath been
evidently set forth, crucified among you? So there's the first
question. And he continues with several more questions here.
O foolish Galatians, oh I'm sorry, this what I learn of you, received
ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of
faith? There's the second question.
Again, he asks another one. And see, all these questions
are bringing them to look to Christ. To look inward and go,
who am I trusting? Am I trusting my own works? Because
if I'm trusting my own works, I'm doomed. He's told me that
in chapter 1, right? He's told us that in chapter
1. Look at this. Are you so foolish,
having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? See, that's what the Religion wants to be perfect by the flesh.
They haven't begun by the spirit, they're not born again, but they
want to be perfect by the flesh. I'll tell you what, it is impossible
for us to be perfect by anything we do. We are sinful beings. Sinful beings. Have you suffered
so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain, so they'd
suffered for their faith. He just keeps asking questions.
Here's the next one. He, therefore, that ministereth to you the Spirit,
and worketh miracles among you, doeth it he by works of the law,
or by the hearing of faith? Well, my, that one don't even
need an answer, does it? That's so obvious, isn't it?
It's so obvious. It's so obvious. We can't save
ourselves. He's told us that. He's told us that earlier. And
remember, again, the true author of these words is God, the Holy
Spirit. So he's setting these questions before the Galatian
believers. He's setting it before them.
Verse six, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him
for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith
are the same as the same are the children of Abraham. Oh my,
we're gonna look into that a little bit more down the road too, that's
just incredible. In the scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, that's me, that's
you, right? Through faith. preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in these shall all nations be
blessed. Now think of that. It says, in
these shall all nations be blessed, right? God's people are out of
what? Every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. Look at that. Isn't
that amazing? I love that. It's just so incredible. When
you start to see the pieces going together, it's just absolutely
amazing. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. So our verse today will be verse
one. And Paul writes to the Galatians. Now remember, this church is
very dear to him. He's the one who went there and
preached the gospel to them. He's the instrument that God
used to bring them to Christ. They were brought to Christ by
the power of the Holy Spirit, but by him preaching the gospel,
he was used by God. He was used by God to go and
preach the gospel to them. And they were heathens. The Galatians,
again, as we looked at at the beginning of the message, and
I saw it brought forth by another commentator this week, too, they
were of Celtic descent. They were of Celtic descent.
They were very superstitious. And they could be easily swayed
by new things that popped up. They were very interested in
all finding out a new thing. And so I think a lot of that
came from their background of worshiping various gods, too. worship in various gods. So they're
easily swayed that way as a people. Now the doctrine of God's amazing
grace teaches us that the death of Jesus Christ secured our salvation. Secured our salvation. The salvation
of all those who were chosen in him. in eternity. Christ secured our salvation.
So with that, let's read this here. O foolish Galatians, who
hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? We're going
to look at what's the truth. Well, the truth is the gospel.
Now, note something. A commentator brought this forth,
and I thought this was fantastic. It doesn't say you've not believed. He's not saying they're unbelievers.
He's saying, you just haven't obeyed. You're being swayed. Isn't that neat? I like that.
I like that, because he's not saying, well, you're rode off.
He's saying, you've not obeyed. The truth has been evidently
set before you. Christ and Him crucified is the
only way of salvation. And now you're being swayed by
these Judaizers. I thought that was a really neat
point, because, you know, We can all be tossed to and fro.
All of us are susceptible to that. And we who are the born-again,
blood-washed saints of God, we've had revealed to us, and we believe
by God-given faith, that Jesus Christ is the Savior He's the
Savior of sinners. And that because He's God, He
cannot fail. And so look what it says here. Before whose eyes
Jesus Christ hath been set forth, crucified among you. So we're
going to do a separate message on that, and what I want to do
is go through all the places where Paul talks about Christ
being crucified, and him preaching Christ and him crucified. And
I want us to look at those portions where Paul brings that forth,
because that was paramount in his preaching, right? And it's
paramount in every gospel preaching that we set forth Christ in him
crucified. Another thing, Norm Wells and
I have been talking about this, and you hear me talk about it all the
time, and I think it should be talked about more, is regeneration
by the Holy Spirit of God. You must be born again. It's
a must. It's a must. Right? You must be born again. It's
vital. It's absolutely vital. You must
be born again. So if God is, if Christ is God
and he is, then he cannot fail, can he? So what Paul is doing
is he says here, he says, I've set forth before you Christ and
him crucified. I've set forth before you the
truth. The truth. And we have learned, not by our
own learning, but we've learned because the Holy Spirit of God
has taught us and has illuminated the scriptures for us. And that's
my prayer every time I preach the gospel, is God, please illuminate
the scriptures. Holy Spirit, please illuminate
the scriptures so that we might learn and grow, not to boast,
right? But to be in awe of who Christ
is, to be in awe of how wonderful he is. And we've learned by the
Holy Spirit teaching us that Jesus Christ was delivered for
our offenses, right? We were under the law, he redeemed
us out from under the law. He's delivered for our offenses,
which means he's delivered for our sins, my sins, my sins. And praise God, he's raised for
our justification. See, he's sinless. He's spotless.
He's the sinless, spotless lamb of God. He's perfect in every
way. He obeyed the law perfectly for
us. Then the wrath of God that fell
upon him will never fall upon us. Never! Because it fell upon
our substitute, beloved. That's why at the great white
judgment throne we are separated. And we hear, well done, thy good
and faithful servant. Was I ever good and faithful? No, I'm not good at all. We're
like that. I am anyways. We're all over
the board. But he's faithful, isn't he?
That's what matters the most. He's faithful. He's faithful.
Oh, it's wonderful. And we've learned not only have
we been justified and redeemed, but that Jesus Christ himself
purged our sins. They're so far gone from God's
sight that God himself says, I don't remember your sins no
more. Oh, hallelujah, that's the best news this sinner's ever
heard. So for you, it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. So
we praise God also that we're reconciled to God by the death
of his son, by the blood of Christ. We're saved from the wrath to
come. We're saved from the wrath to come. You wanna know something really
neat? Turn a couple pages over here. Or forward. This is just,
if I can find it here. This is just outstanding. Where
is that? Let's see here. Oh yeah, you know when you want
to find something, you can't find it, right? Oh, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 verse 9. Look at this. Look at this. This
is absolutely amazing. This is stunning. I'll tell you
what. Let this just burn into your heart. Look at this. See, Christ took
all the wrath of God that was due on us, right? Look at this. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath. He's not appointed that His wrath
would fall upon us. Isn't that amazing? But look
at this. But to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ. Woo! That's good news! Our wrath that was due us was
appointed by God to fall on Christ. That is amazing grace. That is
amazing mercy. So that had been set forth before
the Galatians, beloved. And that's why Paul's saying,
now you're starting to listen to these Judaizers. You're not
obeying the truth. The truth is Christ died for
your sins. He's been evidently set forth
before you. Christ and Him crucified. Because
Jesus lives, right? We're going to live, aren't we?
We're saved by His life and by His death. Therefore, who shall
lay any charge to God's life? Anything. It's God that justifieth,
beloved. It's absolutely wonderful. We've
been justified because of the perfect redeeming work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read our verse again. O
foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set
forth, crucified among you? Now the Apostle Paul, again in
Galatians 2.21, our closing verse for last week's study, he said,
I do not frustrate, or we saw in the Greek, void the grace
of God. For if righteousness, which was
justification, we found out before God, come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Now, we could put anything anything
of man's doing in that verse. And it would not change the meaning.
If righteousness, salvation, come by baptism, church affiliation,
meeting on Saturday, our free will, Abraham's natural future
generations, people of noble birth, or any act performed by
man, then Christ is dead in vain. Serious business, isn't it? And
remember who the true author is. He's God the Holy Spirit
that had Paul pen those words. My, oh my, beloved. True saving
faith embraces the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who we embrace.
He's the object of our faith. He's the lover of our souls,
beloved. My, He's our everything. And see the word foolish in our
text, it signifies senselessness. Senseless, an unworthy lack of
understanding. And the false teachers had come
in privately to unawares, as we saw, and they'd spewed their
poison, hadn't they? They'd spewed their poison after
Paul had left. And the saints in Glacieria were
fascinated by the false teachers' claims, who claimed to be followers
of Christ, and yet they were nothing but false teachers. And the Galatians started to
look to themselves, started to look to their own actions, started to look to works performed
by the flesh. They'd been bewitched. My, oh my. Therefore, Therefore they started to look
to themselves. They were looking away from the
perfect finished work of Christ that had been evidently set before
them in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. They were looking away from the
perfect, sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he
doesn't say, you haven't believed that. He just says, you haven't
obeyed it right now. See, Paul still has hope for
the Galatian church, doesn't he? That's why he writes this
letter. They allowed these wicked men
to fill their minds with doctrines that turned their eye of faith
away from the Lord Jesus Christ. And these false teachers are
with us today, men who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ,
but in reality, they are led by the spirit of Antichrist. Beware of them. Mark them, brethren.
Christ is not being revealed to them. Therefore, they do not
know the truth. They do not know the truth. They
cannot obey the truth. If one does not know the truth,
you can't obey the truth. And those who are bewitched by
them are just as guilty of not obeying the truth. Any man who
Henry Mahan said this, any man is foolish who leaves Christ
to go to Moses, who leaves the gospel of grace to go to the
working of the law, who leaves the doctrine of free justification
which gives peace and comfort to go to the law which can only
condemn. See all the law can do is condemn
us. That's all it can do. It can just condemn us. My oh
my. And bewitched there is that they're
under a spell, beloved. They're under a spell. Who hath
bewitched you? O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? So we see the Apostle Paul use
these words in the second portion of the text, that ye should not
obey the truth. So what is meant here by the
truth? It's the gospel, beloved. It's the gospel. Often so called
in opposition to the law and the types and shadows of it,
because it's contained all through the scriptures, isn't it? All
the Old Testament pictures and types pointed to one person,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Scriptures is the truth
of God, isn't it? Given to us. My oh my. And we are justified in Christ
alone. He alone is our righteousness,
beloved. We can never be justified or
become righteous by law works, can we? See the contrast that
he's setting forth here? One cannot be justified by law
works or by any works we do. One can only be justified in
Christ and Him alone. This is the heart of the gospel,
beloved. This is the heart of the gospel,
justification in Christ. Because if we could justify ourselves,
then why did Christ come? We can't. We can't justify ourselves. So these false teachers, they've
not changed. They come with smooth words and
enticing words. They've been proclaiming a false
gospel of man's works to the Galatians. And they say, oh,
that Apostle Paul there, he's not even preaching the gospel. He's not preaching the gospel.
See, that happens. I just heard recently of another
church where some folks left, same thing. They said, well,
that preacher's not preaching the gospel. I listen to that
preacher, he's preaching the gospel. What in the world? My. But that's the same excuse
that people use every single time. And it's so sad, beloved. It's so sad. It's just terrible. And these false teachers, they
come with smooth words, beloved. And they attack. See, they can't
attack the master. So they get at the messenger
and they try to attack the message, but God preserves both the message
and the messenger, beloved. And he does that, doesn't he?
It's absolutely amazing. Now these Galatians, they not
only heard the truth, but they embraced it, beloved. They believed
it. They received it. The love of
it. They were strongly affected by it. That's why Paul says here
that you don't obey the truth. He doesn't say you didn't believe
it. He just said you're not obeying it. Your ears are being tickled
by these false teachers over there. My. They're born again, they've
received God-given faith, but they've removed their eyes from
the one who is the true object of their faith, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we know, as born-again, blood-washed
believers living in this world, the moment we get our eyes off
Christ, we get in trouble, don't we? The moment we start looking
to ourselves, even to fix a situation. I don't know why I haven't learned
that I can't fix situations. Maybe it's just part of being
a man, I don't know. Right? Because we men are fixers, right?
But I need to learn that I can't fix these situations, God's going
to take care of it all for me. And that's not, we talked about
this before, that's not a fatalistic kind of, oh well, you know, why
should I preach the gospel because God's elect? Well, I preach the
gospel because God commands me to preach the gospel. Right? And that's the means that he
uses to draw his sheep in. Right? My, oh my. So it's not a fatalistic kind
of thing. No, not at all. It's just the,
I need to let go. I'm not in control. Right? And we're all in the same boat,
aren't we? That's why you're all smiling, because we're all
in the same boat. Oh my. Isn't it wonderful how
we can all share in that, beloved, and just be honest with each
other? My. So they're born again, they've
received faith from God, but they've removed their eyes from
the one who's the true object of saving faith. And they've
listened to these false teachers, even entertaining some of the
things they've said. Even entertaining some of those
things. My, even though what they proclaim
was totally against the gospel. See, the flesh, the flesh, the
flesh. I had a dear brother text me
this week, and this was a marvelous text. He said, oh, if I could
only learn, it was Brother Marcus, he said, oh, if I could only
learn that God controls every speck in this universe, and rest
in that. And then he said, oh, the flesh. That's so true, isn't it? I looked
at that and went, that's one of the most marvelous texts I've
ever received. Because that's me. Is it you? That's me. Oh, if I could just
keep that at the forefront of my mind, beloved. My. And so because of these false
teachers, they began to doubt what Paul had taught. They began
to doubt. what Paul had evidently set forth
before them, which is the true gospel, that salvation's in Christ
and Him alone. And again, this is the same tactic
that's even used today. Satan uses these tactics to cause
trouble in churches, to cast doubt upon the message that's
being preached and being proclaimed. And that's what really these
false teachers had done, right? Because they had cast doubt on
the fact that Paul said, Christ has been evidently set before
you, crucified. And now they're casting doubt,
saying, well, you have to be circumcised along with faith
in Christ to be saved, you see? And remember, Vicki and I were
talking about it again this week, and Tom had brought it up a few
months ago. Remember, we always have to remember
the environment that this is occurring in, right? So the world
is ripe with idols. Right? Multiple God worshipers
is all over the place. And here's the truth being set
forth before them. And the only way we can see the
truth is the same way the only way they could see the truth
is if it was revealed to them. So they've had the truth revealed
to them, but now these false teachers start to tick on their
ears saying, well, there might be something you have to do.
And see, man, we're wired to do something, aren't we? You
ever beat yourself up because you don't read the Bible enough
or don't pray enough? You ever beat yourself? Don't beat yourself
up. Just cry out to the Lord. Just cry out to the Lord. See,
that's all that work stuff, that leftover grave clothes that we
have, beloved. My, oh my, I'll tell you why.
It's hard enough for me just to rest in Christ, let alone,
right? Oh, so these Galatians, they've
been bewitched by the false teachers. They are now wavering in their
faith. So let's read this verse again.
Oh foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you that you should
not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently
set forth, crucified among you. So again, what is meant by the
truth being set forth? What's the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ? And here are some things which
are set before us when the gospel is preached. When the truth is
set before us, then Christ is set forth in the gospel as the
great propitiation provided by God for the sins of his people. By which God's righteousness
might appear in the remission of sins. Turn if you would to
Romans chapter 3. We're gonna be, we'll go to Romans
3, then we'll go to Romans 5 with the next question. Then we'll
go to Romans 8 after that. Christ is set forth. Every time
the gospels preach, Christ is set forth as the propitiation
for sinners. Right? The one, true, perfect
sacrifice, the Lamb of God. Remember God had told, or Abraham
said, God will provide himself a lamb? He provided himself as
a lamb, didn't he? See? That which was prophesied
in the Old Testament came to pass, didn't it? He did provide
himself as a lamb. That was God himself, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at this in Romans chapter
3, verses 24 to 25. Being justified freely by his
grace. Oh, wonderful words. through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed to the
forbearance of God. So remember I said propitiation
and righteousness is set forth. God's propitiation and God's
righteousness is set forth. Look at verse 26. To declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness. His righteousness. See, that's
what we're clothed in. Christ's righteousness. That
He might be just and a justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. He's both a just God and He's
our justifier. So His law has to be fulfilled.
He does it Himself. Oh my! What a Savior! And then another thing that's
set forth when the truth is set forth before us, then Christ
is set forth as a great manifestation of God's divine love to sinners.
Turn a few words to chapter 5. And look what it says here in
verses 8 and 9. Now God's love is great, isn't it? We can't
even measure it. Can't even measure. It's immeasurable towards his
people. And look what it says here. And
now let this sink in, beloved. Let this sink into your hearts
today. But God commanded his love toward us. So he's writing
the believers, isn't he? God commanded his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Wonder of wonders. Much more
than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from
wrath. Remember, not appointed to wrath.
Saved from wrath through him, through Christ. Not through anything
we do. but all through Christ. Now turn
to Romans chapter 8, verse 3. When the truth of the gospel
is set forth before us, then Christ is set forth in the gospel
as affording the strongest proof of God's displeasure against
sin. God hates sin. He's holy. He can't be around
sin. Look at this, Romans 8, 3. For
what the law could not do, so this is something the law couldn't
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. Well, hallelujah! Isn't that
wonderful? He did that for you, he did that for me, beloved.
That's why he condemned sin. It's gone. It's gone. Also, Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is
written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Now, turn if you would to John chapter 1 quickly. We'll just
be finished here. When the truth is set before
us, then Christ crucified is set before us as the only foundation
of a sinner's hope. We have no other hope to be saved
from our sins except by the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have any
other hope, do we? We have none. Absolutely no other
hope. Look at this, John 1.29. The
next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold,
the Lamb of God," there he is, that's one of his titles, the
Lamb of God. What does he do? Which taketh
away the sin of the world. Oh, he takes away the sins of
all his people, doesn't he? Gone. So far gone that God says,
I don't remember your sins anymore. Isn't that wonderful, brother?
He don't remember our sins. Gone. Sister, they're gone. This is wonderful news, isn't
it? Wonderful. Then turn over to John chapter
3. Now we know John chapter 3, 16, wonderful verse, wonderful
verse, but the gospel is in verses 14 and 15. The true Gospels in verses 14
and 15, and this is what's set before people during the preaching
of the Gospel. Because Christ is set forth,
right, as the only Savior of sinners. He's lifted up as the
only Savior of sinners. Look at this. John 3, 14 and
15. Remember, He's still talking
to Nicodemus here, too. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal
life. Do you believe in Christ? Have you believed in Christ?
Has God given you faith to believe in Christ? If the answer is yes,
then the scripture says here, we have eternal life. Oh my,
so beloved God, Christ is the gospel. To preach the gospel
is to preach Christ. To preach Christ. Christ is the
truth. To preach the truth, you preach
Christ. The gospel of God is not a complex
mystery, but it's the revelation of God. We don't know it unless
he reveals it to us. And the revelation is given in
simple, clear, unmistakable words. One body. One spirit. One hope. One Lord. One faith. one baptism, one God, one mediator,
one thing needful? That's Christ, right? The way, the truth, and the life. In His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only Savior of sinners. The only one.