In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
Paul deals with the subject of the resurrection. The reality
that there comes a day when we shall all pass from this world
into the next. When we shall all be laid in
the grave. in our bodies and when our soul
shall enter eternity and the fact that for the believer
there is the day when his corruptible body will be resurrected anew
and he will enter into glory with his Lord and Savior forever
in a new and a perfect body whereas for those that know not Christ
They shall enter into darkness. Paul writes this from verse 15.
Now this I say, Brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither corruption inherit incorruption. Behold,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. a moment in the twinkling of
an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this
corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought
to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not
in vain in the Lord. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law. We will only understand what Paul says here If God makes
known his gospel, his grace, and his son Jesus Christ unto
us. This chapter opens with Paul's
affirmation of that gospel and the work of grace in him. It opens with these wonderful
words, moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand,
by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above
five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he
was seen of James, then of all the apostles, And last of all
he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time. For
I am the least of the apostles that I'm not meet to be called
an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the
grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I but the grace of God
which was with me. Therefore, whether it were I
or they, so we preach and so ye believed. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. By this grace, Paul preached
that gospel which he had received as he states. He delivered unto
you first of all that which he also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was
buried and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures. O death, Where is thy sting,
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. The victory that God has given
us through our Lord Jesus Christ over death, over sin, and over
the law, that victory which swallowed up death is the result of the fact that
Christ died according to the scriptures that he was buried
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. There will come a day when we
die and are buried and rise But will we rise in Christ unto eternal
life with a new incorruptible body? Or will we be brought out
of the grave to be sent in judgment because of our sins into eternal
darkness? The great hope of the gospel
that Paul had was that God had set his grace upon him and that
Christ before time had chosen Paul under salvation. God set his love upon him, God
set his mercy upon him, and gave his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as an offering for Paul's sin. Christ died for Paul according
to the Scriptures. He died as a substitute for Paul. He died as a sacrifice unto God
for Paul. He died as a sin offering for
Paul. He died bearing Paul's sin. He was made sin for Paul that
Paul would be made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Paul's
sins were transferred and laid upon Christ as his sacrifice,
as the scapegoat, as the lamb of God. God took the lamb, his
own son, and he took the sins of his people, Paul included,
and touched the lamb and laid upon his son the iniquity of
his people. Christ as the priest took himself
as the sacrifice and transferred the sins of his people unto him
and slew the sacrifice upon the tree. Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures. He was a substitutionary sacrifice. He took all that his people were,
all their sins, all their iniquity, all their rebellion, all their
unbelief, and he was made to be it. He bore those sins. And
God the Father looked upon his son, as those sins were transferred
to him, and judged him accordingly. The law declared that the soul
that sinneth, it must die. And in Christ, Paul died. His sins being transferred to
his Saviour. The Saviour died in Paul's place. and Paul spiritually died with
him and in him as God judged every last one of his sins and
every last one of the sins of all God's chosen people in Christ. He suffered and endured the outpouring
of God's wrath that his people might rise again
with him the third day and live forevermore. I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. It is this which is Paul's hope. It is this which was made known
unto him by God in due time when Christ met him on the road to
Damascus and cried out unto Paul, Paul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? And he made known unto him who
he was and what he had done for Paul in his death, his burial
and his resurrection. And by the grace of God, Christ
made Paul what he was. By the grace of God I am what
I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain,
but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I but
the grace of God which was with me. This is the gospel which Paul
preached, a victorious gospel. victorious gospel of salvation
through Christ and Christ alone through his death and his death
alone that death in which every last sin of all his people was
swallowed up was taken away was blotted out by his blood and that death which swallowed
up death itself on behalf of his people Because Christ died,
we who know him, we who are in him, we like Paul who have come
to know the grace of God in salvation, we too will be spared death and
rise again eternally with Christ. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Has God given you
this victory? Has he made you known? Has he
brought you to sit and see the Saviour suffering in your place? Have you seen death swallowed
up in victory for you? Have you seen your sins washed
away in the blood of Christ? Have you seen your Saviour rise
victoriously over sin, death, and hell, and you rising in Him? Oh, what a gospel this is. And
how Paul laboured to preach it and to make it known, and to
make it known to those at Corinth and elsewhere. And here he speaks of this certain
hope of resurrection because he knew it, he knew it personally,
he knew it spiritually, he knew it in his experience not just
as a future event but as a reality there and then. Christ had brought
him to life, once he was dead in trespasses and sins, once
he was blind but now he saw. And now he lived with a new life
and with faith in Christ alone. Now he beheld his salvation in
Christ alone. Once he laboured for salvation,
once he was religious, zealous, under the law of God, striving
to keep the law, striving to produce a righteousness of his
own, striving to conquer sin in his own strength and his own
willpower, striving to attain unto salvation by his own will,
his own works, in his own way. And all the time, despite all
his zeal and all his energy and all his effort, he knew not God. When God sent his own son to
walk upon the face of this earth, and Saul, as he was once called,
heard of him, He hated what he knew of Christ. He hated what
he knew of this gospel. He rejected it and he went about
persecuting the church, went about persecuting the followers
of Christ, went about causing havoc. His religion, his understanding
in the scriptures, his law keeping led him one way, to slay Jesus
Christ and all that are in him, to persecute the church, to put
the followers of Christ to death. Where has your religion brought
you? Where are you? You may say, you follow the scriptures,
You may say you follow the book. You may say you serve God. But are you serving God and are
you taking those scriptures the way Saul did? In order to weave
a righteousness of your own making. in order to climb up into glory
by your own strength, by your own law keeping, by your own
keeping of the Word of God. Or have you come to see that
you are nothing, wretched, blind, lost, lame, deaf, dumb, vile,
a wicked sinner, wicked in your
religion, wicked in your self-sufficiency, wicked in your rejection of the
one true Christ. For many will name Jesus and
many will say they follow Jesus, who do not know the Christ that
died for our sins according to the scriptures. They don't follow
the Christ who died as the substitute of sinners, who died in order
to save his people entirely by grace, without the works of the
law, without one iota of help from man. The one that does it
all, the one that finished the work, the one that at the cross
cried out it is finished. The one who himself swallowed
up death in victory. The one who himself took away
the sting of death and the victory of the grave. The one who himself
delivered his people from the law, from condemnation, from
judgment, from the curse. The One who Himself delivered
them from all their sin, all their iniquity, all their enemies,
all that was against them. The One who Himself delivered
His people effectually and entirely by grace. Is that your Saviour? O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin the law. Yes we are sinners as Paul knew
and we are dead in trespasses and sins and the death which
we experience in ourselves and the death which we will experience
when we grow old and pass from time into eternity is a consequence
of our sin sin enter the world and death by sin we need salvation
we need to be delivered from our sin we need to be spared
death and there's nothing that we can do to deliver ourselves death is a consequence of our
sin and we have no answer for it Romans 5 we read wherefore
as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and
so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Therefore, as by the offence
of one judgment came upon all men the condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men under
justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one Christ shall
many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Yes, when Adam sinned, sin entered
into the world, and death, the consequence of sin, entered. The reason we die is because
we're sinners. And to be delivered from death,
we must be delivered from that sin. Paul speaks here of deliverance
and Christ's victory over both sin and death. There can be no
deliverance from death if not also from sin. And no deliverance
from sin which does not also deliver us from its consequence,
death. Christ's salvation of sinners
is complete. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. Christ delivered his people from
their sin, and in so doing delivered them from death and judgment
to come. but he also delivered them from that which is described
as the strength of sin, the law. Paul speaks of two things here
in relation to sin itself. He speaks of sin as being the
sting of death. The consequence of sin is death. Sin stings. It's like the sting
of a wasp. It's poison. It stings. And the consequence of this sting
is a killing sting. It's a poison unto death. When
sin stings us we die. The sting of death is sin. Paul also speaks of the strength
of sin. How strong sin is and how weak
we are in its wake. We cannot prevent ourselves from
sinning. It's that which springs from
our hearts. It's that which springs from
an evil heart within. We are sinners. We are sin. We are sin in our being, in our
nature. There's nothing we can do to
contain it. But many think that they can.
Many think in religion that they can somehow constrain their sin and mortify it and hold it back
and do that which is right. In the word of God, God gave
the law. He gave the law in Exodus to
Moses and to the people. He gave the Ten Commandments
as a summary of that law. And many will turn to that law
and seek to live by it thinking that if they can attain to its
commandments and its dictates that they will be righteous before
a holy God. That's the way that Saul lived
before he met Christ on the Damascus Road. That was his religion. Concerning the law, He was blameless. He was zealous for it. He did
all that he could to live by it. All that he could to live
by the Word of God. We should not necessarily consider
the term law to simply refer to the Old Testament law. It's
any word in an external letter. It's anything that commands us
to live a certain way and our response to that being that we
will strive to in our own effort and our own strength. People take the precepts of the
New Testament letters and they use them in the same way that
Saul did the command of the law. They put themselves to keep in
these things and think that by doing so they can mortify their
sin and walk righteously, walk holy before God. They think that
they can be sanctified in this manner, set apart under God for
his service. But what does Paul say of the
law here? He demonstrates the strength
of sin. How sin overcomes us. And he tells us that in fact
the strength of sin is the law. Far from being that which breaks
sin, or weakens sin, or constrains sin, or abolishes sin. Paul says
here of the law that the strength of sin is the law. That law which describes righteousness
and what we should be before a holy God, that law that God
gave at Sinai, which condemned the people because of their lack
of righteousness, but which they took and sought to keep in order
to attain righteousness. That law, far from constraining
sin, far from eliminating sin, far from bringing victory over
sin, actually fuelled it. It is the strength of sin. It
encourages it. It strengthens it. The strength
of sin is the law. Then rather than the law being
something that we should turn to for righteousness or turn
to for salvation, Paul here very clearly in this chapter in which
he's speaking of life, resurrection, eternity to come as a consequence
of the gospel. This law is something to be delivered
from. The gospel delivers us from sin. It delivers us from the consequence
of sin, death. And it delivers us from the strength
of sin, the law. The law is not something to be
turned to, but something to be delivered from, something to
be saved from. Because Paul discovered, having spent years living by
the law, that the law condemned him utterly. And having thought
himself to be blameless outwardly according to the law, he found
inside, in his heart, when Christ made the gospel known unto him,
he found himself to be stinking and vile and wicked and evil
within. And that actually, all his law
keeping was for no avail. It actually made his sin worse. His outward keeping of it had
boosted his pride. He had taken pride in his law
keeping and sinned all the more. His religion that he trusted
in condemned him. It was like filthy rags in God's
eyes. Far from saving him, this law
condemned him. And it was something from which
he must be delivered and something from which you and I must be
delivered if we're to be delivered from death we must be delivered
from our sin and if we're to be delivered from our sin we
must be delivered from that which strengthens that sin that which
fuels it, that which encourages it that which fans the flames,
the law The law was sent not to cause
us to live righteously, but to show us our sin, to prove us
to be guilty before a holy God. This is what Paul repeatedly
declares throughout his epistles. That the law was sent unto sinners. to bring them in guilty before
God. This is what he shows in Romans chapter 3. In Romans chapter
7 Paul victoriously declares how
that law which condemned him, that law which fuelled his sin,
is a law from which Christ delivered him. O wretched man that I am,
he cries out, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my mind
I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of
sin. in his head he wanted to serve God he wanted to serve
the law of God but his flesh caused him to sin So he discovered
that he needed to be delivered from it. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who were
not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus have made me free from the law
of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent in his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh. says earlier in the chapter know
you not brethren for i speak to them that know the law how
that the law have dominion over a man as long as he live if for
the woman which haven't husband is bound to the law bound by
the law to her husband so long as he live if but if the husband
be deaf dead she is loose from the law of her husband So then,
if while her husband liveth she be married to another man, she
shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is freed from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit under God. For when we were in
the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we
are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held,
that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter. Paul praised God that he had
delivered him. from death from sin and from
that very law which was the strength of sin from that law that was the strength
of sin that law which Paul once knew outwardly but when the gospel
came he came to see inwardly As he writes of his experience,
what shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid! Nay,
I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taken
occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was
dead. For I was alive without the law
once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. and the commandment which was
ordained to life I found to be unto death. For sin taken occasion
by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me. Wherefore
the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. Was then
that which is good made death unto me? God forbid, but sin
that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is
good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it is good. now then it is no more I that
do it but sin that dwelleth in me for I know that in me that
is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for to will is present
with me but how to perform that which is good I find not for
the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not
that I do now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it
but sin that dwelleth in me I find then a law that when I would
do good evil is present with me for I delight in the law of
God after the inward man but I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members oh wretched man that
I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death He knew
by experience how the law fuelled the sin within him and how it
condemned him. Has the Lord brought you there
and has he delivered you from your sin and from the strength
of it? For many would seek to return
to the law righteousness. Many turn to the law even as
believers to be righteous, to be sanctified. This is what the
Galatians did, there were those that came to them and said, well
you've come to faith in Christ, you believe in him, you know
that he died for you, you know that he delivered you from your
sins. You're walking by faith but that's not enough, you just,
you need to live right. You need to constrain your sin,
mortify your sin, you need to be sanctified. they constrained them to be circumcised
and to do that which was according to the law. And Paul writes his
strongest letter to them asking them, O who has bewitched you
foolish Galatians? Having started by faith are you
now perfected by the law? Having started in the spirit
are you now perfected in the flesh? Why are you turning back
to the law? Tell me ye that desire to be
under the law, do ye not hear the law? Do you not know what
it says? Do you not know why it was given?
Do you not know its effect on you,
that though it says what is right, every time you turn to it, it
flares up the sin within, it strengthens sin and it condemns
you? Every time you turn to it, sin
comes to the fore and you die once more under its killing letter. Do you not know its effect? Not
only is there no righteousness to be found by the works of the
law, but the very opposite is true. Every time we turn to the
law, we find it strengthens our sin. As Paul found, the good
that I would, I do not, but the evil that I would not, that I
do. O wretched man that I am. Every time we turn to it, we
find it makes things worse. Worse. Have you found that? Have you been brought to cry
out, O wretched man that I am? Or are you where Paul was, Saul
was, years before, zealous for the law, zealous for your religion,
thinking you do God's service, blind to the reality of what
you are before a holy God? Thinking that outwardly you're
quite moral, quite upright, better than others. Constantly walking
around finding fault with others and seeing the sin in others
whilst not seeing your own. Blind to the reality of what's
in your own heart. That actually you're full of
pride. That actually you don't rest in Christ alone, you don't
truly believe him. You're living by your own strength
and your own wisdom, for your own glory. How often have you cried out,
truly, O wretched man that I am? Overcome by your sin, overcome
by seeing the filth in your own flesh. How can you turn to a law that
strengthens that? 1st Timothy Paul writes that
there were those who have turned aside from the gospel unto vain
jangling desiring to be teachers of the law understanding neither
what they say nor whereof they affirm but we know that the law
is good if a man use it lawfully knowing this that the law is
not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers
of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men stealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, And if there be any other thing
that is contrary to sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. The law
was never given for believers. It wasn't given for a righteous
man in Christ. It was given for sinners. To
teach them their sin. To condemn them. To lead them
by Christ in the gospel. when he takes that law and applies
it as he applied it to Saul to lead them unto Christ to bring
them in guilty before a holy God and to bring them to cry
out O wretched man that I am deliver me save me save me yes
that's the purpose of the law Why did God give us the law?
To show us our sin. Not to make us righteous by our
keeping of it, but to show us that we cannot keep it. To show
us that every time we turn to it, it strengthens our sin, it
fuels our sin and it condemns us. As Paul writes in Galatians,
Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions. till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture have concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. It was given as a schoolmaster
unto Christ. It was given to show us our sin
until Christ by faith brought us to Himself and showed us that
He is the Saviour. He is our Saviour from sin, from
death and from the law. Though that law describes righteousness,
though it commands righteousness, its effect on us is simply to
strengthen our sin, to expose it, to bring it to the surface,
to bring it to light. and to demonstrate that we have
no righteousness. We are but sin from head to toe. We are dead in trespasses and
sins. We are vile, we are lepers. We
need cleansing, we need deliverance. We need to be delivered from
the law, from its curse, from its condemnation, for the law
kills. It's a killing letter. As Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians, who also have 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. You turn
to the law and to the letter, and you turn to that which kills.
We need the Spirit of God. We need life in Christ. We need
the Gospel. We need deliverance. Thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be saved. We need deliverance. What did
it take for God to deliver his people? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not 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 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. What did it take for God to deliver
us? It took Him sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin and condemning that
sin in the flesh. God gave his son as a sacrifice
for sin. He gave his son and Christ gave
himself. He gave himself in the place
of sinners. He died Paul makes plain at the end of
Galatians 2, If I build again the 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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Christ was given, he gave himself
as a sacrifice for Saul's sin. He gave himself, he died. He'd have never have died if
righteousness could have come by the law, but righteousness
could not come by the law. Christ had to give himself, he
had to take the sin of his people, he had to have it nailed to him,
he had to be nailed to the tree, he needed to bear their sins
away. As the Lamb of God slain in the
place of his people, Christ died. Oh what a cost there was to deliver. to save his people from their
sins, to deliver them from death, to deliver them from the law.
Christ died. He was made sin. He bore the
sins of his own people in his own body on the tree. He was
nailed to a cross. And the commandments of God,
as we read in Colossians, were nailed to Him. Those commandments, that law
was nailed to the cross in Christ. He was made a curse to deliver
His people from the curse. He was made sin to deliver them
from sin. He died that they might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. This is what Saul came to see. He saw himself crucified upon
that tree with Christ. He saw all that he was, all his
religion, all his unbelief in Christ, all his zeal, all his
pride in his own law-keeping, in his own righteousness, He
saw it all nailed to the tree. And he praised God that he saw
that law, those commandments, nailed to the tree. And he saw
himself delivered from sin, from death, and from the law. He saw the Son of God in his
place, who loved him and gave himself for him. yes he saw his
deliverer his deliverance in christ he saw how christ delivered him from the law that
being dead wherein we were held that he should serve in newness
of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. He saw himself
married to Christ, risen again on high. He saw himself delivered
from that curse of which he writes in Galatians. He saw that curse
of the law poured out upon Christ. for as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse for it is written curse it is
every one that continue if not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God it is evident for the just shall
live by faith and the law is not of faith But the man that
doeth them shall live in them. 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. He saw himself delivered
from this curse, delivered from that law, that he might live
by faith. The just shall live by faith.
and the law is not of faith. He saw that schoolmaster he was
once under, until Christ came, taken away. Before faith came,
we were kept under the law, shut up under the faith which would
afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after
that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Yes, Paul was delivered. He was saved. He was set free. He was set free from all His
enemies, from the curse, from the judgment, from the condemnation. He was delivered and He was delivered
by that Gospel, by that Saviour Christ whom He preached, by that
salvation, by that grace which God made known unto Him. We are
not under law, Paul writes, but under grace. The law is the strength
of sin, but grace reigns through righteousness. He writes, Moreover the law entered
that the offence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul was delivered, delivered
by grace that reigned through righteousness. He was set free. As God set you free, as he come
unto you in Christ and delivered you, setting you free, setting
you at liberty. Stand fast, he writes, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. We've been set free,
brethren. We've been delivered. We've been
redeemed. We've been ransomed from the
grave. We've been washed clean in the
blood of Christ. If you're His, you're washed
clean from head to toe. You're set at liberty to serve
in the newness of the Spirit, to walk under grace, not under
the law, to walk by the Spirit, not in the flesh. to live in
Christ alone, to rest in Him, to look to Him, to walk by faith,
looking unto Him who lived by faith, looking unto the offer
and finisher of faith, looking unto Jesus, the offer and finisher
of faith. We've been set free by grace
which reigns through righteousness, which causes us to follow Christ
and Christ alone who is our all in all. Have you been brought
there? Is this your gospel? Do you praise
God that he's delivered you from your sin? Delivered you from
your death and delivered you from that law which condemned
you, which cursed you, which laid you in the grave and which
you proved to only ever be a strength of your sin. Oh, do you rejoice
in a gospel that sets you at liberty in Christ, where Christ
has done it all, where Christ for you has cried out, it is
finished, where Christ has risen from the grave victorious. As it is written, death is swallowed
up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.