Pray with me, please. Gracious and merciful Father,
Lord, we pray, teach us of Christ today. Father, enable me to preach
Christ to Your people today. Let Your Word give them peace
and comfort as they look to Christ. Oh, dear Father, could we see
clearly the faith of Christ working in our hearts, causing us to
trust Christ in all things as You show us Your love in Christ,
dying on that cross for our sin as our substitute. O gracious
Father, show us that love today. Show us that we might live in
Christ by faith. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Open your Bibles please to Galatians
3, verse 19. This morning, if the Lord enables
me, I'd like to direct your attention to verses 19-26 of Galatians
3. Keep your place there. We'll
be going back and forth a little bit, but my prayer is that the
Holy Spirit would show us an answer to the question, is it
the faith of Christ or the faith in Christ that saves? The Scriptures
speak about both the faith of Christ and our faith in Christ. In Galatians 3 verse 19, Paul
tells us that the law of God, which was given in Mount Sinai,
was given for a specific purpose and given for a designated period. In Galatians 3 verse 19, Paul
asks rhetorically, Wherefore then serveth the law? Then he
answers his own question. He says, the law was added because
of transgressions till the seed, until Christ should come to whom
the promise, the promise of God's blessings of grace and salvation,
to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. And skipping to verse 21 of Galatians
3, the apostle assures us that the law of God, which was given
at Mount Sinai, is not in any way against or in any way contrary
to God's covenant promise of salvation in Christ. That the
law was never intended, never intended to produce righteousness.
And so Paul asks again, is the law then against the promise
of God? God forbid, Paul says, because if there had been a law
given which could have given life, Verily, righteousness should
have been by the law. But righteousness doesn't come
by the law. It comes by faith. The law, as Paul puts it in 2
Corinthians 3, verse 7, is the ministration of death. The law
has nothing to do with life because the law can't produce righteousness.
The law can't produce a righteous life. Then turning to Galatians
2, not 3, but turning back a chapter to Galatians 2, verse 21, where
Paul had said, I do not frustrate the grace of God because if righteousness
had come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. So the law can't
produce righteousness. If it could, we wouldn't need
a savior, would we? Then continuing in Galatians
3 verse 22, Paul says, but the scripture has concluded that
all are under sin. The whole volume of scripture,
and particularly the convicting and killing letter of the law
of God, declares that all men, all men are sinners. Everything
that is in us by nature, all that we do, is under the power,
the dominion, and the guilt of sin because we can't keep the
law. Everything that we do is covered
with sin. It's tainted with sin. By inheritance
and by nature and by practice, all of the sons and daughters
of fallen Adam are defiled and sinful and guilty. In this statement, Paul is including
all things relating to all men. Sin is in every part of our bodies.
Sin is in all the faculties of our souls, and in all the thoughts
of our minds, in all the emotions of our hearts, in all the intentions
of our wills, and in all of our choices, in all of our works,
and in all of what we do for God and men. And sin is even
part of all of our best works of righteousness which are but
filthy rags. Everything about us, everything
that we think, say, or do is polluted with sin. Now, I know
that most people don't think of themselves that way, but there
is no righteousness in us at all. There is no righteousness
without a Savior. We are prisoners of our sin and
there is no future for any of us but eternal death without
a Savior. God, praise God, He has sent
us a Savior. The Word of God declares that
we're all guilty and the law shuts us up as prisoners under
the sentence of death without the slightest hope not even the
slightest hope in ourselves. Galatians 3.22 states it clearly,
Paul said, The scripture has concluded, all under sin, that
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe. The promise of life is the promise
of eternal life. It's a promise of salvation.
of everlasting righteousness and the never-ending smile of
divine approval and all that is included in the promise of
life belongs to all of those who believe and trust in Jesus
Christ. Whosoever believeth on the Lord
Jesus Christ shall be saved. Now please don't misunderstand
me. It is in our believing that fulfilled God's covenant promise
and brought in that blessed righteousness by which believers now stand
before Him in life. God's promise is given to all
who believe. But that promise is fulfilled
in Christ and it comes to us by the faith of Jesus Christ. Turn please to Hebrews 10 and
I'd like to look at verses 5 to 14. And I'd like to show you
God's promise of salvation. It was Jesus Christ to whom the
promise was made as our surety in the everlasting covenant.
And this promise was made to Christ on the condition that
he would be obedient unto death as our substitute. And so it's
Jesus Christ who obtained the promise of eternal life and righteousness
for us. He obtained it by his faithful
fulfillment of his covenant engagements as our surety. As Paul says in
Hebrews 10 verses 5 to 14, Wherefore, when he, when Christ cometh into
the world, he saith, the son says to the father, he saith,
sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not. But a body hast thou prepared
for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me. I come to do thy will,
O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law,
then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He take away
the first, that he may establish the second, by the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sin. But this man, this man Jesus
Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
sat down on the right hand of God. And from henceforth, expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And going
back to Galatians 3, this time to verse 23, Paul says, But before
faith came, we were kept under the law, set up under the faith
which should afterwards be revealed. What faith is Paul talking about?
Whose faith is this? Is it your faith? Is it my faith? What kind of faith is he talking
about? No, it's not my faith. It's not
your faith. The faith that came and by which
we are delivered from the curse of God's law and by which we
are justified is the faith of Jesus Christ. It's the faith
of Jesus Christ which is spoken of in Galatians 3 in verse 22.
Turn to it and let me read it again. And oh, how I pray we
all could know this faith, that we would all know the faith of
Jesus Christ. It's the only faith that can
save us from our sin. Galatians 3.22 says, but the
Scripture has concluded, all under sin. Why? So that the promise
by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. It is this faith. It's the faith
of Jesus Christ that is revealed to us by the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and by the power of God's Holy Spirit. But this faith of
Christ doesn't come from us. It can't come from us. It's the
faith of Jesus Christ. Turn to Ephesians 1, verses 19
and 20. We are shut up to Christ by the
faith of Christ that is now revealed in the Gospel. Our faith in Christ
isn't from us. It's given to us and worked in
us by the mighty operations of God the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus
Christ. It's the faith of Christ who
is revealed in the gospel of Christ. In Ephesians 1, verses
19 and 20, Paul says, And what is the exceeding greatness of
His power to usward who believe? according to the working of His
mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly
places. And turning ahead to Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9,
Paul says, for by grace are you saved through faith. That's not
of yourselves. It's a gift of God. Not of works
lest any man should boast. And in Colossians 1.12, he says,
giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Now
turn to John 16, verses 8-11. I pray you can see this. It's
so terribly important. God, the Holy Spirit of God,
comes to choose and redeem sinners in the saving power of His all-powerful
grace The Spirit convinces them of all that Christ accomplished
by His faithful obedience is our substitute. And when the
Holy Spirit reveals Christ in a person, God convinces him that
his sin has been put away by Christ's atonement, that righteousness
has been brought in by Christ's obedience, and that justice has
been satisfied by Christ's blood. And the sinner has been convinced
of these things, If he has been convinced of these things, he
trusts Christ. But his faith to trust Christ
is in the faith of Christ. It's all the work of God. In
John 16, verses 8 to 11, Jesus said, And when he, when the Holy
Spirit has come, he will reprove or he will convict again the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment Of sin, because
they believe not on Me. Of righteousness, because I go
to the Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment, because
the Prince of this world is judged." Now look back again at Galatians
3, and this time to verse 44, where Paul says, wherefore, or
I like to translate that, or so then, so then the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. that we might be
justified by faith. Now, if you've got your Bibles
open there to verse 24, I want to ask you, do you see something
there that should cause you to think just a little bit? Do you
see that the words, to bring us, are in italics? The translators
of verse 24 put those words, to bring us, in italicized letters
In order to call our attention to the fact that these words
to bring us were added there, I suppose they added them to
make the sentence read a little more smoothly. But there are
no corresponding words in the original language of the text.
And so in verse 24, it will be more accurately translated, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster unto or until Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. What faith, Paul? The faith of
Christ. Paul was writing to the Galatians,
and I suppose that everybody in Galatia would have understood
exactly what Paul meant by comparing the law to a schoolmaster. For
the Galatians, a schoolmaster was a servant. It was a servant
that the father would commit the care and education of his
children to. until they reached maturity.
It was this servant's responsibility to teach and to protect the children
and to see to it that they got their education. Turn to Romans
10 in verse 4. In a similar way, it was the
law's purpose, acting like a schoolmaster, to direct God's elect to Christ
and to make sure that they came to Christ. The law makes sinners
guilty. the law convicts us of our sin. And it shows us our need for
a Savior. So the law was like our schoolmaster
until Christ comes and the Spirit of Christ shows us that Christ
fulfilled the law perfectly by His faithful obedience to it
and by the satisfaction of it by His death on the cross. Once
that was done, the schoolmaster's service ended completely. Do you hear me? Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness. In Romans 10.4 it says, For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. So
now the righteousness of the law has been fulfilled. It's
fulfilled by Christ's obedience in life as our representative.
And the justice of the law has been fulfilled by Christ's satisfaction
of the penalty of law in His death on the cross. Turn back
to Romans 4 and verse 25. As Romans 4.25 says so clearly
about Christ, who was delivered for our sufferings and was raised
again for our justification. So that if we're justified, we're
justified by faith. We're justified by the faith
of Christ because justification has been accomplished by Christ
in the court of heaven. And so now we can be justified
in the court of our own consciences. We have no need to feel guilty
because we're justified by God-given faith in Christ. The marvelous
thing about faith is that because it is the faith of Christ, faith
looks away from ourselves. Faith looks to Christ. And so
in looking to Christ, we see our justification fully accomplished
in Christ. In looking to Christ, we see
that we are completely justified by Christ. And so in trusting
Christ, we receive complete, final, and full justification
in Him. We also have peace with God in
Him by whom we have now received the atonement, as it says in
Romans 5.11. And so our text in Galatians
3 verse 25 says, but after that faith has come, we are no longer
under a schoolmaster. So since faith has come, or maybe
it would be better for me to say, since Christ has come to
us, we're no longer under the law. Because it's the law's purpose,
like a schoolmaster, to direct God's elect to Christ and to
make sure that they do get to Christ. They get to Christ because
they're shown a need for a Savior. The law was the children's schoolmaster
until Christ came and fulfilled it by His obedience to the law
and His satisfaction of the penalty of the law. Once that was done,
the schoolmaster's service ended. Because as Romans 10, verse 4
says, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes it. Then in Galatians 3, Paul says,
for you are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. I'll turn to Ephesians 1, verses
3-6. Obviously, just as it is in the case of our justification,
Our faith in Christ doesn't cause God to adopt us as His children.
That was done in eternal election by God. As Paul says in Ephesians
1, verses 3 to 6, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. No,
our faith in Christ doesn't cause God to save us, but rather our
faith in Christ is the fruit and the evidence of our adoption
in Christ, just as our faith is the fruit and the evidence
of our justification. Our faith in Christ is the assurance
from God of our adoption as the children of God. Believing on
the Son of God, we stand before God with a confident assurance
that we are justified, that we are accepted in Christ as the
children of God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
As Paul said in Galatians 4, verses 6 and 7, Because ye are
sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. The Scriptures declare that we
are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ. That means that
our justification was totally totally and completely accomplished
by Christ. If we have been justified, it
was totally and completely accomplished outside of our experience and
altogether without us or anything that we might have added to it,
but it is completely by the faith, by the faithful obedience of
the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute when He died on the
cross. Paul uses this faith, the faith
of Christ, seven times in his writing, if I've counted them
correctly. In Romans 3.22 he says, Even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there is no difference. In Galatians
2.16 he says, 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 works of the law, for by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified. And in Galatians 2.20
Paul says, 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. And then in Galatians
3.22 he says, But the scripture has concluded all under sin,
that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given
to them that believe. And in Ephesians 3 verse 12,
he says that it is Christ our Lord in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the face of him, not by the faith
in him, but by the faith of him, And finally, in Philippians 3.9,
Paul says that he counts all things lost that we may win Christ
and be found in Him. It's not quite the faith of Christ,
but be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. And every time that Paul speaks
about the justification being accomplished for us by Christ,
He uses this phrase, or he uses an equivalent phrase, the faith
of Jesus Christ. You see, we've been conditioned,
I think, to think of faith as being only in connection with
ourselves. We think of it as our faith.
So we say we believe in Christ and we trust the Son of God. And it's true. He that believeth
on the Son of God has everlasting life. But when we read in God's
Word about the faith of Christ, we tend to automatically think
that that must be some odd way of saying faith in Christ when
we say the faith of Christ. But faith isn't of us because
it's the faith of Christ. Don Fortner points out that most
commentaries treat this question, the faith of or the faith in
Christ, as a translation problem. They tell us the words faith
of Christ really mean faith in Christ. And these words, the
faith of Christ, are commonly treated as though they were mistranslation
of the Greek text. But they're not a mistranslation.
Our translation, this King James translation, is correct. It should
be translated the faith of Christ. And yet almost every modern English
translation English translation mistranslates this phrase, and
it makes it read, faith in Christ, when it should read the faith
of Christ. Don says these mistranslations were not made accidentally. And I think maybe he's right.
Because those who believe that salvation is not only totally
in and by Christ, and that when Christ died, he only made it
possible for us to be saved, They're the ones who have changed
the phrase, faith of Christ, to read faith in Christ. They
change it because they believe that salvation or justification
is by our faith. And so it's by faith that comes
from us that we're saved. They really don't see that it
isn't our belief. It isn't our faith that saves.
But it's the faith of Christ, the faithful obedience of Christ
who died as our substitute that saves us from our sin. And our
faith is the God-given faith of Christ, lest any man should
boast. And so they intentionally, or
because of their unbelief, if they give them the benefit of
the doubt, they have altered the Scripture by adding their
own thoughts to God's Word. It's true that when God gives
us the faith of Christ, it then becomes our faith. We act on
it by believing and trusting Christ. But we would have no
faith in Christ at all if God didn't give us the faith of Christ.
Turn please to Romans 3 in verse 25. I think there is a clear
distinction which the Holy Spirit has made in Scripture. Whenever
Paul speaks about our faith in Christ or about the faith that
is of Christ, They are two distinct things, and the distinction,
I believe, to be clear and unmistakable. Let me show you that distinction,
if the Lord will enable me. In Romans 3.25, Paul said about
Christ, 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 through the forbearance of God. And in
verse 28 of Romans 3, he said, therefore, We conclude that a
man is justified by faith. He's justified by his faith in
Christ. And I use the word in there intentionally. He's justified by his faith in
Christ without the deeds of the law. And in Romans 4, verse 5,
Paul said, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him, on
Christ, that justify the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
for righteousness. And in Galatians 3.26 Paul says,
For you are all the children of God by the faith in Jesus
Christ. And in Colossians 1.4 he says
that he gives thanks for them since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus and of the love which we have to all the saints.
But now turn to Romans 3 verses 21 and 22 please. If you're following me, Through
all of those examples I've just given you, I've talked about
faith in Christ. There's no ambiguity at all in
those verses that I've just read. In these and in dozens of other
passages like them, there is no question about whose faith
Paul is referring to. He's talking about, in the passages
that I've just read, he's talking about our faith. Not that that
faith originated with us. It didn't. It was a gift of God. But when God gave it to us, it's
our faith. When Paul draws a distinction
between our God-given faith in Christ and the faith of Christ
that justifies, the distinction, I believe, is equally obvious.
If it isn't obvious to you now, I pray that the Lord would make
it so when we make this comparison. In Romans 3, verses 21 and 22,
Paul says, But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference." And in Galatians 2, verses 15 and 16, it says
that, 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." And then in Galatians 3, verse 22, Paul
says, But the Scripture has concluded all under sin that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
And in Philippians 3 verse 9 he says, And be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. Again, let me say, both faiths
are necessary. Both faiths are vital to our
salvation. We, you and I, must have faith. But if we're trusting in ourselves,
if we're trusting in the faith that comes from within ourselves,
we aren't trusting Christ and His faith. The faith that justifies
is a faith that comes from the faithful obedience of Christ.
God has promised us a faith that saves, and He sent His Son, who
as a man faithfully died to save us from our sin. Paul isn't declaring
our faith in Christ twice in the same sentences. That would
be simply redundant. No, when Paul speaks about the
faith of Christ, he's talking about Christ's faith. And when
he speaks about our faith in Christ, He's talking about our
faith, but both are vital faiths. And when He speaks about our
faith in Christ, He's talking about our faith, and we couldn't
ever be saved by our faith in Christ. If it wasn't for the
faith of Christ, we couldn't ever be saved by the faith of
Christ until we have a faith in Christ. Yes, we must have
faith in Christ or our faith in Christ is the result of the
faith of Christ dying as our Savior while He was in this world. You see, Jesus Christ died as
our faithful surety. Let me ask you, what exactly
does the faith of Christ mean? When the Holy Spirit speaks in
Scripture about the faith of Jesus Christ, He's referring
to our Savior's faithful performance of all that the Father's will
as our covenant surety substitute and redeem. Turn to Ephesians
1 verse 12. Do you know what a surety is? Very simply, you are a surety
when you agree to assume the debt of somebody else. You assume
the debt when they can't pay the debt themselves. Today, parents
often stand as surety for their children, for instance, when
they buy their first car. If the child can't pay for it,
then the surety agrees to pay the debt that the child owes.
Christ is a believer's surety because He paid the debt of the
sin that we owe. The wages of sin is death, and
Christ died as our surety that we might have life. So the faith
of Jesus Christ is referring to our Savior's faithful performance
of what He had agreed to do as Jehovah's righteous servant and
as our surety. The faith of Christ speaks about
Christ's faithful performance in our place as our substitute
of all that was necessary for the salvations of God's elect
or chosen people. The faith of Jesus Christ refers
to His faithfulness in accompanying all of that which the Father
trusted to His hands as our mediator. And so as Ephesians 1.12 says,
that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted
in Christ. The Father first trusted in Christ. Trusted in His Son to be the
surety for those sinners who couldn't pay the debt for their
sin that they owed. Now turn please to Romans 3 verses
3 and 4. Faith and faithfulness or fidelity
aren't exactly the same things. They're two ideas being expressed
in the same phrase, the faith of Christ. I think we have here
another example of our inability to separate the divinity and
the man which are one in Christ. When the Word of God speaks about
the faith of Christ, the word faith here is speaking about
both our Savior's trust in God as the perfect man and about
Christ's faithfulness or fidelity to God as God's servant. Faith
in the phrase, the faith of Christ, speaks not only about trust,
but it also speaks about loyalty and fidelity to the one to whom
fidelity is due. We see a clear example of the
word faith being used this way in Romans 3, verses 3 and 4,
which says, For what if some do not believe? Shall their unbelief
make the faith of God without effect? God forbid! Let God be true, but every man
a liar, as it is written, that thou mightest be justified in
thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. When Paul
speaks here in Romans 3, verses 3 and 4 about the faith of God,
I pray that you can see that he is referring to the truthfulness
and veracity and fidelity and the faithfulness of the Son of
God to his Father as a servant. Now turn please to Titus 2 in
verse 10. In fact, the word which is commonly
translated as faith in the New Testament is translated as fidelity
in Titus 2.10. Paul is exhorting Titus to be
a faithful servant to God. And in Titus 2 verse 10 he says,
not purloining, purloining is a word that means pilfering,
not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, all good faith,
that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. So there when Paul exhorted servants
to be faithful in all things to their masters, showing all
good fidelity, the word could be translated as showing all
good faith. It's in this sense that Paul
uses the phrase, the faith of Jesus Christ. Our justification
was accomplished and eternal redemption was obtained for us
by Christ's faithfulness in doing all that He came here to do for
us according to the will of God. And of course, you know that
Jesus Christ came to save His people from their sins. When
it was finished, when Christ had done all that He needed to
do to save us. And so, Jesus Christ is our assurity. Christ paid the debt that we
couldn't pay. A good picture of that is in
the book of Ruth, where Boaz pictures Christ as our kinsman
redeemer. I encourage you to go home and
read the book of Ruth. That's your homework for today,
but read it for yourself. It's a wonderful book. Because
there you will see that just as Boaz did for Ruth all that
she couldn't do for herself, Jesus Christ has done for us
as our substitute and Savior, or as it says in Ruth, our kinsman
redeemer. He did all that we can do. Christ
did all that we can't do for ourselves. Jesus Christ took
our place before the law of God. Jesus Christ assumed total responsibility
for us as our surety. Christ obeyed all of the law
perfectly for us, bringing in everlasting righteousness and
then taking our sin on Himself. And Christ died under the penalty
of the law, satisfying all of the law's demands by His death
on the cursed tree when He was made sin for us. Redemption,
as it's described in the law and as it's illustrated in the
Book of Ruth, requires two things on the part of a Redeemer. First,
the Redeemer had to be able and willing to redeem. And then second,
he had to faithfully perform all that was required by the
law in order to buy back the lost inheritance of his needy
kinsmen. The one needing redemption was
totally dependent on the faithfulness of the kinsman Redeemer for deliverance.
Ruth laid herself down at Boaz's feet, looking to him alone for
everything that her soul required. and she found it all in him.
Boaz wouldn't rest until he had performed all that needed to
be done to redeem Ruth, who is a marvelous picture of Christ's
Church. And so it is with us. The debt
and the penalty of our sins is something that we can't escape,
and it must be paid. The righteousness which is required
by God's holy law is something we can't perform. As Galatians
2.16 says, by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Oh, how I pray you can hear this.
None of our works, none of our works, no matter how well-intentioned
they are, no matter how well-performed they are, can satisfy God's justice
and justify us in His sight. For our salvation we desperately
need and we must have a Redeemer. We must have a Redeemer who is
able and willing to do everything that is required by God's holy
law to justify us. But even more than that, we must
have a Redeemer who has actually stepped onto the stage of time
and who has faithfully performed all of the work for us as our
surety. Behold the man. That's my call
to you today. Behold the man. Look to Christ
for your salvation, not yourself. Trust in Christ, not yourself,
not in anything that you do. And so I pray that each of you
will look to the man that God has sent to save us from our
sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is our mighty Boaz, our kinsman
redeemer, our surety. As Galatians 4, verses 4 and
5 says, But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. Thanks be to God for the faith
of Christ. Thanks be to God for the redemption
and justification and salvation which He accomplished by His
faithfulness. His faithfulness is our substitute.
His faithfulness is our surety. Turn, please, to Romans 3, verses
21 and 22. As I began this morning, I pray
that God would show us the difference between the faith of Christ and
the faith in Christ. I pray that your eyes have been
opened to see the difference. I pray that the Holy Spirit has
been our Teacher, that He has shown us that the faith of Christ
and how important it is to our salvation If he has, then we
all rejoice in the glorious good news of the gospel of Christ,
his redemption obtained and justification accomplished, and the faithful
obedience of Christ as his sinner's substitute. And as Paul said
in Philippians 3, verses 9, we can all be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. Turn to Ephesians 1, verses 11
and 12, please. Praise God that He's given us
a free salvation in Christ. Because the righteousness of
God, justification and the promise of justification unto eternal
life don't come and they could never come through something
that we do. Never. Salvation is the Lord, as Job
2.9 says. Salvation and justification have
been accomplished, and they come as a free gift to sinners, but
they come only by the faith of Jesus Christ. As Paul said in
Ephesians 1, verses 11 and 12 about Christ, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to
the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will, that we should be the praise of His glory who
first trusted in Christ. Then turn ahead to Ephesians
3 in verse 8, and I'm going to read verses 8 to 12. And listen
to the joy that comes from Paul's heart as he preaches about the
faith of Christ. I found it very, very interesting.
Paul said in Ephesians 3, beginning in verse 8, Unto me, who am less
than the least of all the saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now, under
the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be
known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. according to the
eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in
whom we have boldness and access with confidence, and here's how,
by the faith of Him. Now turn to Ephesians 1, verses
11 and 12. It cost our Savior a dear living,
but the salvation which Christ gives is a total, totally free
salvation. As Paul said about Christ in
Ephesians 1 verses 11 and 12, in Him we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should
be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ.
The Father trusted His darling Son as our surety from eternity,
from before the foundations of the world, and Christ was faithful
to that trust. Truly, the riches of Christ are
unsearchable riches. By His faithful obedience unto
death in our room instead, every sinner who trusts Christ has
been made completely worthy of God's everlasting approval in
heaven's eternal glory and shall have it freely. He'll have it
at no cost to himself. So let us give thanks to our
great God for such grace by such a Savior. As Paul did in Colossians
1, verses 12 to 14, he said, giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of his sin. Now look again at Galatians 2,
verses 19 and 20, please. which we now have and enjoy in
Christ, is that eternal life which is God's free gift to us
and it comes to us by the faith of the Son of God. As Paul says
in Galatians 2, verses 19 and 20, 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." So by God's free grace, our faith
is in Christ. Does all of this mean that sinners
should not be called on to believe in Christ? Does this mean that
our faith in Christ is unnecessary? No, of course not. Our faith
in Christ as our Savior is every bit as necessary for our eternal
salvation as the faith of Christ. The Scriptures speak just as
often and just as forcefully about our faith in Christ as
they do about the faith of Christ as our surety and mediator. Turn
to 1 John 5 and verse 10. This Word of God is a sure thing
to all that believe. If you can see that the faith
of Christ dying for your sin and trust in that faith of Christ,
then God has given you faith in Christ. If you have already
heard today by the grace of God, then you have heard me by the
faith of Christ calling on sinners everywhere, sinners like you
and me, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that
God might use this next verse that I'm about ready to read.
to the salvation of our souls. God Almighty, in 1 John 5, verse
10, God says to you, and He says to me, who have seen the faith
of Christ, He says, he that believeth on the Son of God hath a witness
in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
His Son. And so I say to you, as God would
have me say to sinners everywhere, which is exactly what Paul said
to the Philippian jailer when the jailer came trembling and
fell down in front of Paul's feet. What must I do to be saved? The jailer said. And Paul said
to the jailer, and I say to you, if you would be saved, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Trust Christ,
not yourself, but trust Christ and you shall be saved. And if
you trust Christ, then you now live. You live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you. You
have redemption, righteousness, justification, and eternal life
in Christ. And you have it by the faith
of Christ. You have everything included
in that magnificently huge word, salvation. It was all obtained
for you by the faith of Christ. Even your faith in Him and my
faith in Him were obtained for us by the faith of Christ. No wonder Paul speaks as he does
in 1 Corinthians 1, verses 30 and 31 when he said, Of Him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. May it be true of
all of us today. May we glory in the Lord because
of the faith of Christ. In His name I pray, Amen.