Galatians 3. Now for the next
three weeks, we're only going to look at one verse. This morning,
verse 6. Next week, verse 7. And the week
after that, verse 8. I think these are all verses
that we need to look at. Verse 6. And you know that this
is a quotation from Genesis chapter 15, and it could be said that
there is no more significant verse of scripture than this
one. Verse six, Galatians chapter
three, even as Abraham believed God and it, was accounted to him for righteousness. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might be as Abraham, one who believes God. Lord, that's above the strength
and energy of this flesh, but may each one of us be enabled
by your divine grace to believe you. Bless us for Christ's sake. In
his name we pray. Amen. Haven't heard that in a
while. Does anybody know how to hit
the reset? You do, don't you, Duane? Don't, if it keeps doing
it, just hit, do you know how to hit the reset? Well, I guess
I'll do it, so if it, you'll have to excuse me. Abraham believed God. Is that not what faith is, believing
God? That's faith in its simplest
form. Abraham believed God. Now, that's not just believing
in God, it's believing God. And when you know God, you believe
God. When you know who he is, you
will believe God. believe. Abraham believed God
and this is infinitely more than believing in his existence. You
know, every unbeliever at one time
has believed in the existence of God. Even if they're atheists
now, they didn't begin that way. Everybody is born with the knowledge
that God is just from looking at creation. So this thing of
believing God is so much more than believing in his existence. To believe God is to believe
what he says. I am staking the salvation of
my soul in believing what he says in this book. I would have
no other hope than what he actually states in this book. I believe he is utterly trustworthy,
faithful. I believe his character. All
my salvation is dependent upon what he says in this book we
call the Bible. Abraham believed God. There's a bumper sticker that
says, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. No, no. God said it, that settles it,
whether I believe it or not. Now Abraham could be said to
be the most significant man other than Christ in all of scripture.
He's called the father of the faithful. and believers are called
children of Abraham. Now would you turn to Genesis
chapter 12? Abraham believed God. This is when the Lord first appears
to Abraham. Verse one, now the Lord had said
unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country and away from thy
kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will
show thee. And I will make of thee a great
nation. And I will bless thee and make
thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing
And I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curses
thee. And in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed. Now, this is a reference to the
seed that's in him. The Lord Jesus Christ would be
coming through this man, Abraham. And as a matter of fact, Galatians
chapter three calls that statement the gospel. The scripture preached
before the gospel unto Abraham. The gospel is in this statement. So Abraham departed as the Lord
had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was
seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Now in chapter 13, we read of
the separation of Abraham and Lot. Remember how the herdsmen
started arguing. The land was not enough to support
both of them, so Abraham said, Lot, you go to the left, I'll
go to the right. You go to the right, I'll go to the left. And
Lot chose the well-watered plain, and he pitched a tent toward
Sodom, and Abraham took what was left. And then we read in
chapter 14, of Abraham rescuing Lot when he got in trouble. And
Melchizedek, that great, the Lord Jesus himself. I don't think
it was a vision. It was Christ himself, Melchizedek,
king of righteousness, king of peace, appearing to Abraham.
And Abraham paid him tithes. Now look in chapter 15. This
is where this quotation came from in Galatians chapter three.
It's quoted also in Romans chapter four. After these things, the word
of the Lord came into Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram,
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. That's true of
every believer. The Lord is your shield. The
Lord is your exceeding great reward. Every believer, this
is them. And Abram said, Lord God, what
shall thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of
my house is this Eliezer of Damascus, a servant. And Abram said, behold,
to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house
is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bow shall be thine heir.
Now remember, in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
And he's talking about this, and this is a reference to the
Lord Jesus Christ who would come later. Verse five, and he brought him
forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven and tell the stars
if they'll be able to number them. And he said unto him, so
shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and
he counted it to him for righteousness. We're going to come back to that
in a minute. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought
thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give the land to inherit it.
And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
it? What's going to give me some assurance that this is going
to take place? How am I going to know? Well, he said that that
ought to be enough, I suppose, but he still wants, how am I
going to know? How can I be assured that what
you're saying is going to take place? And look at the way he
answers. Verse nine, he said unto him, take me. This is for
me. and a heifer three years old,
and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and
a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these,
and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against
another. But the birds divided he not,
And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, the vultures,
Abraham drove them away." Now, five sacrificial animals are
mentioned. Five, the number of grace. But the first is a heifer. And
a heifer was sacrificed in Deuteronomy chapter 21 when somebody found
a dead body and they couldn't find the murderer. His sacrifice covers the sins
we don't know about, which are most of them. And then he says in verse nine, a she goat of three years
old. Now, what were goats used for?
The great day of atonement. A scapegoat and a sacrificial
goat, which lets us know how the Lord can. I love this simplified
definition of the atonement at one month. His atonement, his
atoning blood makes me one with the living God. And then he speaks
of the ram of three years old. What was it that was behind Abraham
when he was getting ready to sacrifice his son? A ram. This speaks of his substitutionary
death. He took my place. And then a
turtle dove. What was a turtle dove for when
you couldn't afford a lamb? This is for the poverty stricken.
And then a young pigeon. What's a young pigeon? It was
a bird without feathers. Christ was stripped on Calvary
Street. He was stripped of his righteousness
when he was made to bear the sins of his people. And that's
the only hope we have now. How can I know what gives me
assurance? The sacrifice. That's it. The sacrifice. You're not to
find assurance anywhere else. Don't try to find assurance of
your evidences or things that happened with you in the past
or some experience you had or something you've given up or,
no. The only evidence of salvation
is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And if you get assurance from
anything else, you have a false assurance. Only the sacrifice. When we're reading that, I think
it's neat to think of these vultures coming in. I can just see Abraham
trying to drive them all away. What is it the vultures are going
to attack? Sacrifice. Always the sacrifice. Oh, that I might be enabled to
trust the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only reason
I need for the full assurance of faith. The sacrifice of Christ. Now go back to verse six. And he believed in the Lord. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. Now, not a more important verse
in the Bible. Does that mean that God accepted
faith as a substitute for righteousness and God counted that faith as
righteousness instead of perfect law keeping? No, it doesn't mean
that. That won't stand up with the
rest of the scriptures. So let's see if we can learn
from the Bible what this means. It's such an important truth. He believed in the Lord. He believed
God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now go to Romans chapter four.
This is where the word is found again. Romans chapter four. I think it would be useful to
think of what Paul said before he makes this statement, Romans
chapter four, verse one. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, is pertaining to the flesh, I found. Now, before
this, in these first three chapters, He talked about the Gentiles,
people without a Bible, and he talked about the Jews, people
with a Bible. Look what he said about the Gentiles
in Romans chapter 1, verse 28. And even as they, the Gentiles,
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, they didn't
like what they saw of God even in creation, what did God do? God gave them over to a reprobate
mind to do those things which are not convenient, not appropriate,
not right, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity. Whispers, backbiters, haters
of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient
to parents without understanding, covenant breakers without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of
God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not
only do the same, but they have pleasure in them that do them.
Now, would you agree that these are very wicked people he's talking
about with that list? Would you say amen? Let's read
verse one. Now, that horrible description
is me and you. You and I have done every one
of those things. Somebody says, I haven't. God
says you have. I trust what he says better than
what you say. God says you have. And if I sit in judgment and
moral superiority over someone that has committed these wicked
things, all I do is expose myself as a hypocrite. Now do you say
this is not me? I say you are a hypocrite then. You're an actor. You're not real. That's what God would say. Now
these are the people without a Bible. What about the people
with the Bible? Look in Romans chapter 2. Here's the people with a Bible.
Verse 17, Behold, thou art called a Jew. You rest in the law and
make your boast of God, and you know his will. You approve the
things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law.
You're not like those ignorant Gentiles. You're confident that
you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them which
are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in
the law. Thou, therefore, which teachest another, don't you teach
yourself? Thou that preachest a man should
not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that say'st a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhor'st
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law through breaking the law, dishonest thou God? Now these people have the law,
what do they do? They break it. They break it. Now look in chapter
three, verse nine. What then? He'd been talking
about Jews and Gentiles. What then, are we better than
they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. That means sin is
over you. They are all under sin. As it's written, there's none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They've together become unprofitable.
There's none that do us good. No, not one. People without a Bible, they're
no good. People with a Bible, they're
no good. That's me and that's you. And Paul goes on in Romans chapter
three to show how God can be just and justify people like
that. That's the message of scripture. And it would be worth looking
into once again, but I want to go on to chapter four, verse
one. Now he before proved that Jews and Gentiles are all under
sin, and he had made known in Romans chapter three how God
can be just and justify the ungodly. Now what about Abraham? Verse
one. Where does Abraham fit into this scheme? What shall we say
then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found? For if Abraham, the friend of God, God appeared to him alone when
he appeared to him. I guess there wasn't any other
believers on the earth if he appeared to him alone, this special
man. Abraham, what about Abraham?
The friend of God, the father of the faithful. Believers are
called children of Abraham. Where does he fit in, in this
thing of God justifying the ungodly? Verse two, for if Abraham were
justified by works, He hath whereof to glory. Now, works means some part of your salvation. I don't care what part it is.
Some part of your salvation is dependent upon what you do. That's
works. God can't do something for you
unless you first do fill in the blank. That is salvation by works. I can't say that strong enough
or loud enough. If your or my salvation cannot
take place unless I first do something before God can do something
for me, that is salvation by works. Now, if Abraham were justified
by works, he'd have something to glory in. He could say, well,
I'm saved because I did this. I'm saved because I did that.
That other fellow wasn't saved. He didn't do what I did. I get
some of the glory and salvation. But what say the scripture? Verse
three, Abraham believed God. That quotation from Genesis 15,
six. What sayeth the scripture, Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. That word counted is imputed
or reckoned. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. Now, what does that mean? Does
that mean God looked at Abraham and said, even though you're
sinful, I'm just going to count you as righteous instead. No. Doesn't mean that at all. Now,
let's think of this thing of imputation or reckoning. Let's
say I've got $500 in my bank account. Let's say I've got $500
and I see something I want to purchase that's more than that.
I say, well, I'm going to reckon there's $1,000 in my account.
And I'm going to write out a check for $882. What's going to happen? Check's going to bounce. You
see, just because you reckon something, that doesn't make
it real. The only time it's accurate if
I reckon $1,000 is in my account is if $1,000 is in my account. When I reckon it as $1,000 in
my account, that's what's there. Here's the point. God only reckons
righteousness where there is righteousness. If he reckons
me to be righteous, it's because I am in fact utterly, completely
righteous. God's not just changing me. No,
he's reckoning me to be utterly righteous. Now, somebody says, how can that
be? Well, remember this scripture, Matthew chapter 3, verse 15,
when the Lord said to John the Baptist, when John the Baptist
came up to be baptized, or the Lord came to be baptized, John
said, I have need to be baptized with thee, comest thou to me?
Suffer to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. Now, here is how I can be righteous
before God and God Claims I am righteous and reckons righteousness
to me because when Christ fulfilled righteousness, I did too. And
I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ as my personal righteousness
before God. And that's how God can reckon
me to be righteous because I am righteous. It's not make-believe,
it's not God just say, here I am sinner, I'm gonna count you righteous
instead of sin. No, God wouldn't do that. God's
just, God's holy, what he does must be just, it must be perfect,
it must be righteous. And this is how he reckons every
believer is righteous. Now let's go and read verse four. Now, to him that worketh is the
reward Not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If you do something
that causes God to save you, that means God is your debtor. And he owes you salvation. Beloved, that ain't gonna be. Verse five. To him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness." Now, question, would this describe
you? Salvation by works is impossible
for you. You realize that you work not. You see that your righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. You really believe that. And
you the reason you work not is because it is not spiritual laziness. You see that all you do is sin.
You can't earn God's salvation by what you do. And you believe
that you work not. Would that describe you? To him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. You work not. All of your hope
of salvation is believing on him who actually justifies the
ungodly. Now God said I by no means clear
the guilty. How can he justify someone who's
guilty? The only way he can do that is
to lift their guilt and their sin off of them. And put it in his. Son. God can make me. Not. guilty. And if Jesus Christ died
for me, I stand before God having never committed any sin at all,
perfectly righteous before God. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him, that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Does that mean your faith is
a substitute for righteousness? No, that's just inconsistent
with the gospel. That's the way a lot of people
look at it, but that's not what it means. Faith is the evidence
that you're righteous is what that means. What is the one evidence
that your righteousness, you believe the gospel? That's it. And that's enough. You know the
hardest thing in the world to do is to quit working and look
to Christ alone. Trash all your works, trash your
experience, trash everything about you, and look to Christ
alone. Plus nothing, minus nothing. Rest in him alone. His faith. He's counting for
righteousness. That's the evidence of his righteousness. And look what he goes on to say
in verse. Six, he says, not only is this the case with Abraham,
this is the case of David, the man after God's own heart, the
beloved, the sweet psalmist of Israel. Who's more special than
David? Oh, don't you love David, the
sweet psalmist of Israel? How about David? Where does he
fit in here? Look in verse six. Even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. Well, how does he forgive them? because their sins are covered,
covered in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's not
like our covering. We can cover something and it's
still there. When he covers something, it's no more. It's gone. Blessed is the man, verse 8,
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now there's only one reason
why he, just like there's only one reason he won't, he'll impute
righteousness, it's because righteousness is there by what he did. Why
is it that he will not impute sin? Because there's no sin to
impute. It's been put away by Christ
and every believer stands before God absolutely just. Now, this is gospel, isn't it? Galatians chapter three, verse
six, even As Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness. And if you believe God, believe
the gospel, it's accounted to you for righteousness.