Well, let's start reading in
verse 11. I think that will make verse 15 and 16 make more sense. But when Peter was come to Antioch,
I was stood him to the face. Because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came
from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were
come. He withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews
dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was
carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, if thou being a Jew, Live us after the
manner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews. Why compel us out
of the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We, and this is what
lets me know that he's still speaking with Peter, 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, us Jews, 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. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you. For the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ. For the faith of Christ. And
the complete salvation that's in him, Lord, we give thanks.
We ask in Christ's name that you would meet with us, that
you would speak to each heart here according to your will,
by your word, by your spirit. Enable us. To believe your gospel. Enable us to lay hold. Upon eternal
life. Grant us the grace to worship
you in spirit and in truth. We ask that you would deliver
us from hearing the words of a man. But that we might hear
from you. Lord, we confess our sins. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing. Lord, we pray for those of our
number that are sick. We pray for your blessing and
your healing hand upon them according to your will. We ask that you
would give us the grace truly to love you more and to truly
love one another more. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together and Lord, we Pray for the leaders of our
nation that you would direct them, guide them. We're so thankful
that the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers
of water you turn it with or soever you will. And we give
thanks for that. And we pray for them that we might lead a
quiet, peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. And bless
us for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Now Paul is continuing his speech
to Peter at this time and that's what he means when he says we,
he's talking to Peter, he says we are Jews by nature. We're not like the Gentiles.
We who are Jews by nature are saved the same way the Gentiles
are saved. Now that's the point. We who
are Jews by nature Born and bred Jews, born and bred under the
law, we're saved the exact same way the Gentile, the heathen
Gentiles are saved. Now, Peter had said this in Acts
chapter 15, verse 11, when he said, we believe that by the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they.
Those Gentiles, the only way they can be saved is by sheer
grace. I mean, they're Gentile dogs.
They don't have the law. They're sinful. The only way
we can be saved, if we're saved just like them. Now, verse 15, we, he's still speaking to Peter,
Peter, why are you telling the Gentiles that they need to live
like the Jews? Now, we who are Jews by nature
and not sinners of the Gentiles, and he was not saying that we're
less sinful than the Gentiles. He wasn't saying that at all.
He's just talking about the Gentiles as a people. They're sinners.
We are too, but they are sinners. Knowing, verse 16, knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ. Even we, we Jews, 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. Now, when, Paul watched Peter
get up from the table and walk over to the other table. He left
the Jews table, I mean the Gentiles table, and walked over to the
other table. I love to think about this, just
this walk. He's walking. And what does Paul say when I
saw he walked not uprightly? according to the truth of the
gospel. Now, I want to remind you of
this. The message of Galatians. Is Christ plus anything? Equals nothing. That's so important. Let me repeat that. Christ plus
anything equals nothing. Christ plus nothing. equals everything. That's the key to the book of
Galatians. It's the key to the Bible. Christ
plus anything, you add anything to him, you got nothing. If all
you have is him, you have everything. Now, Peter had been taught this. Turn to Acts chapter 10. I quoted this, uh, I think it
was last week, but I want to read it to you. Verse 10, Acts chapter 10, and
he became very hungry and would have eaten, but while they made
ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened. And a certain vessel descending
unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners
and led down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four footed
beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and
fowls of the air, things that were forbidden in the law of
eat, unclean. And there came a voice to him,
rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, not so Lord.
That's amazing. He said that, isn't it? Rise,
Peter. Eat. Kill it. Eat it. Nope. Nothing
unclean has ever entered my mouth. I'm not going to do something
like that. I'm far too entrenched in obedience and keeping the
law to do something like that. Nothing unclean has ever entered
into my mouth. Verse 14, Peter said, not so,
Lord, for I've never eaten anything that's common or unclean. And
the voice spake unto him again the second time. What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done three times
and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now, Peter
found out in no uncertain terms that these Jewish dietary laws
are over. And yet when he is sitting, eating
with the Gentiles, and he sees these Jews coming, who he knows
that they will frown on him for being with them. He just got
up and moved tables. And Paul said publicly rebuking
him, you're not walking uprightly according to the truth of the
gospel. And you know, Peter always had
a hard time with this when he was recounting this. Um, verse 17, about, um, well,
verse 16 of Acts chapter 11. Then remember, well, it's verse
three. Some people are rebuking Peter
saying thou wentest into men uncircumcised and did eat with
them. Peter rehearsed the matter from
the beginning and he told them about the four sheep being let
down and so on. Verse 16, Then remembered I the
words of the Lord, how that he said, John, and he baptized with
water, but you should be baptized with the Holy Ghost for as much
then as God gave them the light gift as he did unto us, who believed
and on the Lord Jesus, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. What
was I that I could withstand God? And I think it's interesting.
Peter is saying, This is obviously God's will,
although I'm not for it. I mean, I wouldn't mix with him,
but what am I going to do with staying God if God commands it?
You know, Peter always had a hard time with Gentiles. All his life
he did. You're going to have a hard time
with sin all your life until you put this body down. And,
um, I think it's almost interesting how Peter says it that way. We'll
look, go back to our text. Remember, Paul is talking to
Peter and he's saying, Peter, we, who are Jews born and bred,
not like the sinful Gentiles, we're saved the same way they
are. They're not saved the way we
are. We're saved the way they are. And then he makes this statement
in verse 16, knowing, knowing. This is not something we're unsure
about and are leaning in one direction or another. I remember
one time I was talking to a fellow and he said, you know, I'm, I'm
starting to lean toward the doctrines of grace. For one thing, it's the doctrine
of grace. The doctrine of grace, the doctrine
of Christ. And that's not something you
lean toward. That's ridiculous. You either believe or you don't.
Leaning toward. Now, Paul says knowing is something you know. There's
two reasons you know this thing of grace. Because the Bible teaches
it, number one. That's enough of a reason, isn't
it? It's what the scripture teaches. And number two, the only way
I can be saved is if salvation is exactly as verse 16 describes. Galatians 2, 16. If you watch sports events, a
lot of times There'll be blacks under their eyes to keep the
lights from glaring, and there'll be a little John 3.16 in there.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. We love that verse of scripture, John 3.16. But I would be real
interested if I saw Galatians 2.16. There's not a more important
verse of scripture in all the Bible than Galatians 2 16. Verse 16, knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ, even we Jews. 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. Now let's look at some definition
of terms in this verse of scripture, this very important verse of
scripture. Number one, what is meant by
the works of the law? Very important. What is meant
by the works of the law, the 10 commandments? Well, that's
certainly part of it. But Paul in this epistle tells
us exactly what he means in Acts chapter, I mean, Galatians chapter
four, turn with me there. What is meant, what does Paul
mean by the works of the law? He says in verse 21, tell me
ye that desire to be under the law. Don't you hear the law? And I've said this before, if
I would have been Paul, I would have quoted the Ten Commandments.
You think you can keep the Ten Commandments? Let me quote them
and see how you've done. That's what I would have naturally
thought. And every time I read the Ten
Commandments, I love the Ten Commandments. I love God's law. It's a reflection of his holy
character. But every time I read one of those commandments, all
it tells me is I've broken it. Not kept one commandment one
time. Do you believe that about yourself?
You've not kept in your heart, when God looks in your heart,
you've not kept one commandment one time. Now that's what I would
have used, but that's not what Paul uses. What does Paul say? Verse 22, for it's written, you know, the New Testament writers always
appealed to it's written, the Old Testament. And that's what
the Lord used quite often. It's written that Abraham had
two sons, the one by bondmaid, the other by free woman, but
he who was the bond woman was born after the flesh. But he
of the free woman was by promise, which things are an allegory,
for these are the two covenants. The one for Mount Sinai, which
genders unto bondage, is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai. Now, what is Mount Sinai? It's
the place where the Ten Commandments were given. Hagar. Now, God promises Abraham and
Sarah a child. Ten years pass. It hadn't taken
place. Hager comes up with this. God's promise is not going to
take place unless we first do our part. Now, obviously, this
isn't working. We still don't have a son. You
go into Hager. Have a child through that young
woman, and I'll count it as my child, and thus God's promise
will take place because we do our part. If salvation is dependent
upon me doing something before God can do something to me, that
is Mount Sinai. That is salvation by law. If any part of my salvation is
dependent upon me doing something, I don't care what it is, It's
dependent upon me doing something before God is able to do me. God do something for me. God's
going to have to respond to something I've done. That is Mount Sinai. That is salvation by law. Now, I would have never read
Genesis chapter 16. without Galatians chapter four
and said, oh, this is Mount Sinai here. I would have never guessed
that. But God, the Holy Spirit through the pen of Paul tells
us that is Mount Sinai. And really this Galatians chapter
four is the key to interpreting the whole Testament. It all has
something to do with law and grace. It all has something to
do with faith versus works. The whole, every story can be
represented in this thing that Paul calls an allegory, which
things are an allegory. Okay, the second term, what does
justified mean? Back to Relations 2.16, knowing
the man is not justified by the works of the law. Now, justified
in the Bible means you stand before God's law as having never
sinned. What an attractive thing. To
stand before God's holy law, having never sinned. You see, if you're justified,
it's God who justifies you. He declares you just. This is
not something You know, the judge doesn't say to the person on
trial, well, do you want to be justified or condemned? It's
up to you. Well, it doesn't work that way at all, does it? The
judge makes this declaration as having stood before the law,
not guilty. He didn't do it. That's what
justification means. It means you stand before the
law of God without guilt. Now look at verse 16 again. Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law. You're
not justified because of something you've done, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ. That's Jews. We 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. The faith of Christ. If I'm not mistaken, only the
King James Version speaks of the faith of Christ. All the other versions speak
of faith in Christ. And I've heard people say, well,
You can use of or in, it doesn't really make any difference. Oh,
no. No, no. That makes a different meaning.
A different meaning altogether, and it should be the faith of
Christ. It's spoken in the case of the
faith of Christ. I guess the translators say,
well, that doesn't make any sense being justified by faith. I'm
just going to put in and thus somebody changes the meaning
of the verse. This is why I love the King James
version and I won't use anything else. Only the King James version
speaks of the faith of Christ justified by the faith of Christ. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ,
I'm justified by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. You see, remember
justification is standing before the law without guilt, having
never sinned. Would that describe the life
of Christ? Standing before the holy law of God without guilt,
having never sinned. I'm justified by the faithfulness,
the faith of Jesus Christ. Somebody had to believe God perfectly.
He did. Man, that certainly doesn't describe
me and you. We're always filled with unbelief
and doubt and fear and something comes up. He never did. He believed his father perfectly. Even when his father forsook
him, he said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. When
we're in the dark, Oh, all the different fears of unbelief that
go through, but not him. Even when he was forsaken by
his father, he believed his father completely and continually. Justified by the faith of Jesus
Christ. He was faithful to his father
in doing this for the people, giving him, given him and going
to the cross to pay for their sins. And we're relying on his
faithfulness. Here's what this looks like. Second Timothy one
12. I know whom I have believed. Not I know what I believe, but
I know whom I have believed. What we believe is determined
by who we believe. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
to him. Now, what's that mean? I have
committed the entire salvation of my soul. And I know that's
only by the grace of God that I'm doing this. But I've committed
the entire salvation of my soul to the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ. The doing and the dying of Jesus
Christ. The perfect obedience and the
sin atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ plus nothing. What he did is everything. This is what I know. Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ. You see how different that is
than in Jesus Christ? We're not justified by the works
of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. That could mean, if you
want to take it that way, my act of faith is what justifies
me. No, it's the work of Christ that justifies me. And that's
what we believe. Look the way he says this, 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, but by the works of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified. Now, knowing. Do you know this? Do you know
the only way you can be saved is by the faith of Jesus Christ? Do you know this? And I know
this, and I know it's only by the grace of God I know this,
but I know this. There's no question in my mind
about this. I'm justified by what He did
with nothing of my works. entering in on any level. I know
that. I cannot be saved apart from
that being the case. Thank God. It's what the Bible
teaches justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works
of the law. Even we Jews, he's still speaking
to Peter. Even we Jews believe in Christ. We rely a hundred percent on
what, who he is and what he did. Faith is the evidence. I can't
look at myself and say, well, I've got perfect standing for
God's law. I've never sinned. I can't look within my heart
and say, I've never sinned. I stand perfect before God because
I know that's not the case in and of myself. What is the evidence
I do? Faith in Christ. We have believed
in Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. And not
by the works of the law, not by anything we have done. Believing in Christ, trusting
in Him, relying on Him is the one thing that every believer
does. We look to Him only. We rely on Him only. Justified by the faith of Christ.
What that means is, here's another attempt to explain what that
means. That means that when he kept
the law, I was in him and I kept the law. I personally kept God's
holy law. Philippians 3, 9, Oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, my law keeping, but through the faith of Jesus
Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. You remember when the Lord said
to Peter, when not Peter, but John the Baptist. When the Lord
came up to John the Baptist and said, I want you to baptize me.
And he said, uh, um, I have need to be baptized. If you, what
are you doing? Asking me to baptize you. He said, thus it becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness. Now he's done saying, Peter,
you do your part of fulfilling all righteousness. And I do my
part. And we'll. And thus it will be filled. No.
When Christ fulfilled all righteousness, every believer did in him. When the Lord said he is finished.
All righteousness was fulfilled. And I'm saved by the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. Knowing. Now, like I said, would you love
to see one of these athletes, you know, John 3, 16? I love
John 3, 16. Don't think I'm in any way dismissing
the importance of that verse. I love John 3, 16, but I would
be taken back if I saw Galatians 2, 16. I think this person must
have some understanding of the gospel. May the Lord Engrave
this on our hearts, 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 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. That is the gospel. Amen.