I believe this to be the most
mysterious statement in scripture. Impossible to understand, but
must be believed. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. Now he didn't say, I was crucified
with Christ representatively. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. And this is what every believer
says as well. Paul does not say Christ was
crucified for me. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. He doesn't say, my sins were
crucified with Christ. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. He does not say, it's as if I
were crucified with Christ. He said, I am crucified with
Christ. And if you're a believer, it's
just as true with you. In the beloved, I went to the
tree. There in his person by faith
I can see infinite wrath rolling over his head, infinite grace
for he died in my stead. I am crucified with Christ. Now
we're going to have a baptism tonight. Two young people are
going to confess Christ and believers baptism, Isaac and Lydia. And I wanted to bring a message
on the teaching of baptism. And the teaching of baptism is,
I am crucified with Christ. That's the teaching of baptism.
It's the eternal union of Christ and his people with one another. Baptism is not simply a religious
ceremony or ritual, but it teaches something. Union with the Lord
Jesus Christ, eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ so that
I can say, I am crucified with Christ. Romans 6.4 says, buried
with him by baptism unto death. When Jesus Christ went into the
tomb, I did too. Colossians 2.12 says, buried
with him by baptism, wherein you're risen with him. When he was buried, I was buried. When he died, I died. When he
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. Now, the
believer is eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is true of every believer. Now, the Lord gives us what I
believe is the most simple and clear illustration of what union
is. When he said, I am the vine,
you are the branches. The same stem that goes through
the vine goes through the branches. There's no connecting point. The same stem flowing through
the vine goes through the branches. I am the vine, you are the branches. In Hebrews 2, verse 11, we read,
they, he that sanctifyeth, and they who are sanctified. Now,
this sanctification is a very important word. It's the word
that most clearly describes God's salvation. I was sanctified,
set apart by God in eternal election. I was sanctified by the Lord
Jesus Christ, declared to be holy. by what he did on Calvary's
tree. I was sanctified when I was born
from above, given a new nature. Sanctification describes all
of God's salvation. It's a mistake when people talk
about sanctification as, well, that's your experience. Well, it is, but it's not a complete
view. Sanctification is the work of
the Trinity in salvation, God the Father in election, God the
Son in redemption, and God the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
And we read in Hebrews 2.11, both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause? He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. I'm not closely joined to Christ. I am one with Christ. Turn to Hebrews chapter seven
for just a moment. Levi was the great grandson of
Abraham. Good verse 9. And as I may so
say, Levi also who receiveth tithes. It was the tribe of the
Levites that they paid the tithes to. And as I may so say, Levi
also who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham for he was
yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Now
notice it doesn't say it's as if. Levi paid tithes. Doesn't say that at all, does
it? It says Levi paid those tithes. What Abraham did, Levi did. Now, this is how the believer
is united to Christ. We're in him. What he does, we
do. Now, baptism says, I've always
been in the beloved. Now, do I understand this? No.
Do I believe it with all my heart? I've always been in Christ. In
eternity past, when there was no creation, I was in the Lord
Jesus Christ, united to him. When Christ became flesh and
kept the law, I kept the law. I don't have anything to fear
about God's law because I've kept it. Because if Christ kept
it, I did too. Just like Levi paid tithes when
Abraham paid tithes, when Christ obeyed God's law, every believer
did. Every believer's united to him. When Christ died on Calvary's
tree, I can say with Paul, I am crucified with Christ. When Christ
died, I did as well because I'm united to Him. When they placed
Christ in that tomb, I was placed in that tomb as well. And when
Christ was raised from the dead, you know who else was? Everybody
in Him. Everybody eternally united to
Him. When Christ ascended back to
glory, He did so as the Lord of hosts with all of His people
with Him. As He's seated at the right hand
of the Father right now, I am there with Him because I am united
to Him. You can't separate Christ and
His body, Christ and His people. Ephesians 2, 6 says we're seated
together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. And that's why
I love to say this. I've heard people say, and when
they say it, it kind of aggravates me. I'm as sure for heaven as
if I'm already there. And I want to say to them, do
you really believe that? I mean, you say that, I know,
but that sounds so bold. But I'm not as sure for heaven
as if I'm already there. I am already there glorified
in Christ Jesus. That's the sure and certain hope
of the believer. And that is what baptism means. When I go down into the watery
grave, when Christ died, I died. When I come up out of the watery
grave, that represents when Christ was raised. I was raised right
along with him. That is my only salvation, being
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's go back to that passage
of scripture I just read. Galatians chapter two. Verse 19. For I, through the
law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. Now, through Christ keeping the
law, I did too. Isn't that wonderful? I don't have anything to fear
with regard to God's law. I've kept it. Because when my
surety, my savior, my Lord kept God's law, I kept it too. I through the law am dead to
the law. When Christ died, I died too. When Christ honored the law,
I honored the law. When Christ paid the debt due
against sin, I did too. You see, it's through the law.
I, through the law, through the law being kept, through the demands
of the law against sin being answered and paid for by what
the Lord Jesus Christ did, I, through the law, in a way that
honors the law, I, through the law, am dead to the law. The law has nothing to say to
me. Turn with me for a moment. Hold
your finger there in Galatians 2 and turn back to Romans chapter 7. Verse one, know ye not brethren,
for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth. And that's the key,
as long as he. live it. Somebody says, well,
I'm not going to submit to that law. You don't have any choice.
It's over you, whether you like it or not. God's holy law. Well, I'm not going to subject
myself to that. Well, you can say that, but that's what you're
going to be judged by. God's holy law. For the woman which hath a husband,
verse two, is bound by the law to her husband, so long as he
liveth. Well, I'm tired of him. You're
still bound to him. But he's not the husband I think
he should be. You're still bound to him. But
if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband
liveth, she be married to another man, she should be called an
adulteress. But if her husband be dead, She
is free from that law so that she's no more adulterous, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, you also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. When Christ
died, you died. The law has no jurisdiction over
you at all. All of its claims have been answered. And now you can be married to
another. And I think it's interesting
how Paul is saying being married to the
law is like being a woman being married to a bad husband. It's
no fun. It's not good. But she's bound
by the law to her husband until he dies. And when he dies, she's
loosed, she's set free. Now back to Galatians chapter
two. Well, let's, let's read one other side. Didn't read the,
let me read verse four of Romans chapter seven. Wherefore, my
brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him who is
raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God. Now the law, somebody says, well,
is the law of the believers rule of life? No, no. Believer's rule of life is glorying
only in the cross. Paul says that as many as walk
according to this rule. Our rule of life is glorying
only in the cross. And if you look at the law as
a measuring rod to see how you're doing, all it does is condemn
you. All it does is expose your sin. It doesn't show anything
but your sin. That's all it was meant to do.
Look in Galatians chapter three, verse 23. Before faith came, Before we
knew anything about what it was to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, 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. Now, a schoolmaster was someone
who was employed by a wealthy Greek family, and they would
shatter their children. Kids, wouldn't this be awful
if you had somebody shadowing you that anytime you did something
wrong, that hit you? They tell your parents, that'd be a miserable
life, wouldn't it? But they would have these schoolmasters.
It's pedagogue is the Greek word. It's not some kindly schoolmaster
who's teaching you how to read and write. Somebody would punish
you. But notice the way this is spoken. Wherefore the law
was our schoolmaster. And look it, to bring us, it's
in italics, isn't it? The law never brought anybody
to Christ. All the law does is expose him. That's it. That's all it was
ever meant to do. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
until Christ. that we might be justified by
faith, but after that faith has come, we are no longer under
a schoolmaster. Now, there we have it. That's
the believer's relationship with the law. Now, back to Galatians
chapter two, verse 20. He said, I through the law am
dead to the law that I might live under God. Now look at this
statement in verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Now this can only be understood
by this thought of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. I am,
me, myself, every believer can say this. I am crucified with
Christ. That's what all these references
to in Christ means. In Christ means united to Christ.
I am crucified with Christ. I died with Him. Nevertheless,
even though I was crucified and buried with Christ, nevertheless,
I live. I live. Even though I died, nevertheless,
I live. Just as Christ lives before God,
I live before God. 1 John 4, 17 says, As He is,
so are we in this world. Is He life before God? So are we. But notice, His language, I am
crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. I can never think of my life
as independent from him. Yes, I live, but it's not I.
It's Christ that liveth in me. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Look back in Galatians chapter
one, verse 15. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. Not to me. You see, if all He
does is reveal Himself to me, it won't last. I need something
far infinitely greater than that. I need his son to be revealed
in me. Christ in you, the very hope
of glory. Now look what he says back to
Galatians 2.20. 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. Now, if you do
not have a King James Version, it probably doesn't read that
way. It probably reads, I live by faith in the Son of God. And that's why King James Version
is just a better version. It's a translation, I realize
that, but it's the only translation that uses the genitive case,
which is always of, when somebody says, The reason they say it
is, well, that doesn't make sense. When they read of, they say,
that doesn't make sense. I'm not, I don't live by the
faith of the son of Christ. I live by faith in Christ. So
they change it and it's changing the word of God. It should read
this way. I live by the faith of the son
of God. He believed and trusted his father
perfectly. Me and you, we haven't done that
remotely. Somebody had to believe God perfectly. He said, though he slay me, yet
will I trust him. He trusted his father perfectly. And I'm not looking to my faith.
I'm looking to his faith. And do you know anything about
that? You don't wanna present your faith to the Father, do
you? You wanna present the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. I live
by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this one with this perfect
faith, look what he says in verse 20. I live by the faith of the
Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This is no mere human love. This
is the divine love of the Son of God. Now, if I love you, good. I ought to. If you love me, good. We all love one another. question
about that. But can that love that I have
for you or that you have for me on any level, any level be
compared to the love of the Son of God? We were reading in the
back where the Lord said to his disciples in John chapter 15
verse 9, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Now you think about the way the
Father loves the Son. I love, it goes beyond what I
can even think about. But oh, the love of the Father
to the Son. He sees the Son as altogether
perfect and lovely and beautiful and holy and without spot or
blemish or any such thing. You think of the Father's love
to the Son. There's no greater love than
that, is there? The way the Father loves His
Son? As the Father hath loved me. So have I loved you. That's true with regard to every
believer. This is the love that Christ
speaks of in Jeremiah 31 three, when he says, behold, I have
loved you with an everlasting love. A love that never had a
beginning. A love that never had a starting
point. A love that is eternal. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. And you know that's the only
way he can love. He can't love any other way. His love is a
perfect love. It's a complete love. And he
says to every believer, I've loved you as the father loved
me. He loved me and he gave himself for me. Now this statement, Paul
said, he loved me. and he gave himself for me. This
is the assurance of the believer. He loved me and he gave himself
for me. Don't miss that. He gave himself
for me. Now, could it be said that there's
anybody in hell who he loved and gave himself for? No way. He loved me. And he gave himself for me. Now, most preaching goes under
God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. He
wants to save everybody. But there's something you need
to do to activate his love. You need to accept him as your
personal savior. You may need to make a decision
to believe and then you'll be saved. That makes the love of
God and the blood of Christ meaningless. there's not a drop of gospel
in that message. As a matter of fact, it takes
away the gospel message. You see, my only hope, and I
believe this more than I ever have, and if you're a believer,
you believe this, this is your only hope, and you believe it
more than you ever have, my only hope is that Jesus Christ died
for me. And if you tell me that Jesus Christ can shed his blood
for me and pay for my sins, and I wind up in hell anyway, Why
are you taking away the only hope I have? That's anti-Christ.
That's anti-gospel. There's no truth in that message. That takes away my comfort. He
loved me with an everlasting love and he gave himself for
me. That is the gospel. And there is no salvation apart
from his successful work. He loved me. with an eternal love, and he
gave himself for me." Now, look at verse 21. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. Now, that word frustrate, it
doesn't mean that For instance, God can wanna give you his grace,
and you won't take it, and he becomes frustrated, thinking
he's not getting his way, and won't you let Jesus have his
way, and all that kind of stuff. That's blasphemous. He has his
way. And his grace is never frustrated in the sense that he never intends
to save somebody by his grace, and they won't let him. Therefore,
he's frustrated. Why, that's foolishness. That's
not what Paul is saying at all. That word frustrate means render,
meaningless, render void, nullify. Now Paul says, I do not frustrate,
make meaningless the grace of God. Now look what he says next,
four. If righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. It was to no point. If righteousness
came by the law. Now, what does Paul mean when
he talks about something coming by the law? If righteousness
came by the law, does that mean he's saying if righteousness
came by you obeying the 10 commandments, then the death of Christ was
meaningless? Well, that would be true, but do you know anybody
that's ever kept the 10 commandments? I don't know if anybody's ever
kept the Ten Commandments. All you get to do is break one, and you're
guilty of breaking them all. That's what the scripture says.
I've never met someone who's thought, well, I can be saved
by keeping the Ten Commandments. But in the context of this book,
let's see what Paul says in Galatians chapter four. He says in verse
19, my little children, of whom I travail in birth again until
Christ be formed in you I desire to be present with you now and
to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you. I don't know
whether the Lord's ever done anything for you. Tell me ye
that desire to be under the law. Now that's why he stood in doubt.
They seem to have a desire to be under the law. Now, tell me
you that desire to be under the law. Do you not hear the law? Now, I would have thought He
would start quoting Ten Commandments. Do you not hear what the law
says? You're to have no God before me. Every time you sin, you have
a God before me. You're to make no idols, false
concepts of God to make yourself feel more comfortable and think,
well, I can be comfortable with this God. You're to take His
name in vain and to even take His name in an irreverent way
is to be guilty of this great sin that God sent you to hell
for. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Thou shalt honor
thy father and mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not covet. I would
have thought of all the 10 commandments because boy, man, I haven't kept one up. But
that's not what Paul uses when he's going to explain to us what
he means by law. Now it's true, God's 10 commandments,
that's the law, but look what Paul says. Tell me ye that desire
to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written
that Abraham had two sons, one by a bondmaid, the other by a
free woman. But the one who's the bondwoman was born after
the flesh. There was nothing supernatural about her birth.
But he of the free woman was by promise, simply God's promise.
She'd already gone through menopause and God miraculously caused her
to have a child because he promised that's what would take place.
Which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants. This story of Abraham and Sarah
and Hagar and Ishmael and Isaac. represent the two covenants,
law and grace. Salvation by grace or salvation
by law. Now do you remember what happened?
You can read about it in Genesis chapter 16. God had promised
Abraham that he was gonna have a child through Sarah. Now if
God promises something, it's settled. It's settled. It's going
to take place. Well, years pass and Sarah still
hadn't had a baby. And she thought, well, evidently
we're doing something wrong. And she thought, well, we need
to do our part. God's promise will not come to pass unless
we do our part. So she goes and says to Abraham,
Abraham, I know God promised us a baby, but we're not gonna
have one unless we do our part. So here's my advice to you. You
go into Hagar and we'll have a child through Hagar and we'll
do our part and then God can do his part and we'll have a
baby. Abraham said, well, sounds good to me. He did it. And they
had Ishmael. God said, cast out the bond woman
and her son. As a matter of fact, he went
on to say to Abraham, take now thy son, thy only son. Ishmael
is never acknowledged as a son. Ishmael is man doing his part. Now, when Sarah had Isaac, she'd
already gone through menopause. And the reason, the only reason
that child came was through the promise of God. Now, law means
you doing your part. Now, just take that as far as
you can take it. If any part of my salvation is dependent
upon me doing something, or it's not gonna happen, that is law. That is no different than saying
you gotta keep the Ten Commandments perfectly to be saved. That's
all it is, that's law. And that's how Paul describes
law. He doesn't go to the Ten Commandments, Abraham and Sarah
and Hagar and Ishmael and Isaac. So law works is something you
have to do before God can do what he wants to do. And, you
know, that's really basically the message of most preaching,
isn't it? God loves you. Christ died for you. God wants
to save you. But he can't save you unless
you do your part, unless you make a decision to believe on
him. That's works. That's works. There's no gospel
in that message. Now, back to Galatians 2. Verse
21. I do not frustrate. I don't make
meaningless. I do not nullify the grace of
God for righteousness. And that's what God requires.
Perfect righteousness. You will not be saved unless
you have perfect righteousness. A righteousness that God's law
can look over and say, perfect, without guilt. Now, if righteousness
came by the law, if it's depended upon me in some way to be righteous,
then Christ died in vain, to no purpose. I love the way he
says this. I don't frustrate. I don't do
away with. I don't set aside. I don't disregard. I don't reject. I don't make
meaningless the grace of God. You know, the only thing that
makes the grace of God meaningless is self-righteousness. Now, listen
to this statement real carefully. The greatest problem that you
and I have is self-righteousness. What is self-righteousness? When
we think of self-righteousness, we generally think of this jerk
we know that looks down at his nose at everybody and is just
real self-righteous and uppity and you don't even like it. Well,
that's included, but self-righteousness is any righteousness that comes
from yourself. It's that simple. Self-righteousness makes meaningless
the grace of God and says the death of Christ was to no purpose. Self-righteousness is the great
evil that we deal with on a daily basis. And no matter how we shoot
it down, it pops up and resurrects itself somewhere else. You step
it down here, stamp on it, it's going to come up here all the
time. We were born with it. You know
that scripture in the Psalms that says the wicked are estranged
from the womb. They go about as soon as they be born speaking
lies. The big lie is self-righteousness. That's the lie that the wicked
who are estranged from the womb go about as soon as they be born
speaking. You see, self-righteousness is
the greatest lie that there is because there's really no such
thing. Didn't Isaiah say our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags? David said, and Paul quoted him in Romans 3, there's none
righteous. No, not one. There's none that understands
us. There's none that seeks after God. They've all gone out of
the way. They have together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good. No, not one. So if you think
you have any self-righteousness, any personal righteousness, you've
lied to yourself because you don't have it. it is deceitful. It's not real. Now self-righteousness
is based upon ignorance of God. That's the only reason anybody
is self-righteous, because of their ignorance of the character
of God, their ignorance of God's law, their ignorance of what
sin is in the first place, their ignorance of their own personal
sin, self-righteousness, a desire to be under law in some way is
grounded in ignorance. And self-righteousness seeks
to exalt self. It makes light of sin. It makes
sin to be much less than it really is if you think you have any
righteousness. It seeks to rob God of His glory, and it's a
denial of salvation by grace. Self-righteousness is what will
keep you from Christ. Your sin won't keep you from
Christ. Your sin will drive you to Christ. It's your righteousness,
your filthy, stinking, my filthy, stinking righteousness that will
keep me from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if righteousness
came by the law, then Christ died to no purpose. If you can
be saved by what you do, if what you do is a contribution to salvation,
and I think this is a pretty much a good summary of works. If the beginning of your salvation
begins with an act of your will, If in the middle of your salvation,
through your works, you become more holy and more pleasing to
God and all of a sudden you're ready for heaven, you've become
so good and you've just improved. Or at the end of your salvation,
if you are rewarded, a higher reward in heaven over somebody
else because you were better than them and you kept the law
better than them and you prayed more and you read the Bible more
and you denied yourself more. That's works at the end. You
put works in the beginning, the middle, or the end, it's still
salvation by works. Cursed is everyone that continue
with not in the book. Cursed is everyone who not continue
with all things written in the book of the law to do them. As
many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Now, I want you to think about
how blasphemous it is. If you say righteousness in any
way, in any form comes by you, you're saying what Christ did
was a waste of time. It was not necessary. It was
pointless. When he said it is finished,
he was wrong. There's something you need to
do to finish it. If righteousness came by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. Now listen to this statement
real carefully. If my salvation is in any way to any degree dependent
upon my faith, or my faithfulness, or my repentance, or my holy
living, I have no hope. None at all. Here's my hope. I am crucified
with Christ. That's the only hope we have.
And that is what is depicted in baptism. And I don't care if you're a strong
believer or a weak believer. The only hope you have is that
God's grace cannot be frustrated. It saves. and that Christ's death
was not in vain. Everybody he died for must be
saved. You may be an advanced, mature
believer. That's your only hope. You may
be a brand new believer. That's your only hope. Everybody
has the precise same hope. That God's grace actually saves. It's not an offer. He doesn't
present His grace to you. It's up to you to accept it or
reject it. No, it's saving grace. God's grace is sovereign. He
gives it to whom He will. It's free. There's nothing you
have to do to hurt it. And it saves. The death of Christ was not in
vain. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. The death of Christ actually
saves, and that is what These two young people are confessing. Baptism is your public confession
of Christ. It's not walking down to the front, shaking the preacher's
hand, and having everybody come around and say hi, and we'll
be praying for you, and glad you did that. Where's that in
the Bible? Altar call, where's that in the
Bible? It's not there. It's not there. Well, we've been
doing it so long. Well, that's all the quicker
reason to quit doing it. It's not there. Baptism is a
believer's confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's
what I'm confessing in baptism. I'm confessing that the only
way that I will be saved and accepted by God, and this is
what I'm relying on, is when Christ lived, I lived. When he
died, I died. When he was raised, I was raised.
When he ascended into heaven, I was with him. As he's at the
right hand of the Father, I'm with him right now. That is what
we confess in Believer's Baptism. I hope we can go to bed thinking
of how incredible this statement is. I am crucified with Christ. I hope that's the last thought
on our mind when we go to sleep tonight. Oh, the joy. I am crucified
with Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we need your spirit to enable us
to believe the gospel. And Lord, how we love, how we
love being united to him. We don't want to be in any other
state but united to Him. In His name we pray. Amen.