Be thankful you only have one
note that's hard to hit. Let's open our Bibles tonight
to Galatians chapter 2. We continue looking at this letter
that Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, and tonight beginning
in verse 16 through the end of the chapter. 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. But if, while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore
Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again
the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead
to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. I have four parts to the message
tonight. I would like for us to look at
several terms that the Apostle Paul uses in these verses. First, let's think about Paul's
use of the term justified in verse 16. We see it two times,
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. We see it three times. Now this
is the first time in this letter that the Apostle Paul uses this
word, or this term, justified, justification. This is a very
important part of preaching the gospel, the truth concerning
justification. The gospel of Jesus Christ answers
an age-old question. In fact, this question is found
in what many believe is the oldest book in our Bibles, that is,
the book of Job. How then can man be just with
God? How then can man be just with
God? I just wish that everyone would
ask themselves that question. That everyone that we know, all
of our friends, all of our relatives, everyone we work with, that man
would just stop, and women, and ask that question. How is it
that man may be just with God, remembering who God is? So this
message, this doctrine or this teaching of justification, it's
a very, very important part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I
want you to turn with me, if you will, to Acts chapter 13. We know that in the book of Acts
we have parts of messages which were preached by the apostles,
and in Paul's message here in this synagogue, And he was in
Antioch of Pisidia on that first missionary journey. But in verse
32, we'll begin here. This is not the beginning of
his message. But notice Acts 13 in verse 32. And we declare unto you glad
tidings. That's what the gospel is, isn't
it? It's glad tidings of great joy. And the psalmist said, blessed
is the people that know. the glad tidings that have this
proclamation or this declaration, blessed are the people that know.
Verse how, that the promise which was made unto the fathers. Now
what is the promise that was made unto the fathers? Well,
God promised a savior. God promised a deliverer from
the very beginning. We know that. Verse 32, let me
read that again. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he
hath raised up Jesus again. As it is also written in the
2nd Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And
as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no
more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will
give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore, he saith also
in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer the unholy one to
see corruption. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was
laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he, that is Jesus
Christ, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are
justified from all things. from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. So the promise was made unto
the fathers of sending a savior, sending the savior, the deliverer,
the seed of the woman. And that promise was reiterated
over and over in the Old Testament of the one who was to come. Someone
said the message of the Old Testament really is someone is coming.
Someone is coming. And then the message of the gospel,
he has come. And the message of the epistles,
he's coming again. But the message is of Christ. And Paul, in preaching the gospel,
and that's the first time he's ever spoken to these people in
this synagogue. They gave him the opportunity
to preach. And he declared unto them, all
that believe, all that believe in Christ, in him, this one who
was promised. are justified from all things
from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. All that
believe in Christ are justified. What does the word itself mean?
Justification. Well, as it is used in the Bible,
it means to declare. To declare. That's what the word
means. The word justification, or justify,
or justified, it means to declare. In Luke chapter 7 and verse 29,
we read this. Let's just turn there. Luke chapter
7 and verse 29. I want to emphasize the meaning
of the word. What does it mean? What does
the word justify mean? It means to declare. In Luke
chapter 7 and verse 29, we read, And all the people that heard
him and the publicans justified God, being baptized with the
baptism of John. Now, when we read that the publicans
and those who were baptized of John justified God, we know it
doesn't mean that they made God righteous, that they made God
holy. They declared, they declared
that God in sending John and the message and the ministry
of John was from God. They justified God in doing that,
in sending John preaching the message of repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. But they did not, when they justified
God, they did not make God righteous. He is righteous, he's always
been righteous, and he will forever be righteous. But they declared
him to be just in sending John. Now justification is the declarative
act of God pronouncing a man or a woman, a boy or a girl,
to be righteous on the grounds of the person and work of Jesus
Christ. That's what it means to justify.
The Puritan Thomas Watson, he defined justification with these
words. He said, and I quote, it is an
act of God's free grace whereby he pardons all our sins and accepts
us as righteous in his sight for the righteousness of Christ
only, imputed to us and received by faith. That's what it means
to be justified. For God, of his free grace to
pardon our sins and accept us as righteous in his sight, in
his sight, rather, for the righteousness of Christ only. Not for anything
that we've done, not for anything that we've experienced, not for
anything that we're going to do, no, but for Christ's sake
alone. Our sins are pardoned and we
are declared to be righteous in his sight just as if we had
never sinned. And he went on to say that it's
the very hinge and pillar of Christianity. That is the truth
about justification, the very hinge and pillar of Christianity. I remember reading one time Martin
Luther made the statement that the truth of justification is
the difference between a standing and a falling church. A standing
church, a church that stands in this world. and honors God
and proclaims the truth is a church that knows that God justifies
sinners by the person and work of Jesus Christ and by him alone. A falling church is a church
that proclaims that somehow man's works, man's deeds have something
to do with his justification. You know, we see it all really
in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. where Paul said, For he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. And in Romans 8, in verse
33, the apostle said, It is God that justifieth. It is God that
justifieth. It is God who declares a sinner
to be just in his sight. based upon the person and work
of Jesus Christ. That God looks upon those that
he declares righteous as if they had never sinned. Now what's
the opposite of justification? It's condemnation. Condemnation. The opposite of justification
is condemnation. And it was because of our sin
That we all, we all stood condemned before the bar of God's justice,
and it is now because of God's grace in Christ that we stand
before the bar of God's justice justified, just as if we had
never sinned. That's amazing, isn't it? To
think tonight that in heaven's court that you and I, those of
us who trust in Christ, that we stand before the bar of God's
justice just as if we had never sinned. What an amazing truth that is.
It was by sin, or it was by the sin of the first Adam, rather,
imputed to us that we stood condemned. And it is by the righteousness
of the last Adam, that is Christ, imputed to us that we stand justified. The sin of Adam was imputed to
all who were in union with him, and so all were condemned because
of our sin. And the righteousness of Christ
is imputed to all who are in union with him. And so we stand
justified before God. The prophet Jeremiah, he stated
that the Savior, this one who was promised through the Old
Testament, that he shall be called the Lord our righteousness, Jehovah
Tiskanu, the Lord our righteousness. Now he tells us that in Jeremiah
chapter 23, but then ten chapters later in that prophecy, Then
we are told that this is the name by which his bride shall
be called. Now, his people are his in relation
to him in a number of different ways, right? He's the head, we
are the members of the body. He's the bridegroom, we are his
bride. And when a young lady marries
a man, what does she do? She takes his name. She takes
his name. And so his name is the Lord our
righteousness, and when we come into union with Christ by faith,
then Jeremiah tells us she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. His name is the Lord our righteousness,
and our name also is the Lord our righteousness. Now look at
these three things back in our text tonight that Paul declares
concerning justification. These three things, very easy
for all of us to see. Verse 16, chapter 2 of Galatians. Number one, Paul declares how
we are not justified, how we are not declared to be righteous
by the works of the law. And in Titus chapter 3 and verse
5 he said, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us. So that's the first thing he
tells us in this passage concerning justification, how men are not
justified before God. How many people do you imagine
in a radius of 10 miles of this building tonight 50 miles, 100
miles, whatever. How many people do you imagine
in their heart they are thinking and they are trusting in what
they call keeping the Ten Commandments? Keeping the Ten Commandments.
That's what they're trusting in. But Paul emphatically tells
us here, man is not justified by the works of the law. And
yet so many people, poor, deceived, dupes of Satan, spiritually deceived. They may be intelligent, they
may be so learned in the things of this world and have degrees
behind the end of their name, you know, letters a mile long,
and yet they're deceived and their minds are blinded to the
truth. And they go on and every day
and every hour and every breath brings them closer to eternity,
and are trusting in their own works. And the Bible, not just
here, but all through the scriptures, declares emphatically men are
not justified by the works of the law. But number two, notice
how he does say we are justified. He declares how we are justified. We are justified by the faith
of Christ. Now what does that mean? The
faith of Christ. Well, it could be translated,
this word that's here, translated faith, could be translated the
faithfulness of Christ. We are justified by the faithfulness
of Christ. You see, that law, the law of
God, which is holy and good and requires perfection, absolute
perfection, and we, because of our sins and our sinful nature,
we cannot Keep that law perfectly. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He
came into this world and He kept that law perfectly. His faithfulness to honor God
in word, in thought, and indeed in every way. His faithfulness. And it is that faithfulness,
that righteousness that He worked out as a man. Now it's called
the righteousness of God because He is God. Remember in Romans
10, Paul said concerning his countrymen that they were ignorant
of the righteousness of God and they went about to establish
their own righteousness. But the righteousness of God
is imputed to everyone that believes. And that's the third thing that
he tells us here. Number one, Paul declares how
we are not justified. Not by the works of the law.
Number two, he declares how we are justified. By the faithfulness
of Christ. By his person and work. His faithful work in obedience. Working out that perfect righteousness
that God requires. And then number three, he declares
who are justified. Even we who believe in Jesus
Christ. Even we, tonight. Isn't that
something? Even we, those of us here tonight
who believe in Jesus Christ. Now second, so first I want us
to consider Paul's use of the term justified, but next I want
us to consider his use of the term God forbid. This is the
first time that we see it here in this letter of Galatians.
We will see it two more times, and we see it a number of times
in the letter of Romans. But notice in verses 17 and 18,
he says, But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we
ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister
of sin? God forbid. God forbid to even
consider or contemplate that Christ could be the minister
of sin, for if I build again the things which I destroyed,
I make myself a transgressor. Now I said that this is the first
time that he uses this term in Galatians. He uses it a number
of times in the letter of Romans. One example is found in Romans
6. In answer to the question, shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? Remember he had said in the last
part of chapter 5 of Romans, where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound than some might suppose. Well, that's sin. If
grace abounds where sin abounds, then the more sin, the more grace.
Some might reason like that, falsely. Falsely reasoned like
that. So he asked that question, shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. Now what is it that
the Apostle Paul strongly, and it is a strong negative here,
when he says God forbid, it's a very strong denial. I think
Paul was somewhat upset because he was charged, no doubt, with
teaching such a false doctrine, such a wicked doctrine. If man is justified by the person
and work of Christ and Christ alone, and our works have nothing
to do with our justification, well, let's just live any way
we want to. And I think I said this in the
message Sunday morning, that has been the charge that has
been leveled against the gospel of Jesus Christ from the days
of the apostles and it is still being taught, still being declared. When men hear that we are justified,
that we are saved by the work of Christ alone in our obedience
to the law has nothing to do with our salvation, then lost
people always reason the same way. Well then, we're just saying
that, if it doesn't affect our salvation. But what is it here
in this letter that Paul denies very strongly with this God forbid? He denies that being justified
by faith in Christ alone, apart from the works of the law, makes
Christ a minister of sin. In fact, he says, it's just the
opposite. It's just the opposite. It is
those who teach that Christ and his righteousness is not enough
who would make Christ a minister of sin. And how would they do
this? They'd do this by adding the
ceremonies of the law of Moses, such as circumcision, as in this
case, the keeping of holy days, those dietary rules that were
given to the nation of Israel. Those things, these false teachers
would add, and in doing so, because man cannot keep the law of God. We all know that. Then that would
make Christ the minister of sin. If he was teaching that we must
believe in him plus these other things, add these other things
that these false teachers wanted to add, and we are not able to
do that, then that would make Christ the minister of sin. Is
Christ the minister of sin? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. His ministry is a ministry of
righteousness and of acceptance. So that's what Paul denies here,
that this message somehow makes Christ the minister of sin. No,
it's just the opposite. If you add anything to the personal
work of Jesus Christ, his righteousness, that we must do, then that would
mean that Christ becomes a minister of sin, because none of us are
able to perfectly obey those rules. Now, the third term, actually
in verses 19 and 20, Paul's use of the terms dead and alive. Now, not everyone is in agreement,
not every one of the writers that I read, at least, are in
agreement as to what Paul means when he says in verse 19 that
through the law he was dead to the law. Notice that in verse
19, for I through the law am dead to the law that I might
live unto God. Not everyone is agreed as to
what Paul means. Some people believe that when
he says, for I through the law, he's referring to the gospel,
the gospel of Jesus Christ. You say, well, is the gospel
ever called a law? Yes, it is. In Romans chapter
8, in verse 2, he said, For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. So some people believe that what
Paul is saying here is that through the gospel, through believing
in Christ, I am dead to the law. And then others believe that,
no, what Paul is saying here is Remember in Romans chapter
7 he says that he was alive once without the law. Paul, as a Pharisee,
he believed that he kept the law. He thought that he was righteous
by his works and he was keeping the law and then he tells us
that the law came to him in power. Because the law said thou shalt
not covet and that one word there caused Paul He said it killed
him. It caused him to die. He realized
that he was a sinner and needed a savior. And so some believe
that's what he means that through the law he was dead to the law. But everyone is in agreement
that Verse 20 is teaching that we are in union with Christ. For 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. The law caused his death, but
the new life towards God is because of his union that exists between
the believer and Christ. Just as we were in Adam, we were
in union with Adam, and we sinned in him, and so all believers
are in union with Christ. That's what he means when he
says, for I am crucified with Christ. He was united to Christ,
he was in union with Christ, and Think about this. Christ
not only died for us, but we died in him. We were in union
with him. We were crucified with him. And that means that we are dead
to sin. We're dead to sin. Now, it doesn't
mean we're dead to the power of sin. It amazes me. I see some of the writers say
that It means that we're dead to the power of sin. Is that
your testimony? It's sure not mine. We're not dead to the power of
sin, but we are dead to the guilt of sin. We're not guilty before
God because we were crucified with Christ. We died in union
with him when he died. And the same thing is true. Believers
are in union with Christ in his resurrection. And this is one
of the things that's pictured in Believer's Baptism. Now, no
one will ever convince me that sprinkling is what the Bible
teaches concerning baptism. Baptism, and it is by immersion,
it shows the gospel and it also shows us what has taken place. We were in Christ and we died
in union with Christ. We were put, as a believer confesses
his faith, he's put under the water. A picture of death, we
died in Christ, in union with him. But then when he's raised
up, we are raised in union with Christ. And what for? To walk
in newness of life. Notice Paul says, I live But
it's not the same I. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. Yet not I. Not the same I who
now lives. There's a new I. There's a new
nature, a new creation in Christ Jesus. I live. Yet not I, but Christ, he 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." As we live in this world, we are to continue to look unto
Christ for all things, for pardon, for peace, for righteousness,
for joy, for comfort. to supply our every grace. Whenever a believer takes his
eyes off of Christ and puts them anywhere else, we get into trouble. We get into trouble. If we look
within, we get into trouble. If we look at other men, we get
into trouble. Alright, looking unto Jesus,
that's what the apostles said, right? Looking unto Jesus, that's
how we are to run this race, with patience, looking unto Jesus
who is the author and the finisher of our faith. And then the last
thing, Paul's use of the term frustrate in verse 21. The truth of justification by
Christ alone does not frustrate the grace of God, nor does it
frustrate the death of Christ. Now think about this. If justification
came by the works of the law, it would frustrate the grace
of God. It would frustrate the grace
of God. Because the scripture says, if
it be of works, it is no more of grace. It has to either be
of grace, or works. If it is of works, then it frustrates
the grace of God. And it also, if justification
came by the works of the law, it would frustrate the death
of Christ. His death was needless. It was
useless. If men could earn their own salvation,
if there were another way for a man to be just, to be declared
righteous before God, other than by the imputed righteousness
of Jesus Christ, then Christ died in vain. Paul says, I do
not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Thank God tonight that
righteousness, justification, comes by grace through the person
and work of Jesus Christ unto all who believe. We're to go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature
and everyone who believes and is baptized shall be saved. That's
the message, isn't it? Preach the gospel. the good news
that there is salvation in Christ.