I please God to bless us together
this evening as we continue our meditation in the epistle of
Paul to the Galatians and the third chapter and this evening
we'll read from verse 10 to 12 Galatians, epistle of Paul to
Galatians chapter 3 verses 10 11 and 12 For as many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse For it is written,
Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. The Apostle really is continuing
his wonderful theme of justification by faith. You may of course wonder
really why that is so important. Well it is so important because
nobody will ever get to heaven unless they are just. That means
unless they are really blameless. Well, no one who is born in this
world can ever be blameless before God in keeping of the law of
God. So all of us are guilty. None of us are blameless. We
are all unjust. And yet no unjust person can
ever get to heaven. Because, as I've often said,
heaven is a holy place. No unjust person can get to heaven. And therefore, the Apostle really
speaks to us so clearly and really hammers the point home in the
Romans and also in the Galatians and other places to give us a
very clear view that we are only justified by faith. Justification by faith is a very
important vital theme, vital consideration that many people
pass over and perhaps don't really understand it, perhaps don't
want to understand it. But what a mercy it is if we
are blessed with that wonderful faith to believe the truth of
God. Now the Apostle therefore again
speaks to us about the works of the law. In Old Testament
times the law was set before the people and they were commanded
to keep it and if they kept it then they would be just the reality
is that no one was able to keep it no one was able to keep the
holy law of God and in the book of the Deuteronomy when Moses
wrote to the people shortly before he died in the 27th chapter and
in the 26th verse we read this. Cursed be he that continueth
not in all the words of this law to do them and all the people
shall say Amen. That means they agreed with it.
And of course they could not keep the law of God and we cannot
keep the law of God today. And therefore, as many as have
the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written,
Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. Well, you only have to
read through the chapters in Deuteronomy to find out the many
things that Israel were commanded to do and they were unable to
do and we today are unable to do that ourselves and therefore
a curse is pronounced on us if we rely upon the works of the
law or the works of the flesh that means we are doomed to failure,
we are doomed to an endless life in hell. It's a very terrible
consideration. And yet, you see, the Word of
God tells us that if we obey, we are blessed, and if we disobey,
we're cursed, and yet we cannot obey. We cannot obey. We must realize the weakness
of our flesh. We must realize the sinfulness
of our flesh. We must realize we cannot rely
upon what we can do because we are failures. We are failures
and before God we have failed and we continue to fail. So how
important it is that we realize the great truth of God and the
God's servant Moses, again, in writing earlier on in the book
of Deuteronomy, he spoke very clearly about the blessing and
the curse. And he told them, behold, I set
before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you
obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command
you this day. And a curse, if ye will not obey
the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out
of the way which I command you this day to go after other gods
which ye have not known. Well, that was a very clear message
from Moses to the Israelites, setting before them the great
truth of God and yet how unable they were to keep the law of
God. And so we have this statement,
but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. I'm sure if we ponder these things
carefully, we shall see that we cannot keep God's law. It
is a holy law. It's a righteous law. And remember
that law is not just an outward deed. It's what you and I think
of in our minds, in our hearts. evil thoughts are disobeying
God and all of us without any doubt do have wrong thoughts,
evil thoughts and therefore we are condemned by the law of God
and we are therefore under the curse. So it's a very solemn
position that everyone is in and that's really why the Apostle
Paul picks up this line of things to ensure that the Romans and
the Galatians and others were under no misunderstanding about
the solemnity of being under that condition. And so he tells
us, the just shall live by faith. Now, if you and I are to be just,
it's not because of any works that we can do. The problem is
with any works or any obeying things that we do, we will find
that nothing is perfect. And to obey the law rightly,
it has to be perfect. Not one little iota wrong. And so we were unable to carry
out that command. There is no possibility of obeying
the law, because we are fallen creatures, because of the sin
of Adam in that Garden of Eden, at the beginning of the history
of the world, when he and Eve committed that sin against God,
and that sin passed upon all mankind. Yes, it's referred to
as the Fall, and it was, and it was a tragic day, and we are
all therefore under the curse. And we need to be delivered from
that curse. And we are only delivered from
that curse when the Lord gives us the wonderful gift of faith. And therefore, we're told the
just shall live by faith. And that really comes from, again,
the Old Testament. You may think, well, that's surprising.
Well, it is, perhaps. But it occurs in Habakkuk. And
in the second chapter, in the fourth verse, this is what we
read. Behold, his soul, which is lifted
up, is not upright in him. And that is so we are by nature. And the prophet tells us, but
the just shall live by his faith. That means that we have to look
out of ourselves. We look out of ourselves for
justification. And who do we look to? Who can
we look to? We can only look to the just
one. And who is the just one? The
only one who was perfect. the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what a mercy when the Lord
God gives you and me faith therefore to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. To believe that he has kept the
law which we could not keep and he's kept that law for us. He's kept it perfectly. He lived
a perfect life. with absolutely no sin. He was
the Great Just One. But you see, the wonder of it
is that He took the sins of all His people and He died to satisfy
the demands of the Holy Law of God, which says, the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. And we all stand there. But what
a mercy if God has come and the Lord Jesus Christ has come and
died in our place and satisfied the holy law of God and that
holy law of God was satisfied when he gave his life when he
shed his most precious blood on that cross at Calvary to atone
for our sins. So tonight, it's a great mercy
if you and I possess faith to believe. This 12th verse tells
us, and the law is not of faith. The law is of works. The man
that doeth them shall live in them. There's no satisfaction,
there's no ability, but the just shall live by faith. And we read
together in that third chapter of the first epistle of Peter
these wonderful words, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust. It's a tremendous statement,
isn't it? The Lord Jesus, who was just, he suffered for the
unjust, for our sins, that he might bring us to God. Neither way, unless we are justified
to come to a holy God and to think the Lord Jesus brings us,
unworthy sinners, to almighty God. that he might bring us to
God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. And so let us realise we cannot
be made just by the law, because we cannot keep the law. So how
are we to be made just? Only as God gives us faith to
believe in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
our hope and our confidence is in the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful thing it
is, therefore, to have the Gospel. And the Gospel is that the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners, to redeem sinners,
to die in their place, and to justify them, and to give them
His righteousness. It's a wonderful plan. It's a
glorious plan. And what a mercy if you and I
are therefore found within the compass of such words. And you
and I today have the blessed evidence that we are just, not
because of what we have done. But we have been made just because
God has given us faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a command to believe. All
those who fail to believe, you see, are lost forever. Those
who do believe, by the grace of God, and it's only by the
grace of God, live forever, are saved forever, and will spend
eternity in glory with the Saviour. And so these words are very important. No doubt they may appear on the
surface difficult to understand, but I hope we've understood a
little tonight. And so remember what the Apostle
wrote here. For as many as are of the works
of the law, trying to justify themselves, trying to do that
which is right and failing, who are works of the law, are under
the curse. You see, if we don't keep the
law a hundred percent, we're cursed. For it is written, Cursed
is every one that continues, not in all things." It's comprehensive,
isn't it? You can't say, well, I've done
everything apart from one thing. No, the Word of God says in all
things, everything which are written in the book of the law
to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight
of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith. So may we have the evidence in
our hearts tonight that God has given us the faith of God to
believe. The faith of God to trust in
Him. The faith of God to look to His
finished work to realise that He has kept the law on our behalf. He's fulfilled it as the Father
determined. that perfect and righteous law
has been kept by his only begotten Son, so that we, the undeserving
sinners of the earth, shall be made righteous. The just shall
live by faith, and the law is not a faith, but the man that
doeth them shall live in them. Well, may we have then the evidence
that we are relying on that which Christ has done, and not on any
works of the flesh. Amen.