I please God to bless us together
this evening as we continue our meditation in the Epistle of
Paul to the Galatians in chapter 2 and we'll read verses 19 and
20. The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians
chapter 2 and reading verses 19 and 20. 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 loves
me and gave himself for me. As the Apostle directs us in
this epistle to the Galatians, surely the essence of what he
is saying is union with Christ. How necessary it is. Indeed,
how essential it is. And as the hymn writer says,
I could from all things parted be, but never, never, Lord, from
thee. Because if we are parted from
Christ, we are lost eternally. And so may we be found indeed
in Christ. Now the apostle, in these words
we read here this evening, for I through the law am dead to
the law, that I might live unto God. We read those opening verses,
we read all the chapter actually in Romans 7. But the opening
verses give us a clue and are helpful in understanding this
part of this verse 19 here. And you may have noticed that
the illustration the Apostle gave was between a husband and
a wife and how they were joined together and we're told for the
woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to a husband
so long as he liveth but if the husband be dead she is loose
from the law of her husband so then if her while her husband
liveth she be married to another man she shall be called an adulteress
but if her husband be dead she is free from the law of so that
she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. So that's what the Apostle draws
our attention to, is the illustration. And then he says, wherefore,
because of that which he set before us, wherefore, my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. That ye should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law that being dead, when we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the flesh. So we have the description and
the very helpful analysis in these verses to engage us, to
recognise that we are dead to the law by the body of Christ,
but it is so that we might be married to another, even to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Union with him, this one who
is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God. Now, if we remain still under
the law, there's no fruit to God. But if we are delivered
from that and are in union with Christ, then there will be fruit
from God, spiritual fruit. It is one of the essential and
important evidences in the life of the Christian that there is
fruitfulness. Where there is no fruit, there
is no evidence of life. There may be, as it were, plenty
of leaves, plenty of that which may impress, but nothing truly
useful, and nothing really good. And so how important it is that
we are concerned about such a situation. And then also in the Epistle
of Paul to the Romans, There is so much instruction in that
glorious epistle, but in the sixth chapter we read these verses,
6, 17 and 18. But God be thanked that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart. Now my
friends, it's only the Holy Spirit that gives us grace to obey from
the heart. And that's the great important
thing. Not to just have a head knowledge to satisfy the flesh,
but this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Obeyed from the heart.
That form of doctrine which was delivered you, being then made
free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. doing those things which are
right, doing those things which are for the honour and glory
of God. And also the Apostle tells us
when he wrote to the Corinthians, you see Holmes on this theme
very much, it's very relevant and very important to us. He
says in the first of Corinthians, the ninth chapter, verse 21,
to them that are without law, as without law, being not without
law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain
them that are without the law. So what a blessing it is if you
and I are therefore under the law of Christ, that we might
live unto God. That's the great important thing.
If we're living unto God, truthfully from our heart, there will then
be that fruitfulness which we should indeed be concerned about
and desire. And then the Apostle goes on
to the 20th verse to tell us this great truth, 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. We see in this verse the evidence
of the flesh, and we see the evidence of the Spirit. And what a glorious position
it is to know that we are in the Spirit, and we are in Christ,
and that Christ is in us. When the Apostle wrote to the
Colossians in the first chapter, 27th verse, he tells us, to whom
God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory. You see, if Christ is not in
us, there is no hope of glory. But if Christ is in us, we are
united to Christ and we do have that hope of glory. And so we
find this truth as the Apostle tells us, he was, and he speaks
of course, not only for himself, but for the Church of God, I
am crucified with Christ. That means of course, put to
death to the things of this vain world. And of course, crucifixion
is a most painful death. Sometimes it is painful to put
to death the things of this poor world, to leave them aside, to
separate ourselves from them. It is truly crucifying our flesh. And so the favour is to know
that in that situation, in that position, we are not alone. union with Christ, crucified
with Christ. And therefore, although that
would appear to make us a dead and with no knowledge, it's not
so at all. Because he tells us then, nevertheless,
I live. He lives. You see, the risen
Christ. And therefore, he tells us in
the second Corinthians in the fifth chapter, therefore if any
man be in Christ, He is a new creature. old things are passed
away, behold all things are become new. We have different affections,
we have different desires, we have different concerns. It's
because of the work of the Holy Spirit within our heart which
has turned us to the Saviour and therefore we have the evidence
that we live. Nevertheless, says the Apostle,
I live. And yet he's not depending on
his own strength. He's not depending on his own
flesh. He says, yet not I, not I, but
Christ liveth in me. How humbling, how exceedingly
humbling that is, to think that Christ lives in us. Indeed, the hope of glory. What a wonderful blessing if
you and I know personally, and the Church of God do know personally,
the help and support and the life within. Because left to
ourselves as we are born dead in trespasses and sins, we're
in darkness and death, But when Christ lives within us, we are
alive. We're spiritually alive. And what a good thing it is. And the Apostle again directs
us to the great truth, while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. You see, we walk by faith and
not by sight. We don't observe these things
with our natural eye, but we observe them with our spiritual
eye. And therefore, we have the evidence
that we are blessed. And as the apostle goes on, and
the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God. It's the God-given faith, which
is indeed a gift, which we have received. All those received
who are born by the Spirit, they live by faith of the Son of God. And then what a wonderful truth
we have. Who loved me? And that's true
of every child of God. Who loved me? It must be so. Otherwise, we would still be
in darkness. We would still be dead. But bless
God, if we have the evidence that he has loved us, who loved
me, and he loved us so much that he gave himself for me. Isn't
that wonderful to think? That we as unworthy sinners of
the earth, not worth anything, the glorious God, The Eternal
God, the Son of God, came down in this sinful world because
he loved you and because he loved me. Real religion is very personal. It's very precious. It's very
glorious. And so tonight, may we have the
evidence to go on rejoicing to know the greatness of this truth
and the Apostle tells us When he wrote to the Hebrews, when
he said, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author, yeah, the author, the one who gave us love, the
one who loved us and gave us love, to him the author and the
finisher of our faith, the one who gave us faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God, who loves me,
and gave himself for me. And then the apostle said, when
he wrote to the Ephesians, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his spirit in the inner man. You see, this is the inner man,
that which God gives to the enlightened soul, the blessing of the knowledge
that Christ in you the hope of glory. 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. Amen.