Good morning. All right, take
your Bibles and turn to Galatians chapter two. Galatians two. Paul says in verse
19, for I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might
live unto God. Now there's quite a number of
beautiful blessings, wonderful, joyful, exciting blessings that
are declared to us here in this verse. And I want to trace out
those which really speak to my heart this morning. I've titled
this, Dead to the Law, to Live Unto God. Now first thing that
I want to cover with you is that the believer is not under the
law of Moses as a rule of life. We have been delivered from the
law. The law has been satisfied. It's been put away so that we
don't look to the law for righteousness, nor do we look to the law as
a rule of life. And it shouldn't be referred
to by us as a rule of life, because that breeds confusion. It breeds misunderstanding in
men's minds. And that's the best case. What it often does, people looking
to the law for righteousness or thinking that they're now
to go back to the law 2.0 and try again, having confessed Christ,
they cease looking to Christ. They begin to look to the law
for all their righteousness and their measuring stick to determine
whether or not they are believers or not. And those who trust in
the law and look to the law for righteousness, They've just brought
themselves back under the condemnation, and they sink themselves down
into hell, perishing in their sins. They prove that they never
were under the blood of Christ, is what they prove. And so believers
don't look to the law for righteousness or justification at all. We look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. We look to him for our righteousness. We look to Him to lead us and
to keep us and to teach us and to correct us and to provide
all things necessary for His people. Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our justification with
God. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We that profess Him, who trust
Him and believe Him, we rejoice in Him. We're glad and happy. We're not afraid of our God and
fearful and thinking that we're going to be cut off at any moment
for our sins. Because if it did come down to
our righteousness under the law, even now, we all would perish
in our sins. We'd all die. We'd all be cut
off and condemned righteously before God. under the law. Now, when I say that we don't
look to the law for righteousness, that it's not our rule of life,
I'm not saying that we walk or live contrary to what is declared
in the Ten Commandments. We're not seeking to live a life
that's opposed to those things which are declared there. We
just don't look to it or profess that this is my righteousness
or that this is my rule of life. It's not our observation. Nor
do we pick and choose from the law given by Moses and say, well,
these things work for us today, and they apply to us today. So
I'll honor and look to these things as my rule. But these
things over here, I think they're done. I think that they don't
have a place. And so then we begin to pick
and choose out of the law what we think applies to us. and segregate
certain things out and keep other things. And that sounds an awful
lot like the Pharisees. who manipulated the law and took
things that they couldn't keep or didn't think that they should
keep or found ways around it, like in honoring their parents,
they found ways and worded things in such a way so as to take themselves
out from underneath the condemnation and punishment of the law. And
they found clever ways to word it and say, well, if you do it
this way, if you declare this and state that it's going according
to this, then it's OK. Now you've kept the law and honored
the law. But if you don't go this route and say it this way
or take this step, now you're breaking the law. And so what
ended up happening is people were following and honoring the
doctrines of men rather than what God had said. And they ultimately
undid the things that God had said in the law. So we have the Spirit of Christ. You that believe the Lord Jesus
Christ, He's given us His Spirit. That's why we believe in Him.
That's why we have faith. He's raised us again from the
dead and given us life, spiritual life that looks to Christ for
all things. And we are led by his spirit,
walking by faith, looking to Christ alone so that by him we
live unto God. Not live in filth and sin. We live unto God. We love our
God. We're thankful to our God. and
we're helped of our God. So while we don't look to the
law, the spirit, we trust that the Lord teaches us. And so the
spirit teaches us not to bow down and worship other gods,
not to bow down before stumps or worship idols or just say,
yeah, that's fine if you want to believe the god of Allah and
other names that people give false gods. We don't look to
those lies and idolatry. The Spirit teaches us there's
one God. There's one mediator between
God and men, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we don't speak in a manner
that takes our Lord's name in vain and drag it through the
mud as though it's some curse word to be used as some emphasis
for us carelessly. The Spirit doesn't teach us to
speak in that manner. And we do delight in the Sabbath
day. We call the Sabbath a delight.
Jesus Christ is the Sabbath day rest for the believer. We do
delight and honor the Sabbath day. He's our rest. We have no
other rest, no other hope with God. We do want to honor our
parents and do those things which are laid upon us rightfully in
society. If we're a husband or a wife,
we want to honor our spouse, our wife, or our husband. If
we're a parent, we do want to speak right and raise our kids
right and treat them as we ought to as a parent, to provide for
them and to lay up for them and to help them. If we're a neighbor,
we're gonna show ourselves neighborly. If we have friends, we show ourselves
as friends. A man that hath friends must
show himself friendly. That's what the scripture says.
And so, yes, if we're an employee, we do our jobs. If we're an employer,
we do that which is right for our employees. And we do those
things in society that are laid upon us. We walk in a manner
that's right, fulfilling those rightful expectations. We don't
look for opportunities when we see a shovel on our neighbor's
lawn and say, well, he ain't around. I think I'll just take
that for myself. We don't steal from others. We're
not looking to lie and deceit and deceive others. We're not
looking to lust after another and lust for them in our heart
to commit adultery with them, nor are we looking to covet that
which is our neighbors or our friend or our family members,
what they have, and say, that should be mine. The spirit doesn't
teach us that. Nor do we look to hate others
and murder them in our heart, let alone physically. The Spirit
doesn't teach us that, so we're not walking opposed to those
things outlined in the Ten Commandments, but we don't look to the Ten
Commandments and study it and paste it on our walls and think,
there's my righteousness. No, we look to the Lord Jesus
Christ who is our righteousness and our all. Under that covenant
of works we hear, your iniquities have separated between you and
your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he
will not hear. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh, brought near by the blood
of Christ. having him having abolished in
his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances. We've been brought near by the
blood of Christ. And you can see that in Ephesians
2, verse 13 and 15. So it's Christ that brings us
near to God, not the law. Christ's blood has put away that
which separated us from our God and brought us near to him, that
we know him and have fellowship with him through his death. Therefore, by the light of Christ
being manifest to us, being revealed to us, both by His coming in
the flesh to fulfill all our righteousness, and by the revelation
of Him to us by faith through the working of the Spirit, we're
taught that we are not justified by the law. The law is not my
righteousness, nor is it a rule of life for me, but Christ is
all and in all. Christ is all to the believer.
And so it is in that glorious light shining to us that Christ
is all. He's made everything to you by
your God. That's how we understand and
are given a right understanding of what Paul is saying here.
in Galatians 2.19, for I through the law am dead to the law that
I might live unto God. And so I want to show you these
manifold ways in which through Christ we are dead to the law
and by Christ we live unto God. We're dead to the law and we
live unto God. So taking this phrase, I through
the law, and dead to the law. Well, there's two glorious ways
that we understand these words. First, that which is accomplished
for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, and then that which is accomplished
in us by the Lord Jesus Christ. That which is worked for us and
that which is worked in us. So first, we behold the Lord
Jesus Christ. who is the servant of God. He came as the substitute for
his people to bear their sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
second Adam. the one in whom we now stand
complete in Him and accepted by our God. Our standing, our
inheritance, how God deals with us is not in the first Adam,
not the Lord's people, not those married to Christ who look to
Christ. We don't stand in the first Adam. And having meted
out to us what He worked, and according to the works of our
flesh, we stand in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished
for us. We wear His robe, His robe of
righteousness dipped in His blood. And so Christ Jesus is the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God, sent to the Father, who came in the likeness
of our flesh, and He kept the law perfectly. Our Lord Jesus
Christ yielded a perfect obedience to the law. He, by His life,
confirmed that He is the spotless Lamb of God. Christ Jesus is
the spotless lamb of God. But not only did he yield a perfect
obedience to the law in our room instead or in our place, but
he also yielded a perfect obedience by submitting to the penalty
of the law for his people as our substitute and as our shorty
to pay the debt that we owe He submitted in perfect obedience
to the law to fulfill the penalty of the law which was against
us because we couldn't honor the law or keep the law or work
of righteousness under the law by our works. Paul said it this
way in Romans 7, 4, Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become
dead to the law by the body of Christ. through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because of the weakness of this
flesh, the corruption of this flesh in Adam, we cannot live
under the law in perfect obedience. We cannot live under the law
in perfect obedience. So the only thing left to do
under the law is to die under the law, under the penalty of
the law. So men and women who could never
live under the law, they're ultimately going to submit to the penalty
of the law, which is to die, which is to die for their sins,
because the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18, 4, the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. That's the law, what the law
says. But for the believer in Christ, we are in Christ, and
we died in him. We died with him. We died with
Christ under that penalty of the law. Turn over to Romans
6. Romans 6. And let's look at verses
6 through 8. And you can keep your finger
or marker there in Romans, because we'll come back a couple times
and see a few verses from there. Romans 6.6 Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, that
body of sin is broken, We're no longer under its authority
and power. It has nothing to say to us. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. We live with Christ
our Savior, and we live by Christ our Savior. And so Christ died
for his people under the penalty of the law, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh, not trying to satisfy the law's demands of perfect
obedience, but we walk after the Spirit. We walk after the
Spirit, trusting Christ's blood. That's Romans 8.4. Now, if we
try to work a righteousness by the law, it's nothing but the
flesh. We're looking away from Christ.
We're trying to find a righteousness for ourselves. But if you, by the Spirit, believing
on Christ, trusting him, looking to Him, following Him, you shall
live in Him, having no condemnation, no penalty to pay to the law. In Adam, we all were condemned
to die. In Adam, we all were condemned
to die. But the difference for the child of God is Christ crucified. Christ crucified. He's the one
that makes the difference for you and I in the Lord Jesus Christ. Before that law, he's the one
who's put it away for us by his perfect righteousness. Therefore, for Christ's sake,
by his submission to the penalty of the law in my place as my
surety, I'm dead to the law. I'm alive in him. and we're dead
to the law. I, through the law, am dead to
the law. Paul said in Philippians 2.8, and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And so the reason why Paul any
other believer is not condemned by the law is because Christ
paid the penalty of the law for us, those whom he loved and came
to save by his own life. Who is he, Paul said, who's he
that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Christ
that died, Romans 8 34. Now because Christ died, He tells
us in Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the spirit. So in Christ, we're not looking
for a second chance, a do-over to try and work a righteousness
by the law. That's not what Christ came to
accomplish for us. Our Savior worked all our righteousness. He is our righteousness. We trust
in Him and by His blood we are perfect and accepted and whole
and righteous and received by our God, our righteous, holy
God. Now taking this phrase again,
for I through the law am dead to the law. We notice that this
word law is used twice in verse 19. And we've just seen how Christ
fulfilled the law penalty, the law perfectly. He died under
its penalty for his people. And we in him, we died with him. And thereby we satisfied the
law which was against us. Colossians 2.14. says that Christ
was blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and he took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross. By his death on the cross, he
put away that law which was against us that we could never keep for
righteousness. But what is that first word law
in verse 19 referring to? For I through the law am dead
to the law. It's speaking of the doctrine
of Christ. It's speaking of the good news,
the glorious good news which our God declares heralding it
throughout the heavens, declaring it in the earth of what God has
done for his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of that
new covenant established for us, ratified by the blood of
Christ. We see this word used in the
scriptures, and when it's used, We see this is speaking not of
the law of Moses, but of the law of Christ, the law of faith,
the law of liberty, salvation by God's grace through his son. For example, Isaiah 2, verse
3, it reads as follows. Many people shall go and say,
come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths. This is a spiritual walk. For
out of Zion shall go forth the law. The law shall go forth and
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That's the good word. That's
the good news which began at Jerusalem and went out to Judah
and out to Samaria and out to the ends of the earth, the declaration
and preaching of the good news in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah
42, 4, he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set
judgment in the earth and the aisles shall wait for his law. The isles or the nations are
those who rejoice. We sat in darkness, shut up to
the things of God, ignorant of our God and His righteousness.
But now we hear that glorious good news preached and declared
to us, made known to us by the grace of God through the preaching
of Jesus Christ, sent out as he sees fit, coming to our ears,
and we being made alive and given an ear of faith, hear that word
and rejoice and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
law he's talking about. Romans 3.27. Where is boasting
then? It is excluded. It's put away. By what law? The law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. The law of faith. This law, we
rejoice in the law of Christ, the doctrine of Christ, the hope
that God has given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what these verses
declare, the gospel of Christ, which is good news to us sinners. To us who are sinners, who have
no righteousness of our own, no strength, no ability to keep
that law perfectly, except to die. We've been delivered from
that, that we might live in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the
grace of our God in Christ sets us free from the bondage of the
law which was given by Moses that demanded perfect obedience
of this flesh from us that we could not give. And so that perfect
obedience was given by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
and as our substitute, he paid the penalty for us, eternal death
and separation from God by that same penalty of the law. Christ
paid it all. He paid it all for his people.
Rejoice, be glad in him. Thank your God and rejoice in
him. Worship his name. Glory in him. Boast of him. Speak of what he's done for you. we're unworthy sinners and yet
our God who created the heavens and the earth and all that in
them is loves you and gave you life and forgiveness and salvation
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to Romans 3 Romans
3 verse 21 through 25 It says, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe. There
is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption, the blood purchased, that is,
in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood. All those who believe Him, who
trust the blood of Christ, is sufficient for me pure God's
word to you is that you are justified and delivered from all your sins. They've been put away. Christ's
death has propitiated, that is put away the wrath of God, which
was against us for our sins. So by this doctrine, the glorious
gospel of Christ, whereby the spirit is now sent to us to give
us life from the dead. to raise us to newness of life,
not in the strength of this flesh, but in Christ, to have life in
him so that this doctrine of grace through Christ, we seek
justification with God, not by the works of the law, but through
Christ, trusting him, coming to God in the Lord Jesus Christ. through Christ's name, whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission, forgiveness of sins. That's God's promise to all who
come to him, trusting the Son, believing your God through Jesus
Christ, our righteousness, the righteousness of God for his
people. So Paul is saying that through
this law, which is revealed to us in the new man by the Spirit
of Christ, we see in the Lord Jesus Christ all sufficiency. We see the perfect Lamb of God
who put away my sin by standing in my place and bearing that
penalty for me. and that his blood makes me righteous
and accepted with my God. We see all the righteousness
we need and want for no other righteousness. We're not looking,
we're not still looking and trying to labor for righteousness. We are righteous in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we're happy to serve our
God and his people doing good works, not for righteousness,
but because he's already made us righteous. and accepted in
him. Now, as this is a spiritual work
of grace worked in the sinner who is saved by Christ, so it
follows that we live with Christ unto our God. At the end, that
last phrase of verse 19 says that I might live unto God. Now this answers the opposition
raised by the Judaizers and the legalists who say, if that's
your God, if that's your hope, you make Christ a minister of
sin, to which Paul said, God forbid. He's no minister of sin. He's a minister of righteousness,
true righteousness, not this fake, phony, put-on-a-show kind
of righteousness where we pretend we didn't do those things and
give it other labels. Well, I made a mistake. I didn't
sin. I made a mistake. No, you didn't. We sinned. We
trespassed. We committed iniquity against
our God. We don't need to lie about it.
We're sinners saved by his grace. Paul said it this way. Turn over
to Romans 5 verse 10 and 11. We see that we're saved by the
blood of Christ and now we live in the new man of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We live in him. Romans 5.10 For
if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life,
not by the law of Moses after the manner of Moses, but by Christ,
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only so, but we also
joy in God. We rejoice in the salvation of
our God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. We're purchased, cleansed by
his blood. Therefore, being alive in Christ
by his Spirit, why would we want to sin? When your eye sees Christ
and you behold your glorious Savior, Beautiful and wonderful,
all-glorious. Why would we want to live in
sin? Why would we want to practice those things and just go on living
our lives according to the flesh and doing fleshly, wicked things? Why would we? We're taught by
the Spirit in His Word. Romans 6, verses 1 and 2, what
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may bound? God forbid. Absolutely not. No way. How shall we that are
dead to sin live any longer therein? We've turned our backs to the
law for righteousness by looking to Christ for all our righteousness
and acceptance with God. And so doesn't Christ keep us? Doesn't he teach us and correct
us? Doesn't he know perfectly how
to humble us when we're too big for our britches and too proud
and arrogant of ourselves? Doesn't he know how to bring
us low? and His grace cover that, to bring us low, to humble us,
to show us what we are in self, and to raise us back up again
in Christ and looking to Him, He's able. He's able, and He
does teach His people and keep His people well. Because of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we don't ascribe any power to the law, any ability
of the law now to deliver us from sin. For us to do that, while the
law couldn't deliver us before, what makes us think that the
law's gonna deliver us now from sin? By trusting it and looking
to it. To do that is like saying that
trusting Christ alone is to make Christ the minister of sin, a
minister of unrighteousness because of grace. But the law couldn't
keep us before, what makes us think the law's gonna keep us
now? If Christ doesn't keep us, we're not gonna be kept. We'll
deceive ourselves and we'll ruin ourselves in the works of the
flesh. And so those that would ascribe
power and glory to the law now to keep us and to teach us and
to rule over us, stop pretending then that you're a lover of grace.
You're looking to the law for your righteousness and trusting
the law. Just own it. Don't claim to be
a believer in grace when you're trusting the law. You're terrified. You're worried trusting the law.
You're fearful and afraid to die because you're brought back
under the power of sin, which says, if you do that, you're
going to die. You're going to perish in your
sins. The Lord is able to keep us and He teaches us and shows
us don't do that. And He turns us and gives us
a heart and gives us a cry and a plead in the spirit, Abba,
Father, help me, save me, Lord, keep me. Don't let me go. Don't
turn me loose, but keep me, Lord, keep me. So by Christ, by His
blood, we're freed from the bondage of the law that we may live unto
God. not under the commandments of
the law after the manner of Moses, but live unto God in the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8, 2-4 says, For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law of Moses could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. He didn't change the flesh. This
flesh is still flesh. It's going to be sown corruptible.
It's going to go into the ground, back to the dust that it came
from. It's corrupted and defiled. But when Christ comes again,
when He calls, it'll be raised incorruptible. Because we'll
see our Savior as He is, and He'll change us as he is because
we'll see him as he is. And so Christ removed the law's
power that it had over the flesh because we don't answer to it
anymore. We're not looking to the law. We're not looking to
get the approval of the law anymore because we're dead to the law.
He said, Galatians 2.19, I through the law am dead to the law that
I might live unto God. So who is he that condemned?
It's Christ that died. Romans 8.34 again. It's Christ
that died. So the matter is settled. Only
the carnal man wants to bring the law back into it that he
might find something to glory in the flesh. And so our righteousness
is in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8.4. that the righteousness
of the law, not our practice of the law, but the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit, having perfect obedience by Christ. Our walk, brethren, is one of
faith. It's one of faith, wrought by
the Spirit in us, whereby we look to Christ for all our righteousness,
all our keeping, all our hope, all our peace and joy, and rest
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, let's close
in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace and mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
we thank you for your wisdom which delivered us from the law
and out from the bondage of the law and trying to work a righteousness
for ourselves under the law. But we thank you that you delivered
us perfectly, having satisfied it through death by our savior,
paying the penalty that we owe and paying it perfectly so that
there is no more wrath left for us to drink up and to bear. But Lord, we now being freed
from the law and from that bondage and from fear and worry and strife
and debate, Lord, that we may live by the Lord Jesus Christ,
thankful and trusting your grace in him to keep us and teach us
and guide us and to raise us up again from
the dead in that day. Lord, we thank you for all your
wisdom and grace in Christ. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. All right, brother. I went a
little long, but let's take 12 minutes from now. So we'll come back at there. So at five after. So I'll pause this, I'll stop
this for now and we'll come back on.