Galatians 2, verses 6-19, we'll
be looking at this morning. Galatians 2, verses 6-19, and
the title of the message this morning is, The Gospel of Justification. The Gospel of Justification. Now, last week we saw the Apostle
Paul, being sent by the Spirit, by revelation, He went up to
Jerusalem, to the council of Jerusalem, to deal with this
matter of circumcision that had come up in the church. You remember
in the church of Antioch, there was Judaizers who came in, and
they came in preaching that believers must be circumcised. They must
follow the law of Moses to be saved. And Paul gives this account
because this is the same thing that was happening in the church
of Galatia. The Judaizers had come in demanding
that salvation must come by Christ plus the law. And Paul, he tells
us that when he went up by revelation, He preached the gospel unto them
and gave not one... Look at verse 5, "...to whom
He gave place by subjection, no, not an hour." He didn't give
place to these Judaizers one bit. Not one minute. He did not compromise the gospel.
And that's what we looked at last week. We are not to compromise
the gospel for anything. We are not to compromise the
gospel for the sake of so-called unity. There is a unity among
believers, but that unity is the gospel. It is Christ that
makes us unified. And if we don't have the same
gospel, if we don't have the same Christ, if we don't have
the same God, we cannot be unified with others. We cannot unify
with them. Why? Because they have a different
Lord than we do, and they have a different gospel. And now in
verse 6, Paul here tells us that there is no addition to his office
or his gospel. Look at this in verse 6. He says,
"...but of these who seem to be important somewhat." Whatsoever
they were, it maketh no matter to me. God accepteth no man's
person. For they who seemed to be somewhat
in conference added nothing to me. But counterwise, when they
saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the
gospel of circumcision was unto Peter, For he that wrought affectionately
in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was
mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Peter, and John,
who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me,
they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship,
that we should go unto the heathen, and they to the circumcision."
Paul is saying when these men, when he came to this council,
And he preached the gospel. He was not intimidated by these
important men. They seemed to be important,
and they were. He calls them apostles, the pillars of the
church. But you see, he did not change
his gospel in the least. And when they heard it, the apostles
heard his gospel. It was counterwise. He said they
accepted it. They said, yes, that's the same
gospel we preach. And so they gave them the right
hand of fellowship. You see, there was unity there
because they had the same gospel. They had the same gospel. He's
saying that the apostles added nothing to him or his gospel. Now, he had been separated from
them for years. He had only been visited them
just a few times, and yet their Gospels were identical Gospels. The same God who wrought in Peter
is the same God that wrought in me, Paul says. Same God and
same Gospel. And the gospel was added nothing
by the other apostles. And so whatever the apostles
have written for us has been written by the Holy Spirit and
is infallible and this same message is to be preached by God's men. And that is the message of justification
by the grace of God. through faith without the works
of the law." That's the message. This is the singleness of message.
Justification by the free grace of God without works. This is the heart and foundation
of the gospel. And to add to this is to take
away and destroy the gospel. If we add to this gospel of justification
by grace, The works of man, we have destroyed the gospel and
it is of no effect. I'll tell you, there are many
things in the Scriptures that we may disagree on. Eschatology. You may be pre-Millennialists,
post-Millennialists, or all Millennialists. It doesn't bother me in the least. I don't know. I remember one
Jack Shanks, he said, I'm a pan-millennialist, it's all going to pan out in
the end. I don't know. There are some
questions that I as an all-millennialist, I can't understand. Then the
pre-millennialists ask me questions. There are some things that they
can ask that I can't give an answer to. And there are many
things I can ask that they can't give an answer to. But I'll tell
you this, that is not the gospel. We can differ on chronological
order of things. Time. There are some things in
Scripture that I don't know when exactly it happened, and I piece
it together trying to give you an order, but we can differ on
that. That's not essential, is it? But I'll tell you what is essential.
The gospel of justification is essential. It is essential how
a man is justified before God. If a man says that you are justified
by works and works plus Christ, we cannot agree. We cannot agree. Justification is by the sovereign
grace of God in Jesus Christ without the law. And if the pillars
of the church embrace this message, If the apostles embraced this
message and added nothing to it, how then shall lesser men
add anything to it? How can we add anything to God's
gospel when the apostles themselves didn't do it? Friends, there are no more apostles
and there is no new revelation. This is the complete gospel. We have the complete Word of
God. And if any man comes and says
he has a new revelation of God, he's a liar. He's a liar. Get away from him. This is the
revelation of God. This is the gospel of God that
by grace, by unmerited, unconditional, eternal, immutable, free justification
of sinners by Jesus Christ through faith in His blood and righteousness. That's the message Paul preached
and that's the message we shall preach. It's one message. One
message. Anything added to it or taken
away from it is not the gospel and we cannot walk with those
who do that. Number two, let's look at Peter's
error. That's what Paul is going to bring up next. Peter's error. Look at verse 11. It says, But when Peter was come
to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be
blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with
the Gentiles. But when they were come, he withdrew
and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away
with this dissimulation." Peter's error. Paul now uses this historical
account of Peter coming to Antioch. Now, I believe that it was after
the council of Jerusalem. After Peter gave that great speech
about justification and how the Gentiles are saved the same way
that the Jews were saved. They had the same spirit and
same gospel. After that, he came to the church
of Antioch. And he sat down with these Gentile
believers. Now, after the church met in
those days, they had what they call love feast. It was a feast
after the service that everybody would bring their food and they
would eat together. But that became corrupted, as
you know, in Corinthians when the rich started separating themselves
from the poor and not sharing their food. Well, they were having this feast
after the worship service, and Peter was enjoying a nice pork
sandwich. Now, the Jews, their dietary
law was that you weren't supposed to eat anything that was unclean. And pork was one of those things.
I'm just supposing he had a pork sandwich. He could have had any
other type of sandwich or meal that was against the dietary
law. But he was sitting there enjoying
that sandwich and all of a sudden, some Jews came in from James. Now, we don't know anything about
these Jews. We don't know if they were Judaizers, if they
just came, if they just were sent of James to come up there
and visit or fellowship. We don't know about these men.
We don't know if they were Judaizers or not. But Peter, when he saw
them, he pushed away that pork and he got up for fear of them. He was afraid either that He
might offend them or He was afraid that they might condemn Him.
Either way, He got up without saying a word and just sat down
over there. He sat down with the Jews. And when Paul saw that Barnabas
and all the other Jews got up and followed him, he said, I
withstood him to the face. In other words, Paul wasn't a
whisperer. He wasn't someone that'd go around behind someone's
back. He was very straightforward. And he said, I withstood him
to the face in the middle of everybody, because he was to
be blamed. What was so wrong with that?
Can you find out what's so wrong with what he did? He didn't say
anything. He didn't command the Gentiles
to do what He did. He didn't try to impose them
by His speech. He just got up and left. So what
was wrong with that? What was so wrong with Peter's
actions? Because his actions undermined
the gospel of God's grace. His actions were in opposition
to his faith in the gospel. Peter knew that salvation was
not by the works of the law, and yet he consented by his action
that the works of the law are still powerful, still effectual
in the church. By his actions, he told them,
that the dietary law of Moses was still in effect. When he
got up and pushed away that sandwich or whatever it is and sat down
over there, he was telling them by his actions something totally
different than he said with his words. Peter knew that the law was fulfilled
in Christ, that the law pictured Christ, And he knew this from
the revelation of God. If you remember that time he
was going to preach to Cornelius, he had that vision and God laid
out all those unclean and clean animals and He said, kill and
eat. And Peter said, no, I won't do it. I have not touched anything
that's unclean. And God says there's nothing
unclean. Why? Christ has fulfilled the
law. He's fulfilled it all. Nothing
is unclean. Rise and eat." And he did. But by his action, Peter was saying
something very hypocritical, that the law had some place in
the gospel. Therefore, Paul withstood Him
to the face." Look at verse 14. This is what he said when he
withstood Him. He said, "...And when I saw that they walked not
uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter
before them all, If thou being a Jew livest after the men of
the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles
to live as do the Jews?" Paul was asking Peter, he said,
Do you live like the Gentiles? What was he saying? He said,
you live by the freedom and liberty of Christ, don't you? Peter,
don't you live by the liberty and freedom of Christ from the
law? Of course he did. We are free in Christ by faith. and not after the Jews which
will still contend that the law of Moses has something to do
with it." Our salvation. You don't live like the Jews.
You don't live according to the law. Why then by your actions
are you compelling these Gentiles to live after the law? In verse 15, he says, "...we
who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles." He
tells Peter, are we not Jews? We don't really have very much
understanding of what it was to be a Jew. When you were a
Jewish child, you were raised in the law. You lived it. You breathed it. Your education
came from it. You were immersed in it. It was
a traditional thing. It was a customary thing that
they raised their children to understand the law. They would
memorize it. They would know it from their
youth. Peter, we know what it's like
to be a Jew. We know what it's like to be raised under that
law. We know the bondage of the law. We've experienced that bondage,
haven't we? And yet we know that nobody will
be justified by the law. We know that as Jews. Why? We
lived it. We couldn't be justified by it.
Peter said in Acts chapter 15, he says, Why do we put the burden
on the Gentiles which we and our fathers could not bear? He
knew that they couldn't bear the law. We know that we're not going
to be justified by the law. Why do you give consent to it?
Why is it you're consenting to the law? This was nothing but
hypocritical. To say and believe one thing
and his actions do the opposite. This was Peter's great error
and it must be confronted even among us. Even among us. If we are anyway living by the
law, stop it. Stop it. If you are a believer
in Christ, we are free from the law. Free from the law. Completely. Absolutely. It has no more dominion over
us. What can we learn from Peter's
mistake? Well, we can learn several things. First of all, we can
learn that Peter was not infallible. Isn't that right? Peter made a lot of mistakes. He made a lot of sins. He denied
the Lord Jesus Christ. He went back fishing. He gave
up on the whole thing. Peter quickly tried to anoint
an apostle himself. Not waiting for the Spirit of
God. And here, Peter, again, by his actions, is hypocritical. Peter is not infallible, and
neither is any other man. I'm not trying to pick on Peter
here. I'm not trying to pick on him. I'm just trying to show
you that it doesn't matter. The man of God is still a sinner
saved by grace just like anyone else. We are sinners saved by
grace. And if you exalt a man too high,
you're going to be disappointed. The best of men are only men
at best. We all by nature are unworthy
sinners before God, and even when we were saved by grace,
God still has not taken away this old nature. This old man
of mine is still as corrupt and still as sinful as he was when
he was born. More so now than he was then. This man is wicked. And we are
all prone to sin. Even those who are anointed of
God to such high offices, even the apostles. You remember noble Noah. was
found in a drunken stupor. Faithful Abraham asked his wife
to lie and play the harlot for fear of a king. Devout David committed adultery
and murder." If we recognize this, if we recognize
that if we are left to ourselves, we are no different. If God takes
His hand off any one of His believers, we are no different. None. And this would aid us to forgive
others if we would recognize this. It would help us to be
more compassionate to believers who have fallen into sin. Second
of all, we can learn that we must not please men. In verse
12 it says that he feared them. Peter feared them. This was the
motivating cause for him to get up and go to them. We must not compromise the gospel
for favor and applause of other men. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot please men and glorify
God. Proverbs 25, 29 says, The fear
of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the
Lord shall be saved. Let us fear and trust God and
not Not fear men. What can man do unto us? The worst thing a man can do
is take our life. It doesn't matter. Not to a believer. Not to a believer. Let us not
seek their applause. Let us not seek their favor.
Let us seek God's favor. Let us seek God, let us trust
God instead of fearing men. Number three, we can learn this
Let us be aware that we all influence other people. Just as Peter,
he didn't say anything, and I'm sure in his heart, he didn't
mean for anybody else to get up. He got up and left on his
own. But what he didn't realize is
that his actions influenced other people. Because the other Jews,
even Barnabas, even Barnabas, Paul's companion, got up and
left. We are not an island unto ourselves,
but rather our actions have ripple effects around those around us. We always have influence on someone. You say, well, I'm not anybody.
You have influence on somebody. One of my pastors, he said to
me, he said, be careful what you say, because somebody is
going to believe it. Somebody is going to believe
it. Be careful what we do, because someone is going to see it. And
it's not the good they see, it's the evil, isn't it? You can do
ten things good and one thing bad, and what does everybody
focus on? The thing you did wrong. You have an influence on people.
Be aware of this. Lot had his influence on his
family. And look what happened when he
went to Sodom. He influenced his wife and she
loved Sodom so much that she would not be delivered from it.
She wanted to go back even when it was being destroyed. His daughters
were so influenced by his lack of disdain for Sodom that they
committed incest with their father. Parents, teachers, preachers,
workers, bosses, we all have influence on the people around
us. Be very careful. We should walk, the Scripture
says, circumspectly. That means walk on a thin fence
with a Doberman pincher on one side and a German shepherd on
the other. Be careful. Why? Because of our
influence. We do have influence. We do. Peter had influence and
he didn't even know it. And he caused others to err.
Lastly, let's see the gospel doctrine of justification. Verse
16, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by 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." This is the first time the word justified
is used in this book, and it's used three times in one verse.
Three times in one verse. Now, this word justified, this
word to justify, it is in the passive voice, which means this. It means to be justified. It's passive. Justification is
a passive thing. It's not something we do to be
justified. To be justified is something
that God must have done for us. The word justified means innocent.
That's what it is. It's a judicial term of innocence. Innocence. Friends, this gospel of Jesus
Christ is the only one that can answer the question, how can
God be just and justify the ungodly? How can God be just and still
justify guilty sinners? How is that? Well, it's because God purposed
to justify. God purposed in eternity to justify. Look at this in Romans chapter
8. Flip over a couple of pages. Romans chapter 8, verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified." When was all that? Eternity. God purposed
all of that for His people in eternity. It's not what He foreknew,
it's whom He foreknew. He foreknew a people that He
would justify. And so then, in the purpose of
God, the work in Christ was already done. God, when He determined
in eternity to justify, He gave us to Christ, and the work was
already done in the purpose of God. Christ was as a lamb slain
before the foundation of the world, the Scripture says. And
therefore, in time, Christ must need to come and fulfill that
purpose. And He did. He came and was obedient
to the law of God in every thought, word and deed. Made a righteousness
by His own merit. Not for Himself, but for His
people. Jesus Christ was obedient to
die in the place of His people. And He suffered the wrath of
God in their stead. You see, God took our guilt that
was truly ours and made it truly His. And when He did that, He took
His innocence and gave it to me. That's justification. That's the hope of sinners. It's the work of Jesus Christ.
And in time, the Spirit of God comes and gives us faith. The
Scripture says, being justified by faith. Now, faith does not
justify anyone. The act of our faith does not
justify us. Otherwise, it wouldn't be passive,
would it? It would be active. We would have something in it.
We would have something to do with it. But because God purposed
it, Christ accomplished it, when He gives us faith, faith only
recognizes what has already been done. You see, I have faith in
what has already been done. My faith accomplishes nothing
for justification. But I receive justification by
faith. I just received it. It was already
there. It was already accomplished.
Faith just brings it to me. And faith itself is not even
an action that we can perform. It is something that God must
do for us. For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that faith is not of yourself. It, faith, is the
gift of God and not of works, lest any man should boast. This
is the doctrine of justification. And therefore, if we are justified
by Christ, the Scripture says that just shall live by faith.
We don't live by law, we live by faith. We're not lawless by
no means. We have the law of Christ, the
law of love. I love Christ. Therefore, I don't
want to sin. It's not that the law has anything
to do with my motive of sinning or not. It has no dominion over
me. My love is to Christ because
He justified me. And we give praise to Him for
that. Justification, the gospel. I pray, Lord, bless it to you.