Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring you a message
this morning from Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. This chapter closes with one
of the clearest verses in all of the scripture on what an offense
our efforts are to God in trying to earn our own salvation. What an offense Our works are
to God. They're not just insufficient.
Our works are insufficient, but they're not just insufficient,
they're offensive. Galatians 2 verse 21, Paul said,
I do not frustrate the grace of God. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. I don't frustrate grace like
so many people do today. And they have no idea they're
doing it. The word frustrate, if you look
up that word the way that it was originally written, it means
to set aside. to disesteem, to despise, to
bring to naught, to reject. That's what the word means. And
he said, I do not set aside the grace of God. I do not reject
the grace of God. He went on to say, for if righteousness
come by the law, if righteousness for a sinner comes by the law,
by obedience to God's law, obeying what God said to do, then he said, Christ is dead
in vain. If my good deeds are what pleases
God and earns my favor with Him. If He accepts me into His kingdom
and into His presence because of the good that He sees in me,
if He looks to me, if it all hinges on what He sees in me,
then I have totally taken Christ out of the equation. and he suffered and he bled and
he died for no reason. That's what that verse of scripture
is saying. Now go with me to verse 11 and
we're gonna work our way back up to verse 21. Galatians 2 verse
11 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 their dissimulation. The Jews were steeped in religion.
They had been told all their life about this law and that
law. There were certain meats that
they were not allowed to eat. If you look over at Acts chapter
10, this is where Peter was up on the roof of a house. Acts
chapter 10 verse nine says, on the morrow, as they went on their
journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the
housetop to pray about the sixth hour. And he became very hungry,
and would have eaten, but while they made ready, he fell into
a trance, and saw heaven opened. And a certain vessel descending
unto him, as it had been a great sheet, knit at the four corners
and let down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed
beast of the earth, and wild beast, and creeping things, and
fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him,
Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord,
for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And
the voice spake unto him again the second time, what God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice
and the vessel was received up again into heaven. God told Peter
all those things that the law says you're not allowed to eat.
Now you think about that, the law, God's word. He said all those things that
the law says you're not allowed to eat, I'm telling you to eat
them. And this right here has nothing
to do with meat. The purpose of our Lord recording all of
this is not to tell us certain things about meat. It has everything
to do with God telling sinners that they are not justified in
His sight by obeying the law. This has everything to do with
God justifying whom He will. He said, don't you call common
what I've made clean. Now back in Galatians 2, the
Gentiles were probably eating a meat that the law said the
Jews were not allowed to eat. The Gentiles were considered
heathens, outcast, unclean. They were considered sinners.
And the grace of God in Peter caused him to be the friend of
publicans and sinners. God showed Peter, that's all
you are is a sinner. But when some of the Jews came
from James, Peter withdrew himself from the Gentiles and he caused
the other Jews with him to withdraw themselves from the Gentiles.
and even Barnabas, who traveled with Paul to all the Gentiles
in the first place. Even he withdrew himself. And
they all went back to their law. You see that? They all went back
to their law. Verse 14, Paul said, But 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 manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, Why compelest
thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? He said, if you
have been set free from the bondage of the law, why are you trying
to put the Gentiles under it? If you know that salvation has
nothing to do with obeying the law, why are you by your actions
saying to them that it does? Verse 15, he said, we who are
Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles. He's saying
all of us apostles are Jews. We were brought up under the
commandments of the law. We're not strangers to it. We're
not outcast to it. We're not strangers to the danger
of that law. We're not strangers to the bondage
of the law. He said in verse 16, 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. He said, we know that a man is
not justified by the works of the law. The reason a sinner could never
be justified by obeying God is because no sinner could ever
obey God perfectly. That's the great desire of every
believer would be to obey God and one day in a sinless state
of eternity, we will. We'll obey Him perfectly. But as it is in our natural flesh,
it is not possible. No sinner could ever obey Him
perfectly in deed and in thought and in motive of the heart. And
that's what He demands. God is holy. God is perfect and
He only accepts what is perfect. And sin is mixed with all that
we do. That's what the Word of God says.
Sin is mixed with all that we do. If you look with me over
at Romans chapter seven, this is the Apostle Paul. And he said
in verse 18, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth
no good thing. Now you think about this, this
is God's apostle saying this. He said, I know that in me, that
is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. It's just not possible. I just
cannot do it. So our trying to obey God's law
can and will never justify us. It cannot justify us. It will
not justify us. Over in Acts chapter 13, verse
38 says, 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. It's just not possible. It is
just not possible. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, he is
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He is our wisdom. If we don't have him, we don't
have any wisdom. He is our righteousness. If we
don't have him, we don't have any righteousness. He is our
sanctification. People talk about progressive
sanctification. They talk about by their works,
by their deeds, growing holier and holier before God. If Christ
is our sanctification, He's as good as it gets. To grow in sanctification
would be to become better than Christ. That's not possible. That's not possible. He is my
sanctification. Without Him, I don't have any.
And He is my redemption. Without Him, I don't have any. Colossians 2.10 says, you are
complete in Him. In Him, only in Him. Well, back in Galatians 2 verse
16 says, 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. That means if we're justified
by the faith of Christ, what it means is it's His faith. It's the faith of Christ. It
belongs to Him. It comes to us from Him. And it's performed in us by Him. And what that means is we can't
take any credit for believing. Faith is believing God. And our
belief is just the result of his work. We don't have any credit
due to our name for any of this. Hebrews 12 says, he is the author
of that faith and he's the finisher of that faith. Verse 16 says,
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. We believe in the faith of. Think about that. That's what
a believer believes. We believe in the faith of. We believe in the faith of Christ. We look to the faith of Christ. We trust His faith that He will
give to us. Verse 16 goes on to say, and
not the works of the law. We're 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. Now just in case this
is not clear, Let me illustrate this. Let's say there are two
people, two men. One has lived a life of absolute
sin. He's murdered, he's stolen, he's
a liar, he's an addict. The other one has gone to church
since the day he was born. He has truly tried to give his
life to helping his neighbor. He tries to take the low road
and give others the high road. Honesty has been policy number
one for him. He has always paid his bills
on time. He's never tried to cheat on
his taxes. He's just an honest, non-confrontational,
kind man. Which one of those two men are
gonna be allowed to enter into glory and live eternally in the
presence of God? Which one of those two men? Without the blood of Jesus Christ,
the answer is neither one of them. Neither one of them. The one
guy may be better than the other guy, but it doesn't matter. He is still not good enough. How good does a person have to
be to earn his own way into glory? How good does a person have to
be to work his own way into glory? The answer is, as good as God. As good as God himself. So without
the blood of Christ, which one of those two men are gonna be
allowed to enter into glory? Neither one of them. But, if
both of those two men are covered from head to toe in the blood
of the Lamb of God, which one of those two men will be rejected
from the presence in the favor of God? If they're both covered in the
blood of Christ, the answer is neither one of them. Neither
one will be rejected. Paul said in verse 16, 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. 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. What he's saying is, If I acknowledge
that salvation is in the blood of Christ alone, but I still
try to add my works to it, if I say works are still somehow
a part of all this, will God still accept me on those grounds?
He said, God forbid. God forbid, verse 18, for if
I build again, The things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. If I try to mix my works with
God's grace, I make myself a transgressor.
Our Lord said, all manner of sin committed against me shall
be forgiven, but the sin against the Holy Ghost That's unbelief,
not believing in Christ alone, not believing in His work alone,
not believing that that blood alone that He shed on the cross,
that's what redeems a sinner. And if we try to add any of our
works to His grace and His blood, we're a transgressor before Him. In Christ alone, there's no sin. Outside of Christ alone, I'm
a transgressor against God. Verse 19 says, for I through
the law, according to the law, in agreement with the law, am
dead to the law, that I might live unto God. How is that possible? When all
are born under the curse of the law, And sinners stay under that
curse until the day they die. How can I be dead to the law? Verse 20 says, I am crucified
with Christ. He satisfied the law against
me when he hung on that tree. He put away all my transgression
to the law. He covered me. in His sacrificial
blood. He made me acceptable to God. As far as the law is concerned,
I died. That law, I sinned against God.
I sinned against His law. And you know what the law says?
You break the law, you pay the penalty. What is the wages of
sin? Death. The law said, I must die. And as far as the law is concerned,
I died. But as far as God is concerned,
I live. Verse 20 says, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. There's a new creation. There's
a new man. Back in 2 Corinthians 5, verse
17 says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. All things are become new. Galatians 2, verse 20 says, 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 only reason I'm alive, spiritually speaking, The only reason that I am alive
is because of the love of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ for
me. That's the only reason. I'm alive
to God only because of his love and his sacrifice for me. So he said in verse 21, I do
not frustrate the grace of God. I do not disesteem. I do not
despise. I do not make nothing out of
the grace of God. I set it first. I highly esteem
it. I love it. It's my all. It is my all. For if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. And Christ is
not dead in vain. Thank God He did not die in vain. Go with me to Romans 8. We'll
close with this. Let's read these glorious verses
of Scripture. Romans 8 verse 1 says, There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 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 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. Now verse 33 here in Romans 8
says, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? those precious chosen people
that God shed His blood for. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. And in verse 38, he said, for
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Isn't
that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? You know
what that tells us? It tells us He did not die in vain. Christ did not die in vain. Where sin abounded, Grace did
much more abound. Thank God for His grace. Thank God for His mercy and His
grace. We do not frustrate His glorious
grace, do we? We highly esteem it, we love
it, and we thank God for it. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless this word to our hearts. You have been listening
to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.