Alright, go with me back to Galatians
chapter 5. Galatians 5, I believe it's important
for us to remember that when these letters were written there
were no chapter divisions put in them. This was just one long
continuous letter that the Apostle wrote. And he just gave them
in chapter 4 an allegory, he called it an allegory, he gave
them an illustration. of law and grace, salvation by
the works of man and salvation by the promise of God. And if
you think about grace, you know, we're just saying that, you know,
I shall see him face to face and tell the story, I was saved
by grace. What that means is God made a
promise and God fulfilled it. That's what it means. We are
saved by promise. That's it. Saved by promise. And the apostle Paul told them
back in chapter four, verse 28, he said, now we brethren, as
Isaac was, are the children of promise. We're not the children
of God by the works of this flesh. We're children of God by his
free grace, absolute free grace. We have been adopted into the
family of God by the free gift of the blood of Christ. He also
said in verse 30, The works of the flesh, he said, the bondwoman
and her son. He was talking about Hagar and
Abraham's own doing. I'm going to help God out. The
works of the flesh, the bondwoman and her son, he said they have
to be cast out. Cast out the bondwoman and her
son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. Not only do
our works not add anything to God's grace, you know, that's
what most people have in their mind. Yeah, we're saved by grace.
But if I will do this, then I'll add to that, you know, it'd be
better if I would help out a little bit. I've got two cents here
and I'll go ahead and put those in too. But not only do they
not add anything to God's grace, they cannot be mixed with it.
They just flat cannot be mixed with it. Not when it comes to
the issue of salvation. So not only are our works no
help, as soon as they enter into the equation, they ruin it. They
just ruin it. And that's what he said down
in chapter 5 verse 9. He said, a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. Just a little bit of self will
self the whole lump. A little bit of sin will sin
the whole lump. You cannot mix man's filthy works
with God's perfect and complete salvation. You just cannot do
it. All right, so here's where we start. Chapter 5, verse 1,
he said, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Stand fast means hold your ground. Stand firm. Don't move. Don't move from the liberty. And that word means freedom.
The freedom wherewith Christ has made us Christ has made us
free. We're free. Turn with me over
to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. And look at verse 32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free." What is the truth? Christ said, I am. I am. Verse 36, John 8 verse 36 says,
if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Free from what? Verse 34, he
said, free from the bondage of sin. Jesus answered them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin. Now, have we committed sin? Are
we sinners? If we have ever committed a sin,
what that means is we are the servants of sin. I mean, we're
in complete and total bondage to sin. We're not sinners because
we sinned. We sinned as an evidence of the
fact that we're sinners. We're in bondage to sin. He said
in verse 34, Jesus answered them, barely, barely, I say unto you,
whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. And the servant
abideth not in the house forever, but the son abides forever. A servant doesn't, but a son
does. And if Christ has set us free from that bondage of sin
and that penalty of sin, then we are free, completely free. If Christ did it, it's done.
It is done. Go with me over to Romans 8. 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. Do you love that verse as much
as I do? Every single time I read that verse, I think that is good
news. That is good news. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit." If a person doesn't,
if a sinner, let me say it that way, if a sinner does not find
good news in that verse, they just haven't lived long enough.
They haven't sinned enough yet. They haven't seen enough of what
they are capable of. But as soon as we get a glimpse
of what we are, what we're capable of, that's the greatest news
a sinner will ever hear. Verse two says, for the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death. Free. Free. I mean free. We all know that we deserve condemnation. If we are brought before the
judge and the truth is brought out on us, we know we ought to
be incarcerated. We know we ought to be condemned. But the judgment goes forth.
If we're in Christ, Absolute freedom, absolute freedom. You're
going to love this verse of scripture. Go to second Corinthians chapter
three. I love this. To me, this verse
of scripture describes a congregation of believers, true believers. Second Corinthians three. Verse 17 says, now the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom. There's freedom. The Lord is
that spirit. You know, we just asked the Lord
to send his spirit, didn't we? We said, Lord, would you send
your spirit? The Lord is that spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord
is, if he's there, there's freedom. There's liberty. There's absolute
freedom. Freedom to do what? Stop working. Freedom to rest. Freedom to just
rejoice and relax in the gospel. Just relax in the gospel. Freedom to live and move and
have our being in Christ. Freedom. Freedom to work. Now I just said freedom to stop
working, didn't I? Freedom to work for love's sake
and love's sake only. Freedom to do because you want
to and not because you have to. Freedom. Absolute freedom. Go with me back to Galatians
5. Verse 1 says, Stand fast therefore
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. What he's saying
is don't take one step back towards having to do anything to finally
clinch salvation. And I'll tell you where probably
the number one issue with this comes into place. is baptism. People struggle with it and they
struggle with it. And there are other ordinances,
there are other things that believers do that people struggle with
it. He's saying stand still, just
stand still in the freedom of knowing that you are complete
in Him. You hear about grace, you hear
about freedom from the law, freedom from bondage, freedom from man's
works, freedom from decisions, freedom from all these things,
and then you start to say, now wait a minute, but do I need
to take a step back over in this direction? Stand still. Stand still, knowing that you
are complete in Him. Verse 2 says, Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing. Here's what he's saying, and
this is important for every believer to hear. He's saying if you see
in God's Word, if you read it, in God's Word that He said, You
need to be circumcised. It's in there. Back in Genesis,
he told Abraham. Day number eight, every male
child, your own children, your servants, your servants' children,
everybody. If you see in God's word that
you need to be circumcised, and then you become circumcised. And then you believe in your
heart that you're saved Because God said you needed to be circumcised,
and then you got circumcised. If that's the case, if your salvation
hinges on that circumcision, you have wasted your time. You've
wasted your time. A doctor performing a circumcision
has never saved one soul. Never. If a sinner's hope, if my hope
is dependent on that circumcision, then Christ has not profited
that sinner one bit. Not one bit. I can say the exact
same thing about baptism. I can say it about any other
ordinance. If I see in God's Word that He
said you need to be baptized, it's in there, isn't it? And then I become baptized. And then I believe in my heart
that I'm saved. Because God said you need to
be baptized and I got baptized. If that's the case, if my salvation
hinges on the baptism, does our salvation hinge on that baptism? Is our salvation dependent on
whether or not the church has running water and we can fill
that pool up with water? If it hinges on that baptism,
I have wasted my time and I've wasted the preacher's time. A
preacher performing a baptism has never saved one soul. A doctor performing a circumcision
has never saved one soul. And a preacher performing a baptism
has never saved one soul. That circumcision represented
a covenant. God gave it to Abraham back in
Genesis and he said, this is a token unto you. I'm going to make a covenant
with you. That circumcision represented
a covenant of something that Christ would do. That baptism represents a finished
work that Christ has done. Done. Over. If salvation is not
absolutely complete, that circumcision is not going to go very far.
The baptism is not either. It's just not going to go that
far. Both of those things are in there. But there is a list
of commandments in here that's 10,000 miles long. And yes, God said to do both
of those, but do we realize how many things in here God has said
to do and don't do? If we're going to do one, then
we need to do them all. Verse 3 says, For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the
whole law. If we're going to base salvation
on one commandment, one commandment, then we need to base salvation
on every commandment. That's what he's saying. Verse
4 says, Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of
you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. Either
Christ is our whole Savior, start to finish, only Savior
or He's not our Savior at all. One of the two. He's either all
of our hope or none of our hope. One of the two. To lay hold of
any, the scripture talks about the dot of an I and the cross
of a T, a jot and a tittle. to lay hold of any dot of the
eye, any cross of the T in this law as a condition for salvation
is to fall from grace. Grace, total, complete, free,
finished grace. Look with me at Romans 11. Romans 11 verse 5 says, Even so then at
this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace and if by grace then it is no more of works otherwise
grace is no more grace but if it be of works then it is no
more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. It's one or the other. There's
no mixing the two. There's no room in God's salvation
to mix the two. Go with me back to Galatians
5. Verse 5 says, For we through the Spirit Wait for the hope
of righteousness by faith. And what this is talking about,
stand fast in the liberty, and if you're hanging on that circumcision,
Christ profits you nothing. What he's talking about is, how
is a sinner just before God? What makes us righteous in God's
eyes, worthy? And he said in verse five, we,
through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. God's Spirit has caused us to
stop trying to find righteousness through obeying His law. None
of us in here who believe on Christ are trying to find righteousness
through the deeds of this law. None of God's sheep do. His Spirit
has put all of our hope in in being perfect, our hope of being
acceptable in Christ. It's all in Christ, every single
bit of it. He is our righteousness. Verse 6 says, For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, and I love this part, which worketh. by love. He spent all that time saying,
he just said in that verse, if you get circumcised or you don't
get circumcised, it doesn't matter. He said, this is by faith, faith
in Christ, which worketh by love. Our works have no bearing on
our standing before God if we're in Christ. I could not do anything
to put myself in the hand of Jesus Christ. I can't do anything,
thank God, to take myself out of the hand of Jesus Christ.
We're kept by the power of God. We were saved by the power of
God. It's not based on my works. Not at all. Not if I'm in Christ.
By faith, by the faith in His promise, in His blood, in His
faithfulness. By faith, He said, which worketh
by love. Now we're not saved by works.
hope we understand that. We're not saved by works, we're
saved by faith. But here is what Paul is saying. Faith works. He said all that
to say this. He said every bit of that to
say this. True faith has a desire to work. If God gives a sinner
faith, okay now, if God gives a sinner faith, If God grants
to a sinner faith, then salvation is complete. By grace are you saved through
faith. So if God gives a sinner faith,
that's it. Salvation is complete. Faith
is not ours. Started with him, belongs to
him, performed by him, given by him, and if he does that,
salvation's complete. By grace are you saved through
faith. All right? But with that God-given
faith comes a desire to work. A desire comes to work. The faith of Christ in a sinner
causes that sinner to want to obey God. That's what he said. Do that. Don't do that. Right? A believer, a true child of God
sees we hold to this word. Paul kept saying, do we throw
out God's law? Do we just sin against God's
law because we're saved by grace? God forbid. Do we directly read
what he says and just do the opposite? God forbid. We read what He says and then
we say, you know what, I want to do that. Why do you want to
do that? So you can be saved? Nope, it
has no bearing on my salvation. None whatsoever. I want to do
it because I love Him. I want to do this because I love
Him. I love His Word. I want to obey God. I want to
do this. I want to be conformed to the
image of Christ. I want to spend my days on this
earth living like He tells me to live. I love His Word. I want to do it because I believe
He's given me a heart to do it. And do I fall short? Yes, I do. But I believe He's given me a
heart to do it. We want to do it, don't we? Turn
with me over to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 2. We give thanks to God always
for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love. Your work of faith and your labor
of love. Do God's people have a heart
to obey God? They most certainly do. They
sure do. We go through this saying, not
the law, not the law, not the law, not the law. Do we love
this law? Absolutely. Do we have a heart
to do for others and do good deeds and things like that? Absolutely. We stand up here and we say,
you know, man's all proud of their good deeds and man's going
around trying to do good deeds. So are we. I want to. I would love to be the kind of
neighbor that my neighbor is. I really would. Why do we want
to do that? Love. Love. Well, yeah, but they don't have
to. They don't have to have to. They just want to. God's people
just want to. Somebody will say, now be careful,
you're going to hinge back on bondage. You start trying to
live right and do right, you'll put yourself back into bondage. They are two totally different
things. They're just two totally different
things. Throw out, I mean absolutely
wad up and throw out being kind to your neighbor so God will
save you. But lay hold of being kind to
your neighbor because God has saved you. I mean embrace it. Do for Him as God has done for
you. Embrace it. Throw out forgiving
your enemy so God will save you. And lay hold of forgiving your
enemy because God has saved you. Even as God for Christ's sake
has forgiven you. Absolutely throw out And I'm
going to say it in this way so it's plain. Absolutely throw
out obeying this Bible. I mean completely throw out obeying
this Bible so God will save you. And completely, totally, with
every fiber of your being, lay hold of obeying this Bible because
God has saved you. Throw out being baptized so God
will save you. Throw it out and lay hold of
being baptized because God has saved you. Whether you're circumcised
or not circumcised, it doesn't make a hill of beans either way.
Whether you got wet or you didn't get wet, when it comes to the
issue of salvation, it does not hinge on that liquid. It hinges on the blood of Jesus
Christ, the choice of God Almighty, and God said to confess Him in
that way. Why do we want to do it? Love.
Love. Lay hold of everything He says
in here for love's sake. God has saved us. And God's people
see the difference in it. We see the difference in it.
We're not hinging back on bondage. That is standing fast in liberty,
absolute liberty. And that is also laboring in
love, laboring in love. I want to show you the perfect
verse of scripture that describes everything Paul is saying. Go
with me over to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6, I love this,
I absolutely love this. I believe all of God's people
say amen to this. Romans 6 verse 18 says, being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Absolute freedom from sin. servants to God's righteousness,
servants of Christ. May God teach us the difference.
That's a glorious liberty in labor of love, isn't it? May
God teach us the difference. I titled this message, Cast Out
Works Then Go to Work. Cast out works and then go to
work. May God teach us to stand fast
in our liberty and then labor in love. All right, let's stand
together.