Please turn in your Bible to
the book of John. We are going through the book
of John, and I really am happy. I love this book. But even though
I have gone through it before, many years ago, at the church
in San Leandro, I feel in a lot of ways I'm going through it
in this way for the first time because I'm learning, either
learning them again, which I have forgotten, or I'm learning them
for the first time, which either way is fine with me, as long
as we learn from God. Now, in the book of John, in
the first verse, we saw that in the beginning was the word. And that beginning, of course,
was the beginning before there was a beginning. And so it says here, in the beginning
was the word. So that tells us the, it tries
to pinpoint, or not tries, but it pinpoints that Whatever that
means in the beginning as a reference of time or at least purpose,
when everything in God's purpose and mind was the Word. It's not
changed. It hasn't changed. It's always
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the next phrase says,
and the Word was with God. So this teaches us that Jesus
Christ, the eternal word, the uncreated creator of all things,
was with his Father face to face in infinite mutual delight with
one another. God the Father and God the Son
pleased with one another without any other need. They have no
needs, but they took great delight in one another. And then it says,
and the Word was God. It tells us that Jesus Christ
is God. Now look at verse 14 where we
are. He says, and the Word was made
flesh. And that corresponds with a parallel
that Arthur Pink pointed out with the first verse, the Word
was made flesh. In the beginning, the Word was. But here, the Word was made flesh. As God, He always was. As man,
He began to be. And then it said in that first
verse, and the Word was with God. Here, in this verse, it
says, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. It tells
us where He was. When He was in eternity as the
eternal Word of God, He was with God the Father, face to face.
But here it says, as man, when he came into the world, he dwelt
among us, he was with us. As God, eternally with his Father. As man, as the Word made flesh,
the mediator, he's with us. Isn't that gracious? And then
it says, and we beheld his glory, And in verse one, where it says
the Word was God, that tells us who He is as God. We beheld
His glory, and this is going to tell us who He is. The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So, grace and truth. That's the title of today's message,
Grace and Truth. This is the revelation of the
eternal word of God in our nature. He who was with the Father who
is God, who was from the beginning in God's mind and purpose, the
center and totality of everything that God is in His purpose and
will and work, That one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
word of God, is full of grace and truth. That's who he is. Full of grace and truth. He goes
on in verse 15, John bear witness of him and cried saying, this
was he of whom I spake. John the Baptist said, I spoke
of him, he that cometh after me is preferred before me, for
he was before me. He was eternally existent. I
was born six months before him, before his birth as man, but
he always was before then, and he's always preferred before
me. There's no equal to him. In Psalm
45, where we were studying on Thursday night, it says, thou
hast anointed him with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
He's preeminent in all things. In verse 16 here, he says, and
of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. Of his fullness,
out of all that he is as God, he is for his people, to his
people. All that Jesus Christ is, consider
this, he is for his people. Amazing, isn't that? Grace for
grace, grace upon grace, grace, grace, grace. Don't you love
that? And then in verse 17, for the
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace and truth, that's what
he's full of, full of grace and truth, grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. In contrast, to the law which
was given by Moses. Now, this contrast actually helps
us to understand grace and truth, doesn't it? In fact, the contrast
is so strong that God, according to his goodwill, put Israel,
the nation, and all men really, under law for hundreds of years,
more than a thousand years. That's a long lesson, isn't it?
God wants to teach us what? About Christ. First, he takes
us to the law. What does the law do? Well, the
law, according to 2 Corinthians 3, the law kills, but the Spirit
gives life. The law condemns, but grace justifies. The law cannot give life, but
grace does give life. The law says do and live. Grace says Christ did, and His
life is your life. You live because of Him. The
law says if you do everything the law requires continuously
without one failure, both positively and negatively, avoiding everything
the law prohibits, and doing everything the law requires,
love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and
your neighbor as yourself. If you do that, at the end, you
live. But grace says, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us, and he gives us a full forgiveness
at the beginning. Now that's grace, isn't it? The law and grace. Christ is
full of grace and truth. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Look at John chapter
18. In John chapter 18, Jesus is
standing before Pilate. And it's a very odd thing that
Pilate says to Jesus, and Jesus doesn't answer this point that
he makes. In verse 38, Pilate said to him,
what is truth? Here, Pilate is the governor.
He's supposed to be the delegated judge in this case. And he asked the question, what
is truth? Doesn't he, in that question,
reveal his own ignorance? and disqualifies himself as being
able even to judge. He doesn't know what truth is.
Notice the verse before this, before Pilate asked him, Jesus
had this exchange with him. And in verse, we can read back
a little bit in verse 31. Then said Pilate to them, take
him, take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews
therefore said to him, it is not lawful for us to put any
man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled,
which he spake signifying what death he should die on the cross. Verse 33, then Pilate entered
into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said to
him, art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, sayest
thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief
priests have delivered thee to me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered. In response,
not only to that, but his previous question, my kingdom, hence I
am the king, my kingdom is not of this world. That's a much
higher realm and a much wider scope than being king of the
Jews, isn't it? My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight
that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom
not from here. It's not from hence. Verse 37,
Pilate therefore said to him, aren't thou a king then? You're
admitting it, come on. Jesus answered, thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
hears my voice." And that's when Pilate said, what is truth? And
Jesus didn't answer his question. He came to bear witness to the
truth. Everyone who hears him, who hears
not only his voice, the sound of it, but understands his doctrine
and believes him, that's what the phrase hears my voice means,
they are of the truth. What is truth? Grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. Now this is a hard question to
answer in some sense. If you try to look it up in the
dictionary, you'll get several answers to that word truth. When you're a little kid and
you stand before your father and he says, tell me the truth,
what he means is your words had better conform perfectly to what
really happened. You better tell me the way things
really are. And of course, under that duress,
you probably did tell him the truth about that thing. But is that truth? The law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The
word but is a contrast. It means in contrast to the law
that was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. But wasn't the law true? Of course
it was, the law was true, but that's not the truth that came
by Jesus Christ. Because otherwise the law would
have been enough, but it wasn't enough. And I want you to look
at a couple of scriptures with me, look at Proverbs chapter
8. In Proverbs. Chapter eight especially is talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ in metaphorical language, calls
him wisdom. But in verse seven, again, speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, him speaking personally about himself,
he says, for my mouth shall speak truth. There you have it. Whatever he says is truth. My
mouth shall speak truth. Look at Psalm 33. In Psalm 33, I want you to see
this. He says in Psalm 33 and verse
4, for the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are
done in truth. So not only what Jesus says is
truth, but whatever he does is done in truth. And then if you
turn back a couple of pages from there to Psalm 31, He says in
verse five, this is a prophecy of Jesus when he would die on
the cross and say these words, into thine hand I commit my spirit,
thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth. God is the God
of truth. Truth is what God is. He is the God
of truth. Whatever he says is truth. Whatever he does is done in truth. His mind, what he thinks is truth. It would actually be better to
say truth is what God is and thinks. So truth is God. God is truth. He's the God of
truth. There's no truth apart from him.
In Romans chapter three and verse four, it says, let God be true,
but every man a liar. And that's said there from Psalm
51, because at issue was David's sin against God. And he says
that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings. Whatever God
says is true. and God is going to be true,
and every man is going to be proven to be a liar, God will
always be justified when he judges, because he's the truth. But the law was given by Moses,
and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, teaches us a specific
focus of this truth. Not only is God the God of truth,
all that he thinks is truth, because truth is what God thinks,
And what he says is truth, and what he does is done in truth.
But also here in John chapter one, grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. Now the first thing to notice
here is that there is no grace apart from truth. And there is
no truth apart from grace. You can't have grace without
the truth. And if you have the truth, then
it's going to be grace. Now if you understand that, it
seems like a proverb in some sense, but it's a simple statement.
But it's deep because we're not used to thinking of this, that
all that God is, and all of his perfections of his nature, his
wisdom, and his righteousness, his truth, his justice, his judgments,
all that he is, is totally in harmony Because even though we
think of those different attributes of God, it's just God. It's who he is. So we can't have
part of God without the other part. And especially in the mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came in our nature. And in our nature, he came in
order to save his people from their sins. We have him here
full of grace and truth. because that's why he came, to
do the truth, to bear witness to the truth, that everyone who
is of the truth would hear his voice. And what is that truth? Well, I can find no better commentary
on this verse than in Romans chapter eight. Look at Romans
chapter eight, and we're gonna look at some verses of scripture
here to understand this truth. Cuz this is truth, this is truth. In Daniel chapter 10 verse 21,
it says, the scriptures of truth, the scriptures of truth. So the
scripture also is given, it's the word of God, it's truth.
But in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There won't
be any condemnation if you're in Christ. If you're in Christ
now, there is no condemnation. God does not condemn you. He
says, those who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit,
and we'll understand that better in a moment. For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. Notice, he's talking about the
law of the spirit of life that made me free, not the law of
sin and death. See how the two are contrasted?
Notice verse three, this is the commentary. For what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, me, I'm a
sinner, and you too, God sending his own son in the likeness of
sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the spirit. So here what we have is that
the law couldn't do what we needed, it couldn't save us. It couldn't
release us from condemnation. It couldn't take away our guilt.
It couldn't take away the power of sin or the consequences of
sin, which is death. The law couldn't do those things.
The law kills. The law cannot justify. The law
cannot sanctify. The law cannot make us holy. The law cannot glorify us. The law is weak because of our
flesh. Now think about this. When God
created the world and made man, Adam, Adam wasn't a sinner when
God created him, was he? He had not sinned. He didn't
have a sinful nature. God gave him a garden full of
trees, all of them with fruit. And he said, you can eat whatever
you want. And then he gave him one law, one prohibition of one
tree. Do not eat of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. And what did Adam do in his innocent
state without a sinful nature, without law? Huh? That's the
one I need. It seems good. Eve said it looked
good. I mean, that tree of knowledge
of good and evil, it was good to the eyes, good to look at,
pleasant to look upon. It seemed like it was going to
be able to make me wise and good for food. So she'd take it, she
took it and ate it. What about this other tree? The
apple, the orange, the pomegranate? Weren't they also of the? No,
because this one, according to the temptation of Satan, would
open my eyes and I would know good and evil. Romans chapter
3 verse 20 says, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The
law gives us the knowledge of good and evil. And God said,
do not eat of that tree. Adam, with one law, not a sinner,
broke that law. And what does that teach us?
The law, when we're under the law, we are going to fail. Even if we were in that pristine
state, we're going to fail. And that's why over and over
in scripture it says, by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. So let me take you to a few scriptures
about that, about the law. Look at Romans chapter 3. Because
these are fundamentals, but it's good that we have them as we
go forward. Notice in Romans 3.19, we know
that what things so ever the law says, it says to them who
are under the law. So whoever's under the law, this
applies to you. That every mouth may be stopped.
God is gonna close your mouth. In his presence, you have nothing
to say. And all the world. may become guilty before God. That's what the law does, guilty. The law condemns you, it judges
you and finds you guilty. That's what every commandment
does. Don't do that, I didn't, I'm guilty. Do this, I didn't,
I'm guilty. Love God. I didn't. I'm guilty.
Love your neighbor. I didn't. I'm guilty. Everything
the law says. Don't covet. I covet all the
time. I'm guilty. Not only are you guilty, but
it shows that that sin, that offense, what you did against
God came from you. You are a sinner in your very
being, your corrupt nature. And notice in verse 20, therefore,
by the deeds of the law, what we do in order to keep the law,
to keep God's requirements, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin, the tree of knowledge and good and evil. But notice,
not justified by the law. Now go to Galatians to pick up
the The arguments there, Galatians chapter 2. This is now, what
we're reading here is the scripture, isn't it? This is what God said. And what did we just find out
about what God said? I speak in truth. This is the truth, isn't it?
The scriptures of truth. The scriptures of truth. God's
word is truth, Jesus said in John 17, 17. Sanctify them by
thy truth, thy word is truth. Sanctify them by thy word, thy
word is truth. All right, here in Galatians
chapter 2, notice in verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. Okay, so you can see it's plain
here, as plain as day, that God's word, the scriptures of truth
says we cannot be justified before God by what we do. What you do, all that you do,
the very best that you do, You cannot come into God's presence
and present that and receive from God an approval, an acceptance
because of what you do. You can't be justified by what
you do. God will not accept you because
of what you do. Here's the great news, grace
also says this. Not only are you not accepted
by what you do, but you're not precluded, you're not kept back
because of what you did and do. Not only does the law say you
can't bring your good works to God to be accepted and approved,
grace says, and your sin won't prevent you. Now that's grace,
isn't it? So I want to look at Galatians
chapter two and three briefly with you. because this is so
important. But before I do, I want to first
take you to a few scriptures here about this. So hold your
place in Galatians chapter 2 and 3, where we're going to see the
contrast between the law and grace, which is between the law
that came by Moses and grace and truth, which came by Jesus
Christ. First of all, I want to go to
the book of 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy in chapter 2. I'm just gonna
read some verses here. Notice in verse four, this is
speaking about God. He says, I'll read verse three,
for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.
What's good and acceptable is that you pray for all men, for
kings, for all that are in authority. Giving thanks, making supplications
and prayers and intercessions and giving thanks should be made
for all men, whether they be kings, whether they be men of
authority. And these are the ones we're
most likely not to pray for, but that's what he says we should
do in order that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty. So all kinds of men of all rank,
of all status, rich or poor, young and old, kings or paupers. Notice he says in verse three,
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who will have all men to be saved and to come underscore, to the
knowledge of the truth. Saved, how? By coming to the
knowledge of the truth. And God our Savior will have
all men, not all without exception, because clearly He gives so many
statements in scripture about those he purposes not to save
and those he does purpose to save. So he's speaking here about
all kinds of men, whether they be kings or poor or of any kind
of authority. He will have all of them, whether
they be from China or America or from Israel or from Brazil,
it doesn't matter. whether they be physical descendants
of Abraham or descendants of the people in Papua New Guinea,
or my own children, it doesn't matter. God can save them, but
this is the way he saves them. He brings them, they come to
the knowledge of the truth, okay? All right, so go on to second,
I mean, Titus, not first, but Titus chapter one. He says in
verse one, Titus 1.1, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus
Christ. According, now he's telling us
what he was made an apostle of Jesus Christ for. According to,
quote, the faith of God's elect. And the acknowledging of the
truth, which is after godliness. So in 1 Timothy 2.4, we are saved
by coming to the knowledge of the truth here. He's preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the faith of God's elect.
And it is a gospel given to God's elect in which they trust to
the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. And
here he elucidates, he expands on the gospel. He says, in hope
of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the
world began, but has in due times manifested his word through preaching,
which is committed to me according to the commandment of God our
Savior, calling the Lord Jesus Christ our God. and our Savior. So what is the truth here? It's
the truth we believe. It's the truth we acknowledge.
That's what he's talking about. The faith of God's elect, acknowledging
the truth. We're saved in coming to the
knowledge of the truth. The truth, okay? Look at 2 Thessalonians,
which is before Timothy, 2 Thessalonians chapter two. And verse 13, he
says, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren. Are you there? God, we're bound to give thanks
to God always for you, brethren. Notice, beloved of the Lord. You are loved of God. Because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. through, He
not only chose you, but He chose the means, through sanctification
of the Spirit, the Spirit of God, giving that salvation to
us, giving us a new birth, causing us to believe and acknowledge
the truth, and belief of the truth. Do you see that? Belief
of the truth. The truth of what? What is the
truth that is being spoken of in all these cases? In 1 Timothy
2, 4, we're saved by coming to the knowledge of the truth. Or
in Titus 1, 2, the faith of God's elect according to godliness,
the truth according to godliness that we believe in hope of eternal
life. He's talking about the gospel, isn't he? Now go back
to Galatians chapter 2, and we could really go throughout the
scriptures and find these kinds of statements. The truth spoken
of. by the apostle which was given
to him to give to the church is what? The truth of the gospel. Now this doesn't come, really
shouldn't come as a surprise when we read places like in Hebrews
chapter 10, where Jesus says, I come to do thy will, O God.
Yea, thy law is within my heart. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. Remember those words? The role,
the scroll of Scripture from the top to the bottom is written
of me. In these last days God has spoken
to us by or in his Son. So it's no surprise to us when
we find that the truth that we believe, we're saved in believing
the truth of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that
truth is all wrapped up in the one God spoke to us in and who
came to do the will of God, which was written in the volume of
the book so that all of scripture is given and interpreted by God
as speaking of Christ, who would come and save his people. from their sins. This is the
truth, the mind of God. This is the word of God in the
beginning. It's consistent, isn't it? Everything
we've been considering about these words in John 1, 1 and
the verses that follow. It's about Christ. Paul said,
I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, the cross. Isn't that what he says
in 1 Corinthians 1, 17 and 18? The preaching of the cross, to
preach Christ and him crucified, the power of God unto salvation.
The truth is the gospel of Christ because Christ himself is lifted
up in the scriptures, the word of truth. He is the truth. because he came to do the will
of God. Now in Galatians chapter two, we're gonna see this. Look
at verse four. I'm sorry, verse five. He says,
to whom we gave place to these Judaizers, these people who were
Jews and professed to be Christians, and they held to the, tried to
hold to both keeping the law in order to make themselves better,
not only in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of God in their
own conscience. They held to the law and they
also professed to believe Christ. They didn't want to miss out
on anything. And he says in verse five, to whom we gave place by
subjection. No, not for an hour. In order
that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. So the
apostle Paul is bringing a point down onto the gospel when he
says the truth here. Do you see that? The truth of
what? The gospel. Let's read on, verse
6, but of these who seem to be somewhat, whatsoever they were,
it makes no matter to me, God accepts no person. For they who
seem to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me. But contrary
wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision
was committed to me as the gospel of the circumcision was to Peter.
In other words, Christ sent Paul to the Gentiles, Christ sent
Peter to the Jews. Verse 8, for he that wrought
effectually in Peter to the apostleship of circumcision, the same was
mighty in me toward the Gentiles. So you can see that it was by
the goodwill of Christ to send Peter to the Jews and Paul to
the Gentiles. And he goes on in verse 10, only
they would, these men I talked to there in Jerusalem, they would
that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward
to do. But, verse 11, there's a big
transition now. When Peter was come to Antioch,
I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed."
Peter did something wrong. That's what he's saying here.
When he came to Antioch, he did something wrong. What did he
do? Well, before that certain came from James, he did eat with
the Gentiles. So Peter, before these men who
were sent by James came to Antioch, he was over there eating with
the Gentiles. What does that mean? That means he was acting
like a Gentile. He was eating with them, fellowshipping
with the Gentiles, but he was a Jew. Ah, but Peter had left
the traditions of the Jews because he trusted Christ. In other words,
he was not trying to keep the law in order to be better or
to be justified. We're not justified by the works
of the law, nor are we sanctified. In fact, in Romans 6, verse 14,
sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the
law, but under grace. So therefore, we're not sanctified
by the law, we're married to Christ. But here, Peter gets
up, I know he's over there with the Gentiles, until these guys
came from James. But when they were come, he withdrew
and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision,
the Jews. These men who practiced circumcision,
who trusted their circumcision, who came from James and he wanted
their approval. So he quietly gets out of one
table for the Gentiles and he goes down and sits by the Jews.
Because he knew the Jews believed the Gentiles were not clean and
they certainly didn't keep the law. They were not as good as
we are. So he wanted to be like them. That was a bad thing. That's
what Paul is saying. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him. In other words, they acted in
contradiction to what they had believed. In so much that Barnabas
was carried away with their dissimulation, their hypocrisy. But when I saw
that they walked not uprightly according to what? The truth
of the gospel. I said to Peter before them all,
Now, if thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles,
because you were a minute ago eating with them, and you have
said in trusting Christ that you're not trusting the law,
now everyone looks at you and they look at you on the outside
and say, he's just a Gentile. He's no longer part of the law
keepers. You were brought up as a Jew,
you've left that, now you're with the Gentiles. But if thou,
being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles and not as
do the Jews, because they circumcise themselves and their children
and they do all these things, why do you compel the Gentiles
to live as do the Jews? Why are you telling the Gentiles
to live, now you're over here by this table of Jews? We who
are Jews by nature and not sinners among the Gentiles. We were brought
up as Jews. We've been practicing our Jewish
religion since we were tots. And now, as grown men, we've
learned something. We were Jews by nature, not sinners
of the Gentiles. But now, knowing that a man is
not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ. His trusting God and his obedience
to God's law in everything. Perfect obedience, perfect faith.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ. He believed his faith,
he believed his obedience, that we might be justified by the
faith of Christ and not by our own law keeping, not by the works
of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Three times he says no, no, no.
And he says, it's Christ, Christ, Christ. But here in verse 17,
he says, but if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, because
that's what we're professing, we ourselves also are found sinners.
People look at us and say, you're not keeping the law. You're sinners. Is Christ the minister of sin?
No. No. Jesus Christ came. Grace
and truth. God speaks in truth. He thinks
the truth. He is the truth. And all his
works are done in truth. There's no compromise to truth
because of grace. No. Christ is not the minister
of sin when he tells us to look to him and be saved all the ends
of the earth. It's not a compromise to the
law. No, this is the fulfillment of
it. He says, for if I build again the things which I destroyed,
I make myself a transgressor. I left the Gentiles. I started
thinking back about being a Jew and started to try to keep the
law. I was disobedient to the gospel
in doing that. I began to trust in my own performance
that God would accept me for something he found in me. It
can't happen. Verse 19, here we go, the truth.
For I, through the law, am dead to the law. I'm dead. I have
no more relation to it than a dead man, that I might live to God. The law couldn't do that. Now
I live. How? I'm crucified with Christ. That's
the truth. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in
the flesh. Don't live by trying to keep
the law for my sanctification, my justification, my glorification. I don't look to the law for anything
in confidence, but I look to Christ for everything. 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. That's grace
and that's truth. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. If righteousness come by the
law, Christ died in vain. That's why he says, foolish Galatians,
verse one of chapter three, who has bewitched you? It's like
you're in a spell. Someone sprinkled some magic
Satan dust in your eyes. Who has bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth? To try to keep the law for any
of these things, to present myself to God, to find acceptance, to
try to keep the requirements of God, and to come by my own
requirement keeping, is disobedience to the truth. Right? that you should not obey the
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set
forth, crucified among you." This is the truth. Christ set
forth in the gospel, crucified among you. And this only would
I learn of you. Here you go. Did you receive
the Spirit by the works of the law? By your own law-keeping? Or by hearing what Christ did
and believing Him? Are you so foolish? Have you
begun? Having begun in the spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? No, it's not. You're not sanctified
by your own performance, but what Christ did. Have you suffered
so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore
that ministers to you the Spirit and works miracles among you,
does he do it by the works of the law, by the hearing of faith?
And he goes back to Abraham, even as Abraham believed God,
and it was counted to him for righteousness. He believed God,
God's righteousness was counted to him. Know ye not that they
which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham, not
those who keep the law? And the scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached what?
The gospel. To Abraham, saying, in thee shall
all nations be blessed. So then, they which are of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. And he goes on to prove that
it can't be by law. Do we see it now? What the law
could not do, in that it was weak through our flesh, God sending
his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit." To walk after the Spirit is to look to Christ. To walk after the law is to look
to self, and to look to my own performance, and to think in
terms of how well I'm doing in my own performance, and so having
confidence before God, coming to God in my prayers because
I did the right things, or staying back away because I did the wrong
things. But faith says, no, God has given
me one access. It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And therefore I come to God by
him who is the way, the truth, and the life. Right? What is truth? The Lord Jesus
Christ and Him crucified for the salvation of His people. Christ is glorified. Christ is
glorified in heaven given all of the glory of the Father as
God and man because He did the truth. He spoke the truth. He
is the truth. And the truth of God is that
our salvation is in Him alone. And all of God's people hear
that truth. And they say, in answer to Pilate's
question, what is truth? The Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. The one God has evidently set
forth as all of my salvation. The truth of our salvation. And this is said throughout scripture,
Ephesians 1.13, the truth of your salvation. the truth of
the gospel, the truth of God, the truth of the word of God,
rightly dividing the word of truth. It's all about Christ. The sum and substance of scripture
is the Lamb of God. We've seen that, haven't we?
The Lamb of God. He's the one the wife, the bride
is married to, the marriage of the Lamb. The Word made flesh
and crucified and risen and reigning and exalted and glorified because
He did it all by Himself and He finished the work. And we
love it, don't we? Grace and truth. He's full of
it, full of grace and truth. No compromise to the truth. Grace
provides everything truth says, everything that's true. Whatever
God thinks is the way it is. We can't trust what we see, we
have to take what God sees. We flee, we flee to Him for that,
don't we? It's gotta be this way or I'm
a goner. But in Christ, I only have, I
only need Him, don't I? I only need him. I'm a great
sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. Let's pray. Father, thank you
for the grace and truth, the revelation of your own glory
in the Lord Jesus Christ in our salvation. All we see and need
to know, we see in him. And though we have been bruised
and wounded by the fall and bondage and under the sentence of death
for so long, until we heard the truth of the gospel, help us
not to go back to trusting ourselves or trusting another man, no matter
how many letters, no matter how proficiently he speaks. Help
us to only look for and seek and find our all in the Lord
Jesus Christ. When all the props have been
knocked out from under us, help us to find a perfect foundation
on the rock, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In his name we
pray, amen.