To be with God's people, that's
the most precious thing for another fellow believer, and for my wife,
to fellowship together. There's nothing greater than
to be with God's people. So regardless how long we had
to travel, It is again a tremendous privilege for us to be with you
and to have received such grace, even with my own weaknesses,
in bringing the Word of God where I see my own insufficiencies. where I'm learning to grow myself
because I'm in need of growing in God's Word. But to see your
graciousness and kindness, how you have received us, and how
you treat us as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, my wife
and I are very grateful and thankful for that. because it truly speaks
that God is in the midst of his people and that you, being his
people, show that you are Christ's, that you have been redeemed by
the precious blood of Christ. And so again, thank you so much. And the pastor and his beloved
wife to allow us to stay in their home. And what a nice thing is
to just walk from the hallway over and here you are. You don't
need to drive nowhere. You're already here. It's good. It's good. And so I trust and
pray as we're going to look this Sunday morning I want to look
at true freedom, that true freedom we have in Christ because of
Christ. I want to look at that this morning
and we're going to be in the book of Galatians for that. Please
turn to the book of Galatians chapter 2. And I recognize and
I understand that you are very familiar with this truth that
I will bring to you this morning. But it is always important to
be reminded thereof because they are so pivotal to who we are,
what God has done in his marvelous work for his glory. and for our good. That's what
it is. It's always for His glory. But it is for our good. Because
God is good. God is good, beloved. I'm looking back, He did me never
any wrong. Never, ever. And I know from
experience He did never any wrong to any of you. Because that is
not in His nature. Just think of it, God becoming
man, God, the eternal God, giving himself to the cross, the one
who gave himself, how could he do us any wrong? No, we who did
him wrong, we who are the vile ones, he stooped down to pick
us up, to give us life. So I appreciated very much what
pastor said and what our dear brother was sharing in that devotion. What a blessing to have men in
the midst of the congregation who are called and gifted by
God to speak and to bring the word and to love the Savior for
saving them. And what a privilege for us to
express now this love in His own Word. Isn't that amazing? We are expressing
His love that we experience in His own words. And it blesses us. It enriches
us. It conforms us more and more
into His image. They're not our words, they're
His words. Because I wouldn't know what
to say if I was saying my words, it would be no good anyway. It
wouldn't do nothing. Because my personal words have
no eternal life in them. But His word is eternal life. There's a life in His word. And
so what a blessing, amen. What a blessing, what a blessing.
But let's read this text, what I have in mind here. We're gonna
look at, in Galatians 2.16 down to 19. And then we shall pray
and we'll look into this. Paul writes this in Galatians
2.16, knowing that a man is not justified, he says, 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 there for Christ the minister of sin? God forbid! For if I build again the things
which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through
the law, I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. O dear Lord, as we gather together
this wonderful Lord's Day morning, to be under your Word, to fellowship
with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, as we
desire to hear your Gospel, as we desire to hear from you, to
be stirred in our hearts, mind, and soul, to draw closer to thee,
and to have more love and more compassion for one another in
the prayers as we heard the requests for our dear beloved who have
great physical needs, O Lord, maybe even emotional needs, whatever
they are, O God, may we cry to Thee and look to Thee and pray
knowing that You will provide that which is necessary and needed
for each one of us. So, Holy Spirit, please use me
Grant the grace to a weak and feeble vessel as myself to bring
your word and clarity and truth for the edification and building
up of your people, O God. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Let me give you a few historic
descriptions concerning the book of Galatians, which we just looked
at these verses, which is before us. Martin Luther himself, you're
absolutely familiar with his name, and maybe even of some
of his writings, considered Galatians the best of all the books in
the Bible. That's what his view was on that
book. It also has been called the battle cry of the Reformation,
the Book of Galatians, the great charter of religious freedom. For Christians, it is known as
the Declaration of Independence. We as Americans are very familiar
with what it means to have a Declaration of Independence. Here, this book
is understood and seen as the Declaration of Independence. Beloved, we are speaking of true
freedom. We're going to look at what true
freedom is. True freedom. This abyssal is
important because in any age, it answers the basic question
asked by the human heart, how can I find happiness? How can
I find peace? How can I find calmness? How can I find freedom from fear,
sin, and bondage? This abyssal, beloved, teaches
us in one's own strength, in one's own strength, and by one's
own wisdom, Man is totally unable to discover this answer. All the self-help books from
yesteryear, or all other writings, religious writings, are incapable
of answering this question. But for all of those who are
willing to take God himself at his own word, Galatians shows
the way to true freedom. Paul says in verse 1 of chapter
5 of Galatians, stand fast, therefore, he tells the Galatians, in the
liberty wherewith Christ had made us free. And be not entangled again, Paul
is saying to the Galatians, as he's speaking to us today, with
the yoke of bondage. Therefore stand firm, we could
say it this way, and don't let yourselves be tied up again to
a yoke of slavery. Saying the same thing, just a
little bit differently. Genuine liberty is neither in
legalism, you cannot find it there, nor in libertarianism. It's not there either. It is
strictly and only found in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can find it nowhere else.
It's impossible. Genuine liberty, listen very
carefully. Genuine liberty, it is the freedom
of bondage to Christ. Very different. You don't want
to be in bondage to sin. You want to be to bondage to
Christ. Genuine liberty consists in becoming
a captive of God's own word. That is, surrendering oneself
to the triune God as he has revealed himself in the Scriptures to
us in Christ Jesus unto salvation. This freedom is discovered when
one is willing to abstain from every attempt to save himself,
to save himself. and if he glories in the cross
and trusts in Christ as the fulfiller of the law. Paul says this, but
God forbid, in Galatians 6.14, but God forbid that I should
boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom the world has been crucified
to me, Paul says, and I do the world. Paul was glorying in the
cross. He was looking to the cross.
And in Galatians 3.13, he says, Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, having become the curse for us. For it is written,
curse is everyone who hangs on a tree. So we trusted in Christ
as the fulfiller of the law. No wonder that the great apostle
Paul wrote in Galatians 2.20, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live, but not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh, he tells us, I live by faith, he says,
of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. For all of those, beloved, who
by God's sovereign grace been led to do this, the law ceases
forevermore to be the means of attaining happiness, or being
the ticket for anyone to go to heaven after his death. When guided by Christ's Spirit,
The redeemed, out of gratitude for the salvation which he has
received as a gift, as a gift, begins to adorn his
life with the fruit of the Spirit. which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such, the Scripture tells
us, there is no law, Galatians 5, 22, 23. Interestingly enough, when Paul
was writing the Galatians in chapter 1, verse 6, he tells
us something, because the Galatians, having begun their Christian
walk by faith, seem content to leave their walk of faith by
replacing it based on works. And therefore we are not to wonder
when we read this wonderful epistle to the Galatians how vigorously
Paul attacked against the gospel of works, how he attacked it
in defense the gospel of faith. For blessing comes from God on
the basis of faith, not law. We have good works, beloved,
not to get saved, but because we are saved, we have good works. And Paul couches it this way
in Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship. So whatever
we ever do, the good works we ever have are because of His
workmanship in us. So even these are, in one sense,
are not ours. They all are His as much as we
are doing this. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, Paul says. which God prepared
before the foundation of the world, which God prepared beforehand,
the scripture says, that we should walk in them, which in one sense
were prepared before the foundation of the world, that we may walk
in them. So true freedom. The teaching concerning of justification
by faith is what separates biblical Christianity from all other systems
of religion. It separates it. In every religion
and in some branches of what is called Christianity, and we
know it is not, man is working his way to God. But only in true
biblical Christianity Is man saved as a result of grace through
faith? Only when we have a God-centered,
not a man-centered, biblical interpretation of scripture,
we see that justification by faith apart from works, is by
faith apart from works. a little bit some understanding
on what is justification. The word justification, what
does it mean? The word justification means
pronounced or treated as righteous. For a Christian, justification
is the act of God not only forgiving the believer's sins, but imbuing
to him the righteousness of Christ. The Bible states in several places
that justification only comes through faith. Through faith. Paul in Romans 5, 1 says this.
Therefore, being justified by faith, he tells us, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. In Galatians 3, 24, he
says it this way, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster, he
says, to bring us unto Christ. That was the purpose of it, that
we might be justified by faith. Justification is not earned through
our own works, rather we are covered by the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2,
8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, he says, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast because we would. And man already boasts by doing
work thinking that he will enter heaven, not realizing that the
wrath of God is abiding upon him continuously because he is
denying the work of God. by thinking that there's something
about him that he can save himself or do something that is pleasing
to God when the works we have are to edify God and it has nothing
to do with the creature in the sense that he is something special,
but that God is so merciful and gracious to work through me that
I can be a vessel of honor for his glory. Therefore, Paul says in Titus
3, 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done. Let me read
that again. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Hallelujah! By the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Without the
Holy Spirit, you're not a new creature in Christ Jesus. Without
that new birth, without being made alive, we were once dead
and we are now made alive. There's nothing. The Christian
being declared righteous is thus free from the guilt of sin. And what a blessed truth that
is. Now let's let me look at three simple points concerning
true freedom after my little introduction. True freedom is to be justified. That's true freedom. Nothing
is as important for a child of God than to know the sure ground
of his acceptance with God in Christ. That is the most important
understanding for the believer. Paul's account in our text is
short, plain, simple. Look at verse 16. Knowing, he
says. Knowing. The word knowing he
uses. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Paul's reasoning here, Paul's
explanation here is clear. The law of God's demands We know
that God's law demands unsinning obedience, unsinning obedience,
which means the slightest deviation, the slightest deviation, beloved,
will declare you guilty. And then the offender of the
slightest deviation, is guilty to the full penalty
of the law of disobedience. Ezekiel 18, verse 4, the second
part says this, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Paul in Romans 3, 23 tells us
this, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
There is none There is none. They all have fallen short. They all have sinned. We are not sinners because we
sin. We sin because we are sinners. That's why we're doing it. That's
why we're doing it. In other words, all mankind have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. So it must undeniably
follow that therefore by the works of the law can no flesh
be justified in God's sight. It's impossible. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin, as Paul tells us in Romans 3.20. A short and plain summary of
what Paul says is this, as we're looking at it, and it's right
in chapter 2 of Galatians, verse 16, the first few thoughts here,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. That's
just a summary of what I just said. But Paul doesn't stop here. Paul now turns from the law to
the gospel. Hallelujah, the glorious gospel. That's where Paul is turning,
but by faith of Jesus Christ. That's the gospel right there.
So he says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. We are justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Right here, the Apostle Paul
declares Christ as the only justifying cause before God and his people. On this scriptural, biblical
ground, Christ Jesus is our head, our surety, and our representative
obeyed the law perfectly. Perfectly. Not only did he obey
the law perfectly, but suffered the whole penalty of the law
by his death. Christ suffered for our violations,
beloved, of the law by his own death. That's what he did. Which Paul sums up with these
words. Christ had redeemed us from the
curse of the law, he says. Being made a curse for us, Paul
says. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree, Galatians 3.13. Therefore Paul wrote in Galatians
2.16, 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, he says, and not by the works of the law, for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So if you try to
work yourself into heaven, it's never going to happen. It's never
going to happen. It's only going to happen in
Christ. And it's only going to happen
in having faith in Christ and His works and His works alone. In these verses, as we looked
at 2.16 and 3.13, we have a full confirmation of redemption by
Christ. That's where we get our encouragement,
our strength. That's how we learn and know
that we are safe and secure in the Savior, because who can snatch
anyone of His people out of His hands? No one. Nothing. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God. Nothing. What a blessing that is. At the
same time, we have as well the confirmation of being condemned
by the law. We understand that the law is
condemning us, and rightfully so, because I'm a lawbreaker. But Christ's obedience in death,
being set forth by God himself for propitiation, now we have
peace with God. Isn't that wonderful? The atonement
of Christ. Now we have peace with God! True
freedom! True freedom. Paul puts it in
Romans 3.25 this way, whom God had set forth to be a propitiation,
an atonement, on making peace with God, okay, through faith
in His blood, he says, to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past through forbearance of God. In Ephesians
1, 7, he says this, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Hallelujah! glory and honor to our God, that
we have now such a position which is given to us as a gift by God. Nothing can be more plain and
satisfactory than that we have redemption through Christ's blood. For without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness of sin. the forgiveness of all our sins
according to the riches of his grace." We see right there in
Ephesians 1. Now, the way in which this obedience
and bloodshedding of Christ becomes the cause of the justification
of the people before God is by virtue of their union with Christ,
and their interest in Christ. It's not just the union, but
we have the union now with Christ, but now we have an interest in
Christ. In other words, we want to know
about Christ, because we want to become like Christ. Christ
and his people in the eye of God's righteous law are one. Colossians 1 to 27 says this,
to whom God would make known what is the richest of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, that
union, the hope of glory. Therefore, what Christ did is
as if I would have done it. Isn't that amazing? I didn't
do it. But because of faith, because
of the work of God, the gift of faith, it's now like I did
it. And in the full work I'm sorry, what Christ suffered
is as if we had suffered. Because Christ is our substitute. For Christ acted as our surety. And in the full work of Christ
Jesus, God declares himself well pleased with him. Both law and
justice must discharged original debtors, having come upon the surety which
is Christ, and the dead having been fully paid. Amen. No wonder that Paul writes in
Romans 8, one there is there from now, no condemnation. He
tells us, to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit. In other words, he says this,
who walk not after the law of works, okay, but after the fruit
of the Spirit. love, peace, joy, long-suffering,
and on and on. Because these are the fruits
of the new creatures of the Spirit in Him. So, justified before God, the
believer's joy and peace. That is the believer's joy and
peace, being justified before God. The heart, or the heart's enjoyment
of this blessed state of justification before God is only in the person
and by the redemption of Christ, or redemptive work of Christ
we could call it, which becomes the right of every regenerated
child of God in all its fullness by faith. So Paul declares, we are justified,
he says, by the faith of Jesus Christ, but the whole work and
glory of it is Christ's. Let me say that again. Paul declares,
we are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, but the whole
work and glory of it is Christ's. Yet, yet, we the church enjoy
it by faith. But yet, we the church enjoy
that by faith. Such is our joy and peace in
believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul puts it
this way in Romans 15, 13, Now the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace, he says, in believing that ye may abound
in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. So don't be
hopeless. We have all reason to hope. We
have all reason to rejoice. We have all reason to be thankful
because we know where we are going. We shall be with Him in
glory. He will not, the work God began
in us, the good work He began in us, He is faithful to complete
it to the end. It doesn't say we are to do it.
No, he is faithful to complete it because we could never do
it. We could never do it. In closing, without an understanding of justification
by faith alone, in Christ alone, we cannot truly perceive the
glorious gift of grace. In other words, God's unmerited
favor. becomes merited. What I mean
with that, it becomes something like, it is due to me, I deserve
it. Look at me. No, look at Christ. Don't look at me. You follow
me, I'll lead you to hell. You need to follow Christ. We
don't follow man, we follow Christ. And as they teach God's Word,
we pray for them because of the responsibility they have because
their judgment is so much greater. Now, we keep them in prayer that
God will continually use them to bring His truth that we can
have life and have it more abundantly as we live in this life to be
that witness we are called to be, to be in the highways and
byways to proclaim that glorious Word of our Savior, not on our
own merit and strength, but on the merits and strength that
is within us through the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus. to proclaim
that gospel. And beloved, that's good works.
And that's good works. The doctrine of justification
by faith helps us maintain a pure devotion to Christ. Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 3 says,
but I feel less by any means, he says, there As the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. So let us never lose
sight of that simplicity. Because it is Christ who did
it, so don't try to do it. It's simple. Trust in Him. Follow Him. Obey Him. Don't let anybody tell you to
put a burden on you that you need to do such and such. No,
we go out because Christ is in us. Not to gain a greater understanding
of Christ, but to glorify Him for what He has done. That when
we gather together in the house of worship, that we can rejoice
together how good God is. And how we as His people have
true life and true freedom, and are set free from the bondage
we were once under. Sin, holding to justification by faith
alone in Christ alone, keeps us from falling for the lie that
we can earn heaven. There's no ritual, as I already
said, there's no sacrament, no deed that can make us worthy
of the righteousness of Christ. There's nothing we could do.
All I just said, I'm just saying it differently again, just in
different words, same thing. As we know, it is only by grace
through faith that God has accredited to us the holiness of his son. That's where it is. Interestingly enough, and in
one sense it's not interestingly enough, it's expected, actually,
that both the Old and New Testament say, the just shall live by faith. This is not just in the New Testament,
it's also in the Old Testament, that the just shall live by faith.
Habakkuk 2.4 tells us that very clearly, which reads as follows,
Behold, his soul which lifted up is not upright in him. Arrogant, lifted up, a lifted
up soul. But the just shall live by his
faith. Paul puts it this way in Romans
1, 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, he says, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
He continues by telling us in Galatians 3, 11, no wonder that
book is so highly praised and all these wonderful things being
spoken of, he says, but that no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith.
In Hebrews 10, 38, we read, now the just shall live by faith,
but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him. Anyone want to go back to works? I don't. I just have been redeemed
from it. I don't want to have nothing
to do with it. I'm running from it as far as I can. And in the
same token, I want to show forth that gift of God in me by doing
that which honors Him to be a witness to a lost and dying world. Also know this, that you will
never enter into the joy in Christ's saving grace, for Christ will
empty and strip you of all and every supposed quality in yourself
and in your own self-ability. You must see yourself lost. before
you will ask for saving grace. For Christ will never be precious
to you until sin is seen to be exceedingly sinful to you. And no one will rightly esteem
Christ's righteousness while thinking there is really nothing
unacceptable about him before God. Those are serious matters, aren't
they? So we are justified by grace alone in Christ alone for
the glory of God alone. So there it is. Again, we're justified by grace
alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. That's it,
beloved. And that's where it needs to
be. Because that's where the creature who is created in God's
image has full fulfillment. He's fully satisfied. I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied in Christ. Because
he satisfies my soul. Before I was longing and searching
and wanting and not really know where I fit or what I fit. But now I'm content and I'm satisfied
because of Him. How glorious that satisfaction
will be in glory when we experience throughout eternity the fullness
thereof. So God calls us sovereignly,
doesn't He? And how does he do it? By quickening
the sinners through the Holy Spirit. That's how he does it.
As he hears the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed. So in the cross, God displays
his justice and mercy. So may these few thoughts this
morning encourage each one of you that we have true freedom
in Christ. And beloved, allow nothing, not
even self. You heard me just say what the
gospel is. The gospel is the good news of deliverance of self-sin,
the righteous wrath of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So do not allow even self to try to bring you back to bondage. Look to Christ, continually study
the Word, and be vigilant with it, and be that light and that
testimony that is within you in a world that is in total chaos. in total confusion. But we, God's
people, are not in cares, nor are we in confusion. Because
our God is not a God of confusion. He's the God who created this
universe, who created us, and who gave himself for his church
that we have life and have it more abundantly. Thank you so
much for treating us so royally, my wife and me. Again, it is
a privilege for us to be with you all. May the Lord continually
bless you and your pastor and this church that you prosper
and grow for the glory of Christ. and that when we shall meet again
that we can rejoice together again of the goodness of our
God as He is bringing us from this life to the eternal life
which is prepared for those who love Him. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I thank Thee so much
for the church, for the people, for all You're doing. Forgive
me of my own weaknesses. Forgive me of my own feebleness,
O God. But I thank Thee for Thy truth
and for Thy kindness. Holy Spirit, fill this place,
and if there's anyone lost in his trespasses and sins, save
him, O God. that they may come to that knowledge
as we are, to rejoice in such liberty and freedom. In Christ's
name I pray, amen and amen.