Turning your Bibles to the book
of Galatians, chapter 6. Galatians, chapter 6. I'm thinking about an appropriate, timely way to
close out this old year and our last Sunday. I thought it would be good to
go back to a passage of scripture. I've preached on it many times,
but it's been several years since I've preached on this, beginning
at verse 14 of Galatians chapter 6. I preached a message several
years ago entitled, The Believer's Motto or The Believer's Testimony. And in three verses here, we
have sort of a summation what I believe true Christianity and
the gospel of God's grace is all about. And Paul the Apostle
writing here in verse 14, he says, but God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature or a new creation. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel
of God. Now what I want to talk about
this morning is the power of Christ crucified. You know, the
Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, we preach Christ, Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. And that is the glory and the
truth of the person of Christ, the glorious person of Christ,
who He is. Talked about that last week,
out of Isaiah chapter 9, for unto us A child is born. That speaks of the humanity of
Christ. The perfect, sinless humanity
of Christ. Then it says, unto us a son is
given. Not born, but given. The son
cannot be born. That speaks of his deity. The
immaculate majesty and deity of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is God in human flesh. He is Emmanuel. God with us. He's the Word made flesh. He
had to be both God and man in order to be able to save us from
our sins. Nothing less than God-man could
do it. And we've talked about that so
many times. We'll talk about it some more. And then the glory
of his finished work. That's what the cross. Paul writes
here, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. Now
you know he's not talking about a symbol here. People use the
cross to symbolize Christianity. But Paul's not talking about
a symbol. He's not talking about a piece of jewelry or whatever.
Certainly not talking about a crucifix. But he's talking about the cross,
what Christ Jesus, the God-man, experienced on the cross to put
away the sins of his people. He came to die. He came to redeem
a people, to pay the redemption price. What was the redemption
price? The scripture tells us plainly
it's his blood. You're not redeemed with corruptible
things like silver and gold and the traditions of men. You're
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Why did it take blood? Blood symbolizes death. That's
what the cross symbolizes, death. In fact, what the cross symbolizes
and what it means is death under the curse of the law. Remember
Paul wrote over in Galatians 3 and verse 13. He says, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. Now, what is the curse of the
law? That's not some kind of a voodoo or some kind of a magical
thing. What it is is that where sin
is charged, where the sentence of guilt is charged, sin is imputed,
the law must pronounce the sentence of death. That's what the curse
of the law is. And so it says, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. How did he do it? He was made
a curse for us. Same thing as saying he was made
sin in 2 Corinthians 5.21. What was that? He was a substitute. The God-man was a substitute
for his people, the elect of God, his sheep. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. In referring to his humanity,
Galatians chapter four, across the page there, in verse four,
it says, God sent forth his son. That's the same thing Isaiah
said in Isaiah 9.6, where he said, a son is given. God sent
forth his son. And then it says, made of a woman,
that's his humanity, and then made under the law. Now that's
the broken law that he was made under. Not the law he broke,
but the law I broke. The law you broke. We're transgressors,
you see. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But over there in 3.13,
it says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us, for it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Now that's referring to the cross.
There are a lot of people crucified back then. That was a common
way of punishment under the Roman law. It's a horrible way to die.
But those who were crucified were considered to be cursed.
Well, Jesus Christ, the only perfect sinless man, God-man
that ever lived, hanged on a cross. And he was truly cursed of God. He was made a curse, not for
sins that he committed, And not for any sin that contaminated
him or defiled him or entered into him, but for our sins, the
sins of his sheep, his church, imputed, charged, accounted to
him. And that's what that cross talks, that's what it means.
The finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the redemptive
work of Christ for his people as our substitute and our surety. And having been made under the
law, All the conditions of salvation for his people were placed upon
him, not upon you and not upon me. If they were upon us, it'd
be a failure, but it's on him. That's what grace is all about.
So Paul says, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross.
Now he said, remember in first Corinthians, when we preach Jesus
Christ and him crucified, he said in first Corinthians two
and verse two, he said, I strive not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And that's something that's pretty
important, isn't it? That's something that's vital. This right here
establishes three things. It establishes the power of the
cross, the power of Christ crucified in establishing a right relationship
with God. That's number one. That's the
foundation of it all. You see, before we have any connection
with each other, or any disconnection with anybody, we must have a
right relationship with God. Now where are we going to find
that? And then secondly, it establishes my relationship with the world.
Look back there. He says, God forbid, verse 14,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. Now, what does he mean by that?
Well, he's talking about his relationship with the world.
Now, before Paul came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and
him crucified, before he was regenerated, converted, born
again by the Spirit, and we know by scriptural testimony that
it took place in his life on the Damascus Road, before that
happened, Paul was a friend to the world. But now he's an enemy
to the world. And then thirdly, it establishes
my relationship with brethren in the church. And we'll talk
about that. But let's go back up here. Let's
look at this. First of all, the power of Christ crucified to
establish my relationship, a right relationship with God Almighty. Now that word glory, Paul writes,
God forbid that I should glory. What does it mean? Well, it's
translated different ways in the New Testament. Mostly this
word glory. It means to boast. And what it is, is to boast in
that, in something of which you have confidence. That's what
it's talking about. Now let me show you the places
where it's used. Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter
1. It's like a parallel. Parallel passage to this. God
forbid that I should boast. Now we're gonna boast. I'm not talking about just conceited
people here. But let me put it to you this
way. Now this is the context of what
Paul's talking about. Do you claim to be saved? Do I claim to be saved? Do I
claim to have a right relationship with God? Do I claim to be a
disciple of Jesus Christ? Do I claim that when I lay down
my head for the last time here on this earth, that I'll wake
up in glory? Glory there being a noun of being
a place, the presence of God. Is that what I claim? Now, upon
what ground do I make that claim? Do I believe that other people
are not saved, that they're not disciples of Christ, that when
they die, they'll go to an eternity of damnation? Well, what makes
the difference between them and me? Now, whatever that is, that's
what you glory in. Whatever it is that makes the
difference, it can be one thing, it can be a thousand things,
but whatever it is that gives you confidence personally That
when you die, that you'll go to be with the eternal bliss
of the Lord. Whatever it is that makes that
difference, that's what you glory in. And look here, look at verse
29. He's talking about here that
salvation is totally, totally 100% by the free sovereign grace
of Almighty God. It's God that makes us to differ.
It's God alone who makes the difference between saved and
lost. It's not you, it's not me. I'm telling you what this
is telling us is that the reason, if I'm saved, if I'm truly saved,
the reason I'm saved is owing to God alone in Christ. It's
not owing to me. It's not owing to my decision,
my faith. Yes, I have faith. Yes, I made
a decision. You did too. But that's not what
made the difference. And he says the reason that God
set it up this way is verse 29, that no flesh should glory in
His presence, that no flesh should boast in His presence. Verse
30, but of Him, of the Father, are you in Christ Jesus, God
the Son incarnate, the God-man. Who of God, Christ, who of God
is made unto us wisdom. You see, the difference between
saved and lost is not man's wisdom, it's God's wisdom in Christ. He says in righteousness, the
difference between saved and lost is not man's righteousness.
Man has no righteousness. There's none righteous. No, not
one. There's none that do it. It's not your goodness, not my
good. We have none. There's none that do it good.
No, not one. Now that's Romans three. Now, unless you think
he's talking about somebody other than you, then you'll have to
bow to God's word. It's his righteousness. And he
says, and sanctification, that means being set apart. The reason
I'm set apart is not in me, it's in Christ. And redemption. Some people think that refers
to the cross itself where he redeemed us. Some people think
that's talking about the redemption of glory. Either way, it's all
of Christ. Either way, it's all of Christ.
And he says in verse 31, that according as it is written, he's
quoting here from Jeremiah. He says, according as it is written,
he that glorieth, he that boasteth, let him boast in the Lord. Let me show you one more. Look
over at Philippians chapter three. This is a verse that gives us
what I believe is one of the most simple, succinct definitions
of what a Christian is. What a Christian is. Verse three
of Philippians chapter three. He says, for we are the circumcision. Now what is he talking about?
He's talking about spiritual circumcision here. You know,
circumcision was a way of identifying the Jews as an ethnic people,
as a nation in their religion. The circumcised and the uncircumcised.
But here he's talking about spiritual circumcision, what the Bible
calls circumcision of the heart. And what is that? That's the
new birth. That's being born again from above. Born again
by the Spirit. And he says we're the circumcision.
Spiritually. We're the people of God. That's
another way of saying that. We're the true spiritual people
of God. And here he says, which worship
God in the Spirit. Now there's two things about
worshiping God in the Spirit. How do I know that I'm worshiping
God in the Spirit? First of all, Do I worship God
as He reveals Himself in His Word? In other words, what does
God say about Himself in this Word from Genesis to Revelation?
Is that how I worship Him? Or do I simply worship Him the
way I think He is? According to the imagination.
You know, there's a lot of people, they think God's this, think
God's that. If you go to the Bible and see what God really
is and who God really is, it's not like that at all. We'll talk about the blessed
doctrines of election and predestination and the sovereignty of God. And
I've heard men say, well, my God wouldn't do that. Well, your
God's not the God of this book. The God of this book will read
it. It's what it says of him. You say, well, I don't like that.
Well, your argument's not with me. It's with the word of God.
It's with God himself. So worship God and seek God's
Spirit. He's invisible. You can't see
Him. He's not made in the likeness
of man. The only thing I know about God is what He reveals
of Himself in this Word. If God says this is the way He
is, that's the way He is, whether I can understand it or not. Or
whether I can wrap my mind around. In fact, before you even start
seeking Him, you won't be able to wrap your mind around Him.
Just forget it. All you can do is submit. The
only way you'll do that is by the Holy Spirit. So we worship
God in spirit by worshiping him as he reveals himself, as he
identifies and distinguishes himself. Secondly, we worship
him from the heart. God has no pleasure in the outward
circumstances and ceremonies and forms of religion. Religion
without grace, religion without heart, religion without truth. We worship him from the heart.
That's the regenerated heart. That's the circumcised heart.
So Paul says, we're the circumcision which worship God in the spirit.
And look at the next line, and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now
that word translated rejoice is the same Greek word translated
glory in Galatians 6.14 and 1 Corinthians 29 and 31. God forbid that I should glory,
so it could be read this way. And glory in Christ Jesus, or
boast or have confidence in Christ Jesus, and then look at the next
line, and have no confidence in the flesh. The flesh being
the works of man. The works and the will of man,
that's the flesh. God forbid that I should glory.
So what Paul is saying here is that God forbid that I should
glory, that I should boast or have confidence in my salvation,
in my right relationship with God, except in one thing, the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glorious person and finished
work of Christ. That's the only thing I've got
to glory in. He's the only thing I have to boast in. Brother Mahan,
you say preaching is just getting up and bragging on Christ. And
the reason a lot of people don't like that is they'd rather you
brag on them. Talk about them. And they'll do it in a religious
way like the Pharisee. What are people glorying and
boasting as far as their right relationship with God? Well,
you don't have to turn there, but over in Matthew chapter 7
and verse 21, I refer to it quite often. The Lord Jesus Christ
said there, He said, not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter the kingdom of heaven. He said, only those who do the
will of My Father. What's the will of His Father?
It's to believe on the Son and to follow the Son and rest in
the Son and glory in Christ and Him crucified. But what did those
false preachers say? Lord, haven't we preached in
Your name? Now I've preached in His name,
but now is that what I glory in? Is that my confidence? Absolutely
not. But it was for those false preachers.
Haven't we cast out demons? You know somebody can cast out
demons, that's impressive. Is that what you glory in? Haven't
we done many wonderful works? Is that what you're glorying?
Is that your boast? Is that your right relationship
with God? Well, if it is, what did He say to them? Depart from
me ye that work iniquity. That means what they're boasting
in doesn't measure up. It falls short. For all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. What's the standard?
Righteousness. It doesn't measure up. If I preach
one sermon in His name or a million sermons in His name, it doesn't
measure up to righteousness. If I cast out a million demons,
it doesn't measure up to righteousness. If I do a billion wonderful works,
it doesn't measure up to righteousness. Where am I going to measure up
to righteousness? Where am I going to find righteousness? God forbid
that I should glory except where? The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's where you're going to
find righteousness. In the blood of Christ. The righteousness
of Christ. Look at Romans chapter 3 with
me. Look at verse 19 of Romans chapter
3. How am I going to have a right
relationship? God's holy. He can by no means clear the
guilty. And He's so holy, the Bible says
He cannot even look upon sin. That means look favorably. God
must punish sin. So how am I, a sinner, going
to have a right relationship with God? You say, well, by faith. Well, what do you mean by that?
Let me tell you something. You cannot believe enough to
make things right with God. You see, it's not how much faith
you have, it's in whom your faith is. I have faith, God-given faith. What does that mean? That means
I look to Christ as the only one who established my right
relationship with God. You see the difference there?
You say, well, you've got to turn over a new leaf. Well, yeah,
we all need to turn over a new leaf. But that will not establish
a right relationship with God. You must be baptized. Why? Not to be saved. That won't establish
a right relationship with God. Baptism is a confession that
Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my hope. Christ is
my boast, my confidence. Look at Romans 3.19, Now we know
that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, that's the works of the flesh, that shall no flesh be
justified, declared not guilty, made righteous in God's sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You want a glory in your
works? Cain did that. Cain gloried in
his works. God rejected. Abel brought what? The blood of a lamb, typifying
what? Jesus Christ and him crucified. He says, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Moses wrote of this. The prophets spoke of it. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, not your faith, but his faith,
his faithfulness to do what he came to do. It's unto all, it's
to be preached to everybody. We're not to hold this message
back from anybody who wants to hear it. And upon all them that
believe, those who believe this message, they give evidence that
this righteousness is theirs. It's upon them, it's imputed,
charged to them. There's no difference. For all
sin that comes short of the glory of God, being justified freely,
unconditionally, without a cause, by his grace, unearned favor,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Christ paying
the price, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, a sin-bearing
sacrifice that brings satisfaction. That's what propitiation is,
sin-bearing sacrifice that brings satisfaction. Through faith in
His blood, I believe in what He accomplished. That same thing
as glory, if you have faith in His blood, that's the same thing
as glorying in the cross. That's what He shed on that cross,
His blood. That's his finished work. To declare what? His righteousness, not yours,
not mine, but his. For the remission of sins that
are past, that refers to the Old Testament saints. In other
words, the blood that Christ shed on that cross was enough
to save Abel and Enoch and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and old Job. through the forbearance of God.
Why didn't God just snuff this world out of existence when Adam
fell? His forbearance, he had in mind the coming, the sending
of his son into the world to declare, say at this time his
righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. Now where's boasting then? Where's
glorying then? It's excluded. What's he talking
about? What glorying is excluded? Any
glorying, any boasting that I would have in my works, it's excluded. By what law of works? No. By
the law of faith. What does faith do? It looks
to Christ. It rests in Christ. It pleads the blood of Christ,
the righteousness of Christ. And therefore, we conclude a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And we
could show so many other passages here, but let me show you one
more, Hebrews chapter 10. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Now,
when you talk about a right relationship with God, you're talking about
being justified before God. That is God, the Supreme Judge,
declaring His people not guilty. Declaring them righteous in His
sight. Not based on their works, but
based on what? Well, look at Hebrews 10 and
verse 19. Now he says, having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest. Now the holiest
there is the very presence of Almighty God. And that word boldness
means liberty. In other words, it's a free passage,
unhindered, without any obstacles. And it could be in the same category
as glory, boasting, confidence. In other words, here's a sinner
who has confidence to enter the holiest. Now, upon what ground,
upon what basis, what would give a sinner that kind of confidence?
Look at it. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. That's it. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's what establishes a sinner's
relationship with Almighty God. God forbid that I should glory.
Now go back to Galatians 6. Here's the second thing. It also
establishes my relationship with the world. Look at verse 14 again. And understand now this right
relationship with God established upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Who He is and what He accomplished,
His blood, His righteousness alone, imputed, charged, accounted
to me, which we receive by God-given faith. That's the foundation
of it all. That's what, listen, that's the
foundation of points two and three, my relationship with the
world and my relationship with the church. But look at this,
establishes my relationship with the world. He says, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me. and I unto the world."
Now what's he talking about? We'll turn to John chapter 15.
Now remember what we said about crucifixion. To be crucified is to be cursed. Now you think, what's the opposite
of cursed? Blessed. Blessed or cursed. Now here's
the question, am I blessed or am I cursed? Well, what's the
foundation of blessing? Well, the Bible says, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. And then it says, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. In other words, here's what it's saying.
If you're trying to be saved by your works or your will, you're
not going to make it. And if you die in that state,
what do you die under? You die under the curse of the
law. And that's what Paul's saying
here. Listen, how you stand before God in a relationship If it's
not based upon Christ to Him crucified, what is it? What are
you? You're cursed. Now, you may not feel cursed.
It has nothing to do with feeling. And you may be rich, you may
be healthy, you may live to be a hundred... Well, I'll tell
you, there's a fellow who lived to be 969 years old and died
cursed. Methuselah. You may live a long
life. And you may say, well, I'm really
blessed of God. But my friend, Unless you come
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, you're cursed. Now
that's what this book says. And that's what Paul's talking
about in Galatians 6, verse 14. He's talking about the world
in opposition to Christ. Look at John 15, verse 18. He says, If the world hate you. That's the fallen, sin-cursed,
unregenerate, unbelieving world. We were born in that just like
them. We fell in Adam. We're born dead
in trespasses and sin. If we're saved, we're saved out
of this world. That doesn't mean we go up into
the sky or in space or anything like that. That means we're no
longer citizens of the world. We're no longer in fellowship
with the world that hates our Savior, that pleads something
other than His blood and righteousness, that boasts in their works, their
will, whatever. Their baptism, their church membership,
they boast in a lot of things. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. I'll give you a prime example
of it. I was reading an article about the new pope. He's become
a popular person. And in one of his homilies, that's
one of his sermons, one of his messages, He made this statement. He said, atheists, atheists who
do good works are going to be saved, are going to be right
with God. Now let me tell you who loves
that. The world loves that kind of preaching. God hates it. It doesn't glorify him. It doesn't
exalt Christ. It's unbelief. That's what it
is now. You say, preacher, you ought
not say it. Why not? It's truth. It's truth. He says, if you were
of the world, the world would love His own. Just tell the world
what they want to hear. You're okay. Peace, peace, when
there is no peace. What Satan say to Eve, you shall
not surely die. What God say, you shall surely
die. Uh-huh. Oh, everybody's okay.
I'm okay, you're okay. You remember that book came out
in the 70s or 60s or something? I'm okay, you're okay. That's
religion today. And the world loves it. Don't... I'm going to talk about
this tonight in Lamentations. False prophets, they will not
discover sin. They won't tell the truth about
sin. Let's accept everybody. God loves everybody. Christ died
for everybody. We're all okay. That's a lie,
people. That's a lie. But if you preach it, I'll tell
you who will love you. The world. Boy, you'll fill them
up. They'll love that. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because you're not of the world,
but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hated
you. Look there at chapter 16 and verse 1. He says, these things
have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended. They
shall put you out of the synagogues. They'll throw you out of their
religious services. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. Think about
Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus. Here he was. a religious man,
a dedicated man, a Pharisee, trying to keep the law, trying
to do his best to establish his own righteousness. But he had
one thing in mind, and that was to arrest and ultimately kill
Christians. You see, he was a friend of the
world. And then God saved him. Now, why did God save Saul of
Tarsus? Was Saul seeking the Lord? No.
Was he on his way to a prayer meeting? No. Did he have a repentant
heart? No. God sovereignly struck him
down and put him in the dust where he belonged. And that's
when his heart changed. And then he became an enemy to
the world. He thought he was blessed with
the world. Now he sees he was cursed. And
then he became a friend of Christ. Blessed of God. You see that?
Now what changed? Well, here's what he said. Before
he said it in Philippians 3, he gloried the fact that he was
a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was circumcised the 8th day.
It's touching the law of Pharisee, dedicated, zealous. He gloried
in all that. But now he's changed. There's
a big change happened to this fella. Oh my, what a change! God forbid now that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's the
change. There's the change, boy. And
that established his new relationship with the world, by whom the world
is crucified unto me. I look upon the world as being
cursed. But you know what? That's the
way the world looks at me. If the world hates you, Christ said,
it hated me before it hated you. You know what they called the
Lord when we hung Him on the cross? A malefactor. A criminal. Blasphemer. Now what is He to
you? What do you see now? Remember
we preached that lamentation? Is it nothing to you that passed
by? What do you see now when you look at Christ crucified?
He's my salvation. He's my righteousness. He's my
wisdom. He's everything. And I don't
glory in anything else. And then lastly, it establishes
my relationship with brethren, the church. Now look back here
in verse 15. Now he said, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have
no confidence in the flesh, no confidence in me or you or anybody
but Christ. And him crucified, verse 15,
for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision.
It doesn't matter whether you're a Jew or a Gentile. That's what
he's saying. Jew and Gentile has nothing to do with it. You
say, well, I'm a Jew. Is that what you glory in? Somebody says, well, I'm not
a Jew. They rejected Christ. I'm a Gentile. Is that what you
glory in? It means absolutely nothing. I can trace my family history
back to old Rabbi Soweth. That means nothing. Nothing. But what does? A new creation.
Now what is that new creation? That's a sinner saved by the
grace of God. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. And look here, verse 16. Now
here's the church. As many as walk according to
this rule, that word rule there, We get our English word canon. You see the canon of the church.
That's the system of doctrine, the teaching. So anybody who
walks according to this rule, now what rule is he talking about?
I think exactly what he's talking about. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. What are you
glorying? Is it your will? Well, I'm better
than those other people. They didn't decide the way I
decide. Is that what you're glorying? God forbid that I should glory,
save, accept in the cross what Christ did on... Now if you walk
according to that, here's what he says, peace be on them. They're
at peace with God. God's at peace with them. What's
that peace established with? Colossians chapter 1 says it's
established by the cross of Jesus Christ. He made peace by the
blood of his cross. It's established upon the righteousness
of Christ, charged, accounted to me. because my sins were charged
to him. Be ye reconciled to God, upon
what basis, upon what ground? Christ crucified. Plead Christ. And then he says mercy, that's
covenant mercies from God that are only found where? In Christ. Those who are cursed and die
in a state of unbelief, they're not objects of God's mercy, they're
objects of God's long suffering. But someday that long suffering
will be over. But His mercy does what? How many times is said in the
Psalm? His mercy what? Endures forever. And then upon the Israel
of God. Now who is the Israel of God?
There's a lot of argument about that today. And what I believe
about it, they call it replacement theology. That's not true. It's
not replacement theology. It's fulfillment theology. Because
it's fulfilled in the church. But listen to what Paul says.
Look back at Galatians 3. Look back here. Verse 26. And listen to
this. And remember what Paul said in
Philippians 3. We are the circumcision. That
includes Jew and Gentile who are saved by the grace of God
in Christ. But look at verse 26 of Galatians 3. He says, for
you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Now notice he didn't say you
are all the children of God by faith. He said you're all children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. Faith has an object. It's not
just believe, believe, believe. It's believe in Christ. Rest
in Christ. And then verse 27, for as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ, now that's not talking
about water baptism. That word baptized means to be
placed into union with Christ. If you've been placed into Christ,
if you're one with Christ, if He died for you, was buried for
you, arose again the third day for you, then you've put on Christ. Now what does it mean to put
Him on? That means to believe in Him, to rest in Him, to trust
Him. And look at verse 28. There's
neither Jew nor Greek. That's Gentile. There's neither
Jew. Now, what does that mean if he
says there's neither Jew nor Gentile? That means that distinction
means nothing. It's gone. There's neither bond
nor free. Doesn't matter whether you're
a slave or a free man. There's neither male nor female.
In other words, it doesn't matter whether you're a man or a woman.
Now there are Jews who are saved, there are Gentiles saved, there
are free men who are saved, there are bondmen who are saved, there
are women who are saved, there are men who are saved. There
are those distinctions, but what he's saying is as to being a
child of God, that distinction means nothing. And then he says,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
now that's a possessive, if you belong to Christ, then are you
what? What does it say there? Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise, if you belong to him. Who is the Israel of God over
here? It's the people of God under the headship of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's who he's talking about.
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. And then in
Ephesians chapter two, you don't have to turn there. He talks
about how Christ by his blessed work on the cross, has taken
two, Jew and Gentile, and he says it this way, he's made one
new man. That's Jew and Gentile together
under the headship of Christ. That's the church. Built upon
the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. What did the
prophets and the apostles preach? They preached Christ. They appointed
sinners to Christ. God forbid that I should go,
okay. Let's sing as our closing hymn face to face.