Turn to Galatians chapter 2 again. Galatians chapter 2, where Paul
is recounting to the Galatians his words that he spoke to Peter.
And I'm dealing with just the one verse, verse 21, where Paul
says, I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Now last week
we looked at this fact. God's grace cannot be frustrated. Men may lie about God's grace.
They do lie about God's grace. They may twist and distort the
truth of God's grace. But fallen humanity, even the
devils themselves, cannot frustrate the grace of God. Now, there are three things here that
Paul mentions. These three things are vitally
linked in an inseparable union. That is, God's grace, Christ's
death, and righteousness. They're inseparably linked together. First of all, God's grace and
Christ's death are merged together. We read that from Paul in Hebrews
chapter 2. And let me turn to it. I don't
want to misread it or misquote it. Hebrews 2 and verse 9, he
said, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor
that He, what? By the grace of God should taste
death. And He tasted it like no other
human being ever tasted it. That He by the grace of God should
taste death for every man. I remember story a preacher told
about a denomination, they actually split because of this phrase,
every man. And it's in the neuter, so they
say it should be that everything. And they actually argued that
Christ, some were saying Christ only died for men, others were
saying he died for everything, you know? Nonsensical stuff. That he by the grace of God should
taste death, not just for Jews, not just for Hebrews, but for
Gentiles also. That's what he's talking about.
Not just for men, but also for women as well. Not just for the
poor, but for some who are rich as well. That's what it's talking
about. But notice that he by what? The grace of God. See how
it's connected that he by the grace of God should taste death
for every man. Secondly, Christ's death and
righteousness are merged together. We read that in 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, where Paul says, for he, that is God the Father,
hath made him, that is Christ the Son, for he hath made him
to be sin for us. That took place in his death
on the cross. The only place where it took
place. That took place in his death on the cross. He who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So much so that the Lord Jesus
Christ actually says, for believers, we have a good heart. Right? Called a good and honest heart.
Now where in the world did that come from? That comes from God
Almighty. And let me say this, even the
gospel don't make your heart good. The gospel has to fall
into a good and honest heart. That's the only place that true
fruit will ever come forth. So Christ's death and righteousness
are merged together. Then the third way, thirdly,
God's grace and righteousness are merged together in Christ's
death. Look at Romans chapter three.
And we'll probably be parking here in Romans three for a moment.
Romans chapter three, listen to what Paul writes. Verse 21,
but now the righteousness of God without the Lord. And let
us, remember now, let me say something here. Jesus Christ
does not make us legally righteous We were made the righteousness
of God in him That's a righteousness the superior even the legal righteousness
But, let's go on, but now the righteousness of God, without
the law as manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ, notice, the righteousness of faith, faith is righteous.
Faith is righteousness. And intrinsically it dwells only
in Christ. But we have that faith given
to us in measure. It's one of the fruit of the
Spirit. Faith is even the righteousness of God which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For
there is no difference for all have sinned. Amen. For all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified,
what? Freely by His grace through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus. So that's the title of my message,
God's Grace. Christ's death and righteousness. Now there are two unassailable
facts about righteousness in the scriptures. Let me give you
those two things. Here's the positive side. The
only righteousness which honors God is that righteousness wherein
the thrice holy God can be just and at the same time justify
sinners who believe in Jesus Christ. Any other righteousness
is not acceptable unto God, because God is holy above all else. And He must still retain, David
writes, His holiness even when He saves. No, especially when
He saves a sinner, even the believing sinner. And we read that according
to what Paul says. Look at it, verse 25 here. whom
God has set forth a propitiation. That's the best way to read that,
the to be there. He didn't set him forth to be,
he set him forth the propitiation through faith in his blood. That's
God's faith in his son's blood. To declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness that he might be just, and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. And remember, this is in light
of we've all sinned. That's exactly right. And come
short of the glory of God. Amen. It is only in Jesus Christ
that true righteousness is found. Amen. True righteousness is,
as I said, inseparably, vitally linked together with God's grace
and Christ's death. The negative is this, here's
the second thing. That righteousness, that's the righteousness of number
one, what I've just given you. That righteousness is never wrought
by a fallen man's will, or by a fallen man's work, or by a
fallen man's worth. Never. Paul said, I do not frustrate
the grace of God. For if righteousness come by
law, then Christ is dead in vain. And that's even hard to say.
Not that it's not, it's true, but that's still even to think
the thought that Christ died in vain. And yet, you know, there
are thousands of people, millions, yay millions that teach that
very thing. They believe that Jesus Christ shed his blood and
died by the grace of God For all without exception and most
end up going to hell anyway That's a vain death Is it not? It's a vain death and Paul said
I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come
by the law Then Christ is dead in vain now I said this righteousness
is never wrought by fallen man's wheel or fallen man's work, or
fallen man's worth, and the scripture tells us that. Park right here
with me in Romans 3 for a moment. Now we know that Paul says in
verse 9, what then, are we better than they? That is, is the Jew
better than the Gentile? The Jews had a lot of advantage,
but they weren't better. What then, are we better than
they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. Now, men and women
in general and religion, so-called Christian religion in particular,
looks at these next few verses of Romans chapter three as though
here is an indictment of really bad sinners. No, this is an indictment
of us all. And compared amongst ourselves,
it's an indictment of the best of us and the worst of us. We're all indicted together.
And even on top of that, most people when they look at Romans
chapter 3 in these next few verses, they think this is just a list
of things that men do wrong. That's what they think this indictment
is, but it's not. Paul right here says that this
righteousness is not of man's will. We'll look at it. It's
not of man's work. We'll look at it. And it's not
of man's worth. All three of these things are
right here in Romans chapter three, specifically verses nine,
all the way down through verse 20. Look, I said, it's not of
man's will. Look at chapter three, verse 11. There is none that
understandeth. The will is engaged in understanding. Yes, it is. Is it not? Yes, it
is. It's not just something that we do, although understanding
is doing, but it has to engage the will. There's none that understandeth. There is none that, what? Seeketh
after God. Amen. This is an indictment against
the whole human race. Exactly. And it's an indictment
of our will. Yes. You see it? It's not just,
here's some bad deeds. We do. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. Look at verse 17 and 18. The way of peace have they not
known. You see that? That has to do
with the will. The mind. The affections. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. So nobody understands. Nobody
seeks. Nobody knows the way of peace,
and nobody fears God by nature. No one does. If anyone does,
it can only be by an act of God's will, not an act of human will.
You see it? There is no fear of God before
their eyes. So we see that this righteousness
is not wrought by human will. Secondly, it's not wrought by
human works. Look at the middle part of verse 12. It says, they're
all gone out of the way. They are together become what?
Unprofitable. Unprofitable it's not by our
work. They're all going out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable There is none that
what doeth good? No, not one That's an indictment
of our work our effort No matter how religious that effort might
be. Oh, yeah, it's still not God good It might be man good
Humanity, one man, one fallen man may look upon another fallen
man and say, what a good man he is. But that's not the way
God sees it. And this is what religion refuses
to see. Joe, just like you was talking
about, if God says you're clean, it don't matter what everybody
else sees about you. But I'll tell you this, it don't matter
what everybody else says about you or sees about you. Man may
say you're good, but God says you're not. God says I'm not
by nature. I'm not by nature. Look at verse
13. Their throat is an open sepulcher. In other words, you know what
would come out of an open sepulcher, don't you? Stink and rot. Their throat is an open sepulcher.
With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps
is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. You see it? So it's not of man's
will. It's not of man's work. It's
not of man's worth either, is it? Look at verse 10. As it is
written, there is none righteous. Know what it says? There is none
righteous, not even one. No, not one. Now to say there's
none righteous ought to be enough. But we're so unrighteous that
we have to be told over and over. There's none righteous. No, not
one. But God has to accept this. It's
so righteous. So we say. But God says no. As a matter of fact, self-justification. is called one of the linked among
many abominations. Says that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in God's sight. And he ain't talking
about homosexuality there. Do you know that? Now that's
called an abomination in the Old Testament. But he calls justifying
your own self an abomination just as wicked and filthy as
is the abominations of sexual immorality and wrong. Doesn't
he? That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination. Why? Because there is none righteous.
There is none righteous, no not one. It's not of a man's worth,
look at it. They are together, I done read
it, they are together become what? Unprofitable. Unprofitable. So right here,
people say, where does the Bible teach it's not of man's will,
not of man's work, not of man's worth? In the Old Testament and
in the New. Because Paul is quoting from
the Old Testament right here. It is not of man, this righteousness
is not of man's will, it's not of man's work, it's not of man's
worth. All of this, Paul then goes on
to say, the very law itself confirms it. Verse 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 as Earl used
to say, the law says, shut up. When you start to brag about
yourself, the law says, shut up. That every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty. And here's the kicker,
before God. That's our problem. My problem's
not how you see me. My problem's not how I see you.
Sometimes I look quite highly on you, and other times I don't. But that's not the point, is
it? And sometimes you probably don't think all too highly of
me. Boy, it was really quiet then.
Joe's the only one that said anything. What matters is how God sees
us. That's what matters. And God sees us better than we
even see ourselves. That's the frightening thing.
He knows me better than I know myself. Because I still sometimes
try to justify my sin. Well, I couldn't help it, or
this happened, or that happened. You know, the devil made me do
it. You know, the devil tempted me. But here's what Paul says,
the law declares clearly that this righteousness is not of
a man's will, it's not of a man's work, and it's not of a man's
worth. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh
be justified in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. And that is only for people that
God opens up their eyes to. See? Because most people, when
they read the law, they think pretty highly of themselves.
And now what that one rich young ruler said? He said, Christ said,
keep the commandments. He said, you know, I've done
all that for my youth, what lack I yet? Now he understood he still
lacked, but he didn't really understand how much he really
lacked. Because then when Christ put
him to the test, he said, you go sell everything you've got
and you give it to the poor, you take up your cross, you follow
me. And he went away sorrowful for he had great riches. You
see, all of this, Paul says, the law confirms. And when men
read it, and then they talk about free will, then it's clear they
don't know what the law says. Because the law says, when it
comes to bragging about yourself, just shut up. You're guilty in
God's sight. Now, take ear now. May God give
you ears to hear. Paul here, in Galatians chapter
two and verse 21, Paul does not make righteousness a matter of
Christ's life only. As a matter of fact, he didn't
say, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by law, then Christ lived in vain. Does he say that? No, he says, I do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. So Paul does not make righteousness
a matter of Christ's life only. His life was a righteous life.
Don't get me wrong in what I'm saying his life was a righteous
life, but I'm saying this apart from his death No matter what
righteousness he wrought in his life. We'd still perish God could
have imputed Joe to me every ounce of Righteousness that Christ
wrought in his life if he didn't die for me die for my sins I'll
still perish and go to hell Do you see what I'm saying? I do
not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by
law, then Christ is dead in vain, because the death of Christ is
the crux of it all. You see, Christ's holy life manifest
Him to be the Lamb without spot, without blemish. It most definitely
did. And His life wrought what the
law positively demands. The law says, do this, Christ
did it. Right? The law says don't do this. He
didn't do it. Right? But the law also says
that to me. And I've broken that law. And
that law must be honored. That law must be satisfied. And
it wasn't satisfied merely by his life. It was satisfied on
the positive side by his life. But the negative side of the
law was satisfied how? By his death. Now think about
it, Christ's holy life manifest him as the lamb without spot
and blemish. His life wrought what the law
positively demands, but only his death could satisfy our negative
and deliberate offense of the law. Exactly. Sin and sins must
be dealt with. Yes. And all the righteousness
in all the world would not, being imputed thus even by faith, does
not satisfy sins and sin. Only the death of the perfect
sacrifice, only the substitutionary sacrifice can satisfy that side
of the law. You see, sin and sins must be
dealt with and only death can do that. The soul that sinneth,
it shall what? Die. And the scripture says God
made his soul. an offering for sin. Isn't that
what it says? He didn't just suffer physically,
he suffered in a way that we will never comprehend. And thank
God for it. Thank God for it. His death was
declared to be what? Obedience. And what Paul said,
let me turn to Philippians chapter 2. This is what he says. Philippians
2 verse 5, let this man be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became what? Obedient. What? In his life? Yes, certainly in his life, but
obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. You see, the righteousness we
need was not wrought merely by how Christ lived, but it was
wrought by how Christ died. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by law, then Christ is what? Dead! Not lived in vain, Christ
is dead in vain. You see, Christ's death was a
righteous act. Christ's death was a righteous
act. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, and because of that God highly
exalted Him. God highly exalted Him. So Christ's
death was a righteous act in satisfaction of divine justice.
The law says don't do this. I've done all that. The law says
you're supposed to do all this. I've done none of that. And Christ
could not impute to me even divine righteousness and satisfy that
problem. He had to die the death of the
wicked. He had to die as though he were
the one deserving to be punished. And you know what? When he died,
he did deserve because God seen sin in him. It says he bore our
sins in his own body on the tree. I can't explain that, but that's
just the way it is. And when God the Father seen
that, God turned his back on the Son. And it should have been
me that God turned his back on. But he didn't. And he didn't
turn his back on you. See, it is no wonder then that
Paul wrote these words in Philippians chapter 3. Look at what he says. He says this. Verse 7 of Philippians
3, But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dumb that I may win Christ, and be found in Him,
now look at it, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness. Paul says, I put it away from
me. I'm not looking for my own righteousness. It don't exist. You'll look in vain. And if you
think you've found it, you'll perish before God, because God
don't see it. God says we're guilty in his
sight, in ourselves, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, so even legal righteousness don't cut
it. Right? See what he says? Even if I could,
Joe, do all the law, I still don't honor God, but we don't
keep the law. We don't keep it all. But that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings be made conformable
unto His death. In other words, Paul said Christ
is everything. Right? Christ is everything. It's no wonder that Paul would
write these words. It's no wonder that Paul would say, I do not
frustrate the grace of God for righteousness come by law. Christ
died in vain. But Paul knew that Jesus Christ
did not die in vain. Here's the question. Is Christ
and being found in Him the center of my being? And I'm the only
one that can answer that for me. I can't answer that for you. I can't prove to you one way
or the other whether that's true of you or not. His Spirit bears
witness with our spirit. And mine, mine only. With me. And His Spirit has to bear witness
with your spirit. Here is this the center of my
being. That Jesus Christ is everything to me. And that's where it's
all at. Because if anything else is more
important to me, then that's where I'm standing. That's where
I'm found. And when all this is wrapped
up in the end, and all men stand before a holy, thrice holy God
at the great white throne, it says there will be, when they're
standing there, there will be no place found for them. From
His face, the heavens and the earth do what? They flee away. And said, men shall be judged
out of the things written in the books. That's God's Word.
And we don't meet up with God's Word. My only hope is Him. My only hope is to be, not having
my own righteousness, but to be found in Him. To be found
in Him. Is that the center of my being? And that's how simple it is. That's what faith really is.
Is Christ the center of my being? Is everything else, when it's
compared to Him, Joe, I love that woman right back there,
but compared to Him, honey, you're nothing. I know she loves me,
but compared to him, I'm nothing. You know what I mean? Legal righteousness,
that's glorious, Joe, but it's a glorious condemnation of death.
It don't compare to him. He is the glory that exceleth.
The law's glorious, but it's a glorious death. He's glorious
life. He's glorious life. Father, I
pray that you constantly teach us these things. constantly calls
us to behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. Oh, God bless us in Christ. Amen.