Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program this morning. Glad you could join us. If you'd
like to follow along in your Bibles, in this message, I'm
going to be preaching from the book of Galatians in the New
Testament, Paul's epistle to the churches of Galatia, chapter
6, and some of the last verses of this chapter, verses 14 through
16. That's my text. Galatians 6,
14 through 16, if you want to go ahead and find that in your
Bibles. And the title of the message today is The Power of
the Cross. The Power of the Cross. And let's
start out, let's read verse 14, where the apostle writes, by
inspiration of the Spirit, 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. So God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross. Now first of all, let
me just talk a little bit about this term, the cross. Now we
all know, historically, that the Lord Jesus Christ died on
a cross, a wooden cross, on Golgotha's Hill, Calvary, And that was the
crucifixion, the crucifixion of Christ. Crucifixion was one
of the most terrible, torturing ways of punishing criminals. It was a Roman form of punishment. When Christ, when the Lord Jesus
Christ was tried and in the courts of the Romans under Pilate and
in the court of Herod and the Sanhedrin, all of them turned
thumbs down on him. And of course, that's a representation
of lost humanity, which includes ourselves. He was hanged on a
cross. But the cross, and you know,
the cross has come to represent, it's come to be a symbol of Christianity. And that's not necessarily a
bad thing if you understand what the cross means. and understand
that there's no power in crosses that you make or that you wear.
You know, people hang up crosses on their walls. They have jewelry
crosses around their neck and all of that and in churches.
But you need to understand what that cross represents. what it
means. Now, let me caution you this
way. I do not like crucifixes. And what I mean by crucifixes
is little images of the cross that have images of a man hanging
on them. They call him Jesus. That to
me takes it too far. But he says, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross. In another place, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, Paul talked about the preaching of the cross. He said the preaching of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. And it's the
power of God to those who believe. And so we preach Christ crucified,
he said. And that Christ crucified is
the wisdom and the power of God. Over in 1 Corinthians 2, he said,
I strive not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. And so we're talking about the
cross, but what does that cross mean? Well, the cross is not
a piece of wood. When we read it in the Bible,
he talks about glorying in the cross. Paul is not saying that
I'm glorying in a piece of wood, obviously. And I've even, when
I was growing up, I heard about people going to the, what they
call the Holy Land now, and they would think that somebody would
sell them what they thought was a piece of the cross. And of
course, most people don't get fooled by stuff like that. That's
just religious Pharisaism and iconoclast, all of that. The cross, what Paul is talking
about is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what Christ,
as God manifest in the flesh, what he actually accomplished
by his death on the cross. That's what Paul's talking about.
When you go through the scriptures, you'll see various words and
terms used to describe what Christ suffered unto death and what
that meant and what he accomplished. For example, the cross is one
of those terms. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. What he's talking
about is what Christ accomplished as his surety, his substitute,
and his redeemer. Other phrases like the blood,
wash away my sins, nothing but the blood, the blood of Christ,
The gospel is the gospel of the cross. It's the gospel of the
blood. That's the same thing. The cross means His death. The
blood means His death. So we're saved by the blood of
Christ, justified by His blood. And then the most comprehensive
term that the Bible uses to describe the glorious person and the finished
work of Christ is the phrase the righteousness of God. We
find that, for example, in Romans 1, 16 and 17, where the apostle
wrote there, he said, excuse me, for I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God. Now keep that word
in mind, we're talking about the power of the cross. The gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth to the Jew first and the Greek or the Gentile
also. And then in verse 17 he says, for therein, that is in
the gospel, is revealed the righteousness of God. From faith to faith,
as it is written, the just or the justified shall live by faith. So the gospel is the revelation
of the cross, it's the revelation of the blood, it's the revelation
of the righteousness of God. And what is the righteousness
of God there? The word righteousness means the justice of God. And
that's what Christ did on the cross. Christ who is God, manifest
in the flesh without sin, God-man, went to the cross. Philippians
2 says he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And so that's how far he went to do what? to die in the place
of the people whom God had given Him. He was made surety for His
people. That is, their sin-debt was charged,
accounted to Him, imputed to Him, charged to Him. And the
debt that he had to pay was death. The wages of sin is death. So
he had to die to satisfy the justice of God for their sins. And in that satisfaction, we
find righteousness. the perfection of righteousness
that can only be found in the cross of Jesus Christ. It can
only be found in Christ. Christ is my righteousness. As
my sin debt was imputed, charged to Him, and He died in my place
as my surety and my substitute and my Redeemer, His righteousness
has the merit, the value of His obedience unto death, satisfying
the justice of God, has been imputed to me, charged to me. So I stand before God not in
my own works. I don't glory in my own works. I stand before God in the righteousness
of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what His cross represents.
So when Paul says, God forbid that I should glory, now that
word glory in verse 14 is to boast. It is an expression of
confidence. Now we all know people who are
braggarts. who boast of their accomplishments, who boast in
themselves, and they're usually turn-offs, aren't they? But Paul
says, God forbid that I should boast, that I should have any
ground of confidence save or except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Over in the book of Philippians
chapter 3, we see this word glory used again. In Philippians 3,
where Paul writes, we are the circumcision. Now what he's talking
about there is spiritual circumcision, which is the new birth. And he's
talking about those who are spiritual Jews. Who is a spiritual Jew? Every believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Every person who's been born again by the Spirit. Jew or Gentile. If you're ethnically
a Jew physically, If you're not a believer, then you're not the
spiritual circumcision, a spiritual Jew. If you're ethnically a Gentile,
if you are a believer, then you are a spiritual Jew. Paul brought
that in Romans, when he talked about he's not a Jew, which is
one outwardly, but which is one inwardly. Circumcision is that
of the heart. But in Philippians 3.3, he says,
we are the circumcision, we worship God in spirit, and we worship
God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. That word rejoice
there in Philippians 3.3 is the same exact word used here translated
glory in Galatians 6.14. We rejoice, we glory, we boast,
we have confidence in Christ and have no confidence in the
flesh, he says. And that's what he's stating
here in our text in Galatians 6, 14. God forbid, oh my, there's
not a stronger expression in the word of God to say that this
is something that we are not to do. God forbid that I should
glory in anything except one thing, and what's that? The glorious
person and the finished work of Christ. And so, what does
he mean? I boast of being saved, being
a child of God. Upon what ground, Paul? The cross
of Christ, the blood of Christ, the righteousness of Christ freely
imputed, charged to me, and which I have received by God-given
faith. And so, what we see there is
the foundation of what comes later. Now listen to the next
part of this verse, Galatians 6, 14. He says, by whom the world
is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Now the first part
of that verse shows the power of the cross to establish a believer's
right relationship with God. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. The second part, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world, that shows
the power of the cross to establish the believer's relationship with
the world. And I'll come back to that. But
now look at verses 15 and 16. He says, for in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creation, new creature. That's a new creation. And verse
16, now listen. And as many as walk according
to this rule, this doctrine, this gospel, what rule? God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace be on them. They're at peace with God. We
can recognize that. And mercy. God has had mercy
upon them. And upon the Israel of God. That's spiritual Israel, friend. That's talking about believers.
The literal translation of the word Israel, those who have prevailed
with God. How do I, a sinner, prevail with
God? Through the cross. Through Christ,
crucified and risen from the dead. So that shows the power
of the cross to establish my relationship with brethren in
the faith. You see what I'm saying there?
The power of the cross. Now let's go back one more time.
First, the power of the cross to establish a right relationship
with God. And here's what we have to deal
with. Here's the question we have to ask. How can I, a sinner,
have a right relationship with a holy and just God who must
punish sinners. Who must punish sinners to whom
sin is imputed. How in the world can that happen?
God is righteous and I am not. God is just and I'm not. God is holy but I'm a sinner. And so the question of questions
that really pervades the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation
is this, how then can man, sinful, wretched, depraved man, how can
he be righteous, just with God? And then that raises another
question. How can a holy God who must in justice punish all
sinners to whom sin is imputed, how can he remain just and still
have mercy and still be gracious, still justify a sinner like me? How can that be? Well, the answer
is found in the power of the cross. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what Christ came to do
for the people whom God had given him. The elect, that's who he's
talking about. That's who he's describing here.
How do I know if I'm one of God's elect? Have you ever asked that
question? Now you may say, well preacher, I just don't believe
in election. My friend, if you don't believe in election, you
don't believe the Bible. Now that's just the long and
the short of it. When I first came to see the reality of the
Bible, And I believed at that time I was a Christian, but I
wasn't. I found out that I was denying most of the Bible because
I'd either denied it openly or ignored it. The Bible says be
diligent to make your calling and your election sure. Now why
would it say that if election didn't exist? God chose a people. and gave them to Christ. Now,
you want to say, well, He chose everybody. If you want to say
that, that's up to you, but that's not what the Bible teaches. If
that makes you feel better, then go on with it, but I'm telling
you, you're wrong. You're looking towards a wrong
view of salvation. God chose a people. And Christ
said this in John 6, 37. He said, all that the Father
giveth me. shall come to me, and all who
come to me I will in no wise cast out." People will say all
kinds of crazy things when they're confronted with election. Like,
for example, they say, well, then it doesn't matter what I
do. If I'm elect, I'll be saved. If I'm not, I won't. That's not
what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God chose
a people, gave them to Christ, who died in their stead on the
cross, brought forth an everlasting righteousness that God has imputed
to them, and that being the case, He's going to give them life
from the dead. They're going to be made new
creatures. They're going to be born again. And how do I know
that I'm one of them? As many as walk according to
this rule, he said. What rule do you walk by? Here's
the rule that I walk by. By the grace of God, God forbid
that I should glory, boast, have confidence except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. My glory, my boasting is not
in my works. My boasting is not even in a
decision that I made. You know, people boast in their
decisions. Now, how do you know you're saved?
Well, I decided for Christ, walked an aisle, got baptized, said
the sinner's prayer and got baptized. Is that what you glory in? Well,
my friend, that's deadly. God forbid that I should glory
except in what Christ did on that cross. And out of his death,
as he was buried and arose again the third day, comes life for
his people. And that life is evidenced by
walking according to the gospel rule. God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's the
cross that establishes a sinner's right relationship with God.
You see, Christ died for the sins of his people. He calls
them his sheep, his brethren, his church. And he satisfied
the justice of God for those sins, for those who he died.
That's called a propitiation. He turned back the wrath of God
because the wrath of God was poured down upon him in their
place. He's their substitute. He's their
surety. The debt was put to his account.
He's their substitute. He died on the cross. He paid
the debt. He paid the price and it was
His own blood. Redemption. So how do you know
who they are? They walk according to this rule,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. And as a result
of what Christ accomplished on that cross, God imputes the righteousness
that Christ worked out to them. Second Corinthians 5.21 speaks
of that. Christ, for God made Him sin, to be sin, Christ. Christ who knew no sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I have no righteousness
to come before God and be accepted. I have one righteousness, it's
the righteousness of Christ imputed to me. How do I know it's imputed
to me? I've received Him by God-given
faith. I glory, I boast, I have confidence
in nothing but the cross of Christ. And that's the power of the cross
to establish my right relationship with God. And then the power
of the cross establishes my relationship with the world. How do I look
at the world now? Well, Paul says, by whom, this
is verse 14, by whom the world is crucified unto me. The world
is cursed. The world is lost. The world
is dead. My hope's not in the world. And
this is how the world looks at me. I enter the world. They look
upon me as being cursed. I've had people tell me, when
I preach the gospel to them, say, well, you've gone crazy.
Or I won't believe that. That's not what people wanna
hear. And this is why, you know, the Jews, they boasted in their
physical connection with Abraham. They boasted in their physical
circumcision. They boasted in their law keeping.
Paul says in verse 15 here, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision. Whether you're physically circumcised
as a Jew or physically uncircumcised as a Gentile, that means absolutely
nothing. as far as a right relationship
with God, a new creature, a new creation. What is that new creation?
That's a born-again sinner who has been given God-given faith
and brought to repentance of dead works and idolatry, and
he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. He glories in nothing
but the cross. And you remember what Christ
said to his disciples. He said, marvel not if the world
hates you. They hated me before they hated
you. They'll throw you out of their church services, their
synagogue. See, that's our relation. If you're a believer, if you
glory only in the cross, your relationship with the world is
not good. You're not in fellowship with
the world. Christ spoke of his disciples. They are in the world,
but they're not of the world. You see, you're in a different
world. You're in a kingdom that's different. Not the kingdom of
Satan, the kingdom of the flesh, or the kingdom of the world.
You're in the kingdom of God. And though you're in this world
and you have, you're in this world as a light that shines
in darkness crying God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross. And that's our relation, the
power of the cross to establish that relationship with the world.
And then thirdly, here's the power of the cross to establish
our right relationship with brethren in the faith. Look at verse 16.
And as many as walk according to this rule. Now that word rule,
We get our English word canon, not meaning a cannon you shoot
a cannonball out of, but canonical beliefs, the canon, the system
of doctrine. That's what that's talking about.
It's a rule that those who have been born again, those who are
new creatures, creations, walk by. And what is that rule? Well, he stated it up in verse
14. Here's the rule. And you can
state it many ways, and it is throughout the scripture. But
it's God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And here's how we recognize brethren
in the faith. He says, those who walk according
to this rule, peace be on them. We can speak peace to them. We
can say, that's my brother in Christ. That's my sister in Christ.
We walk by the same rule. It's not that one's walking by
one rule and another by another rule. See, we walk by one rule. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. You know, one of the marks of
false preachers is they'll speak peace when there is no peace.
If I find somebody who is not walking by this rule, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of Christ, I cannot tell
them you're my brother in Christ, you're my sister in Christ. I
have to tell them they're lost. But those who do, peace be on
them. And mercy, that means I can recognize
that God has been merciful to that person. If that person truly
believes that rule, that gospel rule, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross. I can recognize God's been merciful
to you. And mercy comes to sinners through
Christ. And through the cross, the mercy
seat is Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. And then
thirdly, upon the Israel of God. Now the Israel of God there refers
to spiritual Israel. The church, the true church,
Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile. Now, a lot of
preachers today, because of wrong teaching that began somewhere
around the mid-1800s, will tell you, no, that's talking about
the physical nation of Israel, but it's not. Paul has established
in the book of Romans the fact that Israel, the Israel of God,
is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And some people, they'll
tell you, well, that's replacement theology. You're saying the church
replaced the Jews. It is not. The church has always
been around since the first believer. It's a member of the true spiritual
church of God, called spiritual Israel. But the church has never
replaced any nation here on earth. What I call, I'll tell you what
it is, it's fulfillment theology. Israel, the nation, the rebellious
nation, which God destroyed, was a type of the church in certain
ways, but not in all ways. The spiritual church will never
be destroyed. And that's what this is. We're
part of the family of God, the spiritual family of God. He's
not a Jew, which is one outwardly. But he's a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that not of the flesh, but of the heart.
Of the heart. That's a believer. If you walk
by this rule, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, you're a spiritual Jew. You're a member
of spiritual Israel. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.