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
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for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. Thankful that the Lord has brought
you to tune into our program, to the message. And today I'll
be preaching from Galatians chapter three. I'll begin at verse six
of Galatians chapter three. And the title of the message
is The Gospel Abraham Believed. The Gospel Abraham Believed. The reason I wanted to go there
is that the Apostle Paul in this passage, as he often does, goes
back to Abraham as one of the best examples of a believer,
a sinner saved by grace. He's brought up Abraham before
in the book of Romans. He essentially does the same
thing when he's talking about how a sinner is justified before
God. Now you need to understand what
it means to be justified before God. Romans chapter eight, I
believe it's verse 33 or maybe verse 34, I can't remember the
exact reference, but Romans chapter eight, the Bible says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that
justifieth. Now justification is a legal
matter. It has the connotation of being
judged by God who is the Supreme Judge of all things. It's like
a person standing before a judge at the court. And based upon
the evidence given, that judge is either gonna pronounce that
person guilty or not guilty. And that's what justification
is. And in that passage in Romans, let me just go over there so
I'll make sure I have the right reference in Romans chapter eight.
Here it is, it's verse 33. of Romans eight. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Now, have you ever been
charged with anything, charged with a crime, charged with a
misdemeanor? Maybe you've gotten pulled over
for speeding or something like that. Well, he mentions God's
elect here. Now, I know people don't like
to talk about the elect or election, but my friend, it's a Bible doctrine. And what he's saying here, whoever
these elect are, in Romans 8, 33, God doesn't lay any sin to
their charge. It's God that justifies. Now,
did you hear that? Most people, when they think
of election, they think of the Jewish nation under the old covenant.
because they at some point were referred to as God. God chose
them and put them under that covenant. But that was a temporary
thing. That was an earthly, temporal,
ceremonial, national covenant. And in and of itself now, it
had nothing to do with the salvation of a sinner. Salvation came through
the Jews because Christ was born of the Jews according to the
flesh. But that's all in Christ, and that's not according to the
terms of the Old Covenant. Now, I don't want to confuse
you here, but I just want you to kind of see where I'm going
with this. Salvation is according to the terms of the everlasting
covenant of grace. not the old covenant law of Moses.
That was a conditional covenant which failed because the Jews
failed. So would we have failed. We're
sinners. And that's why that covenant
was given, or one of the reasons. But so when many people, when
they talk about election or the elect, they think, well, you're
talking about the Jews, but that's not who Paul's talking about
in Romans chapter eight. In this Roman church, there were
both Jews and Gentile believers. And he's referring to all believers
here. Many people today think about
election this way. They say, well, God elected everybody
and it doesn't really kick in for salvation until you elect
him. My friend, that is anti-biblical. The Bible doesn't teach that.
A sinner does not become one of God's elect by believing. A sinner who is God's elect will
believe and that gives evidence of his election. Now, that doesn't
mean that we're supposed to go out and say, well, now I've got
to find, I've got to look at that person and I got to determine,
is he elect or he's non-elect? That has nothing, that's not
my business, that's not your business, that's God's business.
But I do know this, here's what the scripture teaches. that if
I'm chosen of God before the foundation of the world and given
to Christ, I'll listen to the gospel, I'll hear it, and I'll
believe in Him. And that's all I need to be concerned
with. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He your only
hope of salvation, of being justified, of being righteous? So he says
in verse 33 of Romans, that who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect, it's God that justifies. And upon what basis
does God justify the elect? Sinners saved by grace, verse
34. Who is he that condemneth it, and listen to it, it is Christ
that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now go back
to Galatians three. See what he's talking about is,
whoever he's talking about here, They cannot be charged with sin
because Christ died for their sin. Christ was charged. Their sin, the debt of their
sin was imputed to Christ. And he died and drank damnation
dry and secured their salvation. But we learn also in the Bible,
and this goes all the way back to Genesis, but it's illustrated
here in Abraham who believed God. that justification before
God not only means that I'm not guilty and cannot be charged
with the debt of my sins so as to be condemned because Christ
died and is risen again, I'm also declared righteous before
God. Now that's important. How am
I declared righteous? Well, just as my sin that was
imputed, charged to Christ, His righteousness, the merit of His
obedience unto death, is charged to me. Imputed righteousness. Now, the reason that's so important,
especially here in the book of Galatians, there are a lot of
people who say, well, Christ died for my sins, but I have
to work hard to make myself righteous. And that's a denial of Christ. The reason he was raised again
from the dead is because he established righteousness imputed to his
people. Well, the example of Abraham
shows that. Now look at Galatians 3, 6. He
says, even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted or
imputed or charged to him for righteousness. Now, what was
imputed, accounted, or charged to Abraham for righteousness?
Well, a lot of people, when they read verses like that, they think,
well, that's talking about Abraham's believing. as if something like
this, that, well, because we're not perfect, we cannot measure
up to the perfection of righteousness, so therefore God accepts our
believing in the place of righteousness. That is not what that scripture
teaches. Now remember what it said there
in Galatians chapter three and verse six. It was a canon to
Abraham for righteousness. What is the it? If you can remember
going to school and learning English grammar, that word it
is a pronoun and it has an antecedent. Now, what does that mean? I'm
not just throwing big words at you. Well, if I say he went to
the store, who is the he there? Or if I say she went to the ballgame,
who is the she? What person does it refer to?
Well, it was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. What is that
it? Well, over in Romans 4, he shows us in Galatians 3, but
over in Romans 4, he explains it perfectly by using David,
King David, as an example. He quotes here in Romans 4 from
Psalm 32. And it's Romans 4 and verse 6. He talked about Abraham, it's
counted Abraham for righteousness. Verse six of Romans four, listen
to this. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without words. Now, when did David say that?
Back in Psalm 32 and verse one and two, he talked about blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. David is talking
about the non-imputation of sin. God doesn't charge me with my
sin. I'm a sinner. If God ever gave me what I deserved
or what I've earned, it would be eternal damnation. But God
doesn't charge me. Now how can He do that and still
be just? He charged my sin to Christ who
is my surety and my substitute. How do I know that He did that
for me? Because I believe in Him. That's the evidence. I rest
in Him. I follow Him. I plead His blood
and righteousness. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. and thereby having not charged
me with my sin and charging them to Christ, He charged me with
the righteousness of Christ. I stand before God in a righteousness
that I had no part in producing because I cannot produce one.
God will not accept anything less than perfect righteousness. And that applies to Abraham and
everyone who's like Abraham, who believes the same gospel
that Abraham believed. It's the righteousness of God.
And that righteousness, listen, it can never be taken away. That's
what Christ said. It can never be corrupted. It
can never be changed. It is eternal. Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever. Now, go back to Galatians
chapter three. He's talking about Abraham. Abraham
believed God. Well, what did Abraham believe?
Well, it says in verse seven, it says, know ye therefore that
they which are of faith. Now, last week I talked about
the hearing of faith. That's the gospel. They who believe
the gospel, that's those who are of faith. It's not talking
about just somebody who believes something or believes anything,
no matter how sincere they are. The unbelieving Jews, they believed
God would save them because they were Abraham's children, because
they were circumcised, because they thought they kept the law
of Moses. That's a lie. A person can sincerely and religiously
believe a lie. So when he says, when he says,
know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. How are they the children of
Abraham? Well, children of Abraham is a way of expressing the body
of true believers. Because Abraham is a prime example
of how God saves sinners, how God justifies the ungodly, how
God brings sinners to faith in Christ. And that's what Abraham
believed. How do you know? Look at verse
eight. He says, and the scripture, that's the written word of God,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, and
that faith is the promise of God. It's justification based
on the blood and righteousness of Christ. That's what faith
is here. What is your faith? You say, well, I believe that
I made the decision and God saved me based upon that decision.
Well, that's not the faith of Abraham. That's not the faith
that the scripture set forth. That's not God-given faith. That's
just natural to man. Justify the heathen, that's the
Gentiles, not just the Jews. Through faith, preach before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying in thee shall all nations be
blessed. That goes back to Genesis chapter
12, when God first called Abraham out of idolatry. And Abraham,
as the Bible says, Abraham was justified based upon the righteousness
of the Messiah who was to come. Abraham looked forward. Christ
said that in John chapter 8. He told the Pharisees, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Abraham
believed the gospel. It's the same gospel that believers
today believe. The difference was Abraham looked
forward into the future by promise to the coming Christ who would
establish righteousness for him by putting away his sins. We who believe today, we look
back at the event accomplished, but it's the same gospel. And
that's what he's saying here. And he's using the covenant that
God made with Abraham as recorded in Genesis chapter 12. to indicate
that, in thee shall all nations be blessed. In other words, what
Abraham heard, what Abraham believed, by God-given faith now, Abraham
was a sinner saved by grace. This is nothing to give glory
or boasting rights to Abraham. He was called out of idolatry
by God. He was saved by God's grace.
He was justified by the imputed righteousness of Christ. And
he was given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit in the new birth,
just like believers today. And so when Abraham was called
out of there, God gave him the promise. And there were a lot
of different promises given to Abraham. Some of them were temporal,
some of them were earthly and ceremonial that applied to the
Jewish nation under the old covenant, which would come later on. But
some of those promises were eternal, spiritual promises given to spiritual
Israel, all of God's elect, chosen before the foundation of the
world, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and eventually to
be called, born again and called by the Holy Spirit. Some of them
applied to eternal salvation and final glory. And so when
he says, in these shall all nations be blessed, what's he talking
about? He's talking about Christ would come and fulfill all righteousness
in his death, burial, and resurrection for God's chosen people out of
every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. How many times is
that statement used in the Bible? In Revelation, for example, God
has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
And if you'll jump across the page there to Galatians chapter
three and verse 28, What he's talking about there is those
who are in Christ, chosen by God in Christ, redeemed by the
blood of Christ, justified by His righteousness imputed, born
again and called by the Spirit in Christ. He says in Galatians
3, 28, there's neither Jew nor Greek, that's Gentile, there's
neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus, verse 29, and if you be Christ,
if you belong to Christ, Then are you Abraham's seed, offspring,
spiritually speaking, and heirs according to the promise. What's
the promise? The promise of eternal salvation
and glory by the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We'll look back at Galatians 3 and verse 9. So then, they
which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Now that's
an amazing statement. Those who are of faith, am I
of faith? Well, do I rest in Christ for
my whole salvation? The beginning of it, the middle
of it, the end of it? Am I, like Paul, persuaded that
Christ is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day? Do I believe and know that I'm a sinner, fallen in
Adam, ruined by the fall? Born dead in trespasses and sins? That if left to myself, I would
have never chosen the right way of salvation? Do I see that I
don't have anything to recommend me unto God? That if God were
to judge me based upon my best efforts to obey Him, I would
be damned forever? Do I see that Christ is my only
hope of salvation, my only hope of forgiveness of all my sins,
my only hope and assurance of being justified, being righteous
before God, my only hope of eternal life and glory? Or do I look
elsewhere? Do I look within myself or to
myself? Do I look to my church, my denomination,
My activity, my will, do I look to my will to save me? No, it's
God's will, not my will. And so that's those who are blessed
with, if that's what you truly believe, then you're blessed
with faithful Abraham. Abraham's your brother. And you're
his brother or sister. Look at verse 10 of Galatians
3. Now he gives the opposite here. He says, for as many as
are of the works of the law are under the curse. In other words,
if you're seeking salvation and blessings and righteousness by
works of the law, you're still under the curse. That's your
state before God. Why is that? All right, read
on. For as many as are of the works of law under the curse,
for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things. which are written in the book
of the law to do them. Underscore that term, all things. What's that mean? Well, the law
simply says this, do and live. Well, how much do I have to do?
All of it. That's what the law requires.
The law requires perfect righteousness. But when it comes to a sinner,
as we are, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The law will not loosen its requirements. It will not lower its standards. I'll never forget one time having
lunch with a gentleman and we got to talking about this particular
subject, a lady who had died. And he told me this, he said,
I know she's saved because she has done that which is required.
And I asked him, I said, well, what is required for salvation?
And he looked sort of puzzled and he said, you know, I'm really
not sure. And I said, why aren't you sure?
And he said, well, because different preachers, different denominations,
they say one thing, they say another, and I'm kind of confused
on that issue. And I told him, I said, well,
let me tell you exactly what is required for salvation. And he said, what? And I said,
righteousness. He said, righteousness. I said,
yes, perfect, unscathed, uncontaminated righteousness. And he looked,
his eyes got big, and he looked at me and he said, but nobody
can do that. And I said, that's right. And
that's why salvation is by grace through the righteousness of
another, imputed, the Lord Jesus Christ, and not by works. You
see, that's what the law says. The false gospel of work salvation
requires sinners to do something to earn, to attain, or maintain
salvation. But the true gospel of God's
grace is a message that says it's all done. It's all finished
by Christ. Somebody says, well, then are
we not to do anything? Oh, yes, we're to believe, we're
to follow Him, we're to fight sin, but not in order to become
righteous, not in order to be right with God, not in order
to attain or maintain salvation. Christ has already done that.
Well, that's what it says. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the Lord to do
them. Verse 11 of Galatians 3, but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it's evident, for the just shall
live by faith. This is the third time probably
that Paul quoted that from the book of Habakkuk. The justified
shall live by faith. Well, if the law requires perfection,
then it's evident that you and I cannot be justified, be declared
not guilty, be made righteous, be made right with God by works
of the law. The justified, whoever they are,
like Abraham, like those who are blessed with faithful Abraham,
those who believe the gospel Abraham believed, they're justified
by faith. Now what is it to be justified
by faith? It does not mean, now listen
to me, I'm not just splitting hairs here. It does not mean
justified by our believing. It means justified by Christ,
that's what the faith is. Believing just gives evidence
of being justified by His blood and righteousness. That's what
the Bible teaches. So he says, verse 12, and the
law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live
in them. In other words, the law shows a sinner the perfection
it requires, but it cannot provide that perfection for the sinner.
And the law is not of faith. In other words, faith teaches
that salvation, justification before God is by grace in the
Lord Jesus Christ. The law doesn't do that, see.
The law simply says this, do and live, period. Disobey and
die. Cursed is everyone that continues,
not in all things. Do and live, disobey and die.
The law doesn't require you to believe it. The law requires
me and you to do it, and we can't. The wages of sin is death. But
he says in verse 13, now here's another thing. Here's the gospel
that Abraham believed. This is verse 13 of Galatians
3. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now the first thing
we need to understand is that redemption, which is the pain
of the sin debt, the price, is only found by the person and
work of Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, God in human
flesh. He came under the curse, being
made a curse for us. How was he made a curse? By the
imputation of the sin debt to him, the sin debt of his people.
Christ hath redeemed us. Now who is the us here? Being
made a curse for us. That's God's elect. That's his
people. That's those who are blessed
with faithful Abraham. Those who believe what Abraham
believed. Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. In verse
14, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. 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
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today and may the Lord be with you.