Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
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for today's program. welcome to our program now today
i'm going to be preaching from the book of galatians paul's
letter to the churches at galatia in the new testament here galatians
chapter two and i'm going to begin with verse eleven i've
entitled the message today an issue of life and death an issue
of life and death now the gospel the true gospel The good news
of salvation by God's grace in Christ is most certainly an issue
of life and death. There is no middle ground, there
is no neutral ground with the gospel. You either believe it
unto life or you walk away in a state of death in unbelief.
paul wrote this in the book of second corinthians when he talked
about how the gospel to some is the saver of death unto death
that's the unbeliever and then he spoke of the gospel to others
as being the saver of life unto life that's the believer and
so the gospel is the power of god paul wrote in romans one
sixteen unto salvation to everyone that believes and god brings
his people to faith in christ when he gives them life by the
power of the holy spirit from christ and so it's an issue of
life and death now you know there are a lot of issues that people
discuss and talk about and differ on there are a lot of denominations
today that come under the name of christianity i'm not going
to get into the various denominations and who's right and who's wrong
but i know this Any denomination that does not stand firm for
the true gospel of how God saves sinners is a false Christianity,
a false church. And we need to understand that.
Now there are things that true Christians can divide over. But
not this. This is an issue of life and
death. How does God save a sinner? We cannot differ on that issue.
What is the ground of salvation? Upon what ground will God save
me and bless me and reward me and keep me and bring me into
glory? That's an issue of life and death.
And here it usually falls into one of two categories. There's
really only two religions in the world. We think about all
these denominations, all these religions. It can really be boiled
down to just two things. It's either salvation by grace
through Christ or it's salvation by works. Now salvation by works
is death to a sinner, for by deeds of law shall no flesh be
justified in God's sight. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Those who come to God expecting
or seeking salvation, or any part of it, based on what they
do, conditions they meet, works they keep will end up in death. Now that's the way, the book
of Proverbs twice says that there's a way that seemeth right unto
a man but it's the way of dead. That's the broad way that leads
to destruction. That's the way of Cain. The way
of Cain is the way of salvation by works. That's death, you see. but now salvation by grace a
free undeserved unearned gift from god the gift of christ himself
the gift of righteousness the gift of forgiveness the gift
of blessing the gift of life and the gift of pardon that's
eternal life you see this is life eternal that they might
know the and the only in jesus christ and that has sent You
see, grace and truth comes by Christ. So this is an issue of
life and death. Now this is illustrated here
in an actual event that took place as recorded by the Apostle
Paul in Galatians 2 at the church in Antioch. Paul had been there. He had preached the gospel. God
had raised up a great church there. And in this church, there
were both Jews who had been converted to Christianity, who believed
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and there were Gentiles, and they
were intermingled. Because you see, in the New Testament
church, there is no Jew nor Greek. There is no difference between
the Jew and the Gentile. were all one in Christ back during
the old covenant in the old testament for fifteen hundred years god
made a distinction between the national jews and the gentiles
now salvation even back then was by grace You see, no Jew
was ever saved or justified before God because they were physically
descended from Abraham, or because they were physically circumcised,
or because they kept the law. They couldn't keep the law. They
were sinners, just like us. but for god's purposes until
the messiah would actually come into the world and do his work
god kept that people distinct from the gentiles he kept that
nation pure and uncontaminated from the gentiles for the purpose
of bringing the messiah through but now that's over you see that
is over now christ was on that cross and he died for the sins
of his sheep not just the jews but his people among the Gentiles,
God's elect people, God's chosen people out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue and nation and when Christ was on that cross he cried it
is finished and it's recorded in the book of Matthew that the
veil in the temple was torn in two signifying now that the barrier
between God and his people was gone Christ had made a way into
the holiest of all by his blood and his righteousness So you
see, it's not by the works of men, Jew or Gentile, it's all
by the work of Christ. Now, in the New Testament church,
that middle wall of partition that Paul wrote about in Ephesians
chapter 2, that was there in the temple, it's gone now spiritually. There's a oneness in the church.
And now there's neither Jew nor Gentile. There's neither male
or female. You see, those distinctions now
have nothing to do with any relationship with God and so that's been been
moved but now in this church at Antioch here were the Jews
and the Gentiles and they were together they were united in
Christ and here's an episode where Peter and Paul and some
of the other disciples were there at the church of Antioch and
they were sitting down and having a meal with the brethren in Christ
Jew and Gentile as I said, back under the old
covenant there was a distinction between Jew and Gentile and the
Jews were forbidden to sit down and eat dinner with the Gentiles.
And some of the people who were Jews in Jerusalem and in Judea,
they had not yet understood that those distinctions had been removed.
Some of these men were only Jews who professed to believe in Christ
but they didn't, they were false believers. Some of them were
weak believers who had not been taught yet concerning the removal
of all those distinctions. But let me show you how this
becomes an issue of life and death here. In verse 11 Paul
writes, but when Peter was come to Antioch I withstood him to
the face because he was to be blamed. Now I want you to think
about that situation. Here's Paul, Paul the Apostle,
publicly withstood Peter, the apostle, to the face because
he was to be blamed. And somebody says, well, why
couldn't Paul let this go? Why couldn't he just take Peter
off by himself? Well, this is an issue of life
and death. And Peter did something that
publicly brought the gospel of God's grace into question. Peter
did this. Now, to some people back then,
Paul was a Johnny-come-lately. He was saved and brought into
the apostleship later on, after the death of Christ. But Peter,
now Peter was one of the first ones chosen by the Lord, and
he walked with the Lord for the three and a half years that he
was in his public ministry. I know Peter was a sinner. He
denied the Lord three times, and then he repented sorrowfully.
But he was considered one of the apostles. who walked with
the Lord. But now here comes Paul, as some
people would say, the Johnny-come-lately, withstanding Peter publicly to
the face. Now this issue must have been
very important. Yes it is. It's life and death.
And Peter had to be publicly rebuked. by Paul. And this is what he said, Peter
was to be blamed. Well, what did he do? Well, look here, verse
12, he says, for before that certain came from James, now
James was considered to be the pastor of the church of Jerusalem.
And what he's talking about here is James probably sent some of
the men of the church down to Antioch. now we don't know what
was in james' mind we don't know that james sent uh... we uh...
you know some people say well james had a problem with this
too i'm not certain that is true i'm just saying that these came
down from the church at jerusalem certain men and it says for before
that certain came from james before certain men came from
the church at jerusalem peter did eat with the gentiles but
when they were come Peter withdrew and separated himself, fearing
them which were of the circumcision." Now what's going on here is Peter
is still subject to his own personal prejudices. And I can understand
that. We all are, to a degree. But
you just think about it. Peter had been raised under that
system. that says, you don't eat and
consort with the Gentiles. And when certain people came
from Jerusalem, Peter, under the fear of men, withdrew himself
and separated himself from brethren. Now in doing that, in doing that,
Peter, a man of great influence, sent a wrong message. and the
wrong message was this it was like almost like he's saying
now wait a minute the jews are more saved or more righteous
or more or holier or more spiritual than the gentile believers now
let me tell you something That is a denial of the gospel of
God's grace, because the gospel of God's grace sets all sinners
who are saved, both Jew and Gentile, on an equal plane before God. And you know why? Because it's
by grace. There's not one sinner who has
ever been saved by grace, who deserved to be saved, and who
earned their salvation. God is no respecter of men's
persons. If a Jew breaks the law, he's
a sinner and deserves death. If a Gentile breaks the law,
he's a sinner and deserves death. That's right. And if God saves
a Jew, He saves that Jew by His grace through the blood and righteousness
of Christ. And if God saves a Gentile, He
saves that Gentile by His grace through the blood and righteousness
of Christ. You see, the only ground of salvation
for Jew and Gentile is Christ and Him crucified and risen again. and so if we indicate by our
words or by our actions that a Jew is worthier or more saved
or holier or more righteous than a Gentile who is saved we are
in essence denying the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ
that's what Peter did and Paul writes here in verse thirteen
He says, and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him. You see, Peter
was a man of influence. And when he did it, some followed
him. So this influence was bad at
this time. And he says, in so much that
Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Even
Barnabas. Barnabas is known as the son
of consolation. In other words, he was a man
who had the gift of bringing people together. but even barnabas
when he saw peter get up and move tables move away from the
gentiles even barnabas got caught up in those jewish those remaining
jewish prejudices and he dissembled with them he separated with peter
peter in that act was saying that salvation is not equal for
the gentile as it is for the g and that's a denial of the
gospel so paul writes in verse fourteen he says but when i saw
that they walked not up rightly according to the truth of the
gospel you see a believer a sinner saved by grace not only must
our doctrine be consistent with the gospel of god's grace in
christ but our lives are to be consistent with the gospel of
god's grace in christ you see salvation is not by our works
in any way in any shape fashion or format anytime to any degree
our works are totally totally excluded from the ground of our
salvation the ground of our salvation is totally the work of christ
his work his obedience unto death and my works are excluded your
works are excluded the sinner's works do not come into play as
to attaining or maintaining salvation now people hear that today and
they say well if that's the case then we don't have to do anything
no that's not what the gospel says you see the gospel the gospel
is a word of grace and power and what it teaches is that our
works that which God does in us and through us by his spirit
are the fruit and the result and the evidence of our salvation. You see the difference there?
In other words, our works do not earn salvation but the salvation
that Christ earned for me will issue forth in works that he
does through me by his grace. I quoted a while ago Ephesians
2, 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Verse 10 goes on to say this,
for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. not because of good works but
unto good works that's the result, the fruit, the effect, the evidence
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them you
see, it is required of believers to obey and follow Christ not
to be saved not to be justified before God but because I already
am in Christ You see the difference there? My works, even the works
that Christ does in me and through me, are not my righteousness
before God. The work of the Holy Spirit in
me, in the new birth, in His indwelling power, in His motivating
power to motivate me to obedience, that work in me is not my righteousness
before God. It is not my justification before
God. The righteousness of Christ,
you see, His obedience unto death. Christ is my righteousness before
God. The works that I do are the fruit
and the effect and the result and the evidence of His work
in me. and that's what the scripture
says that's what the book of james is all about when it says
show me your faith by your works in other words uh... prove that
genuineness the reality of your faith in christ by the works
that you do Now, James wasn't teaching salvation by works or
justification before God by works. If he did that, he would be denying
the gospel. You see, this is life and death.
And so, Paul writes in verse 14, he says, "...but when I saw
that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the
gospel, I said unto Peter before them all..." Now, listen to what
Paul says. He says, if thou being a Jew
livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelst
thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Now what he's talking
about there is Peter had already repented of his dead works under
Judaism, and under false religion, he had already admitted that
there were no distinctions now between Jew and Gentile, what
they eat, what they don't eat. You remember back in the book
of Acts, I believe it's chapter 10, God gave Peter a vision of
a blanket coming down from heaven and it had all manner of unclean
beast and in that dream Peter said Lord I don't need anything
that's unclean and the Lord told him he said Peter don't you call
unclean that which I've cleansed what he was showing Peter there
is the distinction between Jew and Gentile that existed under
the old covenant is now gone why is it gone because Christ
has already come and fulfilled the old covenant he abolished
the first you see he takes away the first and establishes the
second the new covenant and in the new covenant these distinctions
of nations these distinctions of meets and days are all over
it's all fulfilled in christ so peter had begun to live as
the gentiles now paul is not talking about the gentile wickedness
there You know, it was common, for example, in the Gentile world
that homosexuality was common, adultery was common, fornication. Peter didn't start doing those
things, but what he's talking about is sitting down at the
table and having dinner. with the Gentiles, which was
forbidden in the old covenant, but now it's not. So what Paul
was saying here, now Peter, he's saying, he says if you're a Jew
and now you live after the manner of the Gentiles, you see those
distinctions are gone, why do you want to compel them now to
live as the Jews did? Why do you want to bring those
distinctions back? Why do you want to put them on
their shoulders? Why do you want to put a burden
on them that you as a Jew couldn't even bear? Paul later on deals
with that. You see, that old covenant law,
it was a burden imposed upon them. and no jew could keep the
law that's why salvation is of grace so why do you want to put
that back on the gentiles now and he says in verse fifteen
he says we who are jews by nature and not sinners of the gentiles
now all men are sinners the jews were sinners the gentiles are
sinners for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god
but what paul is saying here is that well we were born jews
the gentiles weren't they're not uh... that they're not center
we were centers of the gentile nations we were of the jews that
doesn't mean we weren't centers but we were just jews and not
gentiles so that look at verse sixteen he says knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law centers are
not justified by works of the law jew or gentile now what is
it to be justified before god That's what he's talking about.
To be justified before God is to be not guilty. That's number
one. You see, if we're sinners by
nature and by practice, we're born in Adam, ruined by the fall,
and the moment we take the first breath, you see, we express our
total depravity. We're sinners by choice, we're
sinners by practice. So how in the world can it be
that a sinner can be not guilty before God's law and justice?
Well, it's not by works. You know, if a person commits
a crime and goes before the judge, and he stands before the judge
and he says, now judge, I'm not guilty because I went and gave
a hundred thousand dollars to charity. Well, he may have given
a hundred thousand dollars to charity, But he still committed
the crime. He's still guilty. So you see,
your works will not make you not guilty. So a sinner cannot
be justified before God. He cannot be not guilty by his
works. Secondly, to be justified before
God is to be righteous in his sight. That's what it means.
I mean, it's a person who is completely righteous in God's
sight. Well, how can a sinner be righteous
before God? This question was considered
and asked in the book of Job. How can a man that's born of
woman, that's a sinner in Adam, be clean? How is that possible? How can a man be just, righteous
before God? And then how can God be just
and justify the ungodly? Well, it's not by works, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law. There's
no amount of works that a sinner can do under the law, any law,
that will make that sinner righteous before God. and here's where
we come to the life and death issue how is a sinner made not
guilty made righteous before god well listen to verse sixteen
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by
the faith of jesus christ there's the key how can i be not guilty
it's not by listen it's not by my works it's not even by my
faith but it's by the faith of Jesus Christ. Now what is the
faith of Jesus Christ? The faith of Jesus Christ is
his faithfulness to do and perform and accomplish and finish the
work that the Father sent him into the world to do. It's his
faithfulness to do what he came to do. you see before the foundation
of the world god chose a people and gave them to christ paul
talks about this in his for in his letter one of his letters
to timothy he speaks of the salvation first timothy chapter two he
speaks our chapter one he speaks of the salvation that was given
us in christ jesus before the world began and christ the son
of god the second person of the trinity he agreed to do for us,
for his people, what we cannot do for ourselves. The father
must be just when he justifies, when he declares a sinner not
guilty and righteous. And in order for him to do that,
He had to have someone who could do the work, who could fulfill
the law and satisfy justice. You see, God is a loving God,
but He cannot show love or express love without justice being satisfied. That's why the work of Christ
in the Bible is called a propitiation. when it says, herein is love,
not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation, that's a satisfaction to His justice
for our sins. And so God sent his son into
the world to do that work and Christ came and faithfully accomplished
his work. He loved his people to the end,
to the finishing of the work. Christ is the end, the fulfillment,
the finishing of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth. The only way that God can declare me not guilty
is by the blood of Christ. The only way that God can declare
me righteous is in the righteousness of Christ. So a man is not justified
by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even
we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Well, I hope that
message has helped your understanding of the Scriptures. And if you'd
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An Issue of Life and Death. And I hope you'll join us next
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