Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Galatians. Galatians. We're going to continue
our study in this book. It's been so wonderful. So wonderful. We'll continue in Chapter 2.
Last week we looked at the first statement in verse 20. We're
going to spend a few weeks on verse 20 here. There's so much
packed into this verse. It's absolutely incredible. We're
going to get through the middle part today, Lord willing. And
then we'll finish up with the end of the verse next week, if
the Lord wills. And pray. Pray the Holy Spirit
give us an understanding of the scriptures. Illuminate the scriptures
for us and teach us. through this text today. Last
week we looked at, I'm crucified with Christ. I'm crucified with
Christ. And every believer confesses
this truth, don't we? We didn't literally die on the
cross with him, but he died as our substitute, didn't he? And
we died in him. He died for us, in our room and
place, beloved. It's absolutely wonderful. So this is a confession that
that we make because Christ, when he died on the cross, he
destroyed our sins, beloved. They're gone. He satisfied God's
law in our room and place. The justice of God has nothing in us now because we're
in Christ. The wrath of God has been appeased
against our sin. Now, I was reading an article
this week by Ralph Bernard, and it was one of those articles
that made you stop and think. And he said, Christ died on the
cross because of the judgment of sin. Our sin. Our sin. That's why he went to
the cross. He paid the judgment price for
us. Oh, my. That wrath of God fell
on him in our place, beloved. And he cried, it is what? Finished. Praise God. It's finished. It's
finished. The work's done. He did it all. He did it all. That's why we
say, I'm crucified with Christ. Now the law has no condemning
power over us, does it? In our natural state, the law
condemned us. But in Christ, there's no condemnation, because
he satisfied that law. His own law, too. Think of that.
He gave the law, and then he satisfied it in our Roman place,
beloved. My, have you ever heard a king
dying for the peasants? Because I'm just a piece of dust.
Who am I, right? David wrote. Who am I that that
would look upon me? My, what a Savior, beloved. What
a Savior. He bought and paid all that God
demanded for our sins, for all the elect of all the ages, all
who came before Him, when He looked to Him by faith, looked
to the Messiah, and all who afterward, after His death, would look to
Him by faith. Same faith, too, eh? Same faith. There's only one faith, isn't
there? It's only one spirit. Regenerated by the same Holy
Spirit, given the same faith. It's wonderful. Wonderful. He purchased our eternal souls
with his blood and he obtained eternal redemption for us and
we say hallelujah. Therefore then, who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who put your name in there? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of Dave? Isn't that wonderful? My oh my. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of Diane, or Barb, or Jim? My, or Dee, or Brian, or Travis,
or Wayne. And all the elect can put their
name in there. Who shall lay anything against
us? You know what the scripture says? It's God that justifieth. When did he do that? When I was
crucified with him on Calvary's cross. My, oh my. Who is he that condemneth? Does
the law condemn us? No. It can't, can it? Does the justice of God condemn
us? No. It can't extract its price twice,
can it? First in Christ, and then in
us. It can't do that. So the scripture says in Romans
8, 34, who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died daily,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God. Also make an intercession for us. And those two verses
were Romans 8, 33, and 34. Wonderful verses. Wonderful verses. Now, since we were crucified
with Christ when he died as our substitute, substitute for his
people, then the world is crucified to us. The world is crucified
to us, and I unto the world. Our desire, as verse 19 of chapter
2 brings forth, is to walk with him in newness of life. Because
the law of God is now written on our hearts. not on tables
of stones. Let's read verses 15 to 21 of
Galatians chapter 2, again to see the context of our
verse. We who are Jews by nature and
not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. So clear there, isn't it? 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." I'll tell you, that's a pinnacle verse
right there. That absolutely destroys works-based
salvation right there. But see, people don't believe
the Bible. That's the problem. People don't believe what the
Bible says. My oh my. And you know, if you don't believe
what the scripture says, you make God a liar. So you don't
think of that, do you? My oh my. But if all we seek
to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners.
Is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. So can I
just go out and be riotous? No, God forbid. God forbid. But if I build again the things
which I have destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I,
through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God."
What a statement, that last statement there. That I might live unto
God. Rebels who live for themselves,
now want to live for God. Now want to honor God. It's wonderful. See, the things
that we do in the body here, we do that to live unto God,
don't we? To honor our King. To praise Him. My, and we get
to be with other believers who love us, and we love them, and
we get to do this. We get to live unto God together.
Isn't that amazing? And it won't just be for here,
beloved, what you just said, Dave. It won't just be for here.
It'll be forever. It'll be forever. Isn't that
wonderful? That's absolutely wonderful.
It'll be forever. And here we go. I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead and vain. We'll look at that verse next,
well, in a couple weeks down the road. But look at verse 20,
he again brings forth that we're crucified with Christ, and this
of course is not literally, but spiritually. Then he says, nevertheless
I live. So he's talking about his physical
life currently when he's writing this letter. Yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. And that's
where we're going to go today. But I'll finish the verse, who
loved me and gave himself for me. Nevertheless I live, yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me. Paul is bringing forth that he
lives physically, but he's now alive spiritually. Remember how
we're born into this world dead in trespasses and sins? We're
spiritually dead, aren't we, when we come into this world.
But Paul's now saying, now Christ lives in me. Now he lives in
me. Turn with me, if you would, to
2 Corinthians chapter 5. We'll look at verses 17 to 18,
which bring forth that the believer in Christ is a new creature.
Now, physically we're the same. That's why our friends and relatives
look at us and say, what happened to you? Why don't you still want
to do what you used to do with us? Well, because Christ lives
in us now. In the life that we live, we
now want to live for Christ. Right? We don't want to do the
things we used to do. Now we want to live for our King.
Look at this. Paul's the same eye as before,
isn't he? He's the same eye. He's the same
physical body as before. So are we when the Lord saves
us. Our body doesn't change. That'll happen at the last day. That'll happen in the second
coming of Christ, beloved. So he's the same eye, but now
a new man is within him. A new nature, beloved. He's born
again now. He has a new nature within him.
He used to be guided by his dead nature, right? which all of us
were born with and we were guided with until we were born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. See, this is why it's so important
to preach you must be born again. And it's the Holy Spirit's work.
It's not a work by any man. It's a work of the Holy Spirit
of God. And it says here in verse 17
of 2 Corinthians 5, therefore, if any man be in Christ. Now,
there's the vital part right there. In Christ. Are you in
Christ? That's the vital part right there.
If any man or woman, right, be in Christ. In Christ. Oh my. Not in religion. Right? Not in moral reformation. but in Christ, in Christ, by
faith in Christ, a new creature, a new birth, wrought in the soul
by the Holy Spirit of God, and in Christ through God's electing
love, His redeeming grace, a living union with Christ, in Christ,
a new creature. Look at this, it says that right
here. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.
Now, he's still the same eye, right? Physically. Paul didn't change physically,
but he had a new life in him, didn't he? Spiritually. That's
why the Lord said, the wind bloweth where it will. It's like the
spirit. That's why you must be born again.
Nicodemus said, well, can I go in my mother's womb and be born
again? No, it's not talking about that. That's a natural man's
answer. It's a spiritual rebirth, beloved.
It's a new birth. We're a new creation, new creature
in Christ. And then look what it says. All
things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. My, oh my. My, oh my. This new man, this
new creature now lives by God-given faith. Look into Christ. Never used to look to Christ.
Used to look to self and everything else in the world. Now, now,
it looks to Christ. Looks to Christ. For what? For pardon, for righteousness,
for forgiveness of all my sins, for sanctification, for redemption,
for peace, for joy, for comfort, for everything because he's now
my all in all. As Paul wrote, he's now my all
in all. There was a time when he wasn't,
but praise be to God by the grace of God and the mercy of God and
the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Now he's everything to
me. He's everything. He's my Lord. He's my King. He's my Savior. He's my Redeemer. He's my everything. He's my everything. My, and this ties in what Paul
will write later on in Galatians chapter six, or I'll just quote
this, verse 15. He says, for in Christ, again,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. For in Christ,
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. A new creature in Christ. In
Christ. And this new creation describes
a creation work not of man, but of God. Oh, my. Listen to Ephesians chapter
2, verses 8 to 10. If you want to turn there, you
can. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 to 10. This describes a creation
work not by man, but by God. By God, beloved, and he's done
this for every one of us as his people, every one of the elect
of God, he's done this. And we marvel, don't we? Could
we change our thinking? No. Could we change our ways? No. But when you're born again
by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, my, he changes your ways. He changes your ways. Look at
this. We've read this many times, but
let's read it in light of this, being a new creation, a new creature.
Ephesians 2, verses 8 to 10. For by grace are you saved through
faith. That's God-given faith. And that
not of yourself. See, it's not a work of man.
It's not anything man can do. It's a work of God, beloved.
It's a work of God. Look at this. And that not of
yourself. It is the gift of God. That faith that we have, that
has one object being Christ Jesus our Lord, that's a God-given
faith, beloved. He's given us that. According
to his mercy and his grace. He didn't have to, did he? But
he did it because it pleased him to do so. And that's the
only reason we love Christ. And look at this. Verse 9, he's
emphasizing that it's not of works again. Not of works, why?
Lest any man should boast. Because man likes to boast. We
do. When I was in religion, I used
to boast about all kinds of things I was doing. I read 10 chapters
today. Ask me how much I understood,
I would have told you hardly anything. We went knocked on
50 doors today. I passed out 20 tracks. I did this and I was so proud
and so self-righteous, beloved, and I looked down on people who
didn't do that. What a shame. What a Pharisee. See, it's like Greg Elmquist
said, we're all recovering Pharisees, aren't we? Well, I sure am. I know that. But God, praise
God, he delivered me from that, beloved. Made me see that I'm
the chief of sinners. Made me see that by His grace
and mercy. Made me see that my works are
nothing because I boast about them, which I used to. Look at this. I love this. This
verse 10 is just magnificent. People stop at verse 9, but look
at verse 10. Verse 10 is magnificent. For
we are His workmanship, right? Remember the potter and the clay?
He can mold us into whatever He wants, beloved. A vessel of
honor, a vessel of dishonor. We are, we who are God's people
are His workmanship. His workmanship. Created in Christ
Jesus under good works. Now we are going to do good works,
but we don't know what they are. Because you remember the group
that said, Lord, look at all the things we did. He said, I
never knew you. And look at God's people in the book of Matthew
when he's saying, well, you did this for me, and when you did
it for me, the least of my brethren, you did it for me. They said,
when did we do these things? When did we go visit the sick?
When did we do this? When did we do that? You know,
sending cards, texts, phone calls, all the blessings. That's one
thing Sister Kathy writes when I send her a text, she writes,
please tell everyone thank you. Thank you for praying for me
and thinking of me and sending me texts. You don't even know
what it means to her. We don't, do we? My oh my. But we don't do it for a reward,
we do it because we love her. And we love Dan. But we're his workmanship. We're
his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. Look
at that. Now, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature,
right? Created in Christ Jesus. Under
good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. So this new creature, this new
man, this new principle of grace and holiness, which was not there
before, is very distinct from the old nature. with which we are born in the
flesh. Jesus himself said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I
say unto you, you must be born again." You must be. You must
be. Old things. Look in our text
again. In 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Old things are passed away. 2nd
Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17. We'll go back to our text in
Galatians though, but I want to set this up that we're new
creatures in Christ. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Look
at that. The old way of life. The old way of life is passed
away. Passed away. The life which loves and serves
the flesh is passed away. Passed away. The old legal righteousness,
oh, I have to do this, and I have to do that to be saved, is passed
away. Old companions. You know, I found
when the Lord saved me that a lot of my old friends, they didn't
want to be around me anymore. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's what
they thought. They think, what in the world
happened to him? Yeah. But you know, the Lord's good,
isn't he? Because he gives us new companions.
Our brothers and sisters in Christ who love the same Jesus we love,
love the same Father we love, have the same spirit within them
that we love. Old desires are gone. We might
have strived for honor. I liked to collect wildlife art
back then. And oh, my brothers got it, so
I wanted to get more than them. Oh, it was awful. It was horrible.
And we all had our own businesses, so we had lots of money to spend
on those things. But it was awful. It was horrible. Just horrible. Old foolish thoughts
of God, too. Thinking that God would outweigh
my good and my bad. Foolish thoughts, just foolish
thoughts I had of God. Gone. Desires for self and glory, gone. The man, the new man, thinks
and acts from principles which have established new rules. And
these rules aren't something that we shy away from. It's the love of Christ that
constrains us from sin. New goals now. New objectives.
We want to pour our lives out for Christ. We want to live a
life that's pleasing to God now. The total opposite of how we
used to want to live. New fellowship. Oh, it's sweet. And this is just a foretaste
to heaven, beloved. The sweet fellowship we have
here is just a foretaste, just a little bit of a taste of what
it's going to be like in glory. Oh. He or she has a new commandment
of love, a new name, a new name, a new song in our hearts and
in our mouths now. A song of thanksgiving and praise
to our great and glorious God for the great things that he'd
done for us. A new and living way opened up
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. A new inheritance. Not one that'll rust away or
someone can steal. but an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, reserved for you and I in heaven. Reserved for us
in heaven, we who are the people of God, where nothing can get
at it. In the new creation, absolutely
nothing of the flesh is needed as well. You know, nothing of
the flesh is needed in the new creation. Nothing. Nothing. Look at what it says. Old things
are passed away, behold, all things are become new. All things are become new. Now
since Christ is living in me, he abolishes the law. He fulfilled
it for me. He condemns sin and destroys
death in me. And those foes vanish in his
presence, don't they? You ever notice when you're struggling
with sin, if you put a sermon on? or you read some scripture,
how that stuff will just disappear. I'll tell you why. You tempted
and tried, just go right to the scripture. And just pick out
a couple verses and just read them. And just keep reading them.
Run through your mind during the day. Meditate upon the verse. Just one verse even. One section,
I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life now, which I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
just pick this part, who loved me and gave himself for me. And
just roll that in your mind all day long. He loved me and he
gave himself for me. My, what a Savior, what a Redeemer,
beloved. And your foes will vanish in
His presence, beloved. And this union with Christ, think
of this too, this union with Christ which we have, this union
with Him we have, delivers us from the demands of the law because
He already fulfilled the law in our place. It separates us
from our sinful self. That's why Paul was talking about
he has a war within, he has a war between the flesh and the spirit.
You see, the spirit's willing, but the flesh is weak, right?
Why do we, when we start reading our Bibles, we pass right out? Right? We all of a sudden get,
oh, I'm starting to get a little tired. I'm being honest here,
aren't I? Come on. Right? Boom. Because the spirit's willing,
but the flesh is weak. My, oh my. I can sit and watch a TV show
for two, three hours. Isn't that funny, eh? Oh goodness, beloved. Oh goodness,
it's so funny. Our flesh is just constantly
worn with our spirit. But praise be to God. The Lord
is so good to us. He's so good to us. So this union
with Christ separates us from the demands of the law, separates
us from our sinful self, because we're new creatures in Christ
now. And that's what I wanted to bring up before we go back
into that verse. Listen to what Martin Luther
said about Galatians 2.20 here. He says this. This is wonderful. I read this yesterday. Wonderful. Paul has a peculiar style, celestial
way of speaking. He says, I live. I live. I am dead. I am not dead. I am
a sinner. I am not a sinner. I have the
law. I have no law. When we look at ourselves, we
find plenty of sin. But when we look to Christ, we
have no sin. Oh, what a statement, eh? Isn't
that beautiful? It's beautiful. In our natural
unregenerate state, we're under the law, condemned by the law
of God, dead before God, dead in trespasses and sins. But in
Christ, we're a new creature. We're born again, again by the
power of God. We're clothed in the perfect
righteousness of Christ. And His righteousness is now
ours. It's now ours, beloved. His perfect life is credited
to our account. His perfect obeying the law is
credited to our account. My. And we have full remission of
all our sins, totally forgiven of every single sin that we will
ever commit in our lives. See, that's why people say, well,
if I preach like that, man, people would go crazy. No, I don't,
they don't. I preach like that to some, who
I consider the most wonderful congregation in the world. And
they're not running rampant. And I'm not either. Now, do I
fall into sin? Yeah, just like you do. But it doesn't take long for
us to be at the throne of grace, does it? Begging God, Oh God,
be merciful to me, the sinner, the sinner, the chief of sinners. And again, sometimes folks will
say, well, let us do evil that good may come, if I believe what
you believe. They're misrepresenting the scriptures.
You know who they're misrepresenting? They're maliciously blaspheming
the Holy Ghost, because He's the author of these words. He's
the author of these words, beloved. My, oh, my. They say, well, let us then reject
the law of grace abounds, when sin abounds, let us abound in
sin, that grace may abound even more. No, that's wrong thinking.
That's called antinomianism. And you've fallen into a ditch,
if you believe that. My, oh, my. You're off the way.
and fallen into a ditch. They're recklessly misrepresenting
what the scriptures say, if they say that. They're slandering
the Holy Spirit of God. Now there may be others who are
not malicious, but they may be weak in their faith, and they
may take offense when told that the law and good works are unnecessary
for salvation, but they may still have grave clothes on. Lord may
have just recently saved them out of a religion that really
focused on that. They need to be instructed, don't
they? They need to be taught what the
scriptures say. All of us do. All of us do, beloved. in the truth that good works
do not justify us before God. Good works are fruit of righteousness.
That's all they are. They're fruit of righteousness.
Luther said this again. He said this. Listen to this.
Good works are the fruit of righteousness when we are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Then we become righteous. It's
a work of God. And then we are able and willing
to serve our great God Living our lives for Him. The tree makes
the apple. The apple doesn't make the tree. Right? Who's the fruit come from? The tree. The apple don't make that tree
an apple tree. No, it's an apple tree and it
produces apples, don't it? If you're in the vine, Christ,
then you're going to be fruitful for Him. You might not see it. We usually don't. But other people
will see it in you. Other people, God's people, will
see it in you. And notice Paul here, let's read our text again.
I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Paul's not denying that he's
living in the flesh, right? And he performs all natural functions
just like anybody else, right? He doesn't deny that, but notice
how Paul masterfully, I love this, by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God, directs the attention of the Galatians away from the
law, which is what the Judaizers are trying to bring them under,
right? He masterfully, and again it's
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, he directs them away
from the law and brings Christ right before them. brings Christ right before them.
How does he do this? How does he put their focus right
on Christ? I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. In the life which I now live,
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. See, he's just centering them
right on Christ, isn't he? Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Don't look at this other stuff
going on. Look to Christ. And Paul is living the life now
as a new creature in Christ. That's why I wanted us to go
look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, because it ties in so much
with verse 19 as well, when he says, For I through the law am
dead to the law, that I might live unto God. See, when we're
a new creature, now we want to live unto God. Why? So now he's
telling why in this next verse. Because I'm crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live. Yet Christ liveth in me." See,
now he's bringing forth the reason why he wants to live for God.
His life in the flesh is not a life after the flesh. No. He
now lives by the faith of the Son of God. Notice that? God-given faith. He lives by
God-given faith now. Look into Christ. And he's bringing
this truth of being a new creature now in Christ, and by God-given
faith, he's now living his life unto him. Unto the master. Giving his life. Giving everything he has, right? He's so intelligent, he gives
his intellect to the Lord, right? Everything. I'm crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, now the life that
I live, I live for my King. And that's what we do as God's
people, don't we? Now we live for our King. Now we're governed
by the Holy Spirit of God. We don't live for the flesh anymore. No, no, now we live for Christ. His sight is no longer governed
by the flesh. Paul's sight's no longer governed
by the flesh, but his sight is now governed by the Holy Spirit
of God. His hearing is no longer governed
by the flesh. His hearing is governed by the
Holy Spirit of God. His speech is no longer governed
by the flesh. It's governed by the Holy Spirit
of God. Now does sin creep up in him? Oh yeah, because he says,
oh wretched man that I am. Who can deliver me from this
body of sin? See, I realize there Paul's just like you and I. Struggles
with sin just like us. But he's a new creature. And
he lives by the faith of the Son of God who loved him and
gave himself for him. A Christian uses earthly means
like any unbeliever, and outwardly they look alike. But this is
what perplexes our friends and families. because they still
see on the outside the same person that was before,
except now we're just a little bit older and a little bit grayer. They have no understanding that
we've been born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul, like
us, was once dead in trespasses and sins, but now he's born again
by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, and now he lives his
life by the faith of the Son of God. He lives his life by
God-given faith. And this is true of every believer
in Christ. Paul had the same voice, the
same tongue, before and after his conversion. Before his conversion,
his tongue uttered blasphemies, but after his conversion, his
tongue spoke of the wonderful mercies of the Redeemer, the
Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. My, oh my. And the tongue which once uttered
blasphemies now breaks out in adoration to our great God and
King. Listen to this farewell closing in 2 Corinthians chapter
13 verses 11 to 14. And think of how Paul used to
be. He was going around killing Christians and everything before,
right? Look what he writes here. 2 Corinthians 13, 11 to 14. Finally,
brethren, farewell. be perfect, be of good comfort,
be of one mind, live in peace, in the love of God. In peace
be with you. Greet one another with an holy
kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen. Now, now the Holy Spirit of God, now Christ reigns
in us, beloved. My, oh my, what a great change.
What a great Savior is Jesus Christ.