Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 2. We'll continue our study. The
name of the message is God Forbid. God Forbid. Now, during the times
of this letter being written, we know that there was many false
teachers and John called them Antichrist. And what an Antichrist
is, is anything against Christ. So any false religion is Antichrist. It's the spirit of Antichrist.
And many religions fall into that, except for grace. There's
only really two religions in the world. You can boil them
all down to grace or works. Every single one of them. And
today we'll continue our study in the book of Galatians. Let's
read verses 15 to 21 to see the context of our verse today. Paul's writing in response to
Peter who's separated from the Gentiles. He was eaten with them
and separated from the Gentiles when certain Jews came from Jerusalem. And he's telling him here, and
remember too, always let us remember who the true author of these
words is. It's God the Holy Spirit. He's the true author of these
words. And he so plainly has Paul penned in verse 16 that
justification is by Christ alone, in and through Christ alone,
not by any works which we do. Let's look at verses 15 to 21.
We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles.
Now I have to explain that verse a little bit. The Jews thought
because they supposedly kept the law that they weren't sinners.
You see? And everyone else, Gentiles,
and remember anyone else outside the nation of Israel was a Gentile,
right? They were a bunch of sinners. You see? Kind of like some religious folks
nowadays, right? Kind of like some religious folks
who think because they can keep the law, or they supposedly think
they can keep the law, they can't. Because to offend in one point
of the law is to be guilty of it all. They look down at other people.
Well, praise God that our Lord and King ate with publicans and
sinners. I'm a sinner, are you? I'm a
safe sinner, right? We're safe sinners, aren't we?
That's what we are. Look at this. So that's a little
background on that. We who are Jews by nature are
not sinners as Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law. That's so clear. 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. So clear, isn't it? So clear.
He's told us twice already in this verse that we cannot be
justified by the works of the law. For by the works of the
law, here's the third time, shall no flesh be justified. My goodness,
so clear. But yet, I couldn't see it before
the Lord saved me, could you? We couldn't. Yeah, we're blind. He has to reveal himself to us,
doesn't he? He has to illuminate the scriptures. The Holy Spirit,
who's the author of the scriptures, must illuminate the scriptures
for us. And the natural man, when we were in our natural state,
we didn't understand the things of God. But praise be to God,
when we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, now we're
given an understanding. We know a little wee bit now,
don't we? And we rejoice in that little bit we know. We rejoice.
And the more we learn, the more we rejoice. in our great God
and King. It says, but if well we seek
to be justified by Christ, we also ourselves are found sinners. Is therefore Christ the minister
of sin, God forbid. That's our verse for today, but
we'll continue reading the context. For if I build again the things
which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through
the law am dead to the law. What a statement, that I might
live unto God. I am 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." Look at that. Every believer can say, along
with Paul. Every born-again, blood-washed
saint can say, along with Paul, it's right there in the scriptures,
that Christ gave his life for me. Wonder of wonders. The Word of God, God incarnate
in the flesh, gave His life for me. Contemplate that this week. Meditate
upon that this week. When you get down a little bit,
because we all get down through the week, don't we? When you
get down a little bit, remember this. Let it just run in your
mind. Look at this. The Son of God
who loved me. For how long? from eternity,
and gave himself for me, willingly sent by the Father, and willingly
comes and gives his life a ransom for our eternal souls. My, it's
amazing. And then he says, I do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Why did Christ die? If we can justify ourselves by
our works. See? We can't. That's why Christ
had to die for us. Because we can't be justified
by anything we do. And we who are the people of
God, we've been taught that, haven't we? By the Holy Spirit
of God. He's taught us that. And who does He keep pointing
us to? Christ. He's the only one He points us
to. It's Christ and Christ alone, isn't it? My. He not speak of
himself, the scripture says, you're teaching the things of
Christ. My. Now, just as in times past, we
have those among us in religion who say, if you preach that a
sinner is completely, perfectly justified in Christ, then they're
going to just go and do whatever they want. If I had a dollar
If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, if I preach
what you believe, then a person could go live however they want.
Do you know I've never, I've never said that, and do you know
I've never heard a grace preacher ever say that? I have never,
and I've listened to, like you guys, thousands of sermons. And
I've never, have you ever once heard a grace preacher say, well,
you can just go live however you want, because now you're
saved. I've never heard that. No, because it's the love of
Christ that constrains us from sin. Right? Now, do we still sin? Oh, yeah.
To our shame, right? But Christ has forgiven us of
all our sin, hasn't he? Past, present, and future. And
if you tell people that, you get accused of what's called
antinomianism. And that means against the law.
I'm not against the law. I just can't fulfill it, can
you? But I know one who fulfilled it in my place, perfectly, and
it's counted to me as one of his people. Clothed in his perfect
righteousness, it's counted to me, and he did it! My wonder, yeah, what a Savior,
it's amazing. And we're forgiven of all our
sins by the precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Shed, shed to redeem us, to purchase us. You know what? Out from under
the law. We were under the law, beloved.
He's purchased us out from under the law. That's why we're free
now. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made you free and be not again entangled in the
yoke of bondage. Galatians 5.1. My, and see this
book, Paul is bringing forth this key. I believe it's a keystone. Justification in Christ alone
is a keystone of what we believe. And it's what the reformers cried
out back in the days of the Reformation. Salvation's of the Lord, justified
by Christ alone. And you know, people, we see
people attacking it here in Galatians, don't we? That's what these false
teachers are doing. When they're saying, when they're
saying you have to be circumcised along with Christ to be saved,
they are actually attacking the wonderful doctrine of justification
in Christ alone. And you know, there's people
still doing it today. People still doing it today.
See, there's nothing new under the sun, is there? We think,
well, look at that group. They're new. No, they're not
new. They're just rehashing an old heresy. That's all they're
doing. They're just putting another name on it. But it's the same
lie from the pit of hell, isn't it? Oh, my. We are fully, freely forgiven
by the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ in Him alone. And what do we say? Hallelujah,
right? Oh, praise your mighty name, Lord. That's wonderful.
That's the best news I've ever heard. But it will never give
us a license to sin. It'll never give us a license
to sin. That's why we mourn over our sins. Do you know what worksmongers
have done through the ages? And that's exactly what these
Judaizers are. They're worksmongers, beloved.
And what are they seeking to do to the Galatians? They're
seeking to shackle them, aren't they? Because Paul says, stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. Don't
be entangled again in that yoke of bondage. Don't be shackled
like a slave. See, anyone that tells you you
have to do something to be saved along with Christ's work, they're
shackling you with chains of bondage. We're free in Christ,
beloved. He did it all. He redeemed us with His precious
blood. He lived a perfect life, fulfilling
that law of God in our room and place. He did it all. And He
was sent to do it. And He willingly did it. God,
the Father, didn't have to twist his arm. He said, no, I'll go.
I'll go and die for those you gave me, Father. Because I love
them. They're my bride. They're my
bride. And I've loved them with an everlasting
love. And it says right there in verse
20, right? In verse 20, who loved me, the
Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. My, I wasn't
even born then, were you? And it says, he loved me. He
gave himself for me. And Paul's talking personally
there, isn't he? And every believer can say this, do you see? By
the grace of God, we can say this. Oh, and worksmongers, they're
trying to shackle God's people, saying if you teach that a man
or woman is completely forgiven of all their sins, past, present,
and future, well, then they're just gonna go and do whatever
they want. No, they won't. No, they won't. They're going
to grieve over their sin. They're going to be convicted
of their sin. Oh, my. What does God have to
do for a man to go to hell? Nothing. Just leave him alone.
Just leave him alone. What does God have to do for
a man to go to heaven? Everything. Everything, beloved. Isn't that wonderful? Has He
not done everything for we who are His people? He's done everything. He saved us. Oh my. My oh my. So when they say that
man or woman just go crazy and sin if they're fully forgiven,
they do not understand the grace of God, do they? They do not
understand the regenerating power of God the Holy Spirit. They
don't understand the new birth. They don't understand God gives
us a new heart that now hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
And now we have the biggest battle we've ever had in our lives between
the spirit and the flesh. And it doesn't stop. And sometimes
the flesh wins and sometimes the spirit, right? It's what
I call the civil war within the believer. Oh, it's true. And there's sometimes, we'll
plunge ourselves into sin knowingly, and we're like, oh my gosh, why
did I do that? Why? Why am, you know, I can
just sit in my easy chair and thoughts will roll through my
head, and I'm like, what in the world is going on here? And then
I just got to focus on Christ during those times. Do you? My. Say, God, please forgive me for
that. That's just a wicked thought I just had. And I'm just being
raw and honest. It's true. It's true, isn't it? My, so it's an outward lie to
say that God's people just gonna go and do whatever they say.
And then they take it a step further. They said Christ is
the minister of sin. What? He's the sinless one who
came to die for sinners. to solve the sin problem that
we have. He's the remedy, isn't he? See,
we're sick. We're sick with a pandemic of
sin. And this pandemic has been running for 6,000 years in this
world, unabated except for the precious blood of Christ. See,
the only cure is Christ, isn't he? He's a great physician, right? He's the great physician, and
nothing man does can cure this pandemic of sin, but the great physician can.
Oh, he's a great healer, isn't he? And we're healed by his stripes,
by his precious, precious blood, beloved. My, oh, my. And we see there in verse 17,
again, some accuse Christ of being the minister of sin, if
you're justified by Christ. And they're found a sinner. Now
we still have these false teachers among us today, these work mongers.
here's a translation by Wiest of this scripture. Now let's read it into King James
and then I'll give you he was a Greek scholar and I'll give
you what he wrote from the Greek too. So it says, but if well
we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners.
Is therefore Christ the minister of sin? And he writes this, but
if, as is the case, while seeking to be justified in Christ, We
Jews, because remember, he's speaking to the Jews who dissimulated,
ourselves are also found to be sinners. Is Christ, therefore,
a promoter of sin? Away with that thought! Do you
know, when I looked at the Greek word there for forbid, and I'm
going to talk about it at the end, it is in the absolute negative. Oh, God forbid that! It cannot
be! Let it never be! Away with that
thought! No. He's the Savior of sinners,
isn't he? Now, here's a little background
to you. The Christian Jews in seeking justification in Christ's
law, they were shown by God, the Holy Spirit, that they were
sinners just like the Gentiles. Right? And that's what we're
showing. We're Gentiles, right? And we're showing I'm a sinner
before God by the law, right? them by the power of the Holy
Spirit, trusted in Christ alone and being justified in Christ
alone, they were proclaiming that they were just like the
Gentiles. And did not the Holy Spirit have Paul author those
words that there's neither barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but
we're all one in Christ? We're just a bunch of sinners
saved by the grace of God. You see? Oh my. So when they sought justification
in Christ alone, again, which is all by the grace and mercy
of God, one will not seek justification in Christ unless the Holy Spirit's
working in them, moving in them, right, and drawing them to Christ.
And that's just God showing us mercy. So for these Jews who
were born again, it was an admission on their part that there was
no justification by the works of the law. which we know is true, right?
But we didn't know that until God the Holy Spirit regenerated
us. Same with our dear brethren who were Jews at one time and
then saved by the mercy and grace of God in Christ. They were proclaiming that the
seeker is not justified by the works of the law and is therefore,
what? A sinner. So keep in mind, look again at
what Paul says in verse 15. We who are Jews by nature are
not sinners of the Gentiles. So in proclaiming justification
in faith alone, they were saying, we're sinners just like our Gentile
brothers. Isn't that amazing? Do you see
how it all ties in now? And how justification in Christ In the Jews proclaiming that,
they're proclaiming that there's no hope in the law. Same thing
we proclaim, right? We can't be justified by the
works of the law. Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, brought that
forth so clearly in verse 16. And when the Holy Spirit's drawn
us to Christ, we awaken to the consciousness that we cannot
be justified by the law. We awaken to that. We awaken
to the consciousness of our sin, don't we? That I'm just a sinner. I need to be saved. I can't save myself. We're taught
that. That's as the Holy Spirit's drawn
us and wooing us to Christ. And then we're regenerated and
we're given faith to believe. We just run to Christ, don't
we? Oh, he's my savior. Lord, save me! Save me or I die. Save me or I'll perish in my
sins. So what this does, when those
Jews were testifying that they couldn't be justified by the
works of the law, they're actually testifying what Romans says,
that when the law comes, we're all guilty before God. All of
us. Every single one of us. And this compels the Jew to put
himself on the same plane as the Gentiles. Now that was not
heard of back then, because they always thought they were better
than them Gentile dogs. Now they find out exactly what
Scott Richardson said, brother and sister, exactly what Scott
said, that the ground at the foot of the cross is absolutely
level. Well, what a surprise for them.
What a surprise for us. Oh wow. You mean I'm no better
than than any other worm in this world? I'm worse. And the more we grow in grace,
the more we see our sinnership. You know that? The more we see,
oh, I'm such a sinner and I need to be saved by my King. Let's
read verse 16 again here. It's so clear that one cannot
be justified by the law, knowing that 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. See where
it says, knowing there that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, by the faith of Jesus Christ. Now, the reason that
we can't be justified by the law is evident because the law
demands unsinning obedience. Everything I do is tainted with
sin, you see? But did I know that before the
Lord saved me? I didn't have a clue. I always thought there's someone
worse than me down the street, right? Oh, you gotta see this
fellow over here! He's such a sinner! Not me, yeah! But then we find out, oh Lord,
I'm worse than him. I need salvation so desperately. I need to be saved from my sins. So if the law demands unsinning
obedience, we're all doomed. But I'll tell you what, there's
one. There's one who obeyed that law
without sin. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He did it in the room and in
place of his people, because for us to break one of God's
law is to be guilty of it all. Right? Therefore, the least departure
on our part from the law is a breach of the whole law. A breach of the whole law. And
consequently, as a result of that, the offender, which is
we who are the sons and daughters of Adam, are subject to the full
penalty of disobedience of law, which is the soul that sinneth.
It must die. And the scriptures declare that
all of mankind have sinned, all of mankind have come short of
the glory of God, all, all of mankind. So it must undeniably
fall then that by the deeds of the law can no flesh be justified
in God's sight. And this is exactly what Paul's
bringing forth here in verse 16. that no flesh can be justified,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ. And that's God-given faith, isn't
it? And we see the Apostle pivot.
Notice this. He pivots from the law and turns
to the gospel with these words, we are justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ. So he tells us, No man can be
justified by the works law, and then he pivots and says, it's
only in Christ. He goes from the law to the gospel.
Because the gospel is the only thing that gives us hope. And
the gospel is all about Christ, isn't it? It's all about Him. All about Him. And he brings
forth that the sole justifying cause before God of the church
being justified before God is the Lord Jesus Christ. He just
sets him forth, doesn't he? He just sets him right in front
of us. And this is scriptural truth because Christ is what?
The head of the church. He's the head of the church.
He's the only surety of the church. He's the only redeemer of the
church. Right? It's by his blood that we're
ransomed. And he's our substitute, beloved.
He's our representative before God. He obeyed the law perfectly. He suffered the penalty for my
sins, for our sins as believers, all the elect of all the ages.
He suffered in our room and place. We broke the law. We were the
guilty ones. And here he is dying in our place
before the wrath and justice of God that was due you and I. I ask you. Did not Christ manifest his love
for us at the cross? Did he not show us his eternal
love for us? Oh, he did, didn't he? And how
did he do it? By his shed blood. He died the
sinless one. He perfectly obeyed the law,
and yet he's dying on the cross. Because we broke the law, beloved. Because we could never be justified
by anything we do. We see that, right? There's nothing
we can do that could justify us before God. So the just one,
the holy one, God incarnated in the flesh, comes to this sin-cursed
world, lives a perfect life, obeying God's law perfectly.
Unsinning obedience. And then the sinless one dies
as our substitute on Calvary's cross. My, what a Savior. What a Redeemer is Christ Jesus
our Lord. He came here to redeem our eternal
souls by His obedience and by His bloodshed. And that becomes
the cause of our justification, beloved. What He's done. His work. See, we couldn't fulfill
the law. He fulfills it. He does a work
for us. A justifying work. My. And now we're accepted in a beloved.
We're accepted in Christ. By God. God saw His sacrifice
and said, I'm satisfied. And we know that because he raised
Christ from the dead. My oh my. And because he died
as our sinless substitute, God's satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ. And both the law and justice of God must discharge
the original offender. We're the original offender.
And because of Christ's perfect work in life and death, We who
are the original offenders are discharged before God's law and
justice, because he satisfied them in our room and place. And
that law and that justice cannot extract twice. We're free. Discharged from all the penalty
of our sin, because Christ bore it all in our room and place. The original debtor, me, you,
as God's people, are set free. Set free, beloved, because of
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. God himself, God provided himself
a lamb. That's what he did. He provided himself a lamb. Remember
he told Abraham, Abraham was talking with his son, and Abraham
said, God himself will provide a land. Well, he did at Calvary's
cross, didn't he? So both cannot pay the penalty
of sin. We cannot pay the penalty of sin. Therefore Christ comes
to earth to save his people. How? By paying the penalty for
their sin before God's law and justice. Paying our debt. Our
debt. You know, remember we talked
about that? I loved it when I go with my dad and we get that stamp.
I'd ask the guy, Paid in full! Beloved, it's paid in full! Our
sins are all forgiven. The debt is paid. Past, present,
and future. Isn't that amazing? Never to
be charged to us again. All by the precious, precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as a result of that, Turn
with me, if you would, to Romans chapter 8. Oh, we see the result
of that, beloved, of this great transaction of the sinner dying,
or the substitute dying, the sinless substitute dying in the
sinner's place, the Lord Jesus Christ. What's the result of
that? Look at this, Romans chapter 8, verses 1 to 4. There is therefore
now no condemnation, no judgment, to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the
law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me what?
Free! Free! We're free, beloved. Free from what? From the law
of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
it couldn't justify us, right? In that it was weak through the
flesh. God sending his own son. See, the law could never justify
us. So what does God do? He sends his son. He sends the
word of God. He sends the son of God. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh is finished. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Praise be to God. Let's go back
to our verse there in verse 17. So the soul's enjoyment of this
blessed state of justification before God and Christ alone and
solely in the person and by the redemption of Christ alone becomes
the right of every born-again, blood-washed believer. So rejoice,
you who are born again, you who are a blood-washed child of God.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. Let's read verse 17 again. But
if well we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners. Is therefore Christ the minister
of sin? God forbid. So we see here that Paul rejects
the false belief of the Judaizers, who charge that Christ is the
promoter and encourager of sin, which Paul preaches that Christ
is the only justifier of his people from their sins. This causes the Jews to abandon
the law. Those who are born again, they
abandon the law of God as a justifying means. And in doing so, it puts
the Jews on the same plane as the Gentiles. Level ground, beloved. Sinners before God. And the Judaizers
argued in their false ways that in view of the fact that any
violation of the law is sin, therefore they saw the abandonment
of the law to be justified in Christ as sin. Oh my gosh. So messed up. Oh, but I know
I was there before the Lord saved me. You believe error quicker
than you believe the truth before the Lord saves you. Therefore,
they concluded in their false ways that Christ was a promoter
of sin. And we see here, this word here, again, the Greek word
for God forbid, for the word forbid expresses an absolute
denial. God forbid, it can never be. Christ is the savior of sinners. He's the Savior, and He's the
only one. He's the only hope for sinners. If He's not your
hope, cast yourself upon Him, because He's the only hope for
sinners. That's all we've done, isn't it? We who are God's people.
We cast ourselves upon Christ by the grace and mercy of God,
and we say, Hallelujah. What a Savior. Brother Travis,
can you close us in prayer?