Yoke Upon The Neck

Q: What does the Bible say about the yoke of bondage?

The Bible teaches that placing a yoke of the law upon believers burdens them and detracts from the grace of God in Christ. In Acts 15, the apostles confront a challenge where certain men from Judea insisted that believers must be circumcised and adhere to the law of Moses to be saved. Peter argues against this, stating that God does not place a yoke upon the neck of disciples that is impossible to bear (Acts 15:10). This yoke represents the law, which condemns and binds, as Paul explains that attempting to be justified by the law only leads to condemnation (Galatians 5:4). Emphasizing God's grace, the apostles clarify that salvation is by belief and faith, not by works of the law.

Q: How do we know salvation is by grace and not by works?

Salvation is a gift of God's grace that excludes human effort, affirmed in Romans 11:6 and Ephesians 2:8-9. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone is central to Reformed theology. Paul highlights this in Romans 11:6, stating, 'And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.' This indicates a clear divide between grace and works, affirming that human effort plays no role in salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 further stresses this truth by declaring, 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.' Salvation is entirely dependent on God's mercy, not on our actions.

Q: Why is understanding Christ's work for salvation important for Christians?

Understanding Christ's completed work secures our peace and assurance of salvation, free from the burden of works. Grasping the significance of Christ's work is vital for believers. As noted in Hebrews 10:14, 'For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.' This emphasizes that Jesus' sacrifice fully satisfies the requirements for our salvation, negating our need for personal merit. Furthermore, knowing that Christ's righteousness is credited to us protects against the false belief that we must contribute to our salvation through works (Philippians 3:9). This understanding fosters a life of rest and reliance on God's grace rather than anxiety over personal achievement.

Q: What does it mean to work out your own salvation?

Working out your own salvation means living in faith and obedience as a response to God's work in you, not as a means to earn salvation. Philippians 2:12-13 tells us to 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' This does not imply that we earn or contribute to our salvation, but rather that we actively live out the implications of being saved. God's grace enables our will to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). True faith results in obedience and sanctification, demonstrating the transformation that God's work brings about in our daily lives. Thus, while we are secured by grace, our lives should reflect the righteousness that God instills in us.

If you would, turn with me to Acts 15. Acts 15. Acts 15, I'm gonna read the first 10 verses. And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phinis and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel. and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" Back then, just as it is today, there are some who teach not necessarily circumcision, but keeping the law. Most of them think there is some synergism with God and man. That is, for those who believe, they teach that there is synergism between God and man.

And they will go to such verses as this, Philippians 2.12, and this verse is true. It is a true verse, but they'll use this verse to prove, I guess, what they teach.

It says, wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and tremble. they will say that we are progressively sanctified. That is, we are more and more set apart or made holy.

They say this as if holiness comes in parts. As if we are walking up the steps of holiness. Holy means to be pure. And just as Joe was saying, I cannot fully relate to holy. We're talking about a sinner who is a part of that one lump, but it says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But then you have God who says there is none like unto him. He's holy. I cannot really get a hold of that word. I've always had trouble with the word holy anyway. It's hard to describe, if you will. And why is that?

I have this flesh, just as Joe was saying, I have this flesh with me still. But holiness does not come in parts. It is wholly, W-H-O-L-L-Y, one thing. It is, as some say, when asking others a question, it's a yes or no question. It is something is either holy or it is not holy. If it's something that's not completely holy, then it's not holy at all. Holy means pure. And you do not get more pure. It's pure. Pure is pure.

But just to continue that passage in Philip, it says in 13, that was verse 12 to start with, verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. If God does not work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure, you will only do your pleasure. And that will be sin. God does all the work. For if any work of man is brought into salvation at any time, then it is of works. We are told in Scripture that it's either grace or works, Romans 11, 6. And if by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.

Now just to be clear, that passage I just read in the context is talking about election. Election is by grace. It's saying that election is by grace and nothing of it is man's works. But that election is unto salvation, which is also by grace, I might add. If man's works are brought in it as part of it, then it's nothing but works and grace is not involved at all.

But what about this, Romans 4, 3-6? For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. God takes inventory of those that believe, and he sees something there. He sees the faith of Jesus Christ and he counts the faith of Jesus Christ as righteousness to the one that believeth.

And that is definitely talking about believers there. If you bring any works into it, it is not of the faith of Jesus Christ, which is what God says he counts as righteousness. What is it that we believe? What does that faith believe that is given us by God? It believes what Jesus Christ hath done.

It in no way or at any time looks at what man does for any part of salvation. Does that mean we just walk in this flesh and fulfill all the lust of the flesh? No. We walk after the Spirit. We are led by the Spirit of God. God working in us to will and to do. There are those today that still try to place this yoke upon believers, and this is not of God.

It is antichrist because it's placing the glory to man and not wholly and completely giving all the glory to God in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ accomplished everything needed for salvation. For all sinners that he saved, he accomplished it all. And he did this to the uttermost, the scripture says. But here are some things just to name a few.

He sanctified us, he justified us, he made us righteous, he made us holy. And I want to be clear, even us mortifying our members is not a product of our own doing. If we do mortify our members, it is God working in us to do so. We should mortify our members, but our cry must be to God for him to enable us to do so.

So let's look at these things, but I want to read one other passage as this one caught my eye in our text concerning those who might try to put a yoke around your neck. And that is my title, Yoke Upon the Neck. So verse 24, but let me say a few things here first.

Just as they did in Galatia, so we see some others here who are doing this. They're trying to bring in man keeping doing the law of God. It mentions circumcision here, but they are talking about the keeping of the law. It said it in one verse. Some have said that those in Galatia and these here were just talking about circumcision. But we know that not to be true. Right here we are told they were talking about circumcision, but they were also talking about keeping the law.

They are teaching that once God saves you and they do not say you don't have to believe, They were saying you believe, but they added something in. You must be circumcised and keep the law. Verse 24, for as much as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your soul saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law. To whom we gave no such commandment. You see that? subverting your soul, saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law. The apostles never taught that, that's what he said. To whom we gave no such commandment.

These who were doing this right here, just as those do today, were agitating. They're stirring up the pot, so to speak. They were loading a weight on those they spoke to. They were taking the yoke and putting on those that heard them and the weight is nothing but bondage of which they could not get out of on their own.

This is what the law teaches. We are under condemnation and unless someone else does something, we are condemned of God. If it is up to us to keep his law, we will never get out from under this bondage. There are numerous passages that say straight out that to turn back to the law is to go back to being in the bondage.

You are turning back to works and thereby turning from grace. Grace only comes from God. God does not need favor, we do. but we do not deserve favor. We cannot earn favor, and we cannot keep favor by our works. If we try to claim any glory, if we try to say we have any part in our salvation, we are robbing God of his glory, and we do not know Jesus Christ.

If we use the law, we must use it lawfully. We are told in scripture to use it lawfully. We say what scripture says of the law, the 10 commandments. The law is what indicts us as guilty before God and nothing more. The law shuts our mouth. God using that by his grace to those he loves, we become guilty before God. Just like Paul said in Romans 7, he was alive once without the law. But when the commandment came, sin revived and he died, he says. If you turn to your works at any time, you are not under a grace, but under works and you are condemned.

So this is nothing new, but let's look at what Jesus Christ accomplished and how the scripture says he accomplished this. Turn over with me to Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 and I'm going to read verses 9 through 14. Hebrews 10 verse 9. Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. And every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting to all enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So what do we read here? Do we read Christ made it possible that we might be sanctified as we work together with God to sanctify ourselves until that final day?

It does not say that. It never says that in scripture that we sanctify ourselves. Nowhere does it say that at all. It never implies it anywhere in scripture. It says that through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, we were sanctified once. And you can say for all time, that worked, that's okay. But it was once. He did this one time and the one time only and it was good for eternity. He sanctified us to the uttermost. And I know some will say this is position or something to that effect. But they will say they are talking about progressive sanctification. Something done between God and man together once a man is saved. Lies. God does not need our help and he does not want our help. God commands us to do a great many things in scriptures that man cannot do on his own. But he never tells anyone to work with him to sanctify themselves. Nowhere.

The verse 14 in Hebrews there says, we are sanctified. Now I will say this, when it comes to God, we are sanctified. There is nothing man is going to do or has to do to change that or to make that so, we just read it. But before God, we are sanctified. Certainly, positionally, we are sanctified before God. We as fallen sinful men and women do not know this. We don't know it as we're born in Adam. So there's that part where we must come to know this. We must be sanctified in time in our minds. We do not do that on our own. and we do not do it in cooperation with God. When or where in Scripture does God indicate He needs any cooperation from man? Never. We read this in Scripture, Romans 15, 15.

Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given me of God. that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Have I missed something here or something? Shouldn't that say sanctified by the Holy Ghost working with me? You can read it.

Paul continues on and says, it is by the Holy Spirit of God that he does anything. If we glory, we glory in Jesus Christ. But here's another one, Acts 26, 18. To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan into God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

That's Christ speaking. This says we are sanctified by faith that is in Christ. His faith. What is it that that faith does? It looks to Jesus Christ and what he has done. We see in scripture where God tells us he sanctified us in Jesus Christ and we believe it.

That is sanctifying right there to me. It never points us to what we have done or what we need to do. If you say you have faith and it causes you to look to your works to sanctify you, you do not have the faith of Jesus Christ. You are not sanctified.

What is happening in time is that God is letting us know of the positional sanctification that Christ has wrought by his works. We come to know this in and of ourselves totally and completely, it's by him. because he sends us the gospel. And that gospel does not tell us to do, it tells us done, Joe. He sends someone to proclaim the gospel to us, so we hear news of something that has been done. Not news that we need to do something, but news that someone has done something.

If this is not what you hear, you are not sanctified by that then. If those who are preaching this to you are not teaching this, that it's all by Christ, or if they're teaching this and you don't hear this, then you're not sanctified. John 17, 17 says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. He will sanctify you through his spirit, through his truth by his spirit.

God does not leave anything up to us to become more sanctified. Even us coming to know that He has sanctified us, He does not leave that up to us. He, by His Spirit, sanctifies us in time, sets us apart, and He sends us His gospel by His Spirit, enabling us to hear that gospel. By his faith given us as a gift, he enables us to believe that gospel, which lets us know we are sanctified. It's all of God.

1 Thessalonians 5.23, we read, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. That word holy means complete to the end. Absolutely perfect.

If you're working out your own salvation with fear and trembling and if that results in you having to do something to be sanctified, your work will mar the whole thing. That working out your own salvation with fear and trembling will result in you seeing Him who has done it all and you will get rid of your works if you've had grace shown to you. If it does not come to that conclusion, then you do not have the faith of Christ, but only your words. The work that we do is that work that labors to enter in Jesus Christ as our rest. Hebrews 411 says, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.

Kind of sounds funny to read that, don't it? Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. This flesh loves to do things and loves to take credit towards God for doing things. So we must labor to enter into that rest. As I have said already, we're told to do a great many things in scripture of which we cannot do on our own. We will only do this by the spirit of God. We will not add anything to it by our labor. He causes us to labor, and that labor is to see His work alone. And in doing so, we drop our works as done before God.

He justified us and He made us righteous. Acts 13, 38 and 39, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

The law will never justify a man. We know because that's what we're told in scripture. Paul tells us in one place, it is evident that the law does not make us righteous. It does not justify us. Jesus Christ was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Man will not do this by nature.

Matthew 21, 32, we read, for John came unto you in the way of righteousness, this is Christ speaking, and ye believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him. None of us are different by nature.

What is it to come unto someone in the way of righteousness? Who is the way of righteousness? Jesus Christ is and he is the only way of righteousness of God. The parable that we looked at last week, I think it was. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous.

All of us by nature have pride and we will trust in ourselves that we are righteous and that we can be righteous if we do this or that or don't do this or that. Righteousness will never be found in our doing or not doing. It's all found in Jesus Christ. That never changes, never. It is not our righteousness comes from Christ before we are saved and it comes from somewhere else after we are saved. It always has and always will be by Jesus Christ because he is the righteousness of God without the law.

I'm telling you the truth this morning. I know this because it's what God says in his word. Romans 1, 16 and 17 we read, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith. The way we live is by faith. His faith. Romans 3, 21 and 22, but now the righteousness of God without the law was manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. That's what the word says. The faith of Christ, that which he is and which he did, is the righteousness of God and it is without law.

That faith is upon all who believe. The way you know that one has faith is they believe. They will confess Jesus Christ, that Messiah that was promised, has come in the flesh and has accomplished that which he came to do. Faith will see what Christ has done. It does not look at what we do or we will ever do, not ever. Not true faith.

Romans 10.10 says, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We confess with scripture what he has done. We know Jesus Christ came down and he accomplished what he came here to do. There's no doubt because God tells us in his word he did. Romans 4, 24 and 25, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Righteousness. Faith believes faith when it hears it proclaimed. Those who proclaim the gospel proclaim that good news that says Christ has accomplished salvation for his people.

But those who like to put this yoke on a people, the yoke of the law, do not see what Christ has done. They do not see Christ for who he is. If they did, they would not be looking for something for man to do. They are wanting to put men and women back under bondage. There may be some of God's people caught up in all of this when these men say these things.

That is why we declare Jesus Christ and what He has done. From scripture, we can confidently say that Jesus Christ has saved His people to the uttermost. He has sanctified us. He has justified us. Our works never did enter into the picture. And if our works do enter into the picture, they will be of no value. Titus 3, 5 says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, Joe, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

Those who teach Jesus Christ and something else or if they teach God has done all he can do and now it's up to you. Those are both the same thing, by the way. Same thing. One outright says what Christ did was not good enough and it takes man to make it sufficient. The other says what Christ did did not go far enough.

So we have to do something once he saves us to help him out. And don't get me wrong, we do do things once God saves us. But if we do anything Godward, it was God working in us both to will and to do that. All of it coming from God. And for the believer, that never ends. That never ends. We always, by His grace, look to Him for our health, help, our strength, and our all.

Those who subvert men and women, They get men and women looking to the things they do and cause them great distress. I know it does this because Jesus Christ freed me from that. There was a time that I had a great weight on me. Jesus Christ lifted that weight for me. I could never do enough. I would try to do the right thing, but the right thing never came. And it will never come if you're looking to yourselves. There will never be satisfaction there.

They are like the Jews Paul spoke of in Romans 10 3, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. They do this and they try to get you to do these things. They will not submit to Jesus Christ as all. And listen to me, don't listen to them for one minute.

You will be miserable. If you are truly a child of God, you will be miserable trying to keep whatever law they put before you. You must do this or you must do that or you won't be saved. And it doesn't matter what law they put before you. It may not be the Ten Commandments. Any law added as a requirement for salvation to be saved or to stay saved. You must go to church or you're not saved. A child of God will go to church, but it's not going to church which saves them, not one whit. They go to church to hear of a savior who has saved them all the way to the right hand of God. And they know he is the head, so we're right there with him, because he's our head.

There's nothing wrong with the law, the Ten Commandments. What is wrong is when men use the law unlawfully. They use the law as a whip to whip men and women into place or to have a hold over them or to have some kind of sway over them. That's why they use it. They are deceivers, as Paul said. Let them be accursed and do not listen to them.

I have in the past when someone has asked me about going someplace so they could find a place to go to hear the gospel. And maybe there were some places that teach the five points of Calvinism. But then they add some of these other things in. We know that they have these man-centered things that they teach. You should not go there. You should not listen to them. And I'm not talking about a man who just has one little thing that they disagree with us on here or there.

I'm talking about a doctrine that teaches, at least in effect, if they teach a doctrine that God has done all he can do and now it's up to you, if they teach a doctrine that says Christ saved us by dying on that tree and raising again, and you must believe, and Paul tells us not to listen to them at any length of time. That's what he says in Galatians. He says, give them space, no, not for an hour.

If you cannot find the place where what is taught as preached is a salvation totally and wholly, W-H-O-L-L-Y, completed by Jesus Christ, then find the place online if you have to. If you have no other way, go there when you can. It's far better for that than to listen to lies on God. Salvation is by the grace of God all the way through from start to finish. Works never come into the picture as part of salvation. What we are made in Jesus Christ is perfect already because of what he did. Look to him, continue to look to him. That's the only place you'll find salvation in Jesus Christ. And there's a story, and this is why I called Bruce, because he had a story one time he told a long time ago, and I could not remember it exactly, but he reminded me of it. It was good to hear him tell it again.

There was one time he had a custom to doing a walk at his house close, going somewhere. I don't know exactly how often he did it, but quite often he did this. And he would go by this house where there was a pit bull that was chained up. And every time he would go by that pit bull, it would lunge at him and bark almost like it just really wanted to take a bite out of him or something. And then this one day he was going by, he wasn't on the chain anymore, but he was behind the fence, but that dog was just jamming the fence, you know, back and forth like it wanted to get him.

Well, he went for a long time and, you know, he was there. And then one time he walked, he didn't, the dog wasn't there, he didn't see the dog there. And then he turned the corner and lo and behold, there's the dog right in the middle of the street looking at him. And he thought, oh no, I can't get out of the way now. So he kind of just put his hand down and said, come here. And you know what that dog did? It come up and licked his hand with his tail wagging.

Chaining a man or a woman to the law will only produce the worst out of them, even if it might look good in the eyes of man. Placing that yoke upon a man or a woman's neck will not cause anything good to happen. Because all the law does is produce and actually looks to man.

We are told in scripture, the strength of sin is the law. First Corinthians 15, 56, the sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the law. It tries to give glory to man rather than God, that is trying to keep the law because it teaches man must do this and live.

Jesus Christ sets some free from the law, just like that dog, and that's what we are by nature, dogs. But being set free from that law by Jesus Christ causes us to love with affection, to come to him, toward him, and he keeps us coming back to him. You do not need to keep the law, and you in fact cannot keep God's law. What you need is Jesus Christ. If you have him, he has freed you from that law of sin and death. Do not listen to those who will subvert you with that yoke of bondage around your neck. Look to Christ.

Amen. Dear Lord God, We are all sinners, dear Lord, but sinners, thankfully, by your grace, saved. Saved, and you have done it completely, all the way to the uttermost, dear Lord. Cause us to be watchful and mindful of looking to your word, dear Lord. What do you say? What do you tell us, dear Lord? And by your spirit, may it be that we will see you in the scripture as it should be, because that's what scripture is about. Be with us as we go along, dear Lord, and keep us safe. All these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.

Yoke Upon The Neck

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the yoke of bondage?

How do we know salvation is by grace and not by works?

Why is understanding Christ's work for salvation important for Christians?

What does it mean to work out your own salvation?

Sermon Transcript

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Yoke Upon The Neck

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the yoke of bondage?

How do we know salvation is by grace and not by works?

Why is understanding Christ's work for salvation important for Christians?

What does it mean to work out your own salvation?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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