I invite you this morning to
turn with me to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. I want to try to talk to you for a little
bit about verses 20 and 21, which are kind of a summation. of all
that the Apostle has said in chapters 1 and 2. A careful study of chapter 1
and 2 leading up to our text reveals that God has done an
irresistible work in this once champion of Jewish
legalism, whose name at one time was Saul
of Tarsus. Everybody in every city around
there knew Saul of Tarsus. Now he's called the apostle. And that gift of faith through
the gospel so convinced him of the person
and power and work of Christ so that he could never again
be persuaded to build again what God had, through the gospel,
destroyed. Has God destroyed that old religion
in you? Has God torn down those old refuges? Has he cast them down? Has he
destroyed them? Paul saw this truth so clearly
and by God's Spirit was so persuaded of it that he said, if righteousness,
and that's what's required of God, righteousness, and he said,
if righteousness come by the law, if that's true, and that's
what all legalism declares, righteousness comes by the law in any form. Before or after conversion, if
righteousness come by the law, here's the alternative, then
Christ is dead and vain. And wherever faith is established
in the heart, this is the prevailing argument against any and all
who would challenge it. If righteousness come by the
law, Christ is dead and vain. If his life, his obedience, his
death, and his resurrection is not sufficient to save our souls,
then all he did was for nothing. There are three things that led
me to this text here in Galatians. First of all, because we're absolutely
surrounded at work and at school and in the media with religious
men and women whose very hope and confession is the perversion
about which this letter was written. Legalism, self-righteousness. Paul was so adamant about this.
He said, though I or an angel from heaven come unto you, and
preach to you any other gospel than the gospel that I preached
unto you, let him be accursed. You count him accursed of God.
I don't care how he appears. I don't care how he talks. I don't care how he acts. I know this in my very heart
that you children hear this stuff at school All the time. All the time. Men and women are
so at ease about it that the thought of somebody being offended
by it never really enters their mind. Why would you be offended
by this? Everybody believes this. Legalism. What is it? It's the idea that a person can,
by his obedience to the law, make himself acceptable to God. And that's the natural tendency
of a fallen man. He knows that he has offended
God, and his tendency is to try to do something now to make it
up. I've got to win him back over.
I have to somehow reconcile myself to God. And so he looks, and
here's a law that's holy and just and good, and he says, well,
I'll keep the law. You remember our Lord told the
rich young ruler when he came to him? The rich young ruler
said, what must I do to be saved? The Lord said, keep the law.
All this have I done from my youth up. Wow. Well, then you won't have no
problem with this. Go sell everything you have and give it to the poor.
Take up your cross and follow me. It's the idea that a person can,
by his obedience to the law, make himself acceptable to God,
and he or she has been deceived into believing that righteousness
is a work given to them to accomplish, even though it's plainly condemned
in the Scriptures, and the truth of it plainly taught in the Scriptures
and attributed altogether to Christ. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. I want you to know the truth
and be warned about those who would deceive you. And I don't
know of anywhere where it's taught or stated any clearer than it
is right here in the book of Galatians. Secondly, I know that
there is but one way of salvation. There's one faith. Isn't that
what the scripture says? One faith, not 10, not 15 or
20. One faith. One Lord. Well, my Lord is like
this, and their Lord is like, no, they're just one Lord. Just
one Lord. Well, they preached Jesus. Yeah. Paul said it's another Jesus
and another gospel. they're just one way of salvation
one way of justification one way of reconciliation and one
way of redemption christ and him crucified i don't know if you ever thought
about it but it says the law was not made for a righteous
man that wasn't what it was it was added because of the transgressions
of men it was added uh... Because man was so evil, you
couldn't live with him. Had to be a law. Had to be punishment
instituted. What do I have to do to satisfy
the law? What does a man have to do? I'm
talking to you that perhaps one of these days you're going to
get deceived by one of these men and they're going to try
to talk you into following after that law and obeying that law
and trying to find acceptance with God, following that law.
What do you have to do to satisfy that law? You have to die. You have to die. That's the only
way you can satisfy the law. You can't satisfy the law by
keeping it. You have to satisfy the law through
death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. There's no other way to satisfy
the law except to die. And then thirdly, I feel compelled
to preach these verses again to you because as your pastor,
I must give an account to God for your souls. I want to be
faithful to at least tell you, at least warn you about these
things. And I want to do this, as Paul
said, with joy and not with grief. So let me just briefly touch
on some of the highlights of these verses here. First of all,
he tells us in verse 18 that he through the law is dead to
the law that he might live under God. The law has only one thing to
say to fallen man, guilty, guilty. Romans 3.19, now we know that
what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under
the law, to what purpose? That every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God. What does
the law say? Guilty, guilty. Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.
Guilty. Guilty. Honor thy father and
mother. Guilty. Huh? I could go on and on and on through
the precepts. We're guilty. We're guilty. And as guilty sinners, the law
says death to the sinner. And I'm not just talking about
death on the gallows, but everlasting death, the second death, death
from which there is no escape. So how on earth can a sinner
be dead to the law? Isn't that what Paul just, that's
what I just read to you there, verse 19? Well, here's how, verse 20. I'm
crucified with Christ. That's the only way you can be
dead to the law. Well, you're gonna die to the
law. Everybody's gonna die to the law. Everybody. But the only way a believer can
die and live is to be crucified with Christ. I'm crucified with
Christ. There is a truth of which all
worldly religion is opposed, a truth they refuse to believe,
though you read it plainly to them from the scriptures. And
that truth is that God the Father chose us in His Son in order
to bless us with all spiritual blesses in heavenly places in
Christ. He chose us in His Son and made
us one with Him as our federal head and representative. And
the crucifixion of Christ is not a farce. He was crucified. He was laid out on those pieces
of wood and giant nails driven through his hands and his feet
and he was raised up and that cross fell down into that hole
and they looked on him and mocked him and laughed at him until
he died. Crucifixion of Christ is no joke. It's not a put on. It's not just
a story. And though he was charged with
drummed up charges, yet they were just before God because
he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. There's no way for God to punish
a just man, put a just man to death. Christ was a just man.
He never sinned. But being in union with us, he hung on that cross, bearing
our sins in his own body on the tree. And when Christ died, We
died with Him. All of God's elect died with
Christ on that cross. The law judged me. Divine punishment
was justly charged and carried out so that the law, by the death
of our substitute, was exalted and honored to its highest degree. I was crucified with Christ. All right, here's the next thing.
Nevertheless, I live. I live. How can that be? How can a guilty sinner condemned by the law, crucified
with Christ, how can he live? How can he live? I'm still breathing. I'm still
existing. I'm still alive on this earth.
And this truth goes all the way back to the garden. After Adam
sinned, he was the representative of the whole world. He was the
federal head of the whole world. After he sinned, were it not
for the purpose of God to save a people for his glory in Christ,
Were it not for that, God would have wiped this whole creation
out. But he didn't. He didn't. He came down in the cool of the
day, and he went in and he talked to Adam and Eve, and he demonstrated
to them the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, in that lamb that
was slain. and he covered them with the
righteousness of that slain lamb, and they continued to live. Well, he and his wife were chosen
in Christ, and the Lord came to him and showed him how that
the Lord could justly save him. We live because our eternal mediator
and representative didn't stay in the grave. He rose from the
dead. How could he do that? He satisfied
the law. He satisfied the justice of God. When the law satisfied it, it
has no more hold on you. It'll turn you loose. It'll justify
you. You've satisfied it. You've honored
it. And having satisfied the justice of God, having fulfilled
all righteousness and paid our debt in full, God raised him
from the dead, declaring our justification. In Romans 4, 25,
it says he was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. And so the apostle says in Romans
8, 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. If God
justified me, who's going to condemn me? Huh? Who's going
to condemn me? There's no higher court to appeal
to than God. I live, Paul said, but now listen
to this, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. All believers live in Christ
and Christ lives in them. This is not some supernatural
apostolic gift. This is common to all that believe.
Every believer is born again of gospel seed, every one of
them. And that seed is Christ. Christ in His eternal appointments,
Christ in His prophetic word, Christ coming into the flesh,
giving to us an acceptable righteousness and perfect atonement. It's Christ. Christ being raised from the
dead, Christ ascending into glory, Christ seated at the right hand
of God, expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. In Ephesians
2.6, Paul says he hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Let others say what they will
about the new birth. The glory of this new birth is
Christ in you. That's the glory of it. How do
I know I've been born again? I see Christ. I perceive his person. I perceive what he did. I understand
what he did. Many women talk about things
I don't understand. They talk about being born again
and so now we have a supernatural power to do this and to do that. I don't know anything about that. And I'll tell you why I don't
know anything about it. Because I wasn't able to do anything
about it to start with. And anybody tells you I can resist
sin now is a liar. A man says he has no sin, he's
a liar and the truth's not in him. Isn't that right? My hope is Christ, period. The glory of this new birth is
Christ in me, and me in him, his glorious person, and all
of these things. All right? What is this life
that Christ liveth in the believer? Well, he says here in Galatians
2.20, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved me, gave himself for me. How does
a believer live by the faith of the Son of God? Many of the writers I read says
this is not talking about the faithfulness of Christ as our
representative but the faith given to us by Christ. And I know I'm no mental giant
but I'm just a country boy. Don't have a whole lot of education,
but it seems to me that the point to this whole subject is the
person and work of Christ. And faith is in his person as
our representative, and so this faith in his faithfulness is
what I see, without which we wouldn't have any hope at all. So whether you're talking about
this faith or his faithfulness, you're talking about the same
thing. There is no faith apart from Christ, is there? Now come on. There's no faith
apart from Christ. Faith is believing in him. Is that right? You believe something about him
that has nothing to do with his accomplishments and his faithfulness
and his righteousness? Of God are you in Christ, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. So how does a believer live by
his faithfulness Well, he lives in recognition of it, for one
thing. He lives in recognition of his
faithfulness. Believers are quick to tell you
Christ is their hope. Somebody asked me, what's your
hope before God? And sometimes when talking to
sinners, they do that, because you've asked them what their
hope is before God, and then told them, no, that can't be
because of this and that. And then they'll get angry, and
they'll look at you and say, well, what's your hope? Christ
is my hope. Huh? You got some other hope?
Christ is my hope. We're told in Colossians 3.3
that we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. And
when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear
with Him in glory. lives in recognition of the faithfulness
of Christ. Christ did it all. We sing that
song, he paid it all, all to him I hope. We live in recognition of his
accomplished redemption and secondly, we live in gratitude for his
faithfulness. Ain't you glad, ain't you glad
he honored and exalted the law on your behalf? Oh my soul. You that desire to be under the
law, do you hear the law? We live in gratitude for His
faithfulness. The life I now live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave
Himself for me. And believers in the light of
Christ's faithfulness are thankful and they love Him because He
first loved them. That's how we live. We live on
His faithfulness, in recognition of it, in gratitude for it. Is
there a day that goes by that you're not reminded of His free
grace to you? Is there something you see in
Him that generates anything in you but gratitude and love? Somebody said, well, you need
to try to motivate folks. Beloved, if I can't inspire you
with Christ, you're beyond help. You're beyond help. What in the
world? I remember an occasion when somebody
wanted me to go out to a certain place and confront a man over
something that he'd done, and I refused to go. And I said,
if I can't inspire him by preaching the gospel to him, my standing
in the yard with my finger in his face ain't going to do any
good. Christ liveth in me, Paul said. His glory has taken the preeminence
over my glory. His purpose has taken over my
ambitions. His will has taken place over
my desires, and His character over my character. And what Christ
has manifested in men, or as Paul said, revealed in me, He
fills that which was empty. I hear people talk about the
new nature causes them to live honest and pay their bills. And
I won't contest that. That's true, but it goes far
past that. What makes me want to be honest
and pay my bills is not wanting to bring contempt
on my Lord. Is that right? So we live, you
see what I'm talking about? We live not only in recognition
of those things, but we live in gratitude for those things,
and we live being aware of those things all the time. This new nature is not something
abstract from Christ, it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. Whatever work we do, we work
for His glory. We serve for His purpose and
His grace, and we suffer for His gospel and His reputation.
The life we now live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. And then here's the last thing,
Galatians 21. Galatians 2.21. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. For if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Now, when he uses this
word frustrate here, we use it commonly in our day. Well, he
just frustrates a lot. Just means they aggravate you. He just frustrates me all the
time. Well, that's not what the word frustrate means. It means
to make null and void. Paul said, if you preach righteousness,
coming of the law, you've made null and void the death of Christ. And I'm not gonna frustrate the
grace of God. Righteousness has to do with
living a perfect life and having perfect motives and perfect continual
obedience, not enough to keep the Sabbath, must be kept continually,
and with unrivaled love of God as my motive. Righteousness cannot
come from the law because Christ is our righteousness, and if
righteousness come by the law before or after conversion, then
Christ died in vain. Christ died, Romans 3.25, to
declare the righteousness of God for the remission of our
sins. That's why he died. In him, Paul
said, Romans 3.21, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
even the righteousness of God which is by the faith or faithfulness
of Jesus Christ, and it's unto all and all them that believe.
There is no difference. Be Jew or Gentile. Salvation in Christ alone is
the only gospel that does not frustrate the grace of God, and
the only gospel that does not make the death of Christ a vain
thing. Colossians 2.6. He said, as you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him. rooted and built up in him, established
in the faith as you've been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. And beware lest any man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of
men and after the rudiments of the world, not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye
are complete in him. The life that 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 don't ever move from that. Don't ever let anybody tell you
something different. Paul said if they come preaching
anything else, you just count them accursed of God. Accursed
of God. If they knew the truth, they'd
tell you the truth. They don't know the truth. May
the Lord add His blessings on His Word. Our Father, take the Word this morning and
burn it into our hearts. Write it upon our minds and in
our hearts that we might live this faith, that we might see
You in Your fullness and in Your glory, in Your sufficiency, and
look to you and love you and be thankful for all that you've
given to us. Help us to persevere through
this life, through these trials, through these temptations, through
all these things that we'll be confronted with. and bring us home safely into
the fold. We ask it for Christ's sake.