In the 15th chapter in Acts,
we read of the trouble that was brought in to the churches from
those who said, as we read in verse 1, 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. And 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 to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders about this question. In verse
5 we read that 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. So the apostles
and elders came together to consider this matter and Peter rose up
and declared how God had sent him to preach the gospel unto
the Gentiles and put no difference between the Jewish believers
and the Gentile believers but that God purified their hearts
by faith. And Peter says, 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? But we
believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved, even as they. By the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ we shall be saved, even as they. not by being circumcised
and keeping the law of Moses. James also stood up and spake
and in verse 18 he says, known unto God are all his works from
the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is that
we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned
to God, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions
of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and
from blood. For Moses of old time have in
every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues
every Sabbath day. Then pleased it the apostles
and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own
company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed
Barcibus, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. And they
wrote letters by them after this manner. The Apostles and Elders
and Brethren send greeting unto the Brethren which are of the
Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, forasmuch as we
have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled
you with words, subverting your souls, saying ye must be circumcised
and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. It seemed good unto us, being
assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with
our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their
lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore
Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you
no greater burden than these necessary things, that ye abstain
from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things
strangled, and from fornication, from which if ye keep yourselves,
ye shall do well. Fare ye well. So the Apostle's response to
this influence of those Pharisees who had received and believed
the Gospel but who could not depart from their tradition and
the idea that they should be living according to the law of
Moses and that they should be circumcised as previously commanded,
they could not turn from the old covenant, so entrenched was
it in their thinking. and their ideas, and their idea
of how God should be approached, so entrenched were they within
it, that even though these Pharisees had heard the Gospel in power,
and believed on Jesus Christ, still the law had its grip upon
them, still their traditions had its influence upon them,
and they could not imagine how believers could follow Christ
without maintaining their efforts to walk according to the law
of Moses. So they taught other believers
that in order to be truly saved, simply believing on Christ wasn't
enough, they should also be circumcised, they should also keep the law
of Moses. And when they saw these Gentile
believers saved, who knew nothing of these traditions, They were
incensed that these Gentiles were being told that Christ is
sufficient and were not being told to keep the law. So they
brought their influence to bear and they told them, no that's
not enough, you must keep the law now that you're saved, now
that you've been delivered from your idolatry. This is how you
should live. We've served this God for generations. It's this God who sent Messiah
as he promised unto us the Jews. We know this God as he's revealed
unto us in the scriptures and he's already given us guidance
for living. He gave us the law by Moses. And the coming of Christ and
the Messiah and the preaching of the gospel to you Gentiles
does not change anything, the law still stands, it's God's
law, you must keep it. So they came unto these Gentiles
and tried to teach the law to them. And this caused much dissension
and disputation within the church. Because the church, comprised
of both Gentile believers and Jewish believers, became confused
on this matter. In what place was the law held
now that Christ had come? In what place in the believers'
walk was the law to be held? Should believers be circumcised? Should they be taught the law
and commanded to keep the law of Moses? How should they walk
before God? It caused much disputation. But
when the apostles met and gathered and discussed this matter, their
response was very clear and very firm. They said, God gave us
no such commandment. God did not send us to the Gentiles
to put them under law. Christ delivered us from the
law. The law condemned our sin and
Christ came to deliver us from the law, not to put us back under
it. The law never perfected any man,
it never saved any man, it never delivered any man from sin, it
said how we should be but never gave any strength or power or
will to do otherwise. The law made no man perfect. We never commanded that believers,
Jew or Gentile, should be circumcised or walk by the commands of Moses. We preach the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Peter says, 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? You've never kept
that law. And we can't keep that law and
these Gentiles can't keep that law. It's a yoke that no one's
ever managed to bear. Then why are you insisting that
they do that which even you can't do? But we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. What delivers us from our sin? What delivers us from condemnation? And what delivers us from the
rule of sin in our lives and causes us to walk before God
and bring forth fruit before God is not the commandments of
the law but is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. And having reached this conclusion,
they write letters to the believers after this manner. The apostles
and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which
are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. For as
much as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled
you with words, subverting your souls, saying ye must be circumcised
and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. Yes,
these Pharisees, these believers in the church, former Pharisees,
Jews, went out from the church and went to others, went to the
Gentiles and troubled them with their words and subverted their
souls when they said that they must be circumcised and keep
the law. Something which the apostles
gave no such commandment to say. Certain which went out from us
have troubled you with words subverting your souls. Subverting your souls, what a
thing to say. that there were those that went
out from the church they didn't come into the church from outside
they were amongst the church they were those who believed
but they went astray and their influence amongst others in the
church was to lead them away from the grace of God away from
Christ alone away from absolute dependence upon God and His grace
unto the strength of man in his own attempts to live according
to the law. They troubled their hearers with
their words and subverted their souls. How did they subvert their
souls? By saying, you must be circumcised
and keep the law. Now this is quite a thing for
the apostles to say. This is a strong condemnation
of this influence. And it hasn't gone away. Those
who taught this then still teach this today. Those of their like
are still forever influencing believers and confusing believers,
troubling them with their words, with their ideas, with their
subtle teaching, which would put believers who have been delivered
from the Lord, delivered from condemnation, By the grace of
God in Jesus Christ, delivered by His death at the cross, would
lead them back under bondage. Christ came to deliver us, to
save us. to save us from our sin, to save
us from the wrath and judgment of God against our sin, and to
deliver us from all that condemned us. And what condemned us was
the law which found us wanted. The law said how we should be
before God, and as sinners we could not be that, we could not
keep it. It said thou shalt have no other
gods before me, and as sinners we have many other gods. We worship
ourselves and we worship many other things and we can't help
ourselves. We're idolatrous by nature. We worship so many ideals, so
many desires, so much thinking, so much of the wisdom of men.
We worship our families and our friends and our children. We
worship riches. We worship this, that and the
other. We have so many idols which we
set up and we don't even realise we're worshipping these things.
But such is the deceptive nature of our fallen hearts by nature
that we're found as those who worship many other gods. And
we find ourselves breaking God's law at the very start. Likewise
our sinful hearts by nature are those which lie and which steal. We steal God's glory. We steal the time that God gives
us. We steal the things that God
gives us. We're adulterous. We make claim
to worship God while then running after the idols and the desires
which we would rather follow. We murder us. How easily we are
filled with rage against those that cross our paths and those
that prevent us from having something we want. How quickly we hate. We break the law every day and
every moment of our lives. We're found wanting. whether
we are unbelievers or even as believers we still have the flesh
and that flesh is unchanged condemned and judged at the cross but we
still have it in us and every day it causes us to break that
law Then if we turn to that law, all we're ever going to find
is that it condemns us and brings us in guilty and it troubles
us, it troubles our souls. Believer, if you think that you're
living according to God's law, if you think that the law is
some sort of rule of life for you that can model your life
and restrain your sin, you'll find that your walk before God
is a guilty walk day by day. It's a troubled walk. It's a
walk in which your soul is subverted. There's no peace. There's no
joy. Because every day you're conscious
of how you're breaking and failing to keep that law. 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. Now today, there are many in
the churches which will press the law as a rule of life. They
may not insist that believers are physically circumcised, but
they will insist on the meaning of that. They will insist that
the flesh be cut off and that you turn from the flesh and all
its desires. They will insist that you should
turn from this and turn from that. that you should turn from
the world that you should be separate from the worldly that
you should deny the flesh of any of its pleasures or any of
its desires that you should be like this and be like that and
all that they say are right things perhaps they'll condemn this
sin and that sin and this thing and that thing and much that
they say may be right but there's no ability to walk in their commandments. And all it does is subvert the
soul and trouble with words. Turn from this and turn from
that. Touch not, taste not. Go here, go there. Keep the law. Yet the apostles, as we read,
gave no such commandment. They never taught this. They
never taught that that's the use of the law. They never taught
that believers should be commanded to be circumcised. And they never
taught that the law should be placed before believers as that
which directs their living. there's no place in the new testament
scriptures where you will hear the apostles the disciples preaching
that once you've come to faith in christ you must live according
to the law in any shape or sense in any part of it whether you
want to dismiss the ceremonial law and say yes but the moral
law the ten commandments is immutable unchangeable that remains we
must keep it they never taught that they said that we are delivered
from the law we're dead to the law that we might live unto God
we're delivered from the law that we might bring forth fruit
unto God Christ have delivered us from the law that being dead
wherein we were held We are now married unto Christ and no longer
married to the law. They preached the gospel. These
Judaizers, as we read in verse 1, said, except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. The apostles
preached, as we read in verse 11, but we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. There's an absolute contrast
and they cannot be mixed. You are either saved by the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ without the works of the law or you attempt
to be saved through your keeping of the law. but they cannot be
mixed and you cannot profess to have been saved by the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ and then return to the law. If you
return to the law you depart from Christ and you say that
Christ hasn't saved me, Christ isn't sufficient, his blood is
not sufficient, I must have my obedience to the law in some
shape or manner in addition to what he's done in order to be
saved. You essentially trample his blood and his gospel and
his grace underfoot. You turn from it and you say
no, salvation's by the law. The apostles never advocated
this. they preached the gospel yet
these men who went out from them we have heard that certain which
went out from us have troubled you with words these men who
went out from them who were mixed in with the church they were
mixed with the church they went out from them and they mixed
with the gospel the law. They mixed in works with the
grace of the gospel. They mixed law and gospel. And their mixture of law and
gospel troubled believers and subverted their souls. How many mix the law and gospel? They have many words and much
profession of believing in justification by faith, in believing in salvation
by grace, in believing in a sovereign God, yet somewhere, somehow,
they return to works. Anything that we do, attempt
to do, to gain God's blessing by works is not by grace. If we think that God will bless
us because we do this or that and that he won't bless us unless
we do this or that, that is to turn from grace unto works. If we say that God won't bless
us unless we pray earnestly for this or that and that when we
pray and when we're zealous then he blesses us then we turn that
prayer and that zealousness and that seeking of God into a work
which we are rewarded for. How easy it is to fall into this
trap. How easy it is to see the apathy
of others and say they're not being blessed because they're
not seeking God and they're not praying for this. But if we pray
and if we mean it and if we seek God then he'll bless us and he
won't unless we do. We've moved. into works. It's so easy and so subtle to
get to such a place because believers do pray and because God will
be sought by prayer. He will put that in our hearts
to pray for. He does want us to call upon
him. But he does it by stirring us
up by the Spirit. And believers are stirred up
by the Spirit to seek God and to pray when the Gospels preach
to them. But when you try to exhort believers
to pray for this and pray for that, in order that God should
bless, you're encouraging their works and their will. You're
not preaching the Gospel. You're not seeing a people that
prays unto God because they've seen Christ by faith in the gospel
and they've seen His love for them. They've seen His sacrifice
and His suffering and they're moved by the Spirit of God to
call out unto Him and to bring their thanksgiving before Him
and throw their crowns down at His feet. and pray for him to
come and meet with them and bless them in the church. They're not
praying because of that. That prayer is prayer that's
indicted of the Holy Ghost that comes as a fruit of the gospel. But it's so easy to strive in
our own strength and to think that God will bless us if we
do this and do that. and to strive to pray because
we think we ought to and to tell others that they should do. And how quickly we fall from grace
and begin to mix works with faith and law with gospel. Anything
we do to seek to gain God's blessing by our own strength, for our
own desire, Our own zealousness, our own godliness is to mix law
with gospel. If it's our prayer that makes
the difference, our zeal that makes the difference, then the
glory's unto us and not unto the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not, we are never blessed
because of what we do. It is not because we work, not
because we pray, not because we are zealous when others are
not. All that we receive of God is
by His grace and by His mercy. Indeed it is in spite of what
we are. God saved us when we were yet
sinners. God justified the ungodly. Christ came into this world which
rejected Him and He suffered and laid down His life upon the
cross for those who hated Him, those who spat upon Him, those
who mocked Him. As they despised Him and rejected
Him as He hung there on the cross, He said, Father forgive them,
they know not what they do. When we are actively opposed
to God, He blesses us. Yes, of course, as believers
who hear the Gospel and believe the Gospel, God sends us the
Spirit and the Spirit will lead us to walk in a certain way and
turn from our sin and seek God. But that comes through the preaching
of the Gospel. by nature we're dead and all
that we are and all that we receive of God of any spiritual blessing
is by grace because in reality even as believers except God
kindle our hearts we're dead, cold, lifeless, unbelieving,
full of sin We don't seek Him as we should. We don't walk as
we should. We don't pray as we should. We
never did, we never do, and we never will. except he gives us grace and
moves us to by his spirit and he does this when he preaches
the gospel unto us and leads us by faith to behold christ
crucified for us to behold the love of God seen in Jesus Christ,
who brought the righteousness of God unto his people, who manifested
that righteousness by laying down his life, who manifested
that righteousness through his faith. when He laid down His
life in the place of His people, bearing their sins, bearing the
wrath and judgment of God against them, being made sin that they
should be made the righteousness of God in Him. All comes through
the love of God in Jesus Christ and the grace of God. the mercy
of God. We are nothing without Christ
and we can do nothing without Christ. As we read recently in
John chapter 15, where Christ says, I am the vine, ye are the
branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. Without me ye can do nothing. O believer, never forget it. Accept you're in Christ and Christ
is in you. Without him you can do nothing. These come in the churches with
their mix of works and faith and law and gospel and their
subtle persuasion. as they brought in at Galatia
and elsewhere their subtle persuasion they trouble their hearers with
their words For as much as we have heard that certain which
went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your
souls. They trouble us with their words.
How did they manage to do this, to subvert the souls of their
hearers? How did they manage to bring
them to such a point where their very souls were subverted, where
they were undermining their hope of salvation? by troubling them
with words words which were subtle they were subtle they didn't
just come in and say something contrary to the gospel which
was obviously wrong that could be obviously rejected what they
said sounded right What these Pharisees who believed
said unto the Gentiles sounded right. Well these were Pharisees,
these were Jews, they had the oracles of God, the scriptures.
They'd worshipped this God for years. They knew of the promises
of Messiah coming. These people should know surely. so when they came to the gentiles
and taught them the gentiles being new to these things gave
them ear this is this great man this great
teacher come down to us from jerusalem they gave them ear
they were subtle they sounded right They had subtle, seemingly right-sounding
arguments. Yet the arguments were wrong.
They were clever with their words. They rested the Scriptures. They quoted from this passage
and from that passage. They read the law, they taught
the law, they read how God gave that law. And they spoke of it
as having been God's law. And they made it seem that what
they propositioned was not only plausible, but in fact was absolutely
right. They made it seem that what they
were teaching regarding the need to be circumcised and the need
for believers to keep the law of Moses, was not only plausible
but was what God himself was commanding. Surely believers
should not sin. Does not the law condemn sin
and tell you what to do and what not to do? They made it seem
that not only was their teaching to keep The Law of Moses. Plausible, but it's absolutely
what God would have believers do. Well God sent this law, it's
his words. It condemned sin. It exhorted
righteousness. How could it change? And should
not believers live this way? So they troubled their hearers
with the words. subverting their souls because many who heard
them thought that what they were saying was right sounds right
and when people preach similar things today so often it sounds
right they have clever arguments they quote the scriptures they
say well surely this and surely that oh you might be justified
by grace but what about your sanctification what about your
walk what about your life You don't believe that we should
break the Ten Commandments do you? Well keep the law then. Yes their believers were troubled.
They caused their hearers trouble with their words and they do
the same today. They cause trouble. It troubles
the souls of believers. It troubles many who can't argue
and can't see how they are wrong they know they're wrong the spirit
within them says that they're wrong but sometimes the arguments
are so subtle and deceptive it's hard to answer them they trouble
us and they subvert And one reason that they trouble us is because
to say anything contrary to them, to say that they're wrong and
we're not commanded in the gospel to keep the law, appears as though
you are saying the law is wrong. If you disagree with them, it
makes you appear wrong to say otherwise seems like you are
rejecting the law of God or rejecting God's word as recorded elsewhere
in the scriptures to say no we're delivered from the law we're
under grace can seem like you're advocating the New Testament
over the Old Testament, like you're taking the whole of the
Old Testament and throwing it aside, like you're taking the
law and throwing it aside and saying it doesn't exist and it's
wrong. And obviously this is all the
Word of God. God breathed the Old Testament
as well as the New Testament. But they tie their heroes up
in knots. They did then and they do the
same today. Because we know that what the
law says is true as Paul says in Romans. We know that what
it says is true. But that doesn't mean that we're
under it. And it doesn't mean that as believers we should be
attempting to keep it. It doesn't mean that it is needful
to circumcise believers and to command them to keep the law
of Moses. Yes, they trouble us with their
words. Because so much of what they
said should be, should be. But not the way that they advocate. How should a believer live? Should he steal? No. Should he lie? Of course not. Should he covet? Certainly not. Should he worship other gods?
Absolutely not! Well there we have it then. Be
circumcised and keep the law of Moses. But is that so? No. Because those words and that
subversion of our souls presupposes that the only way a man can live
in accord with what the law commands is by his attempts to keep the
law. That for a man to have no other
gods but the one true and living God, for a man not to covet,
for a man not to lie, for a man not to steal or commit adultery,
for a man to live in such a way that he isn't breaking the law,
That the only way that that man can do that is by being taught
to keep that law and have that law as a rule or a guide for
his living. It presupposes that to live,
to bring forth the righteousness that the law demanded requires
the preaching of the law. When the reality is in the gospel. The reality is, as the apostles
made known, that to fulfil the righteousness of the law, we
must turn from the law under Jesus Christ. For the law to
be fulfilled, Christ had to die. For us to be delivered from the
condemnation of the law, our sins must be judged and put away. for us to walk in a way that
brings fruit unto God, a way in which the righteousness of
God is manifested, a way in which we're caused to turn from sin
and to serve God, for us to love God. We must walk by the gospel,
by the grace of God, under the mercy of God, and not by the
law of Moses. The only way we ever keep the
Law is through Christ by His Gospel. As we read in various places. In Romans 3 and verse 31, Paul
says, do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid,
yea, we establish the law. The gospel doesn't make void
the law, it establishes it, it fulfills it, it says it's been
answered. Every demand of the law that
came upon believers has been answered by the blood of Christ.
It condemned them and the blood of Christ answered that condemnation,
the penalty has been paid, the law has no more to say. and through
bringing in salvation and bringing in the righteousness of God to
the account of that people, they before the law are perfect. So Paul says in Romans 8, there
is therefore now no condemnation 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 have made me free
from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do. in that it was weak through the
flesh God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh but after the spirit. Do you hear that believer? For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. Yes believer, you still sin. You still have the flesh and
you still sin. But God has condemned that sin. He's condemned sin in the flesh. He's condemned your sin that
you commit in the flesh and He's condemned it in His Son who came
in human flesh and died in human flesh in your place. He condemned
sin in the flesh. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. The gospel fulfills the righteousness
of the law through the death of Jesus Christ. And only the
gospel fulfills it. Earlier in Romans 7, Paul said
this, Wherefore my brethren, ye also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another,
even to him who is raised from the dead. that we should bring
forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
How clear can you be We're no longer married to the law. We're
dead to the law by the body of Christ. We're married to another.
We're married to Christ. In order that we should bring
forth fruit under God. We could never bring forth that
fruit. We could never bring forth that
righteousness. We could never do what the law
demanded when we were under the law. But for when we were in
the flesh under the law, the motions of sins which were by
the law, it fuelled them, did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from
the law. That being dead wherein we were held, that we should
serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
then how can any say unto believers who are dead to the law, delivered
from the law, married unto Christ, that they should be circumcised
and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved? We believe
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved. In Galatians, Paul says, for
I, through the law, am dead to the law. through the law i'm
dead to the law that i might live unto god what does he mean
well the law condemned him the law found him guilty the law
exposed all his sin and the law then moving on to exact its penalty
and punishment against him brought that penalty and punishment down
upon christ and through the law he's become dead to the law because
it slew him in Jesus Christ it commanded his death and he died
and he rose the other side of death the other side of the grave
in Jesus Christ he rose again outside of the reach of the law
for the law had its say it brought down its penalty and then he
arose having paid its price. For I through the law am dead
to the Lord that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ. It slew me. 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 live in the flesh now 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 in vain. But he's not dead in
vain, because righteousness doesn't come by the law, it never came
by the law, and it never will come by the law. It comes by
the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. However, there are those, we
have heard, that went out from us who trouble you with words
subverting your souls, saying ye must be circumcised and keep
the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. We never told them
to preach such a lie. We never told them to preach
such a mixture of law and grace. We never told them to trouble
you with their words or subvert your souls. We never gave them
license or authority to come unto you and preach that. They
were in the churches, they believed on Jesus Christ, they said they
believed this gospel, they said we must preach. And they went
out to preach the gospel but they then began to preach a lie
that never came from the apostles, never came from the disciples,
never came from Jesus Christ. For His message and His gospel
is always salvation by grace alone. When Paul had to deal with these,
after they had subverted the souls of those in Galatia and
troubled them with their words, he used the strongest possible
terms to describe them. In Galatians 1 he says, I marvel
that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the
grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another,
But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before so
say I now again if any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that ye have received let him be accursed. Let God curse them,
let God slay them. How dare they take you from the
love of Christ who gave himself for you, from the blood of Christ
which washes you from all sin, from the grace of God which delivered
you from condemnation and take you back unto law. Let them be
accursed. You see these other preachers
who say they're preaching a gospel but it's another gospel who are
mixing works and faith and law and gospel. For all their speaking of Jesus
Christ, for all their mention of his death, for all their claiming
his blood, The fact is that these preachers and those who receive
their message despise Christ and his gospel. They trample
the blood of Christ underfoot. In reality that's what they do
no matter what they say and what they claim and what they profess.
If they bring you back to works, if they bring you back to anything
that finds blessing from God because of something you've done,
your zeal, your belief, your prayer, your diligence, your
attendance to the meetings. If they bring you to glory in
something you've done, then they are trampling the blood of Christ
underfoot. Let them be accursed. What is
God's word to his preachers with regard to those who reject the
truth in this way? As we saw before in Mark and
chapter 6, he says to them, if you come to a people who will
not receive the truth of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
from start to finish, then shake off the dust from under your
feet as a testimony before them, because that is what they are,
dust. Indeed that is what we all are
before Almighty God. We're dust. We were made from
the dust and to dust we will return. We're but dust under
God's feet. And there's nothing that dust
can do to make itself anything more than but dust. There's nothing
that dust can do to bring down blessing from Almighty God. We're
at His mercy. We need His grace. We need His grace. And if we
are ever saved, if we are ever blessed of God, if we are ever
delivered from our sin, it will be entirely by grace, by mercy,
By the love of God, freely bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ. Entirely
by grace. Because any other message will
trouble us with its words, will subvert our souls, and will bring
down the curse of God upon us. If we're gods, were his because
Christ loved us and gave himself for us. We receive him by grace. We believe on him with God-given
faith. And we walk before him by faith,
which is continually set by the gospel to look upon Christ and
him crucified. Where is the power of God under
salvation? It's in the gospel, it's in the
cross, it's in the blood of Jesus Christ, it's in the faith of
Christ which manifested unto sinners the righteousness of
God in Jesus Christ. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. Amen.