This verse that we just read
in your hearing consists of two parts. A personal claim of the
Apostle Paul. And secondly, his reason for
the claim. The claim is, I do not frustrate
the grace of God. And his reason is, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead or has died in vain. We're going to talk about the grace
of God. Grace, as men understand it,
is a very popular word and subject in the religious world. We hear
it a lot. You hear it a lot. I hear it
a lot. But grace, I want to say, as the New Testament teaches
it, is a very strange subject, unfamiliar, and on top of that,
a despised subject by the religious world. The secular world does not hate
the real truth of God's grace so much as the religious world
hates it. I would hate for us to despise
God's grace when we pretend we love it. You say, what do you mean by
that statement? Well, God's grace is his giving the best to those
who deserve the worst. Do we operate like that? No. If I have something and I think
you deserve it, I'll give it to you. If I don't think you deserve
it, I'll say I'm not giving him that. It's mine. I'm not giving her that. They
don't deserve it. Well, to say the least, God is
not like us. Grace. is God's giving His best
to those who deserve His worst. Now do we like grace or don't
we? John Newton, and probably the
most famous hymn ever, defined grace as a miracle from
God. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. He never said I once was lost,
but I found my way out of the woods. No. And he never said I once was
blind, but I just kept on straining until I got to where I could
see. No, I once was lost and was found. I once was blind and
was made to see. It's a miracle of God. Then he defined salvation, start
to finish, as God's work. T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear. From the very beginning, when
I had no fear of God in my heart, and I desired it not, I sought
it not, grace started in me when I wasn't
even interested in starting, and put a fear in my heart It
was grace that taught my heart to fear. Then what? I took it from there?
No, no. I'd have lived in that fear.
I'd have died in that fear. I'd have been damned forever,
which is what I feared had not grace continued. Had not God
purposed to do more than teach my heart to fear. In the beginning, it was grace
that taught my heart to fear. But it continued on. And grace,
my fears relieved. Newton credited grace with every
aspect of salvation. And every journey, every step
of the journey, he credited to grace. that brought me safe thus far,
that got me this far, and grace will lead me home. He declares
that throughout eternity, grace will be the song. Praise will
belong only to God. I know a whole lot of humanistic,
materialistic religionists that's all about who's going to be able
to outdo who in heaven. Who's going to have the most
stars in the crown and who's going to have the biggest mansion
and all this kind of goulash garbage? No, praise be to Him. All worthy is the Lamb forever
and forever. And Newton declared that in this
verse when we've been there 10,000 years. Some years ago, some churches
tried to change that and they'd sing forevermore. When we've
been there, forevermore. And they thought that sounded
nicer and better and more than 10,000, I reckon. But they didn't
know anything about the scriptures. In the scriptures, as we've taught
you here before, from the book of Revelation and from other
places, the word thousand and 10,000 are symbolic numbers. They speak of entirety. They
speak of all there is, an infinity. So when Newton says, when we've
been there 10,000 years, it's just as well as saying 10 million
or 10 billion. We've no less days to sing God's
praise. He's to be praised forever for
his marvelous and his matchless, amazing grace. Now, probably
the most familiar definition of grace That we hear is this
God's unmerited favor. How many of you heard that? Huh? Well, not enough. God's unmerited
favor that we do not deserve God's favor. Well, certainly
that's true. One man said that's grace in
a nutshell. God's unmerited favor. Well, that's not quite all there
is to it. It's bigger than that. And this is a missing link. In many areas in today's religious
world. Not only are we undeserving.
We are ill deserving. It's not that We just didn't
deserve God's favor. We did deserve his wrath. And in ourselves still to this
moment deserve his wrath. People say, God didn't know us
anything. Oh yes, he did. The wages of sin is death. And
every one of us deserves those wages. God owed it to us. Somebody says, well, I just want
what's mine. No, you don't. No, you don't. The judgment of almighty God
rightly belongs to you. Now to see the difference in
this undeserving and ill-deserving, if someone hired you to do a
job for certain wages and you did the job well, you'd expect
those wages. You deserve it. If you did the job halfway, carelessly,
and didn't complete it, you don't really deserve the wages. But your employer might pay you
anyway. That's undeserved favor. But suppose you not only don't
do the job, but you actually did a lot of
damage. You tore up the equipment. Destroyed goods, you cost the
man a lot of money. Not only are you undeserving,
you are ill-deserving. Not only does your employer not
owe you, you owe him. But suppose he pays you anyway. That's grace. for the undeserving, but for
the ill-deserving. When it comes to God's saving
grace, understand it's not that he's willing to show us favor
without the job being well done. It is well done. He looks at
the perfect work and merits of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he credits who he is and
what he's done to our account. That's the grace of God. Well,
what did Christ do that exhausted God's wrath against his people? Chapter one, verse four, Paul
tells us who gave himself for our sins. That's the biggie.
who gave Himself for our sins. Newton called it amazing grace. As John Newton understood God's
Word, he was saying, not only does God not owe us anything
good, He owes us bad. God would be right to put me
in hell. But oh, such mercy, such favor,
Such grace on God's part is amazing. Amazing. And he calls it amazing
grace. What does Paul mean by this claim? I do not frustrate the grace
of God. Well, this is the only occurrence
of this word in the New Testament. Frustrate. You and I use the
word to refer to our being upset, agitated, aggravated, but it's
not quite the same as Paul uses it here. It is a, I would say,
war word, fighting word, fighting against the grace of God. That's
what he's talking about. God's grace, God's grace in spite
of us. In spite of that in us that would
frustrate, fight against the grace of God. In spite of that
in us that would credit ourselves with what God's done. In spite
of that in us that would say our way is better than God's
way. God's grace is his determination
that despite our folly, He will make of us all He means
us to be. God's grace is not a possible
outcome. It is a powerful, positive principle
of the outcome. Things will be exactly as God
purposes them to be. Paul says, I do not frustrate
the grace of God. What does that mean? It means
numerous things. I do not try to cancel grace
by steaming my works. I don't ignore God and rule God
out by trying to magnify what I do. It means I do not set aside or
disesteem the grace of God. I do not reject, despise, and
declare invalid the grace of God apart from my contribution. I do not cast off, violate, or
annul the grace of God. I do not make void or nullify
The grace of God, Paul said, I just don't do it. I won't do
it. This term frustrate as it's used
here. It has strong legal overtones. It's normally used in connection
with a treaty or a covenant. And so Paul is saying, I do not
break the treaty. I do not violate the covenant
of grace. I will not deny it by trying
to neutralize it and put it on the same level or same footing
as my works. I will not frustrate it by claiming its worth to be nothing
apart from what I do to it and with it. I do not frustrate. The grace of God. I do not violate grace. By requiring works to make grace
void. I do not make light of grace. While
trusting in my works. I do not belittle grace as if
it weren't really a necessity. After all, I'm somebody. I've got my reputation. I've
got my good works. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners. I've got nothing of my own where
into glory. All of grace is my story. He says, if there's any other
way, That's what he says in our text verse. If there's any other
way, Christ didn't need to die. Christ has died in vain if there's
any other way. But there is no other way. He
did die. That grace might be administered
to us through him. Now, why does Paul make this
claim at this specific time? I do not frustrate the grace
of God at this specific place in the scripture. Well, he is
writing to believers in the churches in the region of Galatia, and
there is a poisonous, awful heresy penetrating the churches of Galatia.
Certain Judaizers, Paul called them. coming along behind the
prop, the apostles who had preached Christ, who had preached grace. These Judaizers come along, they
couldn't deny the preaching of Christ and the apostle and the
effect that it had, but they insisted on these people just
believing on Christ is not enough. You've got to keep the law too.
You've got to be circumcised. You can't just, you can't just
forsake the tradition of the Jews. In chapter one, verse seven,
Paul used the word pervert. He said they pervert the gospel
of Christ. They labored to convince people
that Christianity was only an extension of Judaism. They said, you don't, you don't
forsake the old religion you've always known. This, this Jesus
business is just a new add on. You still got to keep the law.
You still got to stay with all those, all that doing. They claim
to be teaching the same thing the apostles taught, trying to
convince the people that they never really understood the apostles,
but they did understand the apostles. And these perverters of the gospel,
they were not teaching what the apostles taught. Paul said, by
the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified before God. And he taught us as we looked
at just a week or two ago, Romans 1 16, that the gospel of Christ
alone is the power of God unto salvation. And so today I would
say there is need. There's great need. to major
on the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Salvation is by grace alone. You say, well, we all know that.
Yeah, we all know that. But there is such a mindset in
our day. There is so much false teaching
in our day. There is such a mindset that
holds on to this Old Testament law. what I do, what I am, what
I must do, what I must accomplish for God to be pleased with me.
No, God's pleased with you in Christ or you'll go to hell.
End of story. God is pleased with you in Christ
or you go to hell. You'll not change his mind. You've
never done anything God could stomach to look at. Ephesians 1, 6, we're accepted
in the blood in Christ and in Him only are we accepted. So
here at this church, we do not press Old Testament laws like
circumcision or dietary laws or tithing. or Sabbath day observance, we believe the gospel. We trust
Christ and we live to honor Him. If God changes your heart, everything
else will fall into place. I don't have to beat you over
the head every Sunday with a bunch of Old Testament law. No, God's
children are under grace. And grace changes the heart. Grace don't just put your name
on the roll. Grace don't just, the church
role that is. And grace don't just give you
a reputation among people. Oh no, grace changes the heart.
So you understand I'm not talking about unbelieving, unconverted,
religious shysters and church tramps this morning. That's not
what I'm talking about. Trying to buy their way in by impressing
God. No, you're not impressing God. Nobody is. I'm talking about
God's children and God's grace. I hear this from the legalistic
so-called old fashioned Bible-believing crowd constantly. Well, I believe
God's people ought to live right. They do. I believe God's people ought to
love one another. They do. I believe God's people ought to
give. They do. I believe God's people ought
to do right, talk right, come to church. They do. It's not my business trying to cram into any one of
you legalities that you don't have
a heart for. Don't work. All I can tell you is that this
amazing grace of God is big enough for a character like you. I don't
know where you've been and don't want to know. I don't know how
low down you are and don't want to know. I don't know how filthy
and ungodly your mind and heart and thoughts are and have been. I don't want to know. I'm just
telling you this amazing Grace of God is big enough for you. Now, if I really knew you like
God knows you, I might not say that. If I knew every action
and every thought and every motive of your foolish heart, I might
say there's no way Almighty God would do anything for a wretch
and a rascal like that. I'm sure Newton was told that.
I'm sure he felt that, as did I, and as do all of God's
elect. Feel it. Feel it. God surely
got to hate me. But when God in grace changed
this man, he never wrote, I wasn't as bad off as I thought I was.
No, he never wrote that. He wrote that this grace is so
amazing. What did it do? It saved. Say what? It saved. A wretch like me. Somebody said one time about
this, John Newton might have been a wretch, but I never was.
They were a wretch right then and didn't know it. In this chapter, Galatians 2, Paul rebuked Peter, two of the
greatest men in the New Testament. Paul and Peter, but Peter was guilty of having
frustrated the grace of God somewhat. And Paul says in verse 11 of
this chapter two, I withstood him to the face. I called him
out on it. Well, what did Peter done? Paul says to him in verse 12,
he said, I noticed that before certain Jewish delegates came
from Jerusalem to Antioch, Peter, you were rejoicing in grace. You ate with Gentiles unashamedly
and with no guilt feeling. You esteemed the grace of God
sufficient for them as well as us. But when these delegates came,
you withdrew from Gentile brethren and you separated yourself from
them to go back under that old stuff. As in, as in, as in we're
a little better than they. God has something for us, but
not them. And Paul says you did that fearing
them. which were of the circumcision.
You knew they wouldn't approve of you sitting and eating and
fellowshipping with Gentiles. You were willing, Peter, to set
aside, to deny what grace had done just in order to maintain
approval with some of the brethren. Paul
even went on and nailed Barnabas while he was at it. Verse 13.
and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that
Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimilation. Paul lays it on them for several
verses. But when I saw that they walked
not up rightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, if thou being a Jew livest after the
manner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews, Why compelest thou
the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature
and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. Grace is my story. I am what
I am by the grace of God. Paul never said it's because
I did this or did that or the other. It's because I, or he
didn't say it's not because he didn't say it's because I didn't
do this or that or the other. By the grace of God and grace
alone, I am what I am. Paul is really saying here in
preaching a return to law-giving as a means of justifying people
before God, it's a smack in the face of Christ and his sacrificial death on
the cross. It's to say what he did is inadequate. It's not enough. He may as well not have died.
He died in vain, if there's any other way. If righteousness,
acceptance with God, come by the law, then Christ is dead
in vain. He died for nothing. But the truth is he never died
for nothing. First Peter 3.18, he died the just for the unjust. The just one, Jesus Christ for
his unjust elect people. Why? That he might bring us to
God. He died, not that he might possibly
bring us to God. To be possibly accepted of God. But he died that he might certainly
bring us to God, to be certainly accepted of God. That's what
he said in Ephesians 1.6, wherein he, God, hath made us believers
accepted in the beloved. One man said, now you can't preach
this free grace too much. or people won't live right. Goats are not going to live like
sheep, no matter what you preach. But grace, magnifying grace, making much
of grace, understanding God's grace, preaching God's free grace
will encourage sheep. to live like sheep. We sometimes sing the old song.
My faith has found a resting place, not in device nor creed. Not in device. There are many devices in a man's
heart, Solomon said. I trust the ever living one. His wounds for me shall plead. If you're trusting anything,
and I do mean anything this morning other than The sacrificial work
of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Then you're on the wrong
road. If you have the idea this morning,
well, I hadn't been to church for a while. I really ought to
go. Try to get God to wipe that frown off his face. No, he frowns
on you this morning. It's forever. It's forever. Because he smiles on those in
his son. In his son. I need no other argument. Don't have to go anywhere else.
I need no other plea. I don't have to add anything to
what he's done. The songwriter said it is enough
that Jesus died. Is it enough? Yes, it's enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. This, this one thing
you must do this morning. You can't do two things or three. Don't want to confuse you. Just
this one thing. This one thing only you must
do. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, I do. Well, that
includes not believing in yourself. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And thou shalt be saved. Junk your religious ideology.
Put no stock in it. Get your mind off this craziness
about what good you do that others don't. and what bad you don't
do that others do. Oh, I'm such a much better person
than some I know. No, you're not. You're not. Junk your religion. Put no stock
in it. Rest in the free grace of God
manifested in the giving of His Son to die for sinners like you. Do not frustrate. the grace of
God. And in so doing, Paul said, you
declare Christ to have died in vain. Don't do it. All of grace is my story all
the way from earth to glory. Bless his holy name. Let's stand
together.