I invite you to turn back again
to the passage that I read to you a little earlier in Galatians
chapter 2. We're going to be looking at
verses 16 through 21. When you find your place there,
just put a marker there and let me say a few things to you, and
then we'll come back to the text. There were in the early days,
of the church, what Bible commentators and historians refer to as Judaizing
Christians. They were Jewish men raised under
the law of God, raised in the tradition of the Jewish elders,
who professed faith in Christ but wanted to mix or carry over
with them a few things which they were brought up believing
and practicing under the law of God. They wanted to incorporate
the moral law, the Ten Commandments. They wanted to incorporate those
things into their faith. They wanted to incorporate into
the faith of God's elect the Sabbath day. And some of them, even some of
the dietary laws concerning the eating of pork and different
things. And knowing what I've seen. over the past 40 some years,
it wouldn't surprise me that the list was a little larger
than that. This is what sometimes I refer
to when I'm talking to you as religious luggage. And what this is, is the same
old story of works and grace. Law and gospel. free will and
sovereign grace. And these things have been around
since the beginning of time. This is not something that started
a few thousand years ago and has gotten worse in this present
time. These are things that have been
around since the promise of Christ was given to Adam in the garden.
In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4, this is what Some call the
roll call of faith. And you go back to Hebrews 11,
he'll tell you what faith is. He gives you a definition of
it. And then he starts down this roll call of faith, giving you
examples of this faith and how it operates. The first illustration of faith
in Hebrews chapter 11 is that of Abel, Adam's son. It says, by faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness, that is, the witness of God, that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts. And by it, he being dead, yet
speaketh. It continues to say the same
thing now that it said then, same principle. Cain, his brother, wanted to
incorporate his works, the fruit of his labor. And he wanted to
mix these things with the substitutionary sacrifice of the lamb. He wanted
to bring them to the same altar. He wanted to offer them to the
same God. He wanted to offer them for the same reason. Abel
had a lamb. He didn't see any reason to bring
a lamb. He'll bring his fruits. He just wanted to mix these things.
He wanted to incorporate these things into the worship of God. And Cain was so filled with jealousy
and pride and anger because God rejected his gifts that he slayed his brother. He
left the family of God. He separated himself from his
own mother and father, angry, angry. And he, receiving the
mark of reprobation from God, went off to a distant place to
practice his ungodly religion. And after going there, after
he settled there and was received there and people saw what he
was doing and liked what he was doing and felt sorry for him,
They named that country, because he went there and lived there,
they called that country the Land of Nod. And you check me
out, you look in your concordances, most of you have one, go home
and look in it and see what it says. That the Land of Nod, what
does that mean? It means place of wandering vagabonds. That's what it means. This place
was identified with this man the way free will religion is
identified with Arminius. Arminius lived clear back in
the 16th century. They still yet today call free
will religion Arminianism. Judaizing Christians saw no wrongdoing
in incorporating a few harmless ceremonies into their religion. They didn't see any danger in
it. Circumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin of the male
believer was according to the law of God, something they done
to young Jewish babies when they were eight days old. Christ being
born under the law and subject to the law, he was circumcised
on the eighth day. Paul was. And it was also done to Gentile
servants as they become a part of the Jewish household. They
were to be circumcised. And so one might think this is
just a harmless gesture, kind of like dedicating children.
We do that today. Some churches practice that.
They dedicate children. They baptize children. They catechize
children. It's the same thing. Same thing. Or it might have been a holy
day that they wanted to bring over. What's wrong with having
a feast to establish or commemorate deliverance? Or a feast to give
thanks to God for the harvest, the way we do at Thanksgiving.
What's wrong with that? What's wrong with incorporating
these things into the Christian religion? What's wrong with having
a certain day set aside to honor God and rest from our labors?
What harm could possibly come from allowing these things to
be a part of our hope and worship? Just this, they totally deny,
they deny the fulfilling of the ceremonial law by Christ. He said not one jot, not one
tittle shall pass from this law until how much of it is fulfilled?
All of it. Not one jot, not one tittle shall
pass from this law until it's all fulfilled. They deny the fulfilling of the
ceremonial law by Christ. They deny His full sufficiency
as our Savior and Redeemer. I don't need circumcision. I
don't need those things. Those things are fulfilled. I
have the fulfillment of them. This would be, let me give you
a figure, something to illustrate this with. In the Old Testament, God gave
us pictures. So let's suppose that I'm here. And somebody's announcing the
coming of a great king. And I'm living here. And he sends,
before he gets here, he sends you a picture. And everybody
gets a picture of it. They get to look at it. Here's
the king. Here's what's coming. And then
one day the king comes. And here he is, everybody's gathered
together and the king comes and he gets off the ship or gets
off the airplane or however you want to vision this king. And
this king sits down on his throne. And beside him to commemorate
him is a picture. And everybody there runs up and
hugs the picture and takes the picture home and leaves the king
sitting on the throne. You get what I'm saying? That's
what's wrong with these things, being incorporated into your
religion. You're grabbing the picture, and you're walking away
from the king. You're walking away from the
king. Paul said this. He said, tell
me ye that desire to be under the law. Do you hear the law?
You that want to bring things out of it like it was a treasure
chest, do you hear what the law says? Well, I just want to bring in
the Ten Commandments. I don't want to bring in all
the dietary laws. I don't want to bring in all this. I just
want to bring this. We just want circumcision. We
just want a Sabbath day. We just want this. We just want
that. Paul said, do you hear the law? Listen to this. As many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse. Not where you want
to be. They're under the curse. For
it's written, cursed is everyone who continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do. Do you hear
the law? The law is spiritual, Paul said.
We know that. It demands right motives, right
affections. It demands the whole heart. But
we're carnal, soul under sin. Do you hear the law? He says
to the Galatian church, I, Paul, say unto you, now listen, if
you be circumcised, if you submit yourself, he's talking to these
Gentiles who are being swayed by these Judaizers. He said,
if you be circumcised, you submit yourself to circumcision, now
listen, Christ shall profit you nothing. And I testify again to every
man that is circumcised. Now listen, he's a debtor to
do the whole law. God never gave a piece of the
law to anybody. He gave the whole law. The whole law. And he said, you
keep it, I'll bless you. That's the covenant of work.
Keep the law, every jot and tittle. Keep it in perfection. Keep that
law. I'll bless you. I'll bless you.
But cursed is everyone who continueth not in all things written in
the book of the law to do. Well, preacher, I just believe
God just wants us to do the best we can. That ain't what he said. Why do you think that? Why would
that thought even come into a man's head that God would accept the
best he could do? Because some idiot preacher told
him that, that's why. Some deceived man told him that
and he believed him. He believed him. Paul opened this letter to the
Galatians with this ultimatum. He said, if any man, I don't
care if he's an angel from heaven, I don't care if it's me, myself,
come and I'm out of my mind, but if anybody comes to you and
preaches any other gospel unto you other than that which I preached
unto you, let him be accursed. He preached salvation by the
free and sovereign grace of God, period. He preached Christ alone,
the scriptures alone, and grace alone. And if Satan should ever
draw a bead on this church and shed it in his heart to destroy
this church, this is how he's going to do it. This is how he's
going to do it. Somebody's going to come through
them doors one day, and they're going to sit down here. And they're
going to listen. And they're going to say, amen.
Amen. That's right. That's right. Next
week they're going to come and they're going to say, Amen. That's
right. Oh, preacher, I love what you're
saying. Love what you're saying. And he's going to come, and he's
going to come, and he's going to come. And after a while, you're
going to say, he's one of us. He's one of us. And when you
drop your guard, here's what he's going to do. He's going
to come to you and whisper in your ear about circumcision. He's going to come and whisper
in your ear, let's just, I don't believe that we're saved, but
let's just have this. Let's just have that. Let's just
have that. He'll destroy a church. He'll
cut that church in half. He'll divide that congregation.
He'll lead men with a false hope. Paul said to the Ephesian elders
in Acts chapter 20, you can read it for yourself. He said, after
my parting, Shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock? Now listen to this. Also of your
own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away
disciples after them. Acts 20, 29, and 30. There can never be any compromise
of works and grace, of law and gospel, free will and sovereign
grace. There is no common ground. There's
no meeting place. And so the Jewish believers,
and Peter, and even Paul's fellow laborer, Barnabas, was drawn
to separate themselves from the rest of the people there in that
church. They were sitting over with them, eating pork chop five
minutes before these men come in. And these big, wealthy, dominating,
well-known people from Jerusalem, from the big church up there,
they came down. And when they come through the
door, they all went over to the side. and sat down to eat. And Peter got to looking around
and, ooh, I got to go back to that church. I'll just ease over
here with them. I won't say nothing. I won't
cause a big fuss. I'll just go over there with
them. And when Peter went over there, every Jew in the place
went over there. And whenever every Jew in the
place went over, Barnabas went over. That's how it happens. That's
how it happens. And so the apostle Paul begins
to rebuke all who would be a party to these things. Now, I've got
five things I want you to see in these verses that I believe
will help you to understand the danger of the mixing of works
and grace. Now, here's where it begins.
First thing Paul's rebuke. He begins his rebuke with a clear
declaration of how God saves sinners. I tell you, if a man
will just keep telling himself, this is how God saves sinners,
and a man comes along and he wants to do this, wants to do
that, no, it won't fit. Like trying to put a square peg
in a round hole, it won't fit. this thing of a clear declaration.
Brethren, I want you to hear me. I don't expect everybody
to walk through that door to believe what I'm saying. But I want you to walk out that
door understanding exactly what I'm saying, whether you believe
it or not. I don't want to preach here for
20 years and die. And then somebody said, well,
what do you ever preach anyway? I don't know. I don't know. I want you to understand what
I preach. I preach pure, free, sovereign grace. Galatians 2, verse 16, here is
a clear declaration of how God saves sinners. Knowing that a
man is not justified, he is not cleared of all guilt and charges. He's not justified by the works
of the law, not by his obedience to it, not by his honoring of
it, not by his good intentions concerning the law. He's not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ. Now, he said, I'm going to tell
you what I mean by that. Listen. 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. It's absolutely, I want you to
understand what I'm saying, it is absolutely, you young people,
you listen to me, it's absolutely impossible for you to keep even
one statute out of the law of God. It's an impossibility. What's the very first commandment
in the law? Love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. You can't do it. And I tell you
this, if you could, you wouldn't have any problem with the rest
of it. If you could keep that one statute in your heart, as
Christ did, he loved God his Father with all his heart, soul,
mind, and strength. And because he did, he fulfilled
that law perfectly. If you could keep that one, our
Lord went so far as to say this. He said, the whole law hinges
on this one. It hangs on this one. And he said, the second one's
like unto it. Love your neighbor as yourself. You don't do it. No, you don't. Neighbor's dog
comes over on your property, you shoot him right between the
eyes. You don't. Love your neighbor as you do yourself. You go there
first, be sure his kids is eating good, and then feed yours. You
don't love your neighbor, and you don't love God, not with
all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's an impossibility
for you to keep even one law as God requires it to be kept. Perfectly, continually, spiritually, If you love God, now hear me,
you'd worship Him as He is. When a man stood up and told
you, God is absolutely sovereign, oh, you'd say, that's my God.
That's my God. You'd rejoice. You'd worship
Him. God is just, perfectly, unchangeably
Just. Oh, that's my God. That's my
God. Can you worship a just God? People tell me I love God. Don't
tell me I don't love God. I love God. Why do you hate Him
as He is? That's what our Lord told us.
They said, we have one Father, even God. He said, if God was
your Father, you'd love me. Do you imagine that God's not
sovereign? Do you imagine that God's not
all-knowing, that God's not unchangeable? You can't keep the law. The law's
spiritual, and we're carnal, sold unto sin. I don't care what your family
history is, religious or heathen, Jew or
Gentile. Paul's already proven that both
Jew and Gentile, they're all under sin. They bear the cursed
nature of our father Adam and are utterly helpless to keep
even the least of the commandments of God's holy law. And if I hope
to be justified before God, it must come from something or someone
other than myself. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. That verse alone ought to keep
me from thinking that I somehow might justify myself before God
or win God's favor. We know if we are believers that
a man's not justified by the works of the law, how then is
he justified? Job wanted to know that. What is man that he should be
clean? And he which is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man that drinketh iniquity like water? But if you listen, Paul tells
you how. By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. That's it. He said, 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. And this is the only way that
a helpless sinner can ever hope to be accepted in the blood. That's it. That's it. Ephesians 1, verse 6, it says,
to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made
us acceptable in the beloved. Now that's it. That's the only
way. That's the only way. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. Do you believe that? Do you believe what the Word
of God has testified on this thing? Do you believe that God
Almighty in sovereign grace chose you in Christ and by way of covenant
union made you an heir of his grace, predestinated you unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will? And that He sent His Son as your
representative to live under His law and exalt His law, and
by way of His obedience to clothe you with a justifying righteousness,
and put away your sins by the sacrifice of Himself. If you
can believe in Him as God has set Him forth, you're right now
justified before God. Justified. Based entirely, are you listening? Entirely on his person and his
work. Had nothing to do with you or
yours. I preach what Paul and all the
apostles preached, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sin, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things. Now listen. from which you cannot
be justified by the law of Moses. Now, if somebody comes to you
and they start trying to tell you something else, Paul said,
let him be accursed. You just figure this man is cursed
of God. He's cursed of God. Don't give
him the time of day. All right, here's the second
thing. Paul makes a clear declaration
here. No excuse. No excuse. Anybody who read that
verse ought to understand what it means. All right, here's the
second thing. A question foreseen an answer.
Galatians chapter 2, verse 17. But if while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore
Christ the minister of sin? What does he mean are found sinners? That mean if he finds us in the
bar or finds us in a brothel? What you talking about? Found. If a man's found a sinner. He means those accused by the
enemies of Christ of being sinners because we've left the law and
we're looking to Christ alone for the salvation of our souls.
And we're seated with them. We've separated from religion.
We've separated from the law of Moses. We've separated from
the ceremonies. We've separated from all those
things that this world loves and approves. We've separated
from those things. And now in common dress, not
a big preacher's robe, but in common dress, we stand with those
who are sinners. They're Gentiles, that's what
the word means, heathen. They're heathens. Sometimes it
says in the scriptures, it uses both terms, sinners of the Gentiles. Publicans, he don't even use
the word Gentile, he said publicans and sinners, talking about the
Gentiles. Paul was accused more than any
other of the preaching of a gospel that says, let a man sin that
grace may abound, or let us do evil that good may come. And what he's saying here is
that we're reckoned sinners by you Judaizing Christians because
we look to Christ alone for our righteousness and therefore are
left without law to sin as we please. He said, that's what
you're talking about. And Paul only has one thing to
say about such accusations. He says it in the last part of
verse 17. God forbid. God forbid. All right. Here's the third thing.
How does the believer think or act toward the law? You can't
deny the law. The law is here. It's been around
for 6,000 years. How do I interact with that law? How do I consider that law? How
do I think about that law? How in the Christian faith does
a man consider his relationship to the law? Galatians 2, verse 19. For I, through the law, am dead. to the law that I might live
under God. Now, first of all, let me say
this about that word law. There's all kind of word variations
in the scriptures describing different terms and describing
this word law. The word used here is nomus,
nomus. in a prescriptive sense, the
way a physician would prescribe a medicine to a patient. It's
used in a prescriptive sense. It also carries the meaning of
a regulation as a principle. And sometimes it's even used
as the gospel itself. In Romans 8, verse 2, he said,
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And what he's
talking about there is that ruling, regulating principle, that prescription
that God's given in Christ. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. Now here's what this verse is
saying. I, through the law, that is the prescription, the remedy,
the regulating principle of Christ, am dead to the law as a prescription,
as a regulation, as a remedy. I'm dead to this remedy, which
has left me with no hope, which has become a curse to me, which
has revealed nothing in me but sin and guilt. I'm dead to this
law. How am I dead to this law? I'm
dead by virtue of my union with Christ. This law, He lived under
this law and He came to the cross and He stood there as my representative,
bearing my sin and His own body on the tree. Here He is. The law, everything that the
law condemned me for everything that the law judged me for. This
is the sense in which Christ was made sin. He's on this cross
before God, standing there as me. And this law judged him,
condemned him, and sentenced him to death, and put him to
death. Put him to death. Now, a criminal goes before the
judge. The judge gives him the death
sentence. And this man, he's spent a long time in prison going
through all these trials and everything. He's not allowed
to do anything. He's got a ball and chain on him everywhere he
goes, guards on either side of it. And now he goes out and he
gets in an electric chair and they strap him in. They hit him
with the juice and he shivers around there for a minute and
dies. They don't bury him in the prison.
He's free. They can bury him wherever they
want to. His relatives can come and get him, take him right through
the gate. No guards, no chains, no balls, no nothing. He's free.
He's dead. He's dead to the law. The law
did everything to him it could possibly do. Now, in the life
of Christ, He did everything that the law required. He did
it. He did it in perfection. He did
it continuously. He did it in his heart, soul,
mind, and strength. He did it. He accomplished it.
Actually, it says he exalted the law and made it honorable.
And he further, in absolute perfection, satisfied the law, satisfied
its demands. Hey, that's what redemption is. We were bought with a price. And that law's honored, and I'm
dead. I'm dead. It can't do anything to me, Russell.
I died. I died. We died when he died. We buried
with him, and we rose with him, and we're seated with him in
glory. And when Christ died, being one with his people, by
eternal covenant union, our sins were put away, past sins, present
sins, and future sins. Actually, all your sins were
future when Christ died. It makes me sick. I hear some silly preacher talking
about, well, he forgave your past sins. They were all past
when he died. My soul, what kind of God do
you worship? Listen to this. Who should lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? In heaven, earth, and
hell, who's going to lay a charge to Him? Would you? Who's going to lay a charge to Him?
God justified Him. Further than that, who is He
that condemned? Christ died. Yea, rather, He rose. He's even
at the right hand of God, and he makes intercession for me.
There's only one sense in which a believer can look to the law
and think about the law and have any peace concerning the law,
and that is how it's been honored and exalted in Christ. All right? Fourthly, to what end is the
believer's death? Well, he says in Galatians 2,
19, I through the law am dead to the law. Now listen, that
I might live unto God. How do believing sinners who
are dead to the law, they have no law. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness. Everyone will believe it, no
exceptions. How do believing sinners who are dead to the law
live unto God? Well, Paul said in Galatians
2, verse 20, he said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I
live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Now watch this. And the
life I now live in the flesh. That's what we're talking about,
isn't it? Man who's dead to the law, believing
sinner. How does he live? 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. How do believing sinners
who are crucified with Christ live out their days on this earth?
They live unto God. They live as believing sinners,
finding all they need and all they desire and all they could
ever want in Christ their Savior and Lord. We live unto God as
sinners saved by grace, helpless, hopeless, depraved sinners whose
only hope is the grace of God. How do believing sinners live
under God? They live as pardoned sinners
set free by a merciful God. We live as justified sinners
looking to Christ alone for righteousness and acceptance. We live as chosen
sinners set apart by sovereign purpose and the grace of God
in Christ Jesus. We live as serving sinners, grateful
and loving bond slaves to Christ. We live as grateful sinners Sinners
owing everything to Him that loved us and gave Hisself for
us. How do believing sinners live
under God? We live as blessed sinners, being
blessed of God and predestinated to the adoption of children. Oh, the life I now live in the
flesh, I live by faith in Christ. And then lastly, here's the conclusion
of the matter. Galatians 2, verse 21, I do not
frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by
the law, in part or in the whole, if righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead and vain. Is that the conclusion you have? The conclusion of the matter
is just this, if I believe in or walk in such a way that compromises,
denies, or misrepresents the sovereign grace of God and the
salvation of sinners, I frustrate the grace of God. And I make
an utter mockery out of the death of Christ. I want to repeat this verse I
read a little earlier, and I'll close. He said, behold, I, Paul,
say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing,
and you will be a debtor to do the whole law. What part of the law do you want
to put in a suitcase and bring with you? Huh? I want any part
of it. I want any part of it. And quite
frankly, I'll give you an illustration. I've given this to you often
of these great paintings there up in Washington, D.C. And this
big old fellow looks like Mr. Clean standing over there by
the wall with his arms crossed. He's about 280 and ain't an ounce
of fat on him anywhere. It looks like he could just tie
you up like a pretzel. There's benches there and you
can sit and look at these big masterpieces there on the wall.
And my wife said, why is he over there? And I said, just in case
somebody gets one of them little spray cans like you see on the
train and they're going to go touch it up, that's what he's
for. Christ has taken this law and
showed it as the masterpiece of God. It's completed. It's fulfilled. It's honored. It's exalted as high as it can
be exalted. The very son of God exalted this
law. And God ain't going to let you
take your little magic marker and come and touch it up. That's
what Paul's saying here. You've just, you've made a total
mockery out of the person and work of Christ if you do that.
That's just how important this stuff is.