Would you turn with me, if you
would, to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2, and I want
to read only one verse to you, verse 20. Galatians chapter 2
and verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by faith, by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. I now live by faith,
the apostle said. This is an amazing statement. I live by faith. And it's amazing when we consider
especially what he doesn't say. He didn't say I am justified
by faith in Christ. Is that so? Absolutely. He believed
that. He preached that. That great
message in Acts 13, he preached that very clearly. All who believe
in Him are justified from all things by which you cannot be
justified by the law of Moses. But that's not what he said here.
He didn't say we're saved. I am saved by faith in Christ. That was true too. What he told
the Philippian jailer when he said, what must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. But he's
saying something altogether different here, isn't he? He's not saying
I'm just saved by faith. I'm justified by faith in Christ. But he's saying here, I live
by faith. I live my daily life in this
flesh. When I get up in the morning
and eat my breakfast, I'm living by faith. When I go out and make
tents during the day, or I preach the gospel, or they put me in
jail, I live my daily life by this rule. Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful statement, isn't it?
This great man, the greatest of the apostles, and this is
the way that he lived his life. He says here, I live by faith
of the Son of God. And I guess what he means there,
it's his faith. It's his faith. Paul was like
the rest of us. He wasn't born believing. We're
born without saving faith, and we live without saving faith
until it comes to us as a gift. And who gives it but the author
of it and the finisher of it? I often think about old Scott
Richardson. I don't know how many of you knew that old man,
but I often think when I'm preaching, statements come back that he's
made to me through the past. He and I and Donnie Bell were
sitting in Donnie Bell's living room one time, and if you've
got Scott preaching, you just sit still and let him preach
to you. And oh, he was on faith, faith. And he was standing there
in front of us preaching to us, and he started into the kitchen
to pour him another cup of coffee. And he got almost out of the
living room, and he turned and said, I'll tell you this. I'll
tell you this about faith. If you have it now, you knew
there was a time you didn't have it. And you know where you got
it. That's what Paul said. I wasn't
born with this faith. I have this faith of Christ. It's his faith. And I live by
the faith which he gave me. I live by faith in the Son of
God. He could have said that because
that's true too. I live my life every day by looking outside
of myself to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I trust Him. I put all my confidence in Him. I'm reliant upon Him. I have
no confidence in myself. I have no confidence in what
I'm doing. He supplies all my needs, my
temporal needs, my eternal needs, my carnal needs, and my spiritual
needs. I live by faith in the Son of
God. Isn't that a wonderful statement? I want you to turn to Hebrews
chapter 11 with me for just a minute. Paul always gives scriptural
reasons for what he does. And he says here, while you're
turning to Hebrews chapter 11, he says here in chapter 3 of
Galatians in verse 11, No man is justified by the law in the
sight of God. It is evident. For the just shall
live. by faith. It's written. Don't you rejoice when you can
go to the Word of God and see yourself in Christ. Don't you
rejoice when you can go to the Word of God and see this is the
faith I have. The Word of God proves me to
be saved. It proves to me I believe in
Him. It proves to me I'm trusting Him. I don't have to trust my
feelings. The Bible proves me to be saved. Oh, that's wonderful. Paul said, I live by faith. And
the Bible proves that this is a faith. That's the true faith
because it's written. Look in Hebrews chapter 11. And look here, I want to show
you faith as a rule. Faith as a rule. It's the rule
of our lives. It's the rule that you and I
as children of God live by. Look here how he said it. Let's
just look at some places. Let me just read some places.
In Hebrews chapter 11, we call this the faith chapter. Well,
let's look at it. Look in verse 3. Here's the rule of our understanding. Look in verse 3. Through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God,
so that things which are seen were not made of things which
do appear. Somebody said, I just can't understand
that. You know why? You don't believe it. I tell
you, God has fixed this where you and I can have no spiritual
understanding apart from believing what the Bible tells us. Evolutionists doesn't shock us.
Why are they going about to find the origin of all things when
the Bible tells us? You know why they don't understand
it? They just don't believe it. Faith goes before everything,
does it not? Peter said, Lord, we believe,
and we're sure. Why didn't he say, we're sure,
therefore we believe? We cannot know anything for sure
apart from believing it. These are mysteries. This Bible
is full of mysteries. The kingdom of God that you and
I are in are full of mysteries. And brothers and sisters, we
cannot lay hold of these mysteries except we just believe them.
Prove to me the Godhead. I don't have to prove anything.
Do we? We believe it. We believe it.
Look what he says in verse 4. So faith is the rule of our understanding. In verse 4, faith is the rule
of our offering. By faith Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and he being dead
yet speaking. By faith he offered unto God. Somebody said, what if he had
brought a sacrifice and didn't believe in it? Well, that's a
stupid question. But you know it wouldn't have been accepted. Faith and the offering go hand
to hand, I realize that. But here he's stressing faith
and not the offering. There in Genesis 4 he was stressing
he brought the lamb, he was a shepherd, he attended the flock. Here he's
stressing how it was offered, by faith. How is our thanksgiving
accepted to God? By Christ let us offer. the sacrifices
of thanksgiving and praise to God. Everything we offer to God
is accepted on one rule, and that's faith. It's the rule of
offering. Verse 6, look at this, faith
is our rule of pleasing God. Verse 6, but without faith it
is impossible to please God. Let a man give his body to be
burned. That won't please God. Let him gather up all his goods
that he can have and give them away. That won't please God.
Let him fast until he's fasted himself to death. Let him afflict
his body. Let him do what he will. Nothing
we can do can please God but faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. And we can go further than that.
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Faith is our rule of pleasing
God. Faith is our rule of coming to
God by Christ. Finish verse 6. For he that cometh
to God must believe that he is. You can't approach God on the
grounds of works, or your goodness, or your merits. The only way,
the only rule of coming is by faith. is by believing. It's our rule of movement. Look
in verse 7. By faith Noah, being warned of
God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, and prepared
an ark to the Saviour of his house. By faith he moved. Don't take a step if it's not by faith. in the
Son of God. Don't move one inch. Don't budge.
Stand still and don't do a thing unless you walk by faith, unless
you move by faith. That's the only way to move,
by faith. It's the only rule of obedience
in everything. Look in verse 8. By faith Abraham,
when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, he obeyed and he went out. not knowing where he went. Faith
is the only rule of obedience. The only way to obey, brothers
and sisters, is by faith in the Son of God. That's the way we
live. Look on the next page. Let's
skip over to the next page. Look at verse 11. Just look at
verse 11. Just bring our dear sister Sarah
into this. Look in verse 11 before we go
to the next page. Through faith also Sarah received
strength to conceive seed. And she was delivered of a child
when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had
promised. Faith is our rule of receiving.
Everything we receive from God is through faith in the Son of
God. Through faith, she received. Look in verse 17. Look at this. Faith is our rule of overcoming
when we're tried. Look in verse 17. By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received
the promise offered up his only begotten son. How in the world
could he endure such a trial? How could he overcome such a
trial? One way, faith. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. That's the way you're going to
overcome the world. That's the way you're going to overcome when you're
tried, when you're tested, and you come up against the wall
or a Red Sea. How are you going to get through
the trial? By faith. I live by faith in the Son of
God. Look down in verse 24. Here's the rule here of self-denial.
Look in Moses in verse 24. By faith Moses, when he was come
to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now that indicates there that
there was something waiting, this man. This was Pharaoh's
daughter's son. And whatever awards and rewards
that went along with it must have been great. How did he deny
all of that? How did he turn from it? From
the flesh and the glory that was down in Egypt? Through faith. I don't know how this works.
I'm just telling you it works. I live by faith in the Son of
God. Look at this. Look in verse 27.
The forsaken of this world. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endeared as seeing him
who is invisible. Look in verse 29. By faith They passed through the Red Sea
as by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do were dry." See
that? See that? When Paul says, I live
by faith, he lived his daily life, he overcome all his obstacles,
he obeyed God, he offered to God, he worshipped, he served,
he gave. And you know something else?
When we're justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, When
we live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can die by faith
in Him. Wonderful, wonderful statement
made about these old people. Look in chapter 11 and back in
verse 13. Hebrews chapter 11, look in verse
13. These all died in faith. They were justified by faith.
They lived by faith, and they died in faith. And you know where
they are today? They're with Christ in heaven.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And then he went right
on to say, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
I finished my course. I know whom I have believed.
I'm dying by faith. I've lived by faith, and I'm
dying. You live by faith in Christ? That will do to die by. That's
what he said. I live by faith in the Son of
God. What an amazing statement then.
What an amazing statement. Look back to my text again. Look
what he says back in my text. This is important. He says here
in verse 20 again, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. and the life which I now live." Now, he is saying there was a
time when I didn't live by faith. Is he not? And there was a time
the Apostle Paul did not live by faith in Christ. How did he
live? He lived by keeping the law,
didn't he? He lived by establishing his own righteousness. Here in the context of this verse
that I've read to you, you and I, we look at law and
grace, we look at faith and works, we look at it mainly as a doctrine. We try to get it straight in
our heads, this doctrine in our heads. Are we saved by grace
or are we saved by law? Are we saved by faith in Christ
or by works? And we try to get these things
straight in our head. You know something? These people
lived these things out in their daily lives. They were confronted,
am I saved by the grace of Christ or am I saved by law? Am I living
by faith or do I have to be converted to the strict lifestyle of the
Jews and live that way? When a baby was born, I tell
you, they did some serious thinking. Mom and Dad got off to the side
and Mom said, Dad, are we taking this baby up to the temple to
get him circumcised or not? That's a big question, wasn't
it? When a feast day come, Dad, are we going up to the feast?
Are we going to offer a sacrifice up there? Are we not? When the Sabbath day come, and
Friday evening rolled around, and everybody was getting ready
to observe the Sabbath. Dad, are you going to keep tomorrow
holy? Are you going to work? Boy, this
was a living reality. Are we saved by faith in Christ? Do we live upon Christ and by
faith in Him? Or do we have to be converted
and observe the Jewish Sabbaths and laws and diets? We don't have that problem, do
we? They did. Boy, when Paul said the life
that I live, I live by faith in Christ. That meant something
to these folks. Look back here in our context
just for a minute. Back here in chapter 2 and verse 11, you
remember the context of what was going on here. Peter had
come down here from Jerusalem and he came up to this church
in Antioch. And he was eating with Gentiles,
eating pork. And man, he loved it. And he knew that it was against
the ceremonial law for him to eat pork. And he was sitting there with
his Gentiles eating it. And he looked down and somebody said,
who's that coming down the road? Oh, that's some of those, that's
some of those legalists from up in Jerusalem. That's some
of those Jews, the law keepers. And Peter said, oh no, I'm in
trouble now, man. You know, he was so intimidated
by man, wasn't he? A little maid scared him to death.
He went down, he went down to Cornelius' house and preached
to them and spent three days with them. Come back up to Jerusalem
and they said, you went into men uncircumcised and you ate
with them? We're going to skin you alive.
You've been breaking the law. You can't live that way. So it
scared Peter. And what did he do? Well, he
got up and he left the table where the Gentiles were eating
pork and he went over there and sat down with some Jews. And here Paul told him in verse
11, look at this. When Peter was come to Antioch,
I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
For before that surgeon came down from James, he did eat with
the Gentiles. But when they were come down,
he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the
circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away
with their hypocrisy. They're a dissimulation. But
when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth
of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If you being
a Jew live after the manner of the Gentile, which you've just
been doing, eating pork, keeping company with them, and not as
do the Jews, why are you compelling the Gentiles to live as do the
Jews? What was Peter compelling them
to do? Why, he was saying by his actions, listen guys, You
can't be saved by faith in Christ alone. You can't be saved by
the grace of Christ alone. What you're going to have to
do, you're going to have to be converted to the Jewish lifestyle. You're going to have to be circumcised
now. You're going to have to eat things that Moses told you
to eat in the law. You've got to abstain from eating
other things. I've been a bad example to you,
but now I'm going to correct this. And you need to follow
me. And Paul said, Peter, you're
a hypocrite. You're a hypocrite. You're not walking according
to the gospel. Are men saved by grace or not? Do we live by faith or do we
have to be converted to the strict lifestyle of the Jew? That's
what this whole context is about. That's why this statement is
so wonderful. Look what he says here in verse 17. But if while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. My goodness,
sinners against what? Paul said we're sinners. Peter,
I'm a sinner. Peter, you're a sinner. Not a
sinner against God. That wasn't what he was talking
about. A sinner against the law of Moses. Peter just broke the law of Moses
by eating pork. Paul broke the law of Moses in
chapter 2 by not circumcising Titus. Peter, we're sinners. We've been breaking the law of
Moses. Now look what he said. If while
we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found to
be sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? Now who was telling Peter that
he was saved by grace? Who was telling Paul to live
by faith? who was telling them to forsake the ceremonial law
and cleave only to Christ. Christ Himself was telling them
that. Was He teaching them to sin when He did that? No. It was no sin to forsake the
ceremonial law. It was just a shadow. It pointed
to Christ. He was given for a good purpose,
but now its time had come and its time had gone. Now, cleave
to Christ alone. Don't worry about being circumcised. Don't worry about not eating
pork. Don't worry about not associating with the Gentiles. That means
nothing. You're saved by Christ and by
Christ alone. Christ taught them that. He's
taught you that, hasn't he? He's taught you that, and he's
taught me that. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
that we've advanced at least? And God finally shut that whole
ceremonial system down and said it decayed and waxed old. And they can't trust it anymore.
It's gone. I had a lady call me the other
day and said she wanted a place Somebody preached grace, and
she wanted to know if I preached grace. And I said, yeah. I said,
let's talk a few minutes and see if you know what grace is.
Well, come to find out, she didn't know what grace was anyway, but
she told me. She said, you know, she said Israel has already got
that red heifer over there, and they're just waiting to offer
that red heifer. Ain't that something? I said,
well, I'll tell you what they better do first before they offer
the red heifer. They better find the Levitical
family and find Aaron's family in it and get the high priest
back. Then they better rebuild the temple before they offer
that heifer. Because the only person who could offer that heifer
was the high priest and he had to offer it towards that temple
or it wasn't accepted. All of that is gone. It's vanished. And this is what Jesus Christ
was teaching them. Don't trust in these things.
Look to me through these things and live by faith upon me. And look here what he says in
verse 18. This is very important. It's very important here what
he didn't say. It's always important what the Bible doesn't say, isn't
it? When he said it's Christ that's teaching us to forsake
the law, And cleave only to Him. That's not sin in Him. He's not
ministering sin by doing that. But look what He says in verse
18. If I build again those things which I destroyed, then I make
myself a transgressor. It could have been a wonderful
time, wasn't it, for Him to say, now listen, I know I've been
talking awful strong here about grace and faith and Christ and
being justified by faith in Him alone, but I don't want you to
carry this too far. Won't you be careful? Now there's a place
for the law in your life. You know, you can mix them up
a little bit. Don't get too radical about this.
It would have been a good place for him to have said that, wouldn't
it? But instead he said right the opposite. If I build again
those things which I destroyed, what did he destroy? Circumcised
the eighth day. The stock of Israel. Hebrew of
the Hebrews. Pharisee of the Pharisees. Concerning
the law, I was blameless. What things were gained to me,
those I counted, lost for Christ. Yea, and I count all things but
dung, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having my
own righteousness. Nothing of my own. It's dung. It's in the dust. It's under
my feet. And if I lay one brick of worth
to my acceptance and my life of faith in Jesus Christ, one
brick, if I'll be a one brick of self-righteousness, law-keeping
again, I make myself a transgressor. Brothers and sisters, what he's
telling us here, law and grace just won't mix. They will not
mix. He said, well, I know they won't
mix in justification, but they'll mix in our rule of life. Paul
said, they won't. They won't. I never could understand
how people say the law is my rule of life. I can't understand
that. I've had people to say, I read
one time where a fellow said, a Christian has to be a two-eyed
person, he said. He said, one eye has to be on
Christ, and the other eye has to be on Moses. That's what he
said. We go to Christ and we look to Him for justification.
The other eye looks to Moses for sanctification. I had a friend
of mine, my son had a friend, and this was the strangest thing.
He could walk up to you, and this eye would look that way,
and this eye would look that way. And he said, I can't do
it long, it gives me an awful headache. I said, I bet it would.
What kind of headache would it give a man to look into Christ
with this eye and Moses with that eye? You talk about a spiritual
headache. I never could understand how
that was and how that worked. No, no, we're dead to the law. Ain't that what he said there
in chapter 2 in verse 19? For I through the law am dead
to the law that I might live, that I might live If a man is not dead to works
religion, if there's one highest breath of his works involved
in his acceptance with God, I tell you, he's still alive to himself. And he's dead to God. We die
to ourselves. We die to self-salvation. We
die to the works of the law, this covenant of works. And it's
not until we die to that that we live. We live to God. Boy, it sounds good. It sounds
righteous to say the law is my rule of life. Sounds so holy,
doesn't it? The law is my rule of life. You keep the law? No, but I try. I didn't ask you that. That's
not the question, is it? Do you keep it? If it's your rule, just answer
that honestly. Do you keep it? Well, no. Okay then. Then you're a lawbreaker. Is that what you say? You're
a lawbreaker. And by saying you keep the law
and it's your rule of law, you dishonor the law and Christ too. You diminish its authority by
saying, I keep it or I try to keep it. It's my rule. The law
is not given for a rule. It's given to show us our sins. It's given to shut us up in our
other helplessness and hopelessness. It's a schoolmaster to drive
us, to bring us to Christ. And after Christ has come, we're
no longer under a schoolmaster. You know who the law is for?
The law is for the strong. The law is for the perfect. The
law is for the well. It's for the whole. You know
whose grace is for? The weak and the helpless and
the broken and sinners. They that are whole, they don't
need a position. Go to Moses. But those whom the
law has beat down and broken and become an unbearable weight
to, that's who Christ is for. That's
who Jesus Christ is for. We'll never live any more holy.
We'll never live any closer to God, more dedicated, more gracious
than when we live our daily lives. by faith in Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, I'll say
it again. I don't know how this works. But I do know this. When you live moment by moment,
looking to the Son of God for everything, it purifies your
heart. It's come garden time again.
I'm getting ready to peel my garden up when it dries out.
I'll tell you the way I lay off my rows in my garden. I used to lay off rows in the
garden. I got this big old one-wheel job, you know, with two handles,
and you push it, and it lays off a row. And used to be I'd
lay off a row, and I'd turn and look back, and here's the way
to row it. And I learned how to lay off a row in a garden,
just as straight. I'll take those handles, and
I'll take me a cone. I've got these cones about that
high, and I'll take it and set it out on the other end of the
garden. And I'll get on this end of the garden. And I'll get
my handle on those plows, my hands on those handles, and I'll
get my eye on that object where I'm going. And I don't take my
eye off that object. I've noticed this. If I look
down to see how I'm doing, I start going around in a circle. If
I look back to see how I'm doing, I'm just messing everything up.
But if I keep my eye on that comb where I'm headed, I never
take my eye off of it. No matter what I feel that little
plow hit, no matter if I can't see where it's going, I keep
my eye on that comb, and I just keep pushing. And when I get
to that comb, I turn around and look back, and there's the straightest
rove you've ever seen in your life. I don't know how it works,
but you'll never get any more holier and dedicated and loving
and gracious and merciful as when you live keeping your eye
upon the dear and blessed Son of God. Look to me and be saved. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith. Paul mentions these three graces.
He mentions faith and he mentions love. He loved me. Boy, what a rule. These three
blessed graces, faith and love. He loved me. He never got over
that, did he? He never got over that. I tell
you what, you keep the love of Christ foremost in your heart,
you'll never get over it. Paul said the love of Christ
constrains us. The love of his heart for us
won't let him let us go. He can't let us go. He loves
us. So his love constrains us and
brings us back and keeps bringing us back. But you know something?
Our love for Him, you know what that'll do? Owe no man anything
but to love one another. For he that loveth another, he
won't commit adultery, he won't steal, he won't kill, he won't
covet, he won't bear false witness. Love is the fulfilling of the
law. Where do we get that love? It's
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. And this other
grace, Paul said, we wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. We wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Hope!
Look over in 1 John with me and I'll close by looking at this
scripture. 1 John chapter 3. What if you could go home tonight And your hope, the grace of it
in your heart was so evident, was so manifested in your soul that just any time you could
be changed and be with the Son of God and be just like Him.
What if you could live every moment of your life, the rest
of your life with that kind of hope? At any moment, I can be
changed and I can be caught up to heaven and be just like my
Savior. How would that affect the way
you live? Wouldn't you count the things
of this life toys? Fade, fade each earthly joy. You'd sing that the rest of your
life. Jesus is mine. Don't tempt my soul away. I've
tried all of you things, and you've left me empty and void. Jesus alone has satisfied. And now you have this hope, and
it's a living hope, that just at any moment, you'll be caught
up and be just like the Son of God. Now, I'm telling you, that'd
have an effect upon you, wouldn't it? Well, look here at what he says
in verse 1, 1 John 3. Behold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. Therefore the world loatheth
us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him As He is, every man that hath this hope in him purifies
himself, even as Christ is pure. Oh my, let me live by faith in
the Son of God. Let me live by His love. Let
me live by hope. God bless His Word.