If you ask me, do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ as he's revealed in the Word of God,
my answer is yes. I believe on the Son of God. I trust Christ. If you ask me,
do you repent of your iniquity, transgression, and sin, my answer
is yes. I lament all that I am and all
that I have done. before my God. If you ask me,
do you forsake all your works of righteousness and trust the
righteousness of Christ alone? Again, my answer is yes. I trust
Christ alone as the Lord my righteousness and acknowledge that my righteousnesses
are but filthy rags before God. But understand this. My hope
before God is not the fact that I trust Christ. My hope before
God is not the fact that I repent of my sins. My hope before God
is not the fact that I have abandoned my righteousness. My hope before
God is not my faith in the Son of God, Rather, my hope before
God is the faith of the Son of God. Turn with me to Galatians
chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. Let's see if this is not exactly
the language of Holy Scripture. Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Quite literally, I have been
crucified with Christ. When Christ died, I died in him. He died as my substitute and
God executed me in the execution of his son. God poured out the
fury of his wrath on me when he poured out the fury of his
wrath on his son. God crucified me when he crucified
his son. He executed justice upon me when
he executed justice upon his son. I was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Though
I died when Christ died, now I live. Indeed, I live because
I was crucified with Christ. Yet not I. Yet not I. He said, I live, yet not I. How can that be? Was Paul some
kind of a paranoid schizophrenic? No. He, like all who are born
of God, was a man with two distinct natures. He spoke of them plainly
in Romans chapter seven. He spoke of his sin and he spoke
of his righteousness. He spoke of the things that he
hated and the things that he loved. And when he spoke of himself
in Romans chapter 7, as he does here, he spoke of himself both
what he is by nature and what he is by the grace of God. So
it is with all believers. When we sin, when we rebel against
God, when our hearts are cold and unbelieving, that's what
I really am. That's what I really am. That's
all I am by nature. That really is Don Fortner. But
that's not me at all. That's not me at all. There is
another man in me, the true Don Fortner, as he is in Jesus Christ. And Paul said, I rejoice and
love the law of God after the inward man. I love God's law. I love God's law. Well, that's
Christ in you. Yeah, it is. And that's really
me. That's really me. You see, all
we are by nature, we really are. And all that we are in Christ,
we really are. He says, I was crucified with
Christ. That old man, Adam, my sin, my
transgression. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I. Yet not I. But Christ liveth
in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what grace. Christ himself
liveth continually in me. He came in marvelous grace and
took up his being in me, in me, so that we're made partakers
of the divine nature that's called Christ in you, the hope of glory. If you live before God in this
new life of grace, it is Christ who lives in you and the life
which I now live in the flesh. This this life. Christ in me. I live. Watch this now by my
faith in the son of God. No. 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. The title of my message tonight
is The Faith of the Son of God. The scriptures speak to us both
about our faith in Christ and the faith of Christ. We live
by the faith of the Son of God. We live by the faith of Christ
and we live by faith in Christ. But this is very, very important. An important fact that few people
understand. Our faith in Christ is the result
of the faith of Christ by which we have righteousness with God. Be sure you get that that's the
whole crux of what I'm preaching to you tonight our faith in Christ
is the result of the faith of Christ By which we have righteousness
before God turn over to Galatians chapter 3 Look at verse 19 Now
Paul uses this and it's not a play on words. It is a clear distinction
given throughout the book of Galatians and in the book of
Romans and in various other places in the New Testament. Here in
Galatians 3.19, Paul tells us that the law of God that was
given at Sinai was given for this specific designated period
of time. It was added because of the transgressions
till the seed not seeds, seed, until Christ should come, to
whom the promise, the promise of God's blessing, the promise
of God's grace, the promise of God's salvation was made. The
seed, Christ Jesus, is the one to whom the promise of salvation
was given. Look at verse 21. Here the apostle
assures us that the law of God that was given at Sinai is not
in any way contrary to this promise. It is no, it is in no way contrary
to the covenant of God's grace and the blessings promised in
that covenant. And that law was never intended
to produce righteousness. In first Corinthians chapter
three or second Corinthians three, Paul tells us that the law was
administration of death. A service of death. People talk
about, I live by the law. No, you don't. The law is death. The only thing the law does is
serves for the purpose of death. The law identifies sin, the law
condemns us for sin, and the law makes the conscience guilty
before God, declaring that we are sinners and guilty before
God. The law shuts us up to Christ. This law that was administration
of death then has nothing to do with life. It cannot and was
never intended to produce righteousness of any kind. Look at verse 21.
I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ died for nothing. That's what
those words mean. If righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. If it were possible for sinners
to make themselves righteous by something they do, then Christ
died for nothing. You understand that? God didn't
sacrifice his son for nothing. He sacrificed his son in our
stead because there's no other way for righteousness to come
to us but by the doing and dying of the Son of God. Now look at
verse 22. Listen carefully. But the scripture
hath concluded all under sin. The whole volume of inspiration
declares that we are under sin. Particularly here, Paul is talking
about the letter of the law of God, and declares that all men,
all that is in us by nature, and all that is done by us under
the power and dominion and guilt of sin, declares us sin. All the sons and daughters of
fallen Adam are defiled, sinful, and guilty. That's you, that's
me, that's my mom and dad, your mom and dad, my sons and daughters,
your sons and daughters, my grandchildren, and your grandchildren. All are
under sin. Paul's language is inclusive
of all things relating to all men. All the members of our bodies
All the faculties of our souls, all the thoughts of our minds,
all the emotions of our hearts, all the intentions of our wills,
all our choices, all our works, all our services to God and men,
even our very best works of righteousness are just filthy rags. All are
under sin, sinful and polluted. That's what we are. The law of
God and the word of God its entirety declares that we're guilty and
shuts us up as prisoners under the sentence of death without
hope before God until Christ comes. Now watch this. Now the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ, the very same thing he said in
chapter 2 verse 20, the faith of the son of God. The promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
The promise of life, the promise of eternal life and salvation,
of everlasting righteousness and never ending smile of God,
the smile of God's never ending approval. All these things are
included in this promise that belongs to those who believe. But it's not our believing that
fulfilled God's covenant. It's not our believing that brought
in that blessed righteousness, which we now have with God Almighty. The promise is given to all who
believe, yes. But the promise was fulfilled
and comes to us by faith of Jesus Christ. It was Christ to whom
the promise was made. It was Christ as our surety to
whom God made this promise in the everlasting covenant, a promise
based and conditioned upon his obedience to all the stipulations
of that covenant, his obedience unto death, his perfect righteousness,
his satisfaction of justice. Look at verse 23. But before
faith came, before faith came, before God gave us faith, we
were shut up under the law. Shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed. What faith is this? Whose faith
is this? Is it yours? Is it mine? The faith which came, by which
were delivered from the curse of God's law, by which were justified,
is the faith of Jesus Christ spoken of in verse 22. It's this
faith of Jesus Christ that is revealed in the gospel. Our faith
in Christ is not something that's revealed to us. Our faith in
Christ is something wrought in us. But the faith of Jesus Christ
is revealed to us, creating faith in Christ Jesus. When God the
Holy Spirit comes to chosen, redeemed sinners in the power
of His omnipotent mercy, He convinces us of all that Christ accomplished
by His faithful obedience unto death as our substitute. And
when he reveals that, we believe. And the promise is made ours
in the experience of faith and in the experience of God's grace.
Look at verse 24. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. Be sure to note this, that one that's given here as our schoolmaster
is the law. But it's given unto Christ. You'll notice our translators
added the words to bring us and they put them in italics to make
us understand these words were added. that whenever you see
in their King James translation italicized words, those italicized
words are put in italics by the translators to tell you there's
no corresponding word for this in the Greek text or in the Hebrew
text. These words are added to make
the sentence read more smoothly. They're added to give a clearer
sense of the sentence and our perception. But there's no word
for these in the translation or in the original text. So the
text really should read like this. Wherefore, the law was
our schoolmaster unto or until Christ that we might be justified
by faith. It was the law's purpose, like
a schoolmaster, to direct God's elect to Christ, to make sure
that they get to Christ. The law was our schoolmaster
until Christ came and fulfilled the law by his faithful obedience
to it, by his satisfaction of all its demands in the sacrifice
of himself. Now that the schoolmaster has
come, now that the end of the law has come, the schoolmaster
service is over. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. That means that
the believer is dead to the law. That means the believer is not
under the law. The law was a schoolmaster up
to this period in time when Christ came and fulfilled the law. He
satisfied the law. He ended the law. He ended the
law's service, fulfilling all the law's demands. Does that
mean that he abrogated the law? Yeah. No. The law stands holy,
just, and true. It is holy and it is good. We
have nothing against the law of God. We rejoice in the law
of God, in every commandment of God. But we understand that
we don't live by law. The law just pointed to Christ. The law moved in the direction
of Christ. The law shut us up to Christ. When Christ came, the law's over.
You will not find anywhere in any of the New Testament once
you reach past the book of Acts, once you've gone past that transitional
period from the old to the new. In all the epistles of the New
Testament, not one admonition is given, not one on the basis
of law, except to an unbeliever. Not one. Children, obey your
parents. In the Lord, for this is right.
And the commandment says your days will be long on the earth.
That alone, the law is not made for the righteous man, but for
the unrighteous. Thank God we have laws. Thank
God we have laws, laws in most of our society based on God's
law, laws that keep ungodly men in check. Imagine how life would
be in this world without law. If men had no dread of law. The
reason we have such a horrible increase in every kind of horrible
crime, from rape and pedophilia to murder and kidnapping, all
of those things, because men have no reason to fear the law
and no reason to fear the law, no more execution of justice,
no more punishment for sin. If you get caught to go into
prison, have you been to a prison lately? Now, I promise you, I
wouldn't want to spend my life in one of those things, even
in the very nicest of them, but they ain't bad. I've lived in
a whole lot worse places than any prison I've ever visited.
Men are lawless because there is lawlessness in the land because
the land is lawless. There is no law to be answered. And so we live in chaos. God's
people, however, are not controlled by law, inspired by law or motivated
by law. We live by faith in the Son of
God. We are motivated by faith in
Christ Jesus, motivated by the love of Christ revealed in us
and made known to us by the faith of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It
was the law's purpose then to bring us to Christ. Now that
the righteousness of the law has been fulfilled by Christ
obedience, we are no longer under the law. All who believe on the
son of God are justified by faith because justification has been
accomplished by Christ in the court of heaven, who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. delivered
under the hands of justice because of our offenses made his and
raised again because of justification accomplished by the sacrifice
of himself. Now we're justified by faith in the experience of
grace. That is when Christ died, we
were justified in the court of heaven. When we believe on Christ,
when the blood sprinkled on our consciences, we're justified
in the court of conscience. Does that make sense? Let me
see if I can illustrate it. You're in jail up here, and you've
got a lot of evidence against you. And you know that you're
guilty. And you're about to go to court.
And you go to court. and they find you guilty and
you're sentenced. And before long, somebody appeals
to the governor and for some reason, the governor pronounces
a pardon and signs it. That doesn't change anything
about your guilt and your apprehension of the sentence upon you until
your lawyer comes to the jail where you're held. And it tells
you the governor's giving you a pardon. Here it is. And now
you walk out a free man. You walk out a free man. That's
what I'm talking about. We were justified in the court
of heaven from eternity with Christ, the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, justified in the court of heaven when Christ
died in our stead. And when God reveals the faith
of Jesus Christ, his faithful obedience to you and then you
believing him, your conscience is not guilty. You're justified
in the court of conscience. I haven't had a citation of any
kind in some time. I've learned to drive slower.
I try to watch out for stop signs when I'm coming into a town.
I let up off the gas, take it off cruise control, settle down.
I haven't had a ticket in a while. But I've had a couple of them
here in Danville, been years ago. I was driving, first one
I got, I was driving in off of 34 and that's Come to that 45-mile-an-hour
speed zone right by that Campbellite Church up yonder, and there's
a cop sitting in the... And I say that respectfully. I respect
the police officers. He's sitting right there in that
Campbellite Church parking lot. I can't think of a better place
for a cop to be. And he got me doing 46 in a 35. I had to go to court, had to pay
the fine. And I've driven by and seen that
same police officer many times, wave at him, glad you're there,
glad you're there. Aren't you afraid of him? No.
I've got no reason to be afraid of him. Well, he caught you speaking. Try to find something about that
against me. When you find the crime on the books, you'll find
the fine has been paid and I owe nothing for it. Will you hear
me? I owe nothing to the law and
justice of God because of the faith of the Son of God who loved
me and gave himself for me. How do you know that? Because
I believe. Believing on him is the result
of his faith as my substitute, the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. And now, believing him, I
have peace with God. Therefore, being justified, Paul
says, by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Because justification has been
accomplished by Christ for us in the court of heaven, we are
now justified in the court of conscience, looking to Christ.
so that faith looks away from self to Christ. Faith looks away
from experience to Christ. Faith looks away from feeling
to Christ. Faith looks away from knowledge
to Christ. People everywhere have the idea
that somehow our faith is a work by which we're justified. No,
no, thousand times no. Faith is the gift of God by which
we receive all the blessings of grace. We, believing Him,
take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
You see that? Now, you get these modern translations.
They call them improvements. I can't think of an exception.
There may be one, and if there is one, I beg your pardon. But
I can't think of an exception. When they come to these passages
that speak of the faith of Jesus Christ, the faith of the Son
of God, the faith of Christ, they translate it faith in the
Son of God, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in Christ. But that's not
accurate. Our translators very carefully
and rightly made the distinction. Wherever the scripture speaks
about the faith of Christ as our substitute, it speaks of
that which Christ did for us. When it speaks of our faith in
Christ, it speaks of us believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. So
read the scriptures and read them carefully. The Apostle Paul
particularly makes this clear distinction repeatedly in Romans,
Galatians and Ephesians. We are justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ, and we receive that justification believing
on Christ Jesus. Turn to Romans chapter four,
Romans chapter four. Trust in Christ, we receive complete,
final, full justification in him and have peace with God in
him by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 4 25. Christ was delivered for our
offenses. The word for is because of. He
was delivered to the hands of justice and sacrificed in our
room instead as our substitute because he was made sin for us.
He could not have been punished for sin except he be made sin
and was raised again because of our justification. He wasn't
raised again to accomplish justification. That was done when he with his
own blood entered in once into the holy place having obtained
eternal redemption for us When he cried it's finished and bowed
his head and gave up the ghost with the merit of his blood he
entered into the court of heaven like the high priest going into
the holy of holies and sprinkles there the mercy seat and Obtained
eternal redemption for us. He wasn't raised again to accomplish
justification Adam he was raised again because he had done it
raised for because of our justification. Verse one, chapter five. Therefore,
being justified. By faith and the comma ought
to be right behind justify. Therefore, being justified. By faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God, and not only so, but glory in tribulation
also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience
experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed.
How is that? Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Believing on the Son of God,
Bill, we have no reason to blush before God. He that believeth on the Son
of God shall not be ashamed, shall not be confused, shall
not be confounded. Why? Because Christ has made
us righteous before God. We don't. Hope maketh not ashamed
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much
more then, much more then, if Christ died for us when we were
sinners. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, We shall be saved. That is, we shall surely be saved
from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Now watch
this. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. People say, well, that where
it ought to really be reconciliation. And that's true. That's true.
I'll grant that. But you know what atonement is?
Atonement is reconciliation. You know what the word means?
At one with. And may PJ now, by the sacrifice
of God's dear son, we receive this blessed, blessed, blessed
gift of grace. I'm at one with God and God's
at one with me. That's not something we do by
faith. That's something we receive by faith. Well, brother Don,
are you suggesting that it's not necessary for a person to
believe? Oh, no. Faith in Christ is just as necessary
for our everlasting salvation as the faith of Christ. We could
not be justified, but by our Savior's faithful obedience.
And we cannot receive this atonement, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And the promise is sure to all
who believe. Therefore, I call on you now,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. With this promise, thou shalt
be saved. I say to you as the Philippian
jailer did when he came trembling before Paul inside us crying,
sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Son of God and
you have everlasting life. Both are essential. It is one
thing. To know truth. It's another thing to believe
in Christ, another thing altogether. One thing to know the scriptures
are true, another to believe on the Son of God. Did you pay
attention to what Frank read a little bit ago in Acts 26?
Paul said to Agrippa, do you believe the scriptures? He said,
I know you do. I know you do. And Agrippa said,
Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Believing the truth is not faith. Faith is casting your soul on
the Son of God. Faith is believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ, bowing all to Him. So the faith of Christ is his
faithfulness, his fidelity in accomplishing all that he pledged
himself to do as our surety. Faith in Christ is trusting him
as that one who is God, our Savior. Oh, God help you then to believe
on the Son of God. Amen.