Exposition of Galatians

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation by grace?

The Bible asserts that salvation is solely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works of the law. The doctrine of salvation by grace is foundational in Galatians 3, where Paul emphasizes that no one can be justified by the law. In fact, the apostle clearly states that 'as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse' (Galatians 3:10). Salvation is purely a work of God and is achieved through the merits of Christ alone. The idea that our acceptance before God depends partially on our actions undermines the essence of grace. Therefore, it is Christ’s righteousness, not our own, that secures our salvation.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of justification by faith is true?

Justification by faith is supported by Scripture, notably in Galatians, where it emphasizes faith in Christ as the sole means of being declared righteous before God. The doctrine of justification by faith is solidly grounded in Scripture, specifically in Galatians 3 where Paul quotes Habakkuk: 'the just shall live by faith' (Galatians 3:11). This reinforces that righteousness can only be attained through faith in Christ, not by the law. The apostle’s argument indicates that, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), no one can be justified by their own works. The assurance of justification rests solely in the merits of Christ, underscoring the necessity of faith as a means to receive God’s grace.

Q: Why is the law important for Christians?

The law serves as a schoolmaster, revealing our sin and need for Christ, but it cannot save us. The law plays a crucial role in the Christian life as it serves to reveal sin and guide believers towards Christ. In Galatians 3:24, Paul describes the law as 'our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,' signifying its purpose to expose our inability to achieve righteousness through our efforts alone. It was added because of transgressions until Christ came, and though it is not the means of salvation, it is important in illustrating our desperate need for God’s grace. After faith has come, believers are no longer under the law; instead, Christ fulfills the law on our behalf, providing righteousness through His obedience.

Q: What does it mean to be adopted as children of God?

Being adopted as children of God means that through faith in Christ, believers are made heirs of God's promises. Adoption is a profound theological concept that underscores the believer's relationship with God. Galatians 4:5 states, 'to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.' This adoption reflects a deep relational change where believers are transformed from servants into children of God. Through faith, we receive the Spirit of His Son, enabling us to cry out 'Abba, Father' (Galatians 4:6). This adoption places believers as heirs to the promises made, granting them eternal rights and privileges in God's family. It's not merely a title, but a transformative reality of our identity in Christ.

Q: Why is relying on Christ alone for salvation crucial?

Relying solely on Christ for salvation is essential as it affirms the sufficiency of His atonement and grace. The necessity of relying exclusively on Christ for salvation is pivotal to the entire Gospel message. In Galatians, Paul warns against adding any works to the finished work of Christ, suggesting that any reliance on our own efforts, no matter how small, distorts the Gospel. He articulates that our righteousness comes from faith in Christ alone, not from adhering to the law (Galatians 3:11). By securing our salvation solely through His merits, we acknowledge that we are saved by grace through faith, thus ensuring that all glory is directed towards God rather than ourselves. This principle assures believers that their standing before God is not based on fluctuating human performance but on the unchanging nature of Christ’s sacrifice.

of the book of Galatians. Now we read this chapter Wednesday
night, and I tried to make a few comments on it, but since many
of you were not there, I'll apologize to the ones who were, and we'll
read beginning at verse 10 in chapter 3 of Galatians. Galatians 3 and verse 10. No sooner do we come into this
world than our minds are poisoned with this falsehood. Your acceptance before God depends
on who and what you are, what you do, and what you do not do. And that, my friend, is not so. And if any place in our Bibles
speaks more directly to that issue and that question, it is
this little book, Galatians. It is from the ignorance and
shying away from the chapters that make up this little book
that religion is in the deplorable state that it presently is in,
which is a state of spiritual death. No man has ever been saved. No man has ever gone to heaven
because he deserved it. We go there purely and only on
the merits of our Savior, plus nothing, nothing. One little tiny contribution
by you and me is the fly in the ointment and it then becomes
poison. So men can preach that Christ
is 99% of salvation and only 1% is up to you. That's the same
as telling you that everything is up to you. Because what they
mean by that is that what Christ has done is of no avail unless
you add your part. And our part is purely nothing
but sin. Alright, let's see if we can
pick up here. People from Jerusalem have come to the province of
Galatia. And they are peddling a new wrinkle
that the Galatians had never heard, and that is that you must
not only have Mount Calvary, you must now add Mount Sinai. You not only have Christ, oh,
they said, surely you must believe and trust Christ, but you must
also keep the law. And that's exactly what I was
describing to you earlier. And as it transitions its way
over the centuries, The language, the words, the catchphrases change,
but it all amounts to just one single thing. Christ is not enough. Now how can he be all and not
be enough? So these persons have poisoned
or are seeking to poison the minds of the Galatian believers. telling them that they must not
only love and trust and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, but they
must reverence Moses as well on the same level as the Lord
Jesus. Alright, we pick it up at verse
10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse. No matter if that law is ceremonial,
even judicial, or moral, though those words are not found in
our Bibles, you can certainly divide the law into those three
headings. No matter what aspect of the
law we want to interject into our theology, any amount is damning
to the souls of men and especially to those of us who inject that
into it. As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse, for it is written, this statement
comes from Deuteronomy 27, cursed is everyone that continues not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. So you can't pick and choose.
Salvation is not a meal in a cafeteria where you just go pick out what
you want. If you choose God's acceptance
of you to any degree based on what you and I do, here it is. Here's the curse of the law.
Cursed is every man that keeps not all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man,
no woman, no man, no where, no how. He can be the Pope or you
and me. No man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. It is evident. For even the book of Habakkuk
gives us this statement that Paul quotes, the just shall live
by faith. Now translated that means the
just shall live by Christ. And I do, well I can't say I'm
well read, but I've read a few books in my day. And Mr. Hawker is the only one that will
take that statement and tell you that faith there is really
Christ. Oh, it's still faith. But Christ
is faith's author, sustainer, and finisher. But more than that,
He is the sole object of saving faith. And verse 12 sandwiches
that statement we've just read in between the first ones about
the curse of the law. The second one is in verse 12,
and the law is not of faith. Not of faith. But the man that
does them, the deeds of the law, shall live in them. And actually,
if the truth be known, he dies in them. We leave this world
in that condition described in that verse. it will be eternal
death. All right, verse 13. Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law. So to pick up the law again is
to insult the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus. Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us in our ruined place instead as our surety in that everlasting
covenant of grace. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, through faith. Brethren,
now Paul has not written these persons in Galatia off. He realizes
that if they take this bait and follow that route, They could
never have been saved, but he is confident that when he preached
there and others with him, that God did a work of grace in their
soul. So he still maintains the language
of addressing them as his brothers and sisters in Christ. There
are some places, in fact, most places this morning, that to
do that would be to simply abandon the gospel itself. But no man can read another man's
heart. yet many things bear evidence
that things cannot be right when certain issues arise and questions
such as who is God and who am I and who is Christ and what
does it mean to be saved by grace and so forth. Brethren, verse
15, I speak, I'm going to borrow an illustration from what goes
on in everyday commerce in this world every last single day. Though it be but a covenant between
human beings, yet if it be confirmed, if it's
duly signed and witnessed to and given a stamp of approval
with that seal, though it's a man's agreement between two people
or more, Yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulls. No man can
destroy it or even add thereto. It bears no subtractions and
no additions. All right, verse 16. Here's a very important statement
regarding Abraham and Christ. the persons to whom Paul is writing
this letter to undo what is being attempted in the various congregations
that make up this province of Galatia, Abraham is a big name
because these persons at that given time are Judaizers. But
there are persons in modern times who are exactly like Judaizers,
but they would never call themselves by that name. They'd call themselves
Baptists and Methodists Presbyterians and Pentecostals and free wheelers
and well, most of them won't even admit to free will, but
some of them were honest enough to put it on their sign. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He did not say, and to seeds
as of many, but rather one seed. And to Abraham's seed, the word
thy there referring to Abraham, and to Abraham's seed, which
is who? Christ. Christ was Abraham's
hope. Even our Lord Jesus Himself in
John's Gospels, I'm thinking chapter 12, but I might be missing
it a country mile, but it's in John. He said these words. Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. And nowhere did he see it more
clearly than on Mount Moriah when he was about to sacrifice
his son Isaac. And God stopped him by angelic
intervention and provided a sacrifice, a ram caught in a thicket by
his horns and spared Isaac's life. Now that is a picture and
type of God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus. When He went to the
cross, He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for
every last one of His people that He gave to Christ into all
eternity. Verse 17, and this I say, that
the covenant, the same covenant now that's talking about Abraham
and his seed, It is the everlasting covenant of grace. This I say
that the covenant that was confirmed before, before the law was ever
heard of, exactly 430 years between Abraham and his seed and Moses
on Mount Sinai. 430 years. Let me read that again. The covenant that was confirmed
before by God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years later,
cannot dis-enough, cannot set it aside, cannot cancel this
covenant. This covenant is called the everlasting
covenant of grace. It cannot bear that title if
it can be altered or changed or ended. Cannot dis-enough. that it should make the promise
of none effect. For if the inheritance be of
the law, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. Wherefore, what purpose then
serves the law? It was added because of transgressions. You might even say it was to
keep us from killing ourselves, or I mean killing each other. It was added because of transgressions
till the seed should come. There's that seed, which is Christ.
And again, it is in the singular to whom the promise was made
and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. That is, there were angels on
Mount Sinai, but there was also a mediator, namely the Lord Jesus. Other scriptures tell us that
he was there. He's the mediator, even then,
before He actually comes and takes on human flesh. Now a mediator
is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, yet just one God. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid! Oh no, there's nothing
wrong with the law. It's what religious people do
with the law. That's the problem. We imagine
that we can keep it. And if we come just a little
bit short, maybe Christ will make up the difference. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture has concluded
all under sin, all condemned by sin, all spiritual dead, that
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law. Some of us can actually say before
we left home at whatever age we were able to leave, We had
law there too, just a little different kind. It's the kind
that your parents enforce. That today's generation knows
nothing about. And we're reaping the sad results. No respect for God and no respect
for anybody else. And not even respect for ourselves. Before faith came, we were kept
under the law. shut up, pinned up until that
faith should afterward be revealed. You can't believe what you've
not heard. You cannot understand what hasn't been explained to
you. The gospel must be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ. Now the words to bring us is
plainly italicized if you have the King James. and is not in
the original. The translators thought it made
it more fluent to read, but it actually changes the meaning.
The law cannot bring us to Christ. God alone can bring us to Christ. For that matter, He alone can
bring Christ to us. The law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. but after
faith is calm we are no longer under a schoolmaster if you and
i are truly believers we're no longer under the law christ according to hebrews ten
four is that the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes there's not a believer anywhere who is under the law
because Christ's righteousness has met and satisfied the law's
demands. Alright, let's see if we can
finish this chapter and we'll take a few verses out of chapter
4 a bit later. Verse 26, For you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, this is not
talking about physical baptism, there is neither Jew nor Greek,
neither bond nor free, neither male nor female, for you're all
one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, if we belong
to Him, then are we Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. Okay, back to Galatians, this
time to Chapter 4. It seems like y'all were talking
about 30 minutes later this morning than 11 o'clock. You know, it
was a long ways after 11 o'clock. We'll have to add on to the end,
but I wish I had that kind of time. Chapter 4, Chapter 4. Now, I'm going to try this week
not to do what I did last week and take the section after wherever
we finish this morning, but sometimes you can't At least I can't. I can't always deal with the
passage that I want to deal with. You've got to be where you think
the Lord will pour out His blessing upon you. All right, so let's
read, let's see, verses 1 through 14. All right? I'll try to just
read this time and then come back and deal with a few things
in these verses. Now I say that the air as long
as he is a child. He's the heir to a throne or
to a fortune or to whatever. As long as he is a child, you
can't tell the difference between him and a servant's child. Differs nothing from a servant,
though eventually he'll be lord of the whole kingdom. During
that time, he is said in verse 2 to be under tutors, teachers,
and governors until the time appointed of the father, the
child's father. For X number of years, he puts
this person in charge of teaching and governing his child. Then Paul says in verse 3, Even
so we, himself and the Galatians, and therefore himself and all
believers, we, when we were children, spiritually speaking now, when
we were children, and a person is a child in this respect until
God saves them. When we were children, we were
in bondage under the elements of the world, but you'll be surprised
at what comes next. This period of being under the
law came to an absolute end, as far as this world is concerned,
when our Lord Jesus went to the cross. When he said, it is finished. The condemnation of the law was
gone forever. Not for everybody, sadly, but
for all that belonged to him. And that's what Paul is getting
ready to do with this. Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. Do this and don't
do that. But when the fullness of the
time was come, when the time that had been appointed since
old eternity, the very beginning, and there is no beginning, either
backward or forward, but as far as our mind can take us, this
time was appointed God sent forth His Son. He never had done so before. Oh,
and don't get me wrong, the Lord Jesus made a number of pre-incarnate
appearances in the Old Testament. We just referred to one earlier
which was Mount Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments.
The Lord Jesus, God sent forth into this world. Now this world
had been standing a pretty good while before Christ came and
became incarnate in human flesh. He was not late and he was not
early. This was the time that God appointed
in that old covenant of grace that must come to pass. Nothing could keep this from
happening. Many tried, but did not succeed. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son. God sent forth His Son made of
a woman. Did you know this is the only
human birth that that can be said about? Made of a woman? all other births are said to
be made of a man. But the Son of God cannot come
the way you and I came into this world. He must be made of a woman. Now why is that? You should already
know the answer to this. Because we must have said it
hundreds of times in the last umpteen years. If He had been born the way normal
Well, none of us are normal, you understand, but the way normal
people are born, He would have been born, just like you and
me, a sinner. A sinner. In the infinite wisdom
of the triune God, Christ is to be born made of a woman. The woman seed, not the man seed. You know why? Because when that
terrible, well we call it a terrible tragedy that took place in the
Garden of Eden, but do you understand that God permitted that for a
very good reason? Without which there would be
no such thing as a Savior and a Redeemer and a surety, be no
such thing as a covenant of grace. But the Lord Jesus cannot be
born like all other human beings are born. because we are born
sinners. Therefore, he does not get his
human nature from Adam, but from Eve. Now in the garden, when
Eve ate the forbidden fruit, nothing essentially changed.
Oh, but when Adam ate it, everything changed. He goes from being a
genius to being an absolute idiot, to thinking that he can put fig
leaves on and God not see him. Adam was a, as far as men go, when he was
fresh from the creating hand of God, you ain't never seen
anybody like him. But after he fell, just a dummy like me, a dummy. God sent forth his son made of
a woman and also made under the law. Christ is the lawgiver and
yet he is made under obligation to honor and keep the law of
God which he did perfectly without one single failure whatsoever. This is essential because by
it he earns for his people an everlasting righteousness. Righteousness
can be had no other way. Christ is our righteousness. Verse 5 explains this a bit further. He's made of a woman, made under
the law, watch this now, to redeem them that were under the law. Who's under the law? Every son
and daughter of Adam from the beginning of time to the end
of time. We're all under the law. But preachers, some people hadn't
even heard of the Ten Commandments. It doesn't matter what they haven't
heard, they've heard enough. If you read Ephesians 1, they
knew God's eternal power and Godhead, and did not like it
but hated it. To redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, of God's
true children. Now how do we get to that? Adoption. Adoption. We weren't born into it naturally.
We're adopted. Well, who does God adopt? The
very same people He gave to Christ in the covenant of grace and
old eternity. Now that's hard to believe, I
know. But the next statement is equally, if not more so. Verse
6. Now listen up. This is really,
really, really important. And because you are sons, and
ladies, you're daughters, Because you are, God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Father,
Father, Daddy, Daddy. Now, did you hear that? We do not wait until our conversion
to become sons of God, adopted sons of God. What the gospel
does in time is simply reveals who those persons are that were
adopted in old eternity. You cannot take a child of the
devil and make him a child of God. You can take people that act
like children of the devil and they can become the children
of God if indeed they are the adopted sons and daughters through
Christ Jesus. But this plainly says, because
you are sons, God sends the Holy Spirit to you personally, especially,
to convert you, to give you the gifts of faith and repentance,
and to make you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I
know that ain't what we heard. I lived a long time before I
ever knew this verse. Probably this whole chapter was
in the Bible. You just went around stuff like
that and said, oh, that's past tense, you know, out of date.
That doesn't concern me. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Let's look at verse 7. Wherefore,
you are no more a servant. Well, Paul still calls himself
a slave, a bond slave of Christ. And believers in the New Testament
continue to refer to themselves as the servants of Christ. Now
the new religion that's abroad in our day says, oh no, we've
left servanthood, we are somebody. No, you ain't. Christ is somebody
and you and I are nobodies. And the only people that know
that are the people that are in Him. Before that, we acted like somebody,
but we weren't somebody's. And that's what religion is.
It is an act. It's an act. You're no more a servant, but
a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. How be it then, when you knew
not God, You did service unto them which
are by nature aren't even a real God. The God that we worship
is a reflection of ourselves. I mean until we're actually saved
and converted. We're born worshiping our own
selves. Oh, I know we called him Jesus
and, you know, we honored his birthday and had a big to do
at Easter and all this kind of stuff and just Verse 9, but now after that you
have known God, or Paul restates that, rather are known of God. We know Him as a result of Him
knowing us. It ain't the other way around. How? He's talking specifically
now to the Galatians, though this statement ought to be directed
to each one of us. How turn you again to the weak
and beggarly elements? To the very same thing that is
used to motivate lost people, enticing them, promising them. How turn you again to the weak
and beggarly elements of this world? Whereunto you desire again to
be in bondage, go back to what we were before Christ. You observe
days and months and times and years. I don't know if there's
a Sunday left in the calendar. I don't know, but what every
52 Sundays out of the year, religion has got something going on and
it ain't Christ. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Youth
Day, Women's Day, Men's Day, this day and that day, but never
Christ Day. Paul says, I'm afraid of you,
lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain. Now how about going
back with me just for a minute here. Good gracious, that's awful. Terrible. Let's go back to verse 6 in this
fourth chapter, just a second please. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying,
Abba, Father, Abba, Father. Put your finger here. Now, if
you don't want to turn, it doesn't matter to me. I mean, but if
you don't, you know, if you don't take all day, I'll wait for you.
John chapter 8. John chapter 8. The 8th chapter
of John is quite a statement. The very beginning of the chapter
down through verse 11, the Jews drag a woman into the presence
of Christ where he's in the temple complex and he's teaching some
folks that are gathered around him. They drag this poor woman
right in front of him. And they said, we found her in
the act of adultery. Moses said, stone her to death. What do you say? Now if he says,
don't stone her, let her go, what happens to the Word of God? That's why they did it, to publicly
embarrass Him. Our Lord When they first came,
he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then they kept persisting
and he wrote on it again. And finally he said, let him
that is without sin cast the first stone. And beginning at the oldest to
the youngest, they walked away. And our Lord said to her, where
are your accusers? He said, where are your accusers?
Has no man condemned you? And she said, no man, Lord. And
our Lord said, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. I can't touch that this morning. I would like to, but I want you
to look in John chapter 8. Same persons now, same day, same
place. These people are beginning now
to be a bit on the argumentative side. So in verse 30, It says, as he spoke these words
concerning himself as the light of the world, many believed on
him. So the Lord Jesus said to those Jews, verse 31, that believed
on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free. Uh-oh, he touched a nerve. They said to him, we want you
to know we ain't never been anything but free. Our Lord said, if you're a sinner,
you're a slave to sin. Then he adds in verse 36, if
the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And that just set their field
on fire. Now starting at verse 43, they're
still carping and hollering and trying their best to get him
to make a mistake. So the Lord Jesus said to them
in verse 43, Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. Here's what I was coming here
for. The next statement says what? You are of your father
the devil. Now listen to me. The devil has
never been a believer's father. Ain't no question but what he
ruled us. But he did not own us. We were his slaves to be
sure. But he's not our father. You are of your father the devil,
verse 44, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because
there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, you don't believe me." Because he tells the truth, we
don't believe him. Which of you convinces me of
sin, our Lord said, and if I say the truth, why do you not believe
me? Now watch this, he that is of God, he that is a son of God, hears God's words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. Why did Paul say the Lord had
adopted the Galatian believers? That same verse now, verse 6
in Galatians 4. Because you are sons. I don't know if we can ever get
this completely out of our mind or not. Determining who those people are that are
truly saved is not closing your eyes and just throwing trinkets
out and if a person catches one, he's been elected. No. God's election took place before
this world. There wasn't even a human being.
There wasn't even a sinner. And it's not hit and miss. It's
not by perchance. It's by God's eternal purpose
of grace. As many, I believe this is Acts
13.48, as many as, oh it just left me,
I'll get it. Let that be my last one. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. And that's how it is. And if
my view is different from that, then what I think makes no difference
because it's wrong. It's wrong. God never deviates
from what he put in this book. Never. Everything serves his
eternal purpose. And this book is Christ from
Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22, whatever the last verse of that
is.

Exposition of Galatians

What does the Bible say about salvation by grace?

How do we know the doctrine of justification by faith is true?

Why is the law important for Christians?

What does it mean to be adopted as children of God?

Why is relying on Christ alone for salvation crucial?

Sermon Transcript

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Exposition of Galatians

What does the Bible say about salvation by grace?

How do we know the doctrine of justification by faith is true?

Why is the law important for Christians?

What does it mean to be adopted as children of God?

Why is relying on Christ alone for salvation crucial?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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