I'm still in the second chapter.
I thought I was going to be in chapter 3 this morning, but I've
found that I have to finish a tremendously important statement that is found
in the second chapter. So let's just simply take, as
I were reading this morning, Galatians chapter 2. It's difficult
to underestimate I'm sorry to overestimate the importance of
the book of Galatians. From all six of its chapters,
it is a portion of the Word of God that identifies with our
particular day and time in a way that few other churches and letters
to the churches in our Bibles fit us. And that is The problem
among the Galatian churches, this is not just one congregation,
it is several. I don't know how many over a
province, like a county we would call it. Simply put, people were coming
to these churches that had been founded on Christ plus nothing. simply and only the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And people who are identified
elsewhere in our Bibles as Judaizers, that is, people of the Jewish
religion who represented themselves as being followers of Christ,
were urging these Galatian congregations to add Moses to Christ. Yes, Christ is our Savior, but
you must keep the law. And Paul, in this letter beyond
all others, is as straightforward, as simple, and as powerful as
words can possibly be. I'm going to try to read as much
of chapter 2 without comment, but I know at certain places
I'll have to stop. Let's begin at verse 1. I want
you to see the whole pattern that's set forth in this chapter. Galatians 2, verse 1, Then fourteen
years after, or later, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
and took Titus with me also. What did he go for? Here it is. And I went up by revelation,
that is, God manifested to Paul how? I do not know. His purpose
for him to go to Jerusalem. And communicated unto them that
gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them
which were of reputation. that is, the leaders of the church
in Jerusalem, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain. But neither Titus, who was with
me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, and that because
of false brethren, unawares, brought in. By the way, the statement
in verse 3 is not to be taken that Titus was circumcised. It
is to be taken exactly opposite. He was not circumcised. And that
because, verse 4, because of false brethren, that is people
claiming to be followers of Christ who were not, unawares brought
in who came in privately, secretly to spy out our liberty, which
we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage,
the bondage of the law. to whom we gave place by subjection,
know not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue
with you, the Galatians. But of those who seem to be somewhat,
speaking now of the leaders, whatsoever they were, it makes
no matter to me, God accepts no man's person. For they who
seem to be somewhat in conference in discussions added nothing
to me, but on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel of the
uncircumcision was committed unto me, unto Paul, as the gospel
of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that worked effectually
in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was
mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James Peter and John,
who seemed to be pillars, speaking of the church, perceived the
grace that was given unto me. They gave to me and Barnabas
the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen,
and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should
remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do. But
when Peter was come to Antioch," listen carefully, I withstood
him to the face. For before certain people came
from James, from Jerusalem, claiming to be from James, Peter ate with
the Gentiles. But the minute these characters
get here, he gets up from that table and segregates himself
with just Jews at that table. Before certain came from James,
he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come, he withdrew
and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision."
Can you imagine Peter being afraid? And the other Jews that were
in that congregation at Antioch, the other Jews dissembled likewise. They were caught up in it insomuch
that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
And 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 Gentiles and not as do the
Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Now the
remaining statements in the second chapter of Galatians address
that very issue. Is anything to be added to Christ
or is God's salvation Christ alone? Which is it? And what
dinky little work are you and me going to tack on to Christ's
work and say that it has part in our salvation? Whatever I
do, whatever you do, is contaminated with sin. And if it were not
for the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, God could not even take
notice of it, let alone make it a part of our salvation. Any view of our works to be laid
down beside the person and work of the Lord Jesus makes that
work, no matter how good it might be in itself, makes that work
a splendid sin, a glorified sin, a religious sin, namely self-righteousness. And if I remember somewhere in
my Bible it says God hates a proud look. Every one of us, until
God conquers us by His grace, are proud sinners. And to be
totally honest, we've still got plenty of pride left in us. If
it was dynamite, it would be enough to blow up a sizable place.
So look carefully now at the remainder of this chapter. I'm
losing time already. Here we go, verse 15. We who
are Jews by nature, Paul referring to himself, and not sinners of
the Gentiles, knowing, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, Yet these Judaizers were telling people,
you not only have to trust Christ, you have to keep the law. You
have to keep the law. Rather, he says in verse 16,
justification is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Guess what? Even faith cannot
be trusted as a work. Therefore, it is put in this
unusual fashion. Used three times, by the way,
in this chapter, and once, I believe, in the following chapter, and
a couple of more times in other places in the New Testament.
It does not say faith in Christ. It says the faith of Christ. You see, our faith is first His
because He is the author, sustainer, and finisher of it. as well as
its object, justified by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we
have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified, here
it is the second time, 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. Anywhere, anytime, anybody, no
flesh can be justified by law works. But if while we seek to
be justified, verse 17, by Christ, which is the only way to be justified,
we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister
of sin? God forbid. For if I build again
the things which I destroyed, If you want to look at a list
of what Paul destroyed, you go to Philippians 3, and he'll plainly
tell you. There about verses 4, 5, and
6, somewhere along in there, he tells you plainly what it
is that he destroyed. He counted them but done that
he might gain Christ. If I build again the things which
I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor, for I through the law, am dead
to the law that I might live unto God. How do you get free
from the law by being dead to the law? Go back to Romans 7
and look up the illustration that God the Holy Spirit gave
Paul to use in that place. He describes a woman who is married
to a man. If while she's married to that
man, she becomes married to another man, she becomes an adulteress. The man who marries her becomes
an adulterer. But if her husband dies, she's
free from the law. That's what the apostle has reference
to. I, through the law, am dead to
the law that I might live unto God. All of Christ's people died
when He died, were buried when He was buried, rose in His resurrection,
ascended in His ascension, and are seated in glory with Christ.
Right now, spiritually, this is our portion. Verse 19, For
I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto
God. This famous statement in verse
20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live, here it is for the third time, by the
faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That brings us to our text, verse
21. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. If you would kindly look at verse
21 again, Relations 2.21, three simple statements. The grace
of God righteousness of God and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not, the Apostle declares,
founded on what he's just told us in the preceding verses, I
do not frustrate the grace of God. Now I'll let you in on a
little secret just between you and me. We couldn't if we tried. God's grace, if it's anything
at all, is irresistible grace. If anybody ever tried to keep
himself from being converted, it was the very man that God
used to pen these words, Paul the Apostle. I mean, he wasn't
going to a prayer meeting when he met Christ on the road to
Damascus. The point is this, God's grace
is victorious grace. Newton said, it was grace that
taught my heart to fear. He's talking about being afraid
of going to hell. Grace taught me that. And grace,
my fears relieved. A whole bunch of folks love amazing
grace, but there ain't much amazement to it in their sight because
we don't understand what we're saying. We talk about being like
a wretch. That's a ship that's been shipwrecked
for so long that it barely has any structure left that's visible. That's you and me. We're dead
in trespasses and in sins. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. Rather, Paul in his preaching
exalted and magnified and glorified God's grace in Christ. Then he
says, For if righteousness come by the law, my goodness, how
many times has he told us just in the second chapter that it
doesn't. Righteousness does not come by the law. Righteousness
is God's gift in our Lord Jesus Christ who loved us and gave
Himself for us. And the third subject has to
do that if righteousness did come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Now let us pray. Lord, we come
again this morning to Your holy Word, to Your glorious gospel
of Your Son, a gospel that is all grace from beginning to end. Lord, we gather in this place
this morning with one purpose in mind, to honor and glorify
your holy name through the worship, the praise, and the preaching
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But Lord, the very best purpose
that we could conceive, we are helpless to bring to pass. Only you can truly make our gathering
in this place of eternal benefit to our never-dying souls. We beg of you in your precious
grace and mercy in Christ that you'd pay us a visit in this
place this morning and do for our poor souls what no preacher
in all the world can do. Show us the Lord Jesus in His
glory in His splendor, in His righteousness, in His shed blood. For without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of sins. Lord, we beg Your presence. Honor
Your Word. Lift up Your Son. Give us eyes
to see and ears to hear that we may understand. We beg for
Christ's sake. Now with these three things before
us in verse 21, the grace of God the righteousness of God
and the death of the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, here in
these three things is everything the sinner can possibly need. Hence the little chorus, He's
all I need. Secondly, not only all that the
sinner needs, But Christ is all that pertains to life and godliness. We cannot live before God except
we live in Christ. As Paul put it in verse 20 of
this same chapter, Christ, he said, lives in me. Christ lives
in me. And that's the secret to life
eternal. Let's take just a second. I know
I'm going to wind up without enough time, but if you'll look
at John chapter 17, just for one second. If you don't want
to turn, I won't get upset. I'm improving. I used to throw
books, you know, but I quit that. John 17. One single verse in
John 17. Here's what we're looking for. Christ Himself. His person and
His work is all that pertains to life and godliness. Verse 3, and this is life eternal. These are the Savior's own words,
by the way, talking to His Father in heaven. This is life eternal,
that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom you have sent to have eternal life is to know God through Jesus
Christ. There are many other places here
that we could go to, but the third thing has to do with this.
These three things in verse 21 of Galatians chapter 2, now see
if you can get a hold of this. This is so very, very important. If we ever see this, It will
make a world of difference just in our regular, everyday lives.
These three statements in Galatians 2.21, this is all that God requires. The grace of God, the righteousness
of Christ, and the death of the Son of God. That's all God demands. If you can ever see those things
in the precious person and work of the Lord Jesus, it will set
you free from your fears, from a guilty conscience, and a thousand
and one other things will just go up in smoke. Things that you
used to think were so important, all of a sudden in the light
of the Son of God, they're nothing. Now, when Paul speaks in the
first place here in this verse having to do with frustrating
the grace of God, and it's used in the negative sense that he
does not frustrate the grace of God, what does he mean in
trying to change the design and purpose of the grace of God? How do we do that if we were
to try to frustrate the grace of God? Here are some five different
things, and if I can get these covered, I'll be finished. I
mean, I could do some more, but that's as far as I'm going to
try to go. Not frustrating the grace of God means that we do
not treat it lightly or of minor importance. God's grace is everything
because God's grace is a person, and His name is the Lord Jesus.
He's everything to the Father and He's everything to His people,
made so by His grace. So we're not talking here when
we read this expression, the grace of God in Christ. We're not talking about things
of minor importance. This is where it all lies. How about looking to Romans chapter
10 for a second? Just one book back to your left. Actually three books back, but
it's not very many pages. Romans chapter 10. I don't know
why I thought I was in Corinthians all of a sudden. I do not frustrate
the grace of God by treating it lightly or of some minor importance. Here's why. Romans 10 verse 4. Verse 4. This is about as simple
as words can put it. For Christ is the end E-N-D. That means that's as far as it
goes. The end. The end of the law for
righteousness. Our quest to be righteous in
God's sight stops in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It doesn't
go one step further. It ain't Christ plus anything
else. He is all our righteousness. And He is the only righteousness
that God will accept. Therefore, verse 4, Romans 10,
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for whom? To
every one that believes. There is no such thing as a believer
for whom Christ is not his righteousness. Well, what about these special
Christians that live on a different level? All believers live entirely
on Christ. And I know there's a song in
our book that says higher ground, but I'm telling you there ain't
no higher ground than to be in Him. If we're in Him, we have
everything there is. God has nothing outside of His
Son. You mean He gave His only begotten
Son and He's left some choice rewards for us that we can have
if we go on beyond Christ? That's utter foolishness. It's
God's own book that puts Christ squarely before us in every aspect
of our life in Christ. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. Alright, coming
back to this matter of frustrating the grace of God, it has to do
with confusing and compromising God's grace, which is precisely
what the letter of Galatians is designed to expose and to
bring an end to. Because the Galatian believers
were contemplating adding The one act of obedience to the law
that would spell their putting themselves under the whole law
is if these Gentiles would be baptized because not only must
Christ die for their sins, but they must be circumcised. You
see that? And this whole letter is designed
to expose the utter folly of such a thought. You mean if what
Christ did on the tree is not enough to redeem me, something
my little puny self does can make His work effectual? That's
utter foolishness. It's ridiculous. That's what
Paul is saying. How about looking in regard to
this matter of mixing anything with Christ? I should have had
you remain in Romans 11. Romans chapter 11. And if there
were ever three chapters of Scripture back-to-back that needs our careful
study and reading, it would be Romans 9, 10, and 11. Because
Paul is basically answering the charge that is leveled against
him by his critics, that if his gospel is the true gospel, then
where is everybody, especially where are the Jews? Why is your
gospel believed by Gentiles but by so few Jews? And everywhere
the true gospel has ever gone, men have brought this objection
against it. You just look around you. We're
not many. I cannot change that. I can't make it go up or down.
I cannot save a man's soul, not even my own. God is the author
of salvation. And Christ is God's salvation. And that's what Paul is after
in that Galatian letter. Here in Romans chapter 11, here
are two statements. I don't have time to give you
what went before it and comes after it, so I'm just going to
have to read it. Romans 11.5, in reference to Elijah complaining
that he was the only one left, which is a problem for believers
of all time. We think, well, you know, we're
the only ones. Well, there's a whole lot that
goes on in this world that you and I don't know about. I imagine
things go on down the street and down the road and in whatever
town we don't know about. God doesn't tell us everything,
does He? Of course not. Even so then, just like it was
in Elijah's day, just like it was in Moses' day, and just like
it is in Paul's day, even so then, at this present time, right
now, today, this morning, September the 23rd, 19, no it ain't 19,
it's 2007. Oh my goodness. At this present time also, there
is a remnant. According to the election, there's
our word of grace. Grace. God saves purely and only
by grace. And if by grace, verse 6, then
it is no more of works, otherwise You have to change the meaning
of the word grace. Grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is
no more work. And I fear, dear friends, that
that is what has taken place in large measure when it comes
to the term grace. Somebody said, we've taken the
amazing out of amazing grace. I mean, everybody and his brother
sings it. Sing it on country and western, whatever you call
that, and every place you want to name. I mean, it's just something
we do. What I'm trying to say is this
grace that God has in Christ for poor, helpless, undeserving,
hell-deserving sinners is special, special, glorious. I suppose in the southern part
of the United States of America, especially among Baptists, one
of the worst things ever to take place in our churches, in the
one I grew up in and in this one, is that we somehow cover
up the nature of God's saving grace with emotional experiences. We learned how to set the stage
and just play on people's emotions. My whole life as a boy and a
teenager was spent like that. And even afterwards, then I myself
mimicked the same sorry junk for more years than I care to
remember. I did not know God and I did not know His grace
in His Son. But I was a church member. I
was baptized. I did this, that, and the other.
But I was lost. I didn't know it. One of the
ways by which this grace of God is compromised is by preaching
it purely as a system of doctrine or as a creed or in some circles
what confession do you all use? You know, do you use the Philadelphia
Confession or the London Baptist Confession? Which one of these
statements of faith do you belong to? I believe it was just last
Sunday. It might have been the Sunday
before. My goodness, it could be today's, that article by Spurgeon. Maybe that's where I read it. There is no summary of the faith
of a Christian that can encompass all believers except that word,
Christ. And that whole article bears
witness to what I'm trying to say. It might have been a previous
article that had that very expression in it. But when we preach it
beyond and different from what it actually is, this grace of
God in Christ is our life. And without it, we have no life
before God. We must be clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. Our sins can only be put away
by the bloodshedding of the Lord Jesus Christ. This Gospel is
where it all is. Alright, let's look at just two
or three more Scriptures here before we leave. Romans chapter
3. Romans the third chapter. And
I'm going to wait for you to get there because I want you
to see this. This grace and righteousness of God in Christ is the very
being and character of God. Everything God does must be becoming
of Him. That is, it must honor and magnify
His attributes, His character, His being. God, unlike us, does
not have to stoop beneath Himself in order to accomplish things.
He speaks and it's done. Just like when He made this world.
I read somewhere, somebody said in the Latin, where it says,
God said, let there be light. They're just two words. dictum,
factum, spoken, done. What I'm telling you this morning
is that's how God saves our poor souls. He speaks and it's done. It's not some rigmarole that
we have to jump through certain hoops and all of this stuff.
All we have to do is come to Christ. Now you can do that,
can't you? No, actually we can't. God certainly
brings us, doesn't He? When He gets through working
in here, we gladly come to Christ. We come running. Alright, did
you find Romans 3? Here's what we mean about the
grace and righteousness of God in Christ being the very being
and character of God. Verses 25 and 26 in Romans 3. Speaking of Christ, the two final
words in verse 24, is the word Christ Jesus, whom God has set
forth to be a propitiation. That is the same word as mercy
seat. All of God's mercy is in Christ
and in His death. Christ is the sacrifice that
satisfies through faith in His blood. To declare God's purpose
in Christ's death is to declare God's righteousness for the remission
of sins. When God remits sins, it always
honors His justice and satisfies His law. Put it in plain terms,
when it comes to saving our souls, God takes no shortcuts. He does it exactly as He has
purposed to do it because it must honor Him in every single
aspect. And that's what this is saying.
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past through the forbearance of God, through
the entire period of the Old Testament. And now in verse 26,
we come to the new, to declare, I say at this time, right now,
Paul says, when these words are penned, God's righteousness,
His righteousness, What is he after? Why does this matter? Oh, my dear friends, it matters
that he, second half of verse 26, that God might be just and
the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. That God might be righteous
and still make righteous those who believe in Christ. He becomes
just and justifier. That's why the sacrifice of Christ
must be perfectly proportioned to the number of persons that
He is to redeem in order that God's justice not be slighted
one iota. It's called God being just and
justifying the ungodly, the unrighteous. To declare, I say it this time,
God's righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of
him which believes in Jesus. All right, let's change from
Romans and turn, if you will, to Hebrews chapter 10. I'll make
one more point here and point you to a precious portion of
Scripture at the same time. Hebrews chapter 10. Now let me
give you an assignment. In the 10th chapter of the book
of Hebrews, The expression, no more, is used... I know four times. I don't remember
whether there's a fifth. I'll just go with four. I think
that's correct. Greg, you can check me out there.
I want you to see if you can find them. But don't do it right
now, please. In Hebrews chapter 10, this wonderful gospel of grace
is again being expounded, directed by the Spirit of God in verbal
inspiration. And the same man that wrote Galatians,
the same writer that God used to write Romans is also the penman
for the book of Hebrews. Here's the point that we make.
This grace and righteousness of God in Christ that must honor
and exalt and magnify God's being and His character is also the
testimony, the gospel of Christ is the testimony of the will
and purpose of God. Look at verse 10 in Hebrews chapter
10 and you'll run head on into that, talking about God's will
and purpose. By the which will? Now that's a strange expression,
but it simply means the will of God that Christ came into
this world to do. By the which will we are sanctified. That word means made holy. We
ain't talking about peanuts here now. We're talking about being
made righteous in God's sight. It's one thing for people to
think you're good, but if God says you're good, He has to make
you good in His Son because there is none good, no, not one. Romans
3 verse 10. Let me get back to Hebrews 10.
Verse 10. By the witch will we are sanctified. How? How are we made holy? Listen
carefully. Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Look at verse 12. But this man,
the Lord Jesus, after He had offered, get a hold of this,
one sacrifice for sins. Do you know how many were offered
in the Old Testament? Who can count? One sacrifice
for sins! Then this word, forever, forever. One time. Forever. And to show it, He sat down on
the right hand of God. Look at verse 14. For by one
offering, He, the Lord Jesus. I'm telling you, this means everything
you think it means. You cannot possibly over-define
what this Word is going to be. Perfect. Perfection. Verse 14. For by one offering,
He, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God and man, has perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now you, how do you add to that? My goodness, that's just, that's
beyond comprehension. That's what the book says. That's
what God says. That's what the Lord Jesus says.
That's what the Holy Spirit says. Okay, let's turn in our hymnals
to 219.