Is not that I did choose thee? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. In Galatians chapter 5, verse
6, Paul the Apostle makes this very important statement. He said, For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, which worketh by love. Now there are not three more
important words than these three words for in Jesus Christ. Every aspect of the gospel, every
aspect of the salvation of God, every aspect of the is found
in these three words, in Jesus Christ. Now, that's not hype. That's not overkill. That's not
over the top. That's fact. There are no more
three important words than these, and you and I will not understand
the gospel apart from some understanding of these three words, in Jesus
Christ. Now what does that mean? In Jesus
Christ is the same thing as union with Christ. In union, the two
become one. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, Hebrews 2.11, for the
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Now, in
the simple ordinance of baptism, the Bible's got a lot to say
about this thing of baptism, and the word simply means immersion. If you're baptized, you're immersed
under the water. In baptism, we're seeing what
union with Christ means. When I'm baptized, I'm saying
this. When Christ lived, I lived because
I was in him. When Christ died, I died because
I was in him. When Christ was raised from the
dead, I was raised from the dead because I was in him. That's
what we're saying in Christian baptism. Now this thing of in
Jesus Christ is not a New Testament concept only. It's also taught
in the Old Testament. In Isaiah chapter 45 verse 24,
surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. even to him shall all men come,
and all that are incensed him shall be ashamed. In the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."
Now, this is illustrated in so many different ways in the Old
Testament. For instance, in the creation,
we read in verse 26 of Genesis chapter 1. And God said, let
us make man in our image after our likeness. Let them, speaking
of Adam and Eve, have dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all
the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth. So God created man in his own image In the image of
God created he him, male and female created he them. Now there in Genesis 1 it says
male and female created he them, but Eve didn't come along until
the end of Genesis chapter 2 when she was taken out of Adam. But because she was in Adam,
it was said male and female created he them, because they were united
and she was in him. So when he was created, she was
said to be created as well. What about Noah's Ark? You know
the story. If you were in the ark, you were
safe and you were secure. If you were outside of the ark,
you were judged by God and drowned. Only those in the ark were saved. When Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek
in Genesis chapter 14, we read in Hebrews chapter 7 that his
great-grandson Levi paid tithes as well because Levi was in the
loins of his great-grandfather Abraham when Abraham paid those
tithes so that when Abraham paid those tithes, Levi did as well.
Now, if I'm in Christ, when he kept the law, I did as well. When he died, I did as well because
I was in him. And what about the Passover?
If you were in one of the homes with the blood over the door,
you were safe and you were secure. If you were outside of one of
those homes with the blood over the door, you were not safe and
you were not secure. The only place of safety is in
the house with the blood. And God said, when I see the
blood, I will pass over you. We're given six cities of refuge
in the Old Testament where if a man had killed someone accidentally,
the nearest relative of the man who was killed had the right
to kill that man unless he could get into the cities of refuge. And once he got into the city
of refuge, he was safe and secure only as long as he stayed in
the city of refuge. Now, in Christ Jesus is the greatest
desire of every believer's heart. I simply want to be found in
Him. That's what Paul said in Philippians
chapter 3, 9. He said, Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. I simply want to
be found in Christ so that all God sees when He sees me is He
sees Christ and me in Him. There are so many scriptures
regarding this. In Romans 3, verse 24, we read,
"...being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." Justification. What a glorious word. If I'm
justified, that means I have no guilt before God. It means
I've always done that which is right, and I've never done that
which is wrong. That's what justification means. Justification is in Christ.
Redemption, the forgiveness of sins, is in Christ. Romans 8.1
says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. Paul said in Romans 8.39, nothing
shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 1.2, we read
that we're sanctified in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1.30, He's made
unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us these
things. In 1 Corinthians 15, 22, we read,
in Adam all die, in Christ shall all be made alive. And in 2 Corinthians
1, 20, we read that all the promises of God in him are yea and amen. Nothing conditional, nothing,
I'll do this if you'll do that. They're yea, they're all positive,
they're all sure. In 2 Corinthians 5, 17, we read,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are
passed away, behold, all things have become new. I'm a new creation
in Christ Jesus. I have a new history, and it's
all good. II Corinthians 5.19 says, God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. And
then we read in II Corinthians 11.3 of the simplicity that's
in Christ, the singleness, the wholeness. You cannot have him,
if you have him, you cannot have him and have anything else. You
can only have the simplicity that's in Christ. And if you
have anything else, you do not have him. Listen, if all you
have is Christ, you've got all you need because of the simplicity
that's in Christ Jesus. You know, when Paul was talking
about his experience of going into the third heavens, he said,
I knew a man in Christ. That was his only identification
of himself. I knew a man in Christ. Oh, that
first chapter of Ephesians. We read God has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as
he has chosen us in him. Election is in Christ. God doesn't
just Pick people out. No, the people He chooses to
be saved are the people that are in the Lord Jesus Christ,
eternally united in Him. Ephesians 1.6 says we're accepted
in the Beloved. Ephesians 2.6 says we're seated
together in the heavenly places in Christ. I'm already there
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Ephesians 3, verse 12 says, In
whom we have boldness and confidence with access by the faith of Him. Oh, all of God's blessing, everything
God has for the sinner is in Christ Jesus. Colossians 2, verses
9 and 10 says, In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and you are complete. You lack nothing in Him. All of God's salvation, all God
has for the sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe
that? Well, it's so. God will not speak
to nor be spoken to apart from Christ, but in Christ I have
all of God's blessing. I have all of God's favor. God said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased." Now notice he didn't say, with
whom I'm well pleased. He said, in whom I am well pleased. And that's why Paul said, oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in him. Listen to this. We read in 1 John 3, beginning
in verse 4, sin is the transgression of the law, and he was manifested
that he might take away our sins, and in him is no sin. That means if I'm in him, I have
no sin. John said in 1 John 5.20, and
we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we may know him that's true, And we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. And this
is eternal life. Last scripture I'm going to give
you regarding this thing of being in Christ. The Lord Jesus said,
these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have
peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. good cheer, for I have overcome
the world." All of God's favor, all of God's blessing, every
doctrine in the Bible is only understood and received and rejoiced
in, in light of, in Jesus Christ. Now, back to our text in Galatians
chapter 5, Paul said, for in Jesus Christ, Neither circumcision
avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Now, what is Paul talking about
when he says in Christ Jesus circumcision doesn't avail anything?
Well, by circumcision, he means salvation by law, salvation by
what you do. If you'll remember in Acts chapter
15, some men came saying that you needed to be circumcised
and keep the law along with faith in Christ. And Paul and Peter
all said no to that. We believe that by the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they.
We don't believe that any human activity has anything to do with
causing God's salvation. Now, I believe in circumcision
if I believe salvation is dependent upon an act of my free will.
That's circumcision. That's making salvation in some
way dependent on what I do. I believe in circumcision if
I believe I can make myself more holy and more pleasing to God
by the things that I do and the things that I avoid. That's circumcision. If I believe that I can earn
a higher reward in heaven because of the good works I've done here
on earth, that's circumcision. That's adding something to the
work of Christ. And that's what circumcision
is. It's adding to the work of Christ. It's not Christ alone,
it's Christ and. Christ and what I've done. Christ
and what I've given up. Christ and what I've stopped
doing. Christ and what I've started doing. No, it's Christ alone. In Christ Jesus, circumcision
avails absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, Paul put
it this way in Galatians 5, verse 2, You can forget Christ if you
think salvation is in any way dependent upon what you do. You
can just forget Christ. He'll profit you nothing. And
here's what else if you be circumcised. He says, for I testify again
to every man that circumcised that he's a debtor to do the
whole law. If any part of your salvation
is dependent upon you, that means it's all dependent upon you.
And you've got to keep all of God's holy law perfectly. Not merely the Ten Commandments,
but there are over 600 commandments in the Old Testament that you
must keep perfectly if you're circumcised. And then he says
in verse 4, Christ has become no effect unto you, whosoever
you are that are circumcised. There's no saving benefits for
you whatsoever in the saving work of Christ. He says, you
are fallen from grace. You know, I've heard people say
when someone has some kind of moral failure, they say they've
fallen from grace. No, they haven't. You have. Grace
is the only hope they have. You're the one who's fallen from
grace and left grace. Now, if you be circumcised, all
these horrible, horrible things will take place. Now, notice
what he says once again. For in Jesus Christ, neither
circumcision avails anything, your works, Look what he says
next. Nor uncircumcision. Somebody says, I know you can't
be saved by your works. I believe that salvation by works
is impossible. I don't believe in free will
or works or deeds or duties saving anybody. I don't believe that
for a second. I don't believe in circumcision. Well, good.
I'm glad you don't. But you know how much that avails
with God? Not a thing. For in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. Now that
word avail means has power with, has power with. God does not
respond. It has no power with God to anything
you do, anything you don't do. There's only one thing that avails
with God. And that one thing is faith. Faith which works by love. Now, hear what he says. For in
Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. Now let me give you three examples
of this in the scriptures. There's a man by the name of
Bartimaeus. lying Bartimaeus, sitting on the highway side,
begging. And our Lord is on his way to Jerusalem, and many people
are calling his name, many people. Jesus this, Jesus that. He doesn't
stop, but he hears a cry. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And the scripture says Jesus
stood still. Why? Because this was the cry
of faith. He went on to say to Bartimaeus,
thy faith hath saved thee. Now you can say all kinds of
things to God and he's not gonna hear. You can make all kinds
of promises and talk about all the things you're gonna do and
he's not gonna listen. But oh, if you ever believe,
that the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only hope
you have, and you look to him only, that avails with God. God gave you that faith in the
first place, and that avails with God. Let me give another
instance. The Lord is moving once again
through a thronging crowd, and suddenly he says, who touched
me? who touched me. Now, he knew who had touched
him, but he wanted her to confess what took place. But when he
said, who touched me, Peter answered him and said, Master, the multitudes
throng thee as thou passest by. And sayest thou, who touched
me? Why, you've been touched by hundreds,
thousands of people. Why are you saying this, who
touched me? You see, Peter did not know that
there was a woman in this crowd who had touched him with the
touch of faith. You see, this woman had an issue
of blood, and you can read about this in three of the gospels.
She had an issue of blood. She had a menstrual disease,
and she'd become very weak, and she'd spent all her money on
many physicians, and the scripture said she was nothing bettered,
but rather grew worse. Then the Lord gave her faith,
and she said, if I can just touch the hem of his garment, if I
can come into contact with him, I'll be whole. And so she crawled
through that press, through that crowd, with so many people calling
his name and touching him, but she touched him with the touch
of faith, and immediately she was made whole. And the Lord
said, daughter, go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole. I'm going to read a passage from
Matthew 9. I just gave you some quick summaries of what took
place there, but in Matthew chapter 9, I think this is a good definition
as to what faith really is that you're going to find anywhere
in the Word of God. We read beginning in verse 27
of Matthew chapter 9, and when Jesus departed thence, two blind
men followed him. Now, how could a blind man follow
somebody? He was going by his hearing. That's the only way
a blind man can follow somebody. They're going by the voice they
hear. And they were crying, saying,
Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. Now, let me tell you three things
about these two blind men. Number one, they were blind. They could not see. But number two, they knew who
Christ was. They knew he was the son of David. They knew he was God's promised
Messiah. And number three, These two blind
men, who knew who Christ was, the Son of David, God's promised
Messiah, they knew that mercy was in His hands to give or to
withhold. They didn't come demanding mercy.
You don't seek mercy saying, give this to me because I'm asking
for it. They knew it was in His sovereign hands to give or to
withhold. They knew He was the Christ.
And they knew the only hope they had was that He would decide
to give mercy to them. They had some understanding of
who Christ really was. This is God. This is the God-man. This is God's Christ. This is
the one who has salvation in His hands. This is the one who,
if He's pleased, He can have mercy on us. Now, they knew this
regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go on reading. Verse
28. And when He was come into the
house, the Lord Jesus, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said
unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this. Now here is the very essence
of saving faith. They answered, Yea, Lord, we
believe that you're able to do this. Now, here is what avails
with God. You see that you're nothing but
blind. You can't see one reason in yourself why God would ever
do anything for you because of your sinfulness, but you also
believe that He is the Christ. You believe that mercy is in
His hand. He can save you if He's pleased
to do so. and you believe he's able to save you without any
help from you. You have the same faith that
Abraham had when he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully
persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform. Now that's saving faith. It's
believing his ability. I believe there's such power
in his blood that if he died for me, I must be saved because
if he died for me, those sins are put away. I believe that
his righteousness is the only righteousness there is. And I
believe he's able to save me without any help from me. Do you believe that? I'm relying
on that. That's the only place I'm looking.
I'm looking to what He did alone. Hebrews 1, 3 says, when He had
by Himself, oh I love that, when He had by Himself purged our
sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. You see, he sat down because
the work was finished, and I am relying on him who finished the
work, and that's what avails with God. For in Christ Jesus,
circumcision doesn't avail anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith. But hold on. It's a particular
kind of faith, faith which worketh by love. Not the kind of faith
devils have where James said, you believe there's one God,
you do well. The devils believe the same thing and they tremble.
But the faith which works by love. Now, what's the point? If you believe on Christ, You
can't help but love him. You can't help but love the object
of your faith. Love is the other side of faith.
Where there's faith, there's love. Where there's love, there's
faith in Christ. It's a faith that works by love.
It's not a faith that works by fear of punishment. It's not
a faith that works by hope for reward. That's in the realm of
the unbeliever. No, no, faith in Christ. Faith
works by love, gratefulness to Him. You see, if He's done something
for you, and if He has saved you, you love Him, and your great
desire is to please Him. Now, in Christ Jesus, circumcision
avails nothing. nor uncircumcision, but faith
which works by love." Now, this is the kind of faith I want,
not a dead, dry, empty notion of giving assent to a few facts.
but a faith that completely, wholly, and entirely relies upon
the Lord Jesus Christ only, plus nothing, minus nothing, looking
to Him only, and that loves His person. For in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. Now we have this message on DVD
or CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com
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