We should turn back to Galatians
chapter three. Let's read this seventh verse
again. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. Now I've entitled this message,
They which are of faith. Question. What in the world does
that mean? To be of faith. I can grasp they which have faith
are the children of Abraham or they which possess faith are
the children of Abraham, but what does this mean to be of
faith? Now, the preposition of, in the
original, it's ek, E-K, epsilon, I can't remember the names of
them, but ek. It always has to do with origin,
where you're from. It means from or of. Listen to this, he that is of
God. heareth God's words. You therefore
hear them not, because you're not of God. The Lord said concerning
his people, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world. I want you to think of the import
of that statement. He says regarding every believer, they are not
of the world. They're just not from here. They're
not from here. even as I am not from here. I am not of this world. He said to one group of people,
you are of your father the devil. That's where you're from. And
the less of your father you'll do. He was the murderer from
the beginning and didn't abide in the truth. Look in Galatians chapter 3 verse
2, this only would I learn of you, receive ye the Spirit by
the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Look in verse
5, he therefore that ministers to you the Spirit and workest
miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or
by the hearing of faith. Now, right now, we have as our
origin, the place where we're from, our hometown as it were. is either works or faith. Where are you from? Where are you from? You from
works or you from faith? Now, faith, we are relying on something
that's already done. Works, we're looking upon something
we have done that we're relying on. Now, works and faith are
opposed to one another. They are incongruent. They cannot
dwell together. They cannot be peaceable with
each other. They're not in agreement. They're
discordant. They're incompatible. They're
unmixable. They're uncongenial. They don't
like each other. You understand that? Works and
grace cannot dwell together. You're either from one or you're
from the other. He says, know this, only they
which are of faith are children of Abraham. You're not a child
of Abraham by having his genes, but by having his faith. They
which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Now, if I am of faith, Paul says, they which are of faith, I want
to be one of these people, don't you? Now, if I am of faith, I am completely
relying on who Christ is and what he has done as all that
God requires of me to enter glory. Are you of faith? I am completely relying on someone who has already done
something and there's nothing for me to do. That's what it means to be of
faith. There was a man by the name of
Charlie Payne in the church I grew up at at 13th Street, and he
was dying. And he was getting ready to go
into a surgery that it was not very likely that he'd make it
through it. And Henry Mahan asked him this question. He said, well,
are you ready to die? And he, in fact, did die after
this surgery. He didn't make it through it.
He had severe heart problems. And Henry said, are you ready
to die? And he said, if what you told
me is so, I am. If I am of works, that means
I believe there's something that I must do that's dependent upon
me before I can enter into glory. I will be in heaven because I
fill in the blank, whatever it is. I will be in heaven because
I, and that is salvation by works, And if you believe that, you
are of the works of the law. Look in verse 10 of Galatians
chapter 3. For as many as are of the works of the law, that's
where they're from. That's their hometown. That's where they trace
their origin. Works, that's how I'm saved.
It has something to do with something that I've done. As many as are
of the works of the law are what? Under the curse. That's a sobering statement,
isn't it? They're under the curse. Faith, being of faith, is completely
relying on that one who justifies the ungodly. Turn back to Romans
chapter 4 for a moment. Paul's saying pretty much the
same thing in Romans 4 that he says in Galatians 3, and he's
speaking of Abraham, and he says, what shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pretending to the flesh, hath found? For if
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory. He
could say, well, I'm saved because I did this, but not before God. You know, somebody says, well,
I'm saved because at least I received Christ. Somebody else didn't
receive him, so at least I made a difference in making, I received
him, so but, oh. People even make the reception
of Christ a work. Takes grace to receive Christ.
Don't you know that? You can't even receive him without
his grace. And every believer knows that.
A man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. Verse three, for what saith the
scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. Now, to him that worketh is the
reward, heavenly glory, not reckoned of grace. It's not the gift of
grace, but it's a debt, a debt that God owes you. But to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now would that describe you?
And here's somebody that's of faith. They work not. They know there is no way they
can do anything to achieve God's favor. They work not. Oh, they want to walk with Him.
This doesn't mean they're indifferent or uncaring about walking with
Christ. They want to walk with the living
Christ. They want to honor Him. But you know what manifests this?
They work not. They work not. They work not,
but they believe on Him who justifies the ungodly. That's what it is
to be of faith. You believe on him that justifies
the ungodly. I love the way the gospel is
called in Galatians 3, the hearing of faith. Romans 10, 17 says,
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Now,
this thing of being of faith, I want to look at some places
in the scripture where that phrase is mentioned because it has to
do with origins. And I want to see if that's my
hometown. I want to see if I can trace my origin to faith. I want
to see if I'm somebody who's of God. I think that passage
of Scripture is so powerful. He that's of God heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not because
you're not of God. Am I somebody of God that's of
God? Is he my origin? Do I trace my
roots to him? Or is it works? I look in Romans
chapter 10. Verse 6, but now the righteousness
which is of faith. There's that phrase of faith. The preposition, its origin is
faith. The righteousness which is of
faith speaketh on this wise. It's got something to say. Say
not in your heart who shall ascend into heaven. That is bring Christ
down from above. Don't say in your heart. Tells
you first what not to say. Don't even think what can I do
to get Christ to come down and do something for me. That is
works. Or, who shall descend into the
deep? That is to bring up Christ again
from the dead. Don't say, what can I do to get
his death to work for me? Don't say that. Strike that from
your thinking. But what sayeth it? The word
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the
word of faith. which we preach, that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus." You really believe
He's the Lord? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Lord? And I don't mean some empty title. I mean He's
the Lord. That means He controls everything
and everybody, every event, every demon, every angel, every grain
of dust. He controls salvation. He controls
damnation. He's in control of everything.
He's the Lord. I love Him being Lord, don't
you? If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead.
Do you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead? That He actually died on Calvary's tree, and God raised
Him from the dead? You know why He died. He died
because the sins of God's elect became His sins. He became guilty.
He was raised because He did complete satisfaction. He justified
everybody He died for. And you believe? God raised Him
from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Don't you
love the simplicity of that? Don't talk about what you need
to do. I need to do this to get Christ to do something for me.
No, you don't. The word's neither. It's in your heart right now.
The word of faith which we preach. Look back to Romans chapter 3,
verse 27. This could be called the conclusion
of faith. Faith's got a conclusion. Paul says in verse 27, where
is boasting then? It's excluded. It's cut out. You can't boast in anything.
You can't say, well, I'm saved because I fill in the blank.
You can't do that. You can't boast in one single
thing, nor do you want to. You don't want to. Where is boasting
then? It's excluded by what law of
works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Faith is a law. It's a principle in the nature
of the believer. It's the very nature of the believer
to rely only on Christ, and their soul recoils at the thought of
giving up flesh. You need the credit. They find
that offensive. That's the law of faith. You
know, the laws of nature. A believer has a law of faith.
When you believe God, you're obeying your new nature. Did
you know that? That's your new nature doing that. It's a law,
it's a principle within you. You must look to Christ only
and you can't find any rest or comfort or joy anywhere else.
It's called the law of faith. Verse 28, therefore we conclude. Here's faith's conclusion. We
conclude that a man is justified by faith. And that word by is
actually the same preposition eck or of. A man is justified
of faith without the deeds of the law. Without the deeds of
the law. Romans 1 17. Verse 16, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it, the gospel, is the power
of God unto salvation. I love that. You know, all you
gotta do is preach the gospel and just let it loose. Wait and
see what he does with it. Nothing we can do with it, but
he certainly works with it. It's the power of God unto salvation.
I remember Joe Terrell was once commenting on this. He says,
what do you do with the tiger? If you want it to do its work,
just let it out and see what happens. Just let it out. Nothing
you need to do. You don't need, doesn't need
your help. Just let it out and let it performance work. The
gospel is the power of God into salvation. That's a, that's a
glorious thing to me to think about that the Lord is working.
His gospel is the power of God into salvation. Verse 17. For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. As it's written, the just shall
live by faith. And that word by, once again,
is of. It's the Greek preposition ek. It's the just shall live of faith.
Now you know what that tells me? I can't live off my works. If that's what I gotta do, I'll
die. I cannot. live off my works. I can only
live by looking to Christ alone. Isaiah 45, 22, God says, look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. And if
you put anything between looking and being saved, I will die.
I can't live off anything but Christ only. I can't live off
Christ and my works. Can't do it. You give me something
to do that I need to do to make myself better or whatever it
is. I don't care what it is. I'll die. I can't handle that. All I can live off is faith in
Christ only. Looking to Him only. And you
know what? I never get tired of this. It
doesn't get old. It doesn't get boring. It doesn't
get stale. Oh, I love the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I look to Him only. Right now, He only is my salvation. He only. I can't live off anything
else. Now, this statement is found
in the Bible four times. The just shall live by faith. The justified. Those who are
just before God, those who are righteous before God because
God has declared them to be just, they live. They have spiritual
life. Paul said, I live, yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live,
I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me. The just can only live by faith.
They can't live off their works. What if you were called upon
to live off how much progress you were making in holiness and
righteousness and goodness and those things? Why, you'd be so
discouraged. You know, I was listening to
a guy preach this week. It freaked me out. He was preaching on the
fine linen, clean white, the righteousness which is of the
saints. And he said, regarding this fine linen, he said, everybody's
going to have a different robe, because that robe is made up
of the works of your personal obedience here on earth. It's
the righteousness of the saints. It's their works. And everyone
will have a different robe. And this guy was a, quote, Calvinist,
too. And he said, but you know, you're
going to like this, because all these good things that you've
done that nobody knows about now, they'll find out then. I
thought, man, I mean, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? No,
the just can't live off some kind of robe that he spends here
on earth that's going to give him some kind of higher reward
in heaven. No, he lives only by faith in the Son of God. I've already read in Romans 10.6
of the righteousness of faith. Now, that doesn't mean faith
is my righteousness before God. You know that. Faith is not a
substitute for righteousness. There is only one righteousness. Amen? The righteousness of Jesus
Christ the Lord. His righteousness is the only
righteousness there is. Do you believe that? In Psalm
71 verse 16, David said, I've made mention of thy righteousness,
even thine only. The Lord said in Psalm 40, these
are the direct words of the Lord. He said, I preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I've not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest I've not hid thy righteousness within
my heart. You see, the only righteousness
there is, is the perfect obedience, the law keeping of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And his righteousness is the
righteousness that's imputed to the believer. And it becomes
mine. Just as my sin became his sin,
his righteousness becomes my very righteousness. Now that's
the fine linen, clean and white. The righteousness which is of
the saints. That's the righteousness and merits of the Lord Jesus
Christ. My wedding garment. My fine covering. Now, this is the righteousness
given in regeneration. You're given a new nature, His
nature, partakers of the divine nature. Whatever you're talking
about, it is His righteousness. This is the righteousness that
Noah was a preacher of. The scripture calls him, Noah,
a preacher of righteousness. Now he wasn't the one saying,
man, you guys need to live right or you're gonna get flooded and
drown. No, no, he preached the righteousness of Christ as the
only righteousness that God would accept. The righteousness that's
found in the ark in Christ. Lot, Lot, that man Lot, brother
Lot. He's called that righteous man
with a righteous soul. Now, if we looked at the Old
Testament account, we wouldn't have made that confession concerning
him. We wouldn't have said that about
him, but that's what God says because of the very righteousness
of faith. Turn to Romans chapter 4. Therefore it, the inheritance,
eternal glory, therefore it is of faith that it might be by
grace. It's of faith that it might be
by grace. Now, the only way salvation can
be all of grace is if it's all of faith. It's that simple. The only way it can be all of
grace is if it is all of faith. The law, Paul tells us, is not
a faith. Now somebody might think, what
do you mean by grace? Or what does the Bible mean by
grace? It's a beautiful word. I love the word grace. I like
what it sounds, don't you? Grace. It is a charming sound.
melodious to the ear. And it is, in fact, a beautiful
word in the Bible, the grace of God. Now, what does the Bible
mean by grace? Well, it means saving grace.
By grace, you are saved. Not by grace salvation is offered
to you. Not by grace, here's a potential
salvation. By grace, you are saved. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. God saved Noah. He put him in the ark. And He
saved him. Now that's what the Bible means
by grace. It's saving grace. If it doesn't
save, it's not the grace of God. It's a faith. Salvation is not
by works, it's by faith. It's by complete reliance upon
Christ as everything in salvation. It's burning your bridges. It's
not having a plan B. This is it. If salvation is not
utterly all of Christ, then I won't be saved. That's what faith is. It's a complete reliance on Him.
I'm relying on who He is and what He did in every respect.
I'm looking to God to look to Him for everything I need. Now,
that is a faith that it might be by grace, by saving grace. But God, here's saving grace,
but God, you were dead in sins, all the things he says, but God,
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ by grace. Are you saved? It's a faith that
it might be by grace. Look in Romans chapter five,
First, let's look at verse 25. You know what? The book of Galatians
is nothing but the recapitulation, is that the way you say the word,
of the book of Romans. They'd left the gospel in Galatia. They'd left the teaching of Romans,
and he's going back over it again with them. He said, I marvel
that you're so soon removed from him that called you to the grace
of Christ to another gospel. And so he goes over everything
he said in Romans, only stronger. But look here in verse 25 of
chapter 4, speaking of the Lord Jesus who was delivered for our
offenses and was raised again for or because of our justification. Now, think about that. He was
delivered for our offenses. The reason he died is because
of our offenses. And he was raised again because of our justification. Now, do you hear that? Justification
has nothing to do with your faith. This justification was accomplished
before you were even born. You didn't have any works good
or bad. He was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. When He was raised from the dead,
every believer was justified. Chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore
being justified. And that word is in the passive
tense. That's very important. Passive. You didn't have anything
to do with this. This is not something you received or accepted.
It's something God caused you to be. It's God that justified. That's the work of God. Therefore,
being justified by faith, Of faith, it's the word again, where
it says by, it's of, it's the Greek preposition ek. Of faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace that comes from faith. The peace of justification. What peace there is in knowing
that I'm justified, that I'm not guilty, that I don't have
any sin, that when God sees me, He doesn't have any reason to
be mad at me. He's pleased with me. He's at peace with me through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what peace I derive from
that. Now, if you take any of that
away, my peace is gone. But if He really is my justification
before God, Ephesians 2.14 says, He is our peace. And you know,
with knowing that all God requires of me, He looks to His Son Jesus
Christ for my peace. I'm not bold shall I stand in that great
day. For who unto my charge shall lay? Fully absolved from these
I am from sin's tremendous curse and shame." Have peace. Have peace with God's providence.
It's the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good. I might not understand it. I
might not enjoy it. I might not find it pleasant.
I don't enjoy being... but I do rest in this. It's the
Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
All things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to his purpose. I have peace
with the world. And what do I mean by that, peace
with the world? Here's exactly what I mean. Why is there fighting and wars
and conflict in the world? Because somebody wants something
that somebody else has. That's a pretty accurate summary,
isn't it? Somebody wants what somebody else has. Listen, I
have all. And I don't need anything this
world has. I'm just passing through. I'm passing through as a stranger
in a pilgrim. And I'm at peace with this world
in that sense. You can have it. You can have
it. I'm fine without it. Because
in Christ, I don't even have anything to covet because I've
got everything. In Christ, I'm at peace. And you know, I'm at
peace with you. I'm at peace with you. We're not competing. I'm already in last place and
you are too. We're not competing. And what else is true is I'm
in first place and you are too. I'm complete in Christ. I can't
get any better. You can't get any better. We're
not competing, are we? We're brethren. one in Christ
Jesus, and we're at peace. Does that mean we feel peace
all the time? Well, you know better than that. But we have peace all the time,
don't we? Oh, the peace that's in Christ
Jesus. The Lord said in John chapter
16, verse 33, these things have I spoken unto you, that in me
you might have peace. In the world, you'll have tribulation. The Lord said that, but be of
good cheer. I have overcome the world. And then in Romans chapter one,
verse five, we read of the obedience of faith. The obedience of faith. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice. Now, when he was offering the
sacrifice of Christ through that lamb, he was doing that in obedience
to God's command. There's only one sacrifice to
bring, and that's the sacrifice he brought. That's the obedience
of faith. By faith, Noah, being warned
of God, moved with fear. prepared an ark to the saving
of his household. He moved with fear. You know,
I am afraid to look anywhere but Christ. Aren't you? I'm afraid
to. And I move with fear to get in
the ark. The only place I want to be found
is in the ark, in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the obedience
of faith. By faith, Abraham went out. to a place he would afterwards
receive for an inheritance, not knowing where he went. He went
out. That's the obedience of faith. Now, understand this. If I have
a faith that doesn't cause me to obey God, to obey the gospel,
it's not the faith of God's elect. It's just some kind of mental
ascent to some facts that I don't really have any understanding
of anyway. No faith will cause you to run to Christ. Faith will
cause you to look to Christ. Faith will cause you to look
nowhere else. James chapter 2, would you turn
there? Just got a couple more. Where's your hometown? Faith
or works? I know where I want to be from.
I want to be from faith. I don't want to be from works.
I don't have anything to do with that. I want to be from faith. Remember, beloved,
faith and works are enemies. They're opposed to one another. They don't dwell together. Well,
how can you say that? Read this scripture, verse 18,
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show
me thy faith without thy works, and I'll show thee my faith by
my works. Thou believest that there's one
God, you do well. The devils also believe and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works? when he offered Isaac
his son upon the altar. Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect, and the
scripture was fulfilled, would saith Abraham, Believe God. And
it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend
of God. You see then how that by works a man is justified,
and not by faith only. Now where does that fit in with
everything you've been saying? Well, Abraham was given a promise. As a matter of fact, in Galatians
chapter 3, the gospel is stated as, in thee shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. Talking about the seed of Christ,
the seed of woman that would come through Abraham, that would
come through David, the son of David, that seed. And the scripture
preached the gospel to Abraham simply saying in thee shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed. Abraham knew he was going to
have a child. God promised him that, and the
Messiah would come through that seed. Well, the time comes when
God says, you take now your son, your only son, whom you love,
and offer him up as a burnt offering to me. What if Abraham would have said,
if I do that, then what God said will not come
to pass. I can't do that because then
God's promise wouldn't come to pass. You know what he would
approve by that? He would approve that he thought
it would be possible for what God said to not come to pass. That's all he would prove by
that. But we know from the account in Hebrews 11 that he believed
that even after he killed him, God would raise him from the
dead. He knew the seed would come through Isaac. And he said,
so well, all right, I'll kill him. I don't understand the point
in doing it. He raised his hand up to kill him, but he knew this.
God would raise him from the dead because God can't go back
on his word. Now that's what it is to believe
God. You believe God. Abraham believed God. He proved
he believed God by his works, didn't he? If he would have said,
now I can't slay my son, What would he have proved by that?
I don't believe God. But his works demonstrated his
faith in God. Somebody says, I don't think
I could do that. Yeah, you could. If God told you to, you could
do it. He'd give you the grace to do it. You see, whatever God
commands you to do, he'll give you the grace to do it. And you
could do it just like Abraham did. You sure can. One last scripture. Turn with me to Romans chapter
14. I love this verse of Scripture.
Now, I'm going to call this one the exclusivity of faith. I think that's a word. The exclusivity
of faith. Now, where do I come up with
a word like that? Well, read this verse of Scripture with
me. Romans chapter 14, verse 23. And he that doubteth damned if he eat, because he
eateth not of faith." Now look at this next statement. Four.
Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Now do you hear that? Do I hear
it? Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. Whatever is not generated from
faith, simple faith in Christ, looking to Him only as everything
in salvation, whatever is not generated from that is sin. I don't care what it is. I don't
care how good it may seem. If it's not generated from simple
faith in Christ, reliance on Christ as everything, all it
is is sin, no matter how good it may appear. That's the exclusivity
of faith. It excludes everything else. Whatsoever is not of faith. generated from faith. You can
write this down. I don't care what it is. I don't
care how religious it may seem. I don't care how good it may
seem. All it is is sin, because whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. Now, it's only they which are
of faith that are the true children of Abraham. Faith's their hometown. That's where they're from. That's
their roots. That's their origin. They got
a law in them that won't let them look anywhere but Christ
only. Now, if you're a faith, You've
heard the message of the hearing of faith. You've heard the speaking
of faith. You have the conclusion of faith.
You can only live off faith, not works. You have the righteousness
of faith. You have the grace of faith.
You have the peace of faith. You have the obedience of faith.
You have the works of faith. And you have the exclusivity
of faith. and only the Lord can make us
to be of faith. I think of that scripture, of
Him are you in Christ Jesus. Of Him. And only of Him can you
and I be of faith. Lord, Make this my hometown. Make this my origin. Make it
to where I, by your grace, refuse to look anywhere else. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel. And Lord, Faith is beyond our
reach unless you give it to us. And Lord, we ask for the gift
of faith. And Lord, we ask that you would
increase our faith. Lord, enable us to see that thy
blessed son is the object of faith, the subject of faith,
the foundation of faith, and teach us what it really means
to glory in His cross. I bless this message for the
Lord's sake, in His name we pray, amen.