I was following along out of
Isaiah 43. Would you turn back to Galatians
chapter 3? Look at the first phrase of verse
23. But before faith came. And look at the first phrase
of verse 25. But after that faith is come. I have entitled this
message. Before and after. We've all seen. Before and after
pictures. Someone, for instance, who's
lost a lot of weight, they'll have it before and they'll have
an after. And I can remember when President Carter was in
office, there was a picture of him before and after. Do you
all remember that? I mean, there was such a difference
after those four years in the way he looked. I can remember
seeing footage of before the tsunami and after. And there was such a great difference. We're all familiar with this
concept of before and after. Now, we're given a picture of
what we were. before faith came and what we
are after faith has come. Before and after. Now notice, if we have faith,
it comes to us. It did not come from us. It comes to us. And faith is personified here
as coming to us and the benefits it brings. And what a hopeless
state we were in before it came. Now look in verse 23, But before
faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith
which should afterwards be revealed, we were kept under the law. Now, what does that mean? Look
in verse 21 of the same chapter. Is the law then against the promises
of God? Now he's talking about the Ten
Commandments. He's talking about the moral
law. And he asked the question, is
the law against the promises of God? Now, what do you mean
by the promises of God? Look at verses 16 through 18. Now, to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. And he saith not unto seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. Christ
is the seed of Abraham, to whom the promise was made. And this
I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after,
cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect.
For if the inheritance, that's heaven, that's eternal glory.
If the inheritance be of the law, it's no more promise. But
God gave it to Abraham by promise. Now, why did Abraham get the
eternal inheritance? For one reason, because God promised
he's going to give it to him. Not because of any works on his
part. Not because of any obedience
on his part. Not because of something he did.
Simply because God promised he would do it. This is the unconditional
promise of God. He doesn't look for a thing out
of me. Everything he requires of me,
he looks to his Son for. You see, the promise was made
to the seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not seeds as many, but one and
all. Now, is the law against these
promises? Remember the laws of Ten Commandments.
Look in verse 10 of this same chapter. For as many as are of
the works of the law, if you're seeking to be saved by what you
do, as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse,
for it's written, is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. So back to 21 is the law then
against these promises of God. Now he said we're cursed if we
don't continue in everything, if we don't obey all the commandments
all the time. That's what the law says. If
you break one commandment, you're under the curse. Now, does that
negate The promises of God? Well, let's go on reading in
verse 21. Is the law then against the promises of God, the promises
of complete salvation simply because God said He'd do it?
God forbid. For if there had been a law given
which could have given life, verily, righteousness would have
come by the law. The law was never intended to
give life. Now, let me tell you something
about God's law. I love God's holy law. I love the Ten Commandments. I love everything about it. And
let me tell you why I love God's law. I have nothing to fear from
God's law. That's why I love it. I've kept
it in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I have nothing to fear. I
admire God's holy law. But do you know that law was
never intended to save anybody? It's only to expose character. The law exposes the character
of God. It gives us some idea of His
holiness and of His righteousness and of His justice. And the law
exposes my character. I don't become a liar when I
lie. I lie because I am a liar in
my heart. I don't become an adulterer when
I commit the act. I already am one in my heart
regarding all of these things. The law exposes our character
and shows us that we are nothing but sin. Now, I can look at the
Ten Commandments, the holy law of God, and see that I have not
kept one of them one time. And do you know that so about
yourself? If you don't, you've never been honest with the law,
and you don't really even know what it means. All the law does
is show us our sin. That's it. It can't save. It
was never intended to save. That's what this passage of Scripture
says. It says it's the law against the promises of God. God forbid,
for if there had been a law given which could have given life,
barely righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture,
verse 22, hath concluded Now, see that word concluded? Look
down in verse 23. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law. Shut up. That's the same word.
Shut up. Shut up. It means incarcerated. It means
put into prison. The scripture had concluded all
under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be
given to them that belief. Now, what that tells me is concluded. I'm in a jail. I'm in a prison. This is what the law does for
me. I'm put in a prison where I can't get out. There's not one thing I can do
to bring myself out of this prison. We can't get out of jail, the
prison of sin. Look in Romans chapter 3 for
a moment. Hold your finger there and turn to Romans chapter 3. You know, being under the law,
now listen real carefully to what I'm getting ready to say.
Being under the law and being under sin is the exact same thing. Do you hear that? Being under
the law and being under sin is the exact same thing. Look in Romans chapter 3 verse
9. Are we better than they, us Jews?
Are we better than the Gentiles? No, in no wise, for we have before
proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin,
in the prison house of sin, unable to get out as it's written."
Now look, here's what he means by this. And this is a description
of you and I by nature. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There's none that understands.
Understanding the gospel is beyond our ability. There's none that
seeketh after God. There's not one person by nature
who even seeks God. Now, you might be religious.
You might do certain things, but that doesn't mean you're
seeking God. Nobody by nature seeks God. They are all gone
out of the way. They are together become unprofitable
or useless. There is none that do it good.
No, not one. So being under the law and being
under sin are the same thing. The law exposes us. It tells the truth regarding
us. None righteous. No, not one. No understanding.
No seeking of God. Everybody's left away. They're
all together useless. There's not one that doeth good.
No, not one. Now, would you believe that that
really describes what you are? Now, if you don't feel it, believe
it anyway, because it's what God says. That's the reason to
believe. It's what God says. Now, we're
in this prison and we cannot get out. But the fact that we
can't get out doesn't mean somebody else can't get us out. Now, if
all I had to say was that we're in this prison we can't get out
of, it wouldn't be good news at all, would it? But there is
someone who can get us out of this prison. And here is the
way out of this prison. Look in verse 22. But the Scripture
hath concluded all under sin, put all in this prison, that
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe. Now what is the faith of Jesus
Christ? The promise of the faith of Jesus Christ. That's talking
about his faithfulness. That's talking about his obedience.
That's talking about his believing God. He believed God completely. He said, though he slay me, yet
will I trust him. He believed God when he couldn't
see or feel anything but the wrath of God. He kept God's law
perfectly as the spotless Lamb of God. He never sinned, and
yet he was made sin. The sins of his elect were placed
upon him. He put them away. That is the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's his obedience. It's his
righteousness. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
3. Just a few pages over, Philippians chapter 3. Verse 8, Yea, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung. It's not like I'm troubled
over what I've lost. I count what I've lost but dung,
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 faith of Christ. Do you see that? Not
faith in Christ. The faith of Christ. His faithfulness. And here's what that is. The
righteousness which is of God. By faith. Now that's the faith
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the righteousness
that the believer justified by. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now this is what gets a believer
out of jail. The righteousness, the perfect
righteousness, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back
in Galatians chapter three. But the scripture had concluded
all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. Now, this promise is the righteousness
of God. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ
is given to those who believe. Now, I got thinking about this
thing with those who believe. You can believe what I'm saying.
Or you can say, I don't believe that. It's real simple, isn't it? You
can believe this, or you can say, I don't believe that. Now,
the message of the law is due. The message of the gospel is,
it's done. There's nothing to do. Now, you
can believe that. or you can reject it. Those for
whom it's done, believe it. You really believe when he said,
it is finished, all God requires, you have. You need nothing else. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Now, those for whom it was done
believe it's done. It's that simple. And the folks
for whom it wasn't done, they don't believe it. They reject
it. But those who believe, believe it was done. Now, verse 23, But
before faith came, remember, it didn't come from us. It came
to us. It's the gift of God. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law. set up in prison unto the faith
which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, verse 24, the law
was our schoolmaster. Now, when you think of the schoolmaster,
well, I think of the schoolmaster, we think of a guy in a nice silver-haired
person trying to teach the kids and maybe kind of stern, but
a schoolmaster. But that's not what this word
means at all. The word is a word used for a wealthy Greek family
would have a slave. And that slave, they would have
trailing their son. And any time their son got out
of line in any way, that's what the schoolmaster
was. The Greek word is a pedagogue. A wealthy family had a fellow
that would just trailed their kids everywhere, and these men
were cruel, they were mean, they were stern, and they just beat
those kids as soon as they got out of line. Now, that's what
this schoolmaster is, the pedagogue. Now, the law was our pedagogue,
our schoolmaster, to drive us to Christ. to lead us to Christ. All the law does is expose our
sin, expose our wickedness, expose our lack of ability to obey it,
and when we see that, we're driven to the Lord Jesus Christ. The law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. Truly, there's nowhere else to
go that we might, verse 24, be justified by faith as opposed
to works. Now, the law can't justify me. All the law does is condemn me.
But I go to Christ. I believe on him by the grace
of God. Faith comes to me and I'm made
to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says I'm justified
by that same law that condemned me. I stand without guilt before
that law. The righteousness of Christ is
my righteousness before God, so I stand perfect, justified
before God. The great, glorious truth of
justification by faith. It's another name for the gospel.
Now, it's not my faith that justifies me, it's Christ that justifies
me. I believe that. I believe that. The law was our
pedagogue, was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we
might be justified by faith. Now, before faith comes, we're
in prison. We're under sin with no way of getting ourselves
out. Verse 25, but after that faith
has come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster. After it has arrived, after God
gives you life, which is evidenced by faith, After faith comes to
you and you find yourself believing, and that's the way faith works.
Before faith came, I had no idea what faith meant. I used to try
to figure it out. What's it mean to believe? What's it mean to believe?
I hear belief. Well, what's it mean to believe?
I believe the sky is blue. Does that mean I believe God
is? I believe Christ died on a cross.
But what does it mean to believe? I had no idea. And I'd try to
believe. I'd try to make myself believe.
I'd do everything I could to believe. But I still didn't know
what it meant. Then faith came to me. And I
found myself believing. And when faith comes, you are
no longer under a schoolmaster, you no longer need God's holy
law. Look in Galatians, chapter five,
verse 18. But if you be lad of the spirit,
That's what I want to be you. I want to be led in spirit, don't
you? He says, if you be led of the spirit, you are not under
law. Look in Romans, chapter six,
hold your finger there in Galatians three and turn back to Romans,
chapter six. Verse 14. For she shall not have
dominion over you. For you're not under the law,
but under grace. Isn't that a wonderful place
to be under? The grace of God. And because
I'm not under the law, but under grace. This is a promise from
God. Sin is not going to have dominion
over me. Now, if I'm under law, sin has complete dominion over
me because the strength of sin, the scripture says, is the law.
Turn with me for a moment to First Timothy, chapter one. I
want you to see this. First Timothy, chapter one. He talks about these people in
verse seven, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither
what they say nor where they affirm, but we know that the
law is good. If a man use it lawfully, knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous man. If you're a righteous man,
you need no law. Why do you have locks? The thieves. You don't need them for righteous
men. The law was not made for a righteous
man, but for the lawless and disobedient. For the ungodly
and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers
and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing
that's contrary to sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God which is committed to my trust. Now, if I'm under
the law, it is impossible for me to love God. I'm just afraid. I have a slavish fear that I
can't love him. I can't serve out of love. All
I have is this slavish fear. Now, here's the religion of the
law. Listen real carefully. Here's the religion of the law.
Fear of punishment and hope for reward. That's all it is. Fear of what will happen if I
don't do this. Fear of what I'll lose if I don't do this. A hope
of what I'll gain if I do. There's no love there. None at
all. It's really a very unhappy thing,
it's bondage, it's miserable, you know, man's religion is so
miserable and such bondage, just people not getting to do what
they really want to do because they're afraid of what will happen
if they do. And they're doing what they don't want to do because
they're afraid of what will happen to them if they don't do it.
Misery, that's what it is. Bondage, salvation by works. But after faith has come, you're
not under the law. If you're still under the law,
if that's your religion, faith's never come to you. God's never
done anything for you. But after that faith has come,
you're not under law. Now, let's go on looking at this
picture. We're looking at the after now, after faith has come.
Back to Galatians chapter three. But after faith has come, you're
no longer under a schoolmaster. You're not under this pedagogue.
You're not under the law. For you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Now, before you were a slave,
before faith came, you were in bondage. But now you are a child
of God. Now, what does that mean? A lot
of things it means. Is Christ the Son of God? Well,
you know He is. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. And the scripture says, as He
is, so are we in the world. As He's the Son of God, I'm the
Son of God because I'm in Him. And I'm God's own dear child. When you were singing that passage
from Isaiah 43, when it says, since that was precious in my
sight, I thought I'm precious in the Lord's sight. I'm his
child, just as Christ is his child. I am his child. Behold, what manner of love the
father bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons
of God. Therefore, the world knows us not, because they knew
him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. Right now. I have a father. He's my daddy. He's my father. Now, this thing of being a son
of God is a permanent relationship with God that cannot be dissolved. Now, you can fire an employee,
but you can't fire a child. That relationship can never be
dissolved. And it's a sharing of the nature
of our father through the new birth. Second Peter 1.4 says
we're partakers of the divine nature, being his child, given
us in the new birth is his divine nature. And we have the right
of immediate access into the very presence of God, the Holy
of Holies. I'm welcome right now. I am welcome
into the very presence of God at all times, in whom we have
boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. There that
phrase is again, by the faith of Him. I have, I'm always welcome
into His presence, and being His child, I have all of His
blessing. All of it. He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
also with him freely give us all things? Because Christ died
for me, I have all of God's blessing. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. All God's, all
the justification, sanctification, forgiveness, acceptance, his
love, I've got it all in the Lord Jesus Christ, because I'm
his child. And we're heirs of God, just
like the Lord Jesus is. Join heirs with Christ. And that
means everything that Christ has coming to him, I have coming
to me. I'm a wealthy heir. I love to
think about that. We're children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. Here's the evidence of sonship,
faith in Christ Jesus, really believing, really resting in
Him, jumping out the window and trusting Him to catch you. That's
what faith in Christ is. We're children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. Children, not employees. with
a performance-based relationship, but children who are always loved
and always accepted for Christ's sake. Verse 27, he says, now
remember, we're looking at this picture of before and after. Verse 27, we were in prison. unable to get out, under sin,
under the law, but now, verse 27 says, for as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Baptized. As many of you as were baptized,
immersed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he's not talking about water
baptism here, but what water baptism represents. Now, when
I go down into the water, I'm in the water. And you may see
me, but what you really see is the water. I'm in the water,
but I'm totally under the water. I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when I baptize people, I always make sure I get them all the
way under because of what it represents. I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That means when he lived, I was living in him. When he kept the
law, I kept the law. When he died, I died. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. As He's seated at the right hand
of the Father right now, I am too, because I'm in Him. As many
of you as were baptized into Christ. This is the gospel. What
Christ has done. Being in Him. That is salvation. Being in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look what He says. As many as you as were baptized
into Christ have put on Christ consciously. You put on Christ. The metaphor he's using is putting
on clothes. You put on Christ. You consciously want to only
be seen in Christ. You put on Christ. So that's
all God sees. This is the same thing as abiding
in Christ. You put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, let me I don't know how well this illustration will work,
but let me give it a shot. Fellow wakes up in the morning. He's no different than anybody
else. Just the son of Adam. He gets out of bed. Nobody special. Nobody different. And he puts
on a uniform. He puts on a police uniform. And now that uniform represents
something totally different. This man now has power that other
men don't have. This man now has authority. that
other men don't have. This man is different, and that
uniform he puts on makes him different. And whenever you see
one of these men, you straighten up, you see him behind you in
the rearview mirror, you look at the first thing you do, you
look at how fast you're going, you watch, he's different by
virtue of this uniform he has put on. Put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is my clothing, so that all
God sees is Him. As many of you as have been baptized
into Christ, you put on Christ. You put Him on, and that's the
only way you want to be seen. Do you find that true, regarding
you? 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. That's the only way I want to
be. When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him
be found. That's the only place I want
to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he says, as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ, you put on Christ.
Verse 28. Let's go on looking at this before
and after picture. Now in Christ. There's neither
Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. You know, men love distinctions.
Men love distinctions. We like distinctions that separate
us from somebody else and make us different. But you know, in
Christ Jesus, there are no distinctions. We're all one in Christ Jesus. We're all nothings and we're
all somebodies in Christ. And there are no distinctions. There's no higher rewards, higher
this clergy lady and all that foolishness. You're all one in
Christ Jesus. We're one with one another. Oh,
you know, He's the head and we're the body. He's the head and we're
the body. And that makes us members of
His body very special, aren't they? Very special. One in Christ
Jesus. All fleshly distinctions have
been dropped. Verse 29. And if you be Christ's,
then are you Abraham's seed, the true Jew. Now, who is Abraham's
seed? Well, look in verse 16 of this
same chapter. Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. And he saith not unto seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ's. Christ
is the seed. Christ is the seed of Abraham. Christ is the one to whom the
promise was made. And if I belong to Christ, I'm
Abraham's seed. That's just mysterious, glorious,
but it's so. I am Abraham's seed in Christ
and heirs of God join heirs with Christ according
to the promise. Now, before and after. Here's
the before picture. Before faith came, I was under
law. And being under law, I was under
the complete dominion of sin. The strength of sin is the law. I was in a prison. With no way
of getting myself out. With no hope. And without God
in the world. That's before. But after the
faith is come. You're not under the law. You're
justified. You're children of God. You're
baptized into Christ and you put on Christ. no fleshly distinctions,
one in Christ Jesus, Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. Before and after. Let's pray.