We'll be in Galatians 3 again,
looking at the next three verses, Galatians 3, 21 through 23. Paul's continuing to declare
that righteousness is through and by the Lord Jesus Christ
only. But he makes a very interesting statement here. And it's clear
to us that the law cannot forfeit or cancel the promise, the promise
of the Lord, the promise of salvation. The promise exceeded the law. The promise is everlasting promise.
It's everlasting covenant. Whereas the law came in time. Also, he's telling us that Christ
is the end of the law because of righteousness, because Christ
established his people's righteousness. That's why he's the end of the
law. He actually said, do we make void the law? And he said,
God forbid, we establish it by what law? By the law of faith.
So looking to Christ is the establishment of the law. That's why we don't
look to the law, we look to Christ. Understand this, the law cannot
contradict the promise of the salvation that God promised to
his people, cannot contradict it. Whenever we're talking about
doing the things of the law or trying to keep the law for righteousness,
what we're saying is, is that we're trying to reconcile God
to us. I'm trying to do something for
God to reconcile God to us. Every time that you look in scripture
about reconciliation, it's about God reconciling us to him. That's why we don't keep the
law. We're not trying to reconcile God to us. That's foolish, isn't
it? That's foolish. No, God reconciled
his people. God redeemed his people. Lord
Jesus Christ saved his people from their sin. He's the one
that did all the reconciling. Can't alter the promise in any way. So therefore the works of the
law are futile. They won't accomplish anything.
They won't accomplish anything. Whether it's part or evidence
of our salvation, Paul's already told us no flesh shall be justified
by the deeds of the law. For the deeds of the law is the
knowledge of sin. This is the purpose of the law
that is given to us. If we, who are creatures of dust,
creatures of sin, if we can keep the law, then Christ died in
vain. If we could keep the law for
righteousness, Christ died in vain. But he didn't die in vain
because we can't keep the law. That's the whole point. It's
not given to keep, it's given to show, reveal. Reveal God's
holiness, reveal what we are, just as a mirror does, as I mentioned
in the first hour. Can you imagine God sacrificing his son for nothing?
That doesn't make any sense, does it? Why would he do that?
Why would he do that? Well, if one person goes to hell
whom Christ died for, God sacrificed Christ for nothing. Christ was
sacrificed on purpose for a particular reason, and it was to save a
particular people who could not keep the law of God, to save
his people from their sin. This was the purpose. People
that were given to Christ before time ever began, like we heard
the first hour, those who he delights in, they are the ones
that are enlightened by God when he illuminates and shines forth
his light into the darkness that we are and commands light to
come out of darkness. That's the picture of the creation,
isn't it? That's what that is, it's salvation. It's all about
him, it's all about him. Those who are God's blood-bottled
elect, they know the truth. They don't guess, they know the
truth. Christ was successful. Not just a little bit, not 75%,
not even 98, not even 99%. He was 100% successful, 100%
successful. There's nothing left for you
and I to do to be saved. Christ saved his people. When he offered himself up to
the father, the father was pleased with that offering and he never
ever has offered himself to any man at any time. He offered himself
to the father and the father was satisfied and therefore everyone
that was in Christ, they were justified freely by his grace.
require anything from His people for their eternal redemption.
Now, let's read this Galatians 3.21-23, Is the law then against
the promise of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be I've titled this message, Scripture Hath Concluded. The Scripture Hath Concluded.
And I hope to answer, what has the scripture concluded? That's
the question I want to answer this morning. What is the scripture
concluded? You remember the Pharisees were talking to the Lord one
time and the Lord told them, this is John chapter five is
where it's at. Lord told them, he said, search the scriptures.
For in them ye think ye have eternal life, but they are they
which speak of me." What does the scriptures conclude? What
does the scriptures conclude? Paul is giving the conclusion
and yet again asserting that we are sinners. It's what we
are, it's not what we do. We're sinners by nature, we're
sinners by practice, we're sinners by choice. That's us. We don't
even mean to sin, we sin. Did you know that? That's just
what we are, it's what we do. This is what Paul's telling them.
He's also warning them that going to the law to try to fix this
state that we're in will do no good whatsoever. It's futile.
It means it would be completely useless for them to do that.
It's fatal. It's fatal for them to do that. Salvation is by the covenant
promise of God. It's not by our works. Faith
is the result. of salvation. Faith is the result, free gift
of God's grace. Faith is the result of God's
salvation. So what hath the scripture concluded?
Number one, the scripture concluded that the law was not given to
make anyone righteous. Go look in the Old Testament
and you'll find that the law never made one individual righteous
before God. The law was not given to give
you righteousness. The law was not given to make
anyone righteous before God. It was given to shut us up to
Christ. It was given to show us what
we are, that the Lord would draw the statement, the plea, have
mercy on me, the sinner. Paul said it like this, whenever
the law came, sin revived and I died. I didn't have the law,
I wasn't under bondage, but once the law came, I saw my sin, I
realized I was dead. Every time you go to the law,
that's all the law can tell you is you're dead. You're dead,
you're dead, and you can't fix it. You're dead, you're dead,
you're a sinner. So what do we do? Christ said,
come unto me, all you that are labored and are heavy laden.
What do you think that labor is? That's a labor for righteousness,
isn't it? If you think you're laboring for righteousness, come
to Christ and find out that his yoke is easy and his burden is
light because he successfully accomplished your righteousness,
the righteousness of his people. That's our hope. This is what
Paul's telling the people of Galatians. Don't go to the law
looking to see if you can find an outward evidence of your salvation
or go looking to see if you can have some kind of, that you're
growing better and better. Don't go to the law. Don't go
to the law. Flee to Christ. Flee to Christ. You remember in Hebrews where
he talked about the two mountains. He said, we don't come to Mount
Sinai anymore. That's a mountain of judgment.
That's a mountain of death. That's a mountain of damnation. There's
nothing going to come from that that's good. It's all going to
be death and judgment. He said, but we've come to Zion,
the city of God, where the Lord hath washed his people in his
own blood and made them the very righteousness of God by putting
away their sin for the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you can go to the law to find
comfort because of what you do, if I can go to the law to find
comfort because of what I do, spiritually speaking, I don't
know who God is. I don't know who God is. If I
can go to the law and I can see the law and it brings comfort
to me, Before God, because I'm keeping the law in my own mind,
I don't realize who God is. He's not shown me the truth yet.
The law won't comfort the believer, will not comfort you. It will
point you to the comforter, the Lord Jesus Christ, his spirit.
That's what it'll point you to. Our substitute, our surety, that's
where your comfort will come from. It won't come from the
law. The law was given to make us guilty, to reveal how bad
we really are. What is the scripture concluded? That the law was not
given to make you righteous or to make me righteous or to make
anyone righteous. Turn with me to Romans chapter three. I told
you first hour we were gonna turn to Romans chapter three.
It was this message, I didn't know. Romans chapter three verse 19
says, now we know, now don't you love When the Lord uses those
words, now we know. We don't have to guess. We don't
have to wonder. We don't have to scratch our
heads and try to figure something out. We know. What do we know?
That what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in its sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets." There's your concluded scripture right there, the law
and the prophets. What did they conclude? Well, he goes on, he tells us,
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What's
the conclusion? What is the conclusion? Of the
scripture, Christ is all. Christ is all in salvation. The
righteousness of God is by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It's
not by what we do or what we don't do. Scriptures concluded that righteousness
cannot be merited by us. It cannot be earned by us. Righteousness
was wrought on Calvary by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what
the scripture concluded. So first of all, the law was
given. The law was never given to make one righteous. It was
made to show us the righteous one, the Lord Jesus Christ, to
point us to him. Now look at verse 24. being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. It's his righteousness. Do we see that? It's not my righteousness. It's his righteousness. To declare,
I say that this time his righteousness that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. This is what I quoted
earlier. Where's boasting then? Where's
boasting then? It is excluded by what, law of
works? Nay, but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Now I wanna say something very
clear right here because a lot of people read that verse and
they think I'm justified because of my faith. That's not true.
Faith is evidence of justification, not the cause of it. Faith is
the evidence of salvation, not the cause of it. Faith is a gift
of God by grace. It's not your faith, it's the
faith of Jesus Christ. He just said that. verses back. So what is he saying here? We
are, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith,
the faith of Jesus Christ, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,
not by the works of the law. Looking to Christ, He is our
justification. That's as simple as I can put
it. Christ Jesus is our justification before God. Faith is the only
way to receive anything from God. And faith is the only way
to believe anything from God. So we see that this faith is
given as a result of us being saved, being made righteous,
being blood bought by the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we look
to him as our justification. That's what he's saying here.
It's not a complicated message. It's just impossible to believe
it. If you have been given faith, ain't that right? It's not a
complicated message. It's just impossible to believe
it. Christ Jesus saved his people from their sins. I go back to
text in Galatians chapter three. Let's read this again, verse
21. Is the law then against the promise of God? God forbid, for
if there had been a law given which could have given life,
verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture
has concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe. That's his faith,
isn't it? That's so clear. It's his faith, his faithfulness. But before faith came, we were
shut, we were kept under the law, shut up to the faith, which
should afterwards be revealed. The scripture has concluded that
we're born in sin or shaped in iniquity. We cannot obtain salvation
based upon what we do and that the law did not justify or make
anyone righteous. It cannot do that. That's what
the law concluded. The second thing, no flesh shall be justified
by the deeds of the law. The righteousness of God cannot
be obtained. But the scripture concluded while
we're saved also, why are we saved? Why are we saved? Well, if it's not by the justification
by the law and it's not righteousness by the law, why are we saved?
No one has ever been saved because of what they do or because of
what they don't do. I want to say that again. Nobody
has ever been saved because of what they do or because of what
they don't do. You are saved. If you are saved,
you are saved because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.
He completed the work given to him of his father. He saved his
people from their sin. Second Timothy chapter 1 verse
9. It's on the bulletin. I would often quote it. God saved
us and called us not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before the world ever began. God saved his people by what
Christ did alone, all of grace. All of grace. And as we heard
the first hour, it's all of grace or it's all of works. There is
no in between. It's all of grace, isn't it? For by grace are you
saved through faith. And it's not of yourself. It's
the gift of God. It's not of works. You know why
it's not of works? Because we would boast. We would
say, look at me and my works. Look at what I've done. You hear
men talking that way. Look what we're doing for Jesus.
You ever heard that before? That's boasting. That's what that is.
Drawing attention to the flesh. The Lord's people says, don't
look to me. Look to Christ. Look to him. Look at his finished
work. Don't look at my work. Look at his. Salvation of the
Lord hinges entirely, completely, and 100% on the merits and finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His life, His death, His burial,
His resurrection, His shed blood. He said that we're gonna take
the Lord's table here soon. He said, this is my body broken for you. That's where salvation came from,
the broken body of the Lord. He said, this is my blood that's
shed for the remission of sins for many. And what does he say
in Isaiah 53? When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, thou shalt be satisfied. Thy righteous servant
shall justify many. That's salvation, not the law,
not what we do or don't do. He wrought salvation all by himself. Hebrews chapter one, verse three
tells us that when he had by himself purged our sin, it means
they're gone, he sat down. The finished work, it's finished,
it's done. Look at verse 22 with me. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. The scripture hath concluded,
we are saved not because of our faith, but because of the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ. Not because of our righteousness
wrought by the law, but because his righteousness. He's the righteous
one. His works were righteous works.
His works were good works. Our works are not. Our works
are sin. So we need a substitute. We need
the faithful obedience of the Lord to become our faithful obedience. What if everything about salvation
was a promise? Not just a promise of God to
God, but what about a promise of you, your promise to God? Does that give you any confidence?
We can't keep a promise if we wanted to. What promise could
you keep to God that would be perfect? There would be none. Aren't you glad the covenant
promise of the Lord Jesus Christ was between the The Godhead,
the Trinity, the promise was the Father would elect, the Son
would redeem, and the Spirit would regenerate. That's where
salvation hinges upon, right there. That's it. There's no
more. There's nothing more, nothing less. It's right there with them.
What was the last thing, one of the last things Lord Jesus
Christ said on the cross? Father, into thy hands I commit
my spirit. It is finished. It is finished. John 17, he tells us this. He
said, Father, I've finished the work that thou hast given me
to do. I've finished the work. If he's finished it, what else
are we going to do? What are you going to add to what God
did? What can you add? What can we add to the blood
of Christ that would make it better? That's that's silly question,
isn't it? Nothing. There's nothing I can
add as soon as I touch it. Well, thanks be to God. If we
touch the blood, it's going to cleanse us, not the other way
around. We can't do anything to make it bad. But you understand
what I'm saying? That being said, we don't add
to or take away from the blood of Christ. It is all of our hope
in salvation, the substitutionary work of our Lord and Savior.
It's all our hope. No, we couldn't keep promise.
We wanted to, but the Lord Jesus Christ did. Father, I finished
the work you've given me. All that the father given me
shall come to me and he that cometh to me, I'll in no wise
cast out. This is what he said. He saved his people from their
sin. He is the successful redeemer of his people. He's the prosperous
king of king and Lord of lords. He's the conquering savior of
his elect. He accomplished it. There's nothing
else to do. He's triumphant. Now, in verse
20, still yet, or I'm sorry, verse 21. No, I think I'm too far back. 22, verse 22. But the scripture
hath concluded that all The scripture has concluded, all understand
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. Now, that's a controversial word and it shouldn't
be. The word believe, men say, well,
you have to believe. If you're going to be saved,
you have to believe. Believing is evidence that God
saved you. Believing is evidence that God
has given you faith. Believing is not the cause of
your salvation. The cause of salvation was on
the cross of Calvary when the Lord Jesus Christ bowed his mighty
head and gave up the ghost. When the Father resurrected him,
he said, you're justified. You're justified right then.
We're justified before the foundation of the world in Christ. We were
justified in time on the cross of Calvary in Christ. And we're
justified right now in the very presence of God because we are
in Christ Jesus. We have been saved. He says at
the appointed time, believe, and we believe. He says at the
appointed time, live, and we live. How does he do that? By
the preaching of his gospel. Paul said, Romans chapter one,
verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first, also to the Greek. But you have to believe, men
will say. Well, what's the cause of believing? If I'm the cause
of believing, that means the Lord is looking to me to produce
something that he's pleased with. Is that not true? The Lord's
not looking to me. How shall they believe on whom
they have not heard? And how shall they hear unless
there be a preacher? And how shall he preach unless
he be sent? That's what the Lord said. See,
the Lord's gonna get all the glory. He's gonna raise up the
preacher. He's gonna give you ears to hear, and you're gonna
hear the gospel. Then you're gonna believe. He's gonna get
all the glory for it. That's what the scriptures concluded.
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, they are from the Lord.
all for His glory. Now let's read this again, verse
21 through 23. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded,
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward
be revealed. shut up unto the faith which the afterword be
revealed. What does the scripture conclude? Well, first it concludes
that we're a sinner by birth, by choice, by nature. And second, it concludes that
no person has ever become righteous by doing the deeds of the law.
That's what the scripture concludes. They there in the flesh cannot
please God. God is sovereign. God is holy.
He will not acquit the guilty. And you and I can't do anything
to get rid of the sin that we are or the sin that we have.
We can't. All that a sinner can do is sin. That's it. So whatever
I'm trying to do, I'm just committing more sin. God demands perfect obedience,
perfect holiness, perfect righteousness. And it has to be perfectly executed.
You and I don't have the capacity or the capability to do anything. You ever done anything perfect?
Don't fool yourself and say yes. None of us have, have we? None
of us have. We might have baked a good cake
once in a while that tasted really good, but was it perfect? No.
No. Why? Because nothing we do can
be perfect. Maybe perfect by our standard.
Maybe in our own mind, yeah, that was a perfect cake. No,
it wasn't. No, it wasn't. God's perfect. God's perfect. If it's sin, if it's sin touched,
if I touch it, I've defiled it. I've defiled it in his eyes.
Cannot become righteous because of what I do. No one can produce the traits
needed that God requires, and the law can't give them to you.
But the Lord Jesus Christ produces those traits. He produces righteousness. He is holiness. He produces everything required
that we might be saved. We are saved with the faithfulness
of Christ, his sacrifice, his body, his blood, his redemption,
his perfect obedience. We're saved by the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's why we are saved. So what
else does the scripture conclude? Well, the next thing, I've already
said it, but only God can please God. Only God can produce that
which God requires. God's not looking to me and God's
not looking to you as any part of our salvation. You're not
being weighed in the balance and you're good and you're bad
are being weighed. No, everything's bad. Think of it that way. There's
nothing, scripture's clear, none good, no not one. None good but
God. We need Christ to be our substitute. We need one that is like God. You know what Christ is? He is
God. He is not just like him, he is God. We need him to be
our surety, to be our substitute, to be our righteousness, our
wisdom, our sanctification, our redemption. If we don't have
him, we have none of the things that he produces. The law can't
give us wisdom, can't give us righteousness, can't give, these
are all the gifts of God, it can't sanctify us, it can't do
any of those things, can't justify us. The Lord Jesus Christ did
once and for all on the cross of Calvary. He is God, manifest
in the flesh, the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He took the
guilt, the sin, the iniquity, the transgression that we are,
that we do. He took them out of the way,
nailing them to his own cross. Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians
that God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we, the
Lord's elect, might be made the righteousness of God and the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's our righteousness. There's
our hope. There's our justification. There's the remedy. There's the
balm of Gilead the scripture talks about. He's going to have to take all
the guilt and blame my sin if I'm to receive his righteousness.
Aren't you glad he told Abraham, Abraham, I just love how the
Lord appears. Just Noah's going about his business. Abraham's going about his business,
his life, and Lord appears unto him. It says, Noah, build an
ark. It's going to rain. And so Noah
builds an ark and he goes to Abraham and he says, Abraham,
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. I'm going to establish
my everlasting covenant with you. Don't you love that? God just chose to have mercy
on Noah. He chose to have mercy on Abraham. He chose to give faith that they
would believe everything required. He gives it. What a glorious
gospel. What a glorious gospel. He says,
I want to establish my covenant with you. There will be born
one out of that seed of faith. There'll be one born out of that
seed of faith that I'm giving to you, who is the one promise,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and Abraham believed God because it was reckoned
unto him for righteousness sake. Abraham was found righteous before
God, and God gave him faith to believe. Why? He was in Christ. He was in Christ before the world
began. Scripture hath concluded that
he is God. He successfully redeemed. He successfully redeemed. Matter
of fact, scripture says there's no other name given among men
whereby we must be saved. He's the only one that guarantees
salvation. He's the only one that guarantees
righteousness. There is no other righteousness
outside of him. There is no other salvation outside
of him. He is the Lord's salvation. He is the Lord's salvation. Lastly, what is the scripture
concluded? We'll 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 have been shut up to Christ. The Lord's people are shut up
to Christ. Now you could take that one of
two ways and both are correct. Number one, when the Lord speaks,
we shut up. But number two, the Lord shuts us up to our beloved,
shuts us in him. We're complete in him. Paul said, the life that I now
live, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. If our life be hid, it's hid
with Christ in God. That's where we are. We're in
Christ, in God. The Lord shuts us up to him.
What does faith do when he gives it? When he shuts us up to him
and he bestows this faith upon us, what does faith do? It looks
to Christ. It looks to Christ as your wisdom.
It means you don't know nothing. You just know Christ and him
crucified. Paul said, I've determined to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ and crucified. I didn't come to you with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but by demonstration of the spirit and
with power, I preached Christ and him crucified. There's no
other message. There's no other message. That's what we desire
to hear, isn't it? Faith believes, receives, and
looks to Christ. Receives all the gifts of the
Lord, the grace and the mercy of God. We believe Him because
of faith bestowed. Well, preacher, how do I know
if I have faith? What evidence do I have that I have faith?
You believe Christ. You believe He was successful,
and your only hope is that Christ put away your sin. You have no
other hope in the law. You have no other hope in what
you do or don't do. You have no other hope in what you say
or don't say. You believe the Lord Jesus Christ successfully
redeemed his people, and if he did not die for you, you're doomed.
Only by faith can we believe that, only by faith. I love the fact that we believe
nothing more than him alone, nothing more. And we believe
nothing less than him alone. He is made all to his people,
all. What did the scripture conclude?
Well, running to the law is certain death. Being called to flee to
Christ is everlasting life. Running to the law is certain
death, but being called to flee to Christ is everlasting life.
Scriptures concluded that. What does the scripture conclude?
God's law revealed our sin and righteousness cannot be attained
by the law in any way. It can't be merited by the law.
We can't get righteousness because of what we do by the law. What does the scripture conclude?
No one has ever been saved by the works of the law. Thirdly, only God produces what
he requires. And lastly, we must have a substitute. We must have a surety, one that
can stand before God and not be destroyed and yet touch man
and not be defiled. Did you know everyone that he
touched or who touched him, they were made whole. But everything
we touch, We defile. That tells you how amazing our
God is because if a sinner comes up and touches the Lord, he didn't
contract sin from that sinner. He made them pure. Still the
same today. Hadn't changed a bit. Hadn't
changed a bit. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. If we are to have everlasting life, it's only found
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only found in his finished
work. It's only found in his accomplished salvation for his
people. He alone satisfied God. He alone endured the wrath of
God for his people. He alone shed his blood. He alone
fulfilled the promise, the covenant. It's finished. It's finished.
Covenant fulfilled. It's finished. This is what the scripture hath
concluded. Look to Christ. Look to Christ, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, do not flee to the law. The scriptures conclude,
Christ is all. Let's pray. Father, we ask that
you would take these words that you've given us, bless them to
understanding for your glory. Lord, as we are about to partake
in your table, we ask that you would bless it to our understanding
that we would see your face, that we would rejoice in your
body that was broken and your blood that was shed. Thank you
for such great salvation, Lord. In Christ's name we pray, amen.