Today I would like you to turn
in your Bible to the book of Galatians, the book of Galatians
chapter 2. And I'll be speaking to you from
verse 21, Galatians chapter 2. And I would encourage all of
you to get your Bible this morning, and let's read a few verses out
of Galatians chapter 2, starting at verse 16, down through verse
21. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore
Christ a minister of sin? Paul said, God forbid. For if
I build again The things which I destroy I make myself a transgressor. Now listen carefully, verse 19.
For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live
unto God. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the
grace of God, for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain." Now, verse 21 is the verse I want to speak
from this morning, where Paul says, I do not frustrate the
grace of God. The Apostle Paul had faithfully
and fully preached the gospel to these people in Galatia. God
was pleased to effectually call out and to save a multitude of
sinners, a multitude of Gentiles by His sovereign grace. The Apostle
Paul now sits in a Roman prison and writes this letter of love
and instruction to these believers to warn them against the false
preachers who came among them preaching something other than
Christ, preaching the works of the law, or preaching a mixture
of works and grace instead of faith alone, Christ alone, and
grace alone. My friend, we are plagued with
the same deadly, toxic doctrine in our day of sinner, save thyself. Do the best you can and everything
will be alright. Or people have said God's done
all He can do, now it's up to you. My friend, why is this false
gospel of works, of self-salvation, of legal righteousness and self-righteousness
so popular in our day? The first one is this, self-righteousness
appeals to our sinful flesh. Self-salvation and self-worth
is so ingrained in our fallen nature, so entrenched in our
wicked heart, so bound up in our corrupt mind that apart from
a miracle of sovereign grace revealed in us and Christ revealed
to us, this old man will never lay down this old rotten nature
of self-righteousness. The religion of fallen wicked
men is salvation by works. And we know the Scripture said
there is a way that seems right unto men, Proverbs 14, 12, but
the end of that way is death. And because it is, it becomes
the essence of all false religion. Because the natural religion
of fallen men is salvation by work, and because it is, it becomes
the essence of all false religion. The Word of God declares, Woe
unto them that have gone the way of Cain. What was that way? Well, you remember in Genesis
chapter 4, Cain brought the labor of his hand unto God rather than
the blood sacrifice of the Lamb, which typifies grace and Christ. Here is the second reason that
religion and false gospel of works is so popular in our day.
Because by nature, all men are ignorant of what the law of God
actually requires and of what true holiness is. Down in Galatians
3, verse 10, we read, for as many are as of the works of the
law are under its curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." Men are ignorant of what
the law of God actually requires. The law doesn't require do the
best you can. It requires absolute and eternal
holy perfection or death. It requires the best God can
do, not the best you can do. James said to offend in one point
is to be guilty of all the law. Besides that, my friend, the
law was never given to save, it was given to reveal our sin
and to drive us to Christ. You listen to what Paul said
in Romans 3, 19, we know that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin, not the
removal of sin. The law of God simply reveals
the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The law was given to reveal our
sin and to drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who honored the
law, who satisfied the law of God on behalf of God's people.
In Galatians 3, verse 13, we read, Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is
written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree. Christ satisfied
God's law, the penalty of it, by His bloody death. The third
reason that salvation by works and this false gospel is so popular
in our day is because all men are ignorant of their own sinful
character. Not only are they ignorant of
what the law of God requires in His holiness, but men are
ignorant of their own sinful character. We must come back
to this basic principle and this fundamental question, what happened
when Adam sinned? For by one man sin entered into
this world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
in whom all sin. In Adam, what happened? Death,
judgment, sin passed upon all men. The Scripture hath concluded
all are under sin. The Scripture hath said, hath
proved there is none righteous, no, not one." That's why works
salvation and a false gospel are so Popular in our day, men
are ignorant of the character of God, ignorant of their own
sins, and ignorant of what happened in the garden. Now, in our Scripture
today, we see two great crimes that self-righteousness and self-salvation
promote and commit against God. The first thing is this. Paul
talks about it in verse 21. He says, I do not frustrate the
grace of God. Frustrating the grace of God.
Paul says, I do not make void or reject or regard the grace
of God as something useless, but as absolutely vital and necessary
to my salvation. For it is by grace that we are
saved, not by work, lest any man should boast. If salvation,
redemption, and righteousness come by the law, then mercy,
grace, and peace are no longer necessary." Paul said over in
Galatians 5, verse 4, He said, Christ is become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, you've departed from the grace of God, and count the
grace of God no longer as an absolute necessity. Now, how
is this revealed in most preaching today? Let me give you this reason. They make, and the false preachers
in our day, and the false gospel makes the grace of God a secondary
thing rather than the primary cause of salvation. This was the deadly air of those
Galatians attempting to mix grace and works together. Paul called
it another gospel over in Galatians chapter 1. Verse 6, he said,
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Paul says,
which is not another. There is just one gospel of grace.
but there be some that would trouble you who would pervert
the gospel of Christ." Anytime you introduce any kind of human
merit into the scheme of salvation, you have made that grace of God
void and vain. In this scheme of salvation of
works, Every man is his own Savior. And the grace of God just fills
in and makes up for the slight deficiencies that we might have.
Rather than being the primary cause, they've made grace the
secondary cause. My friend, this is an intense
form of treason against the majesty of Christ's glorious work. The
sinner never makes the blood atonement effectual by anything
he does. Christ alone is the Savior. He by Himself, with Himself,
put away our sin. Grace alone and the blood alone
secured everlasting salvation for God's elect. And this is
the only primary cause of our salvation, is grace alone, Christ
alone, and the blood alone. Paul said, God saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace. We make void and we frustrate
the grace of God when we preach the grace of God as a secondary
cause, and not as a primary moving and a fountain of all blessings
of salvation. You must either have salvation
totally because you deserve it, or because the grace of God totally
bestowed it upon us, you can't have both. We know the Scriptures
teach in Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Did you hear that?
Salvation through mercy and grace alone. Here is the second great
crime which self-righteousness commits in making the death of
Christ non-essential. He said, I do not frustrate the
grace of God, For if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain." Now, here's the second thing. Self-righteousness
commits and says that the death of Christ is not absolutely essential. Christ on Calvary made a needless
and useless offering of himself if any man can be saved by his
own efforts, works, deeds, or doing of the law. Isn't this
absolutely plain enough for all to see? If salvation be of works,
then why did God send His beloved Son to obtain redemption through
His substitutionary sacrifice, if it could have been done some
other way? Can there be anyone to think
that his death was a vain thing. Yet thousands do who insist upon
being saved by some other way, but then Christ alone. If righteousness
is by the law, or by your deed, or by some other way, then Christ
died in vain. But we know the Scriptures declare
that there is salvation in no other than Christ alone. To seek
salvation by some other Something other than Christ alone is to
commit a grievous sin against the whole triune God. It's a
sin against the Father. God the Father. How could God
be wise and good and just and give His Son to such a horrible
death if salvation could be accomplished some other way? It's a sin against
God the Son. It's a spit in the face of Jesus
Christ if you think you can put away sin by your own puny efforts
rather than His blood alone. It is the blood that maketh atonement
for our sin. And it's a sin against the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the glorious perfection
and power of His redeeming blood. Woe be unto those who reject
His witness. These two great crimes are committed
by many people today, maybe by some who are listening today,
frustrating the grace of God by seeking salvation by your
work. and frustrating and making void
in vain the death of the Lord Jesus Christ by insisting upon
salvation through your merit. These crimes are committed by
all who are indifferent to the gospel. Is the life and death
of Jesus Christ nothing to you? It ought to be. It ought to be
everything to you. His blood purchased eternal redemption. You are not interested in being
redeemed? His effectual grace quickens and calls and regenerates
dead sinners. And you're not interested in
being redeemed and saved? You ought to be. His mercy delivers
the guilty from the wrath of God. And you're not interested
in being delivered from the wrath of God? You ought to be. My friend,
in closing, no true believer will be guilty of these crimes.
Believers in Christ have not a ray of hope outside of and
apart from Christ and His amazing grace. We have a good hope through
grace and grace alone. The more we grow in grace, the
more we grow in love with His sovereign grace, and the more
we love to hear men exalt and preach and talk about salvation
through the blood and merit and grace of God. Second thing, believers
in Christ look totally, always and only to Christ's precious
sacrifice and His cleansing blood for all our redemption, all our
justification and complete salvation. We say with those in the book
of Revelation who sang and praised God unto Him that loved us and
washed us from our sin, in His own blood be all the honor and
glory. Believers aren't guilty of these
two crimes. They love the grace of God, and
they say the blood, the substitutionary death, satisfied the wrath of
God and is all-pleasing unto God. And that's our hope, that
Christ took our sin to Himself and effectually and eternally
put them away.