Now, we're turning this evening
to Galatians, the sixth chapter, and this evening we'll conclude
the study in the book of Galatians. I think we've been studying through
the book of Galatians for the last six or seven months, maybe
a little bit longer, but it is a most profitable study. Anytime
believers can get together and assemble in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, take His word, read His word, give thanks unto
God and take His Word and teach it line by line, word by word,
doctrine by doctrine, precept upon precept, here a little and
there a little. It is a profitable time for God's
people. We meet not in vain. We meet
not in vain. We meet in the name of the Lord
Jesus to declare His Word, to declare His Gospel, and it is
a blessing to the Lord's people. to the conclusion of our study
in the book of Galatians. This study has certainly been
a personal uplifting and a personal help to me, and I pray it has
been for you. It's been a blessing to me, and
I pray that the Lord will continue to bring fruit from His Word
in our lives and in our hearts. And when we are in trouble and
when we are tried, may the Lord be pleased to refresh our mind
with His Word and with His truth. And may we find great comfort
in what He says of salvation, all of grace, and all in Christ
Jesus. And certainly this epistle reinforces
the grand truths of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
salvation that's in Him by the complete, free, and sovereign
grace that's revealed in Christ Jesus, being justified freely
by His grace through the redeeming merit, the redeeming sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we've considered these
six chapters in the book of Galatians, Oftentimes, there is one particular
key verse that seems to leap out at us. Maybe you have a particular
verse that's your favorite verse in the book of Galatians. As
we have studied these six chapters, is there any particular verse
that just has grabbed your heart, that has been rooted and grounded
in your soul, that you find great comfort and hope and assurance
from one particular verse? Can you think of one? Well, I
think of this one. Turn back over here to chapter
2, verse 21. This is one of my favorite verses,
and the Lord, I believe, used this verse many, many years ago,
25 years ago, maybe longer, to reveal His grace to me from this
verse. I do not distort frustrate, confuse
the grace of God, or if righteousness comes by the law, comes by my
legal effort, come by ceremony or sacrifice, if righteousness,
salvation, comes that way, if a sinner can be justified that
way, then Christ is dead and vain. I think that is a key verse. To me it is anyway. Now you may
have other verses. I like especially another verse
in chapter 3, verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He has redeemed
us all by His glorious, glorious blood sacrifice. He has redeemed
us from the law that was against us, that was contrary to us.
He took it out of the way, He nailed it to the cross, having
satisfied God's law and justice, and by that satisfaction unto
God. There is a holy law of God that
I cannot satisfy, but the Lord Jesus Christ did on my behalf,
redeemed us from the curse of that law, being made a curse
for us. That's a blessing, is it not?
Redemption through the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, I pray as we have studied
this, that God has given you that special verse. that has
spoken to your heart. Maybe all the verses, I pray
that all the verses that God has given to us in this inspired,
God-sent, God-preserved epistle may bless your heart today and
tomorrow and the years of your life that you have or the days. We're told in Scripture to number
our days that we may apply our heart unto wisdom. Our days here
upon the earth, they're few. Now, with that introduction,
let's start with verse 11. Verse 11. So you see here, he
says, writing to these ones that he loves, He is very concerned
for them, and his heart weeps for them, and he longs to be
with them, to instruct them, to embrace them. But Paul is
hindered by the providence and purpose of God. Paul is in prison
in Rome. But God gives him this blessed,
inspired record, this blessed, inspired Word. He says, you see
how large a letter I've written unto you with my own hand. God used this man to pen the
words God breathed and God given. Now you think with me. We see
Paul's heart and his affection and his concern and his love
for them as he writes his love letter. And he's deeply concerned
for their spiritual welfare. And by the moving power of God
the Holy Spirit, God gives him these words to help those of
his own, his elect. All Scriptures God breathed.
We find this Scripture in 2 Peter 1, For the prophecy came not
in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved, as they were driven. by God the Holy Spirit. Now, there's something special.
There's something special about a handwritten letter. That day's
almost gone in our day. Everybody uses computers and
e-mails, and those things are fine in their place, but there's
something special about a handwritten letter. Some of you old-timers
know about that. A handwritten letter. I still write handwritten
letters to some people, some people. Something special about
a handwritten letter, and this is what Paul says, you see how
large a letter I've written to you with my own hand, with my
own pen. You think about it. It's special
to receive a letter from a loving father to a son. Now, my father was not, my earthly
father was not a believer. was an unbeliever. He was a very,
very religious man, but he died in his sin. He died not believing
the truth, not believing the gospel. But even I have yet today
letters written, handwritten letters from my father before
he died to me. And they're precious. I go back
and read them from time to time. And you think about a handwritten
letter from a mother to a daughter, precious, loving daughter. That's
special lifting. But you think about this. What
great mercy from God Almighty to receive His letter from His
heart, His throne, from the throne of God to the sons of God through
this man, the Apostle Paul. To the heart of God's people
from the throne of God, through God's servant, written out and
delivered to God's people. That's a special letter. That's
a special thing. And that's what we have in all
the Word of God. It's the Word of God. It's the
will of God. It's His love letter given to
His covenant people. That's what it is. It's His last
will and testament. That will be done. That will
be accomplished. He said, I've spoken it. I bring
it to pass. I've purposed it. I do it. Can you count on it? Absolutely
so. Now, look at verse 12. He says,
"...as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh." Now
here, again, He's talking about those Judaizers, those who came
preaching legalism, those who came preaching works. He said,
"...they desire to make a fair show in the flesh." They're all
about a show. They're all about having a big
show, having a big doing. How many people, you know how
many people we had in service last week? They'll put their
numbers up. They'll publish them in the paper.
Our Sunday schools are running over. We're running 20 buses
now. That's what the religious crowd
said. I'm not talking about my ministry, but I'm talking about
what the religious crowd says. We don't have any buses at our
place. But this religious world desires
to make a big show in the flesh. They think it's all in numbers. When my mother comes to visit
me from Salt Lake City, and she's a very religious Mormon. And
when she comes to visit me, as she did this last summer, and
when she comes to our congregation, and she does come to the service,
she's not a happy camper when she comes to the service, but
she does come. But one of the things she always
reminds me after the service is, you know, you have just a
small little crowd there in that place. She said, you know, we
have 12 million people in our church. You don't want to tell
her? I said, I tell her, you're just seeing the tip of the iceberg. In God's family, in the redeemed
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's thousands times ten thousands
and thousands of thousands. We have a glorious church out
of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue, and people. Mom, you're
just seeing a few of them. They're everywhere over all of
God's green earth, and He calls them by His gospel. But religion
desires to make a fair show in the flesh. And here's what they
do. They will constrain you. They'll
put you under their thumb. and control you, and dictate
to you where you can go, who you can see, what you can wear,
all these different things. They'll constrain you, and these
people on that particular day, the issue was circumcision. For
religious purposes, they'll constrain you to be circumcised only lest
they should suffer persecution for preaching Christ alone. You see, to them, Christ crucified
was not enough. You must do this. You must do
that. You must come here. You must
follow our rules, our regulation. They were, these people here,
these Judaizers, they desired to make a show on the flesh,
and they would not preach and stand for Christ only, Christ
crucified, grace alone, faith alone, the Word of God alone.
They would not stand for that. Why? Lest they should suffer
persecution. Now you take a stand for the
gospel of God's grace. I'm not talking about just being
religious now. But you take a dogmatic stand
for salvation by God's sovereign mercy and sovereign grace alone. That He will have mercy on whom
He will. That He will save whom He will. That there is a purpose
of God according to election. You take a stand and you'll have
a fight on your hands. Now not among God's people, but
in this religious world you will. These people here, just like
the religious people in our day, they will not take a stand. They're
compromisers. They're compromisers, and they
compromise God's truth just to fill the building, just to get
along, just to have a large crowd, just to have a big paycheck,
just to have all the perks that come with having a large ministry.
They're in the ministry for the wrong reason, only lest they
should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. They, oh, they desire to make
a big show on the flesh. Our Lord said of those Pharisees,
you are they which justify yourselves before men. But that which is
highly esteemed among men, God says, is an abomination in my
sight. Our Lord said of those Pharisees
and their religion, they love to pray on the street corner.
Why do they do that? Why do they do their alms before
men in public? To be seen of them. That's their
glory. That's their pride. That's their
religious fallen pride. And they pray on the street corner
to be seen of men. But God said, that's an abomination.
They go about to establish their own righteousness by the deeds
of their own hand rather than resting in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. Lest they should suffer persecution. for the cross of Christ. They
would take away the offense of the cross because they don't
want to be persecuted for boldly standing for the gospel of God's
free grace. But that's what he tells us to
do. You remember in chapter 5, verse 1? Stand fast therefore
in the liberty, in the freedom, in the boldness wherewith Christ
hath made us free and be not tangled again with the yoke of
bondage. with the yoke of ceremony, with
the yoke of tradition, with the yoke of false religion, don't
be entangled again in that mess. Look at verse 13 in our text.
Galatians 6 verse 13. For they themselves, those false
teachers, those Judaizers, those who were haters of Christ and
haters of grace, they neither themselves who For neither they
themselves who are circumcised, they don't keep the law, but
they desire to have you under their control. They desire to
have you circumcised, that they may glory in what they have done."
Oh, they say, well, look how many souls I've won to Jesus.
You know, we had 1,300 decisions last year in our church. Well,
big deal. coerce folks to make a decision,
but salvation is not a decision. Salvation is not what you do.
Salvation is what God's done for us. But here's what they
do, and here's what this same religious crowd does in our day. They desire to have you keep
the law, honor the law, and they do this by threats. They do this by threats. They
will say things, if you don't do this. They try to bring a
fear upon them, and they motivate people by two things, either
fear of punishment or promise of reward. Rather than the truth
of how God's people are motivated, by gratitude, by love. We love Him. The love of Christ
constrains us. But neither, look what he says,
neither they themselves who are circumcised, they don't keep
the law. These Pharisees, they didn't keep the law. Not at all. You remember what the Apostle
Peter said there in Acts 15? Listen to what he said. Don't
turn. Let me just read it to you. I've got it here written
down. In Acts 15, verse 8 down through
verse 11, God which know the hearts, bear them witness, those
Gentiles, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did unto us.
And He put no difference between us and them, purifying their
hearts by faith. Now listen to what He says. Now
therefore, why do you tempt God to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples with neither our fathers nor we? We're not able
to meet that standard. God's law demands not the best
we can do. God's law demands perfection,
and I can't produce it, and no sinner can. Thank God the Lord
Jesus Christ did. And that's my blessed hope. We
believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we
shall be saved. Grace alone. I hope that folks
criticize me of preaching too much grace. I'll take that criticism. I hope I'm worthy of it. Of preaching
too much Christ, too much grace. Exalting the Lord Jesus Christ
too highly. All he does is preach Christ.
My friend, there's no other message. I want to be guilty of that.
I hope I'm guilty of their charge of preaching Christ too high.
Preaching Christ too often. Glory in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Can you do it? No. You can't exhaust that message
of Christ. Christ and Christ alone. Look
at verse 14. But God forbid. God forbid. Now, Paul uses this phrase often
to make a bold statement God forbid, God forbid that I should
glory, and that word there, glory, means to rejoice. It's the same
word that's used in Philippians 3.3 when it says we rejoice in
Christ Jesus. It's the same exact word. God
forbid we should find any ground or reason to hope for salvation
and to rejoice in salvation except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. except in Christ in Him crucified,
being justified freely by His grace through the redeeming blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our hope. That is our
confidence. That is our assurance of salvation. He paid the debt I owe. All the debt that I owe God's
law and justice, having sinned against God, having broken God's
holy law, the Lord Jesus Christ paid my debt in full, so much
so that God Almighty, who knows all things, said their sin and
their iniquity will I remember no more. No wonder the believer
is quick to rejoice, not in our merit, not in our deed, not in
our profession, not in our experience, but with glory in Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul said, I'm determined
not to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified, He is my wisdom, my righteousness. Christ crucified
is my righteousness before God. Christ crucified is all my deliverance
from all my sin before God Almighty. God forbid I should glory, save,
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Now God forbid, God
forbid we should glory, rejoice, Except for this one reason, Christ. That reason is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Those who are perishing in their sins, Christ crucified,
as we read in 1 Corinthians 1. To those who are perishing in
their sin, Christ crucified is foolishness unto them. But unto
us, it's the power of God. It's the wisdom of God. It's
the glory of God. This is all the reason for all
of our salvation. Redemption through Christ and
Him. Crucified. Turn over here to
chapter 1 of Galatians. All the way back to the beginning.
You remember how we started? Galatians chapter 1, verse 3
and 4. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father. and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for our sins." He starts out, when He gives
His introduction, He goes skedaddles right to the cross. And He stays
right there at the cross all the way through this epistle.
"...who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us
from this present evil world, according to the will of God
our Father, to whom be glory both now and forever, Amen, so
be it he starts at the cross and he continues in the cross
look at chapter 2 verse 20 I Am crucified with Christ Nevertheless,
yet not I, I am crucified with him. 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." All the way through this epistle,
in every chapter he talks about substitution, satisfaction, about
Christ paying our sin debt. In chapter 3, verse 13, Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. In chapter 4, verse 4, look there.
In Galatians 4, verse 4, that when the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son in your heart, making
you to cry, Abba, Father, He is my Father, my Father. And in chapter 5 as well, he
talks about, in verse 11, "...and I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense
of the cross ceased." You see, every time that he has opportunity
to declare the gospel, he talks about the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, he's not talking about a
symbol. He's not talking about an icon. He's not talking about
a fixture. He's not talking about these
things that we see on buildings everywhere. He's not talking
about a physical cross. The message of the cross. He's
talking about the person of the cross. The person who died for
our sin according to the Scripture. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ crucified. When it says, God forbid I should
rejoice, save, except in the cross of Christ. Christ crucified. Now, every religious person,
glory is in something. It may be feeling, it may be
tradition, it may be work, it may be deeds, it may be church
membership, it may be personal holding, but for the believer,
for the believer, now you consider yourself, put yourself in that
camp, by His grace I trust. What do you really glory in? What do you really rejoice in? It's Christ. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. His person, His glorious person. To you who believe, He is precious. And we glory not only in who
He is, but we glory in what He has done for us. Put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And he did it affectionately.
He did it wonderfully. He did it to the delight and
satisfaction of God, who said, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. We glory in Christ Jesus. And
that's what the Apostle said so clearly in Philippians chapter
3. We are the true Israel, which worship God in the Spirit, that
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in the
flesh. None at all. with glory only
in Christ Jesus. Now when Paul talks about the
cross here, he's talking about the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ as our substitute. He's talking about the glorious
saving doctrine of the cross, the message of the cross, the
atonement of the cross. He's talking about the blood
atonement. How the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood to put
away our sin. How the Lord Jesus Christ by
His own blood bought us, redeemed us. God purchased the church
with His own blood. We are not our own. We are bought
with a price. What a price! His blood, redeemed
with His precious blood, the Lamb of God, God Almighty, manifest
in the flesh. He's talking about the substitutionary
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about His blood
atonement. He's talking about His propitiation. His satisfying
propitiation. His mercy seat. His mercy seat. His satisfaction unto God. That
mercy seat over that broken law. There in the Holy of Holies,
the blood was sprinkled on that mercy seat, covering our offenses. And that's Christ our mercy seat. He is our propitiation. John put it this way, here in
his love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. And that
He sent His Son to be the propitiation, the satisfaction unto God. That satisfaction that the Father
said, I'm well pleased with. His substitutionary work for
us. That's what He's talking about here. That just dying for
the unjust that He might bring us unto God. Paul gloried not
in the wood of the cross, the sign of the cross, but in the
person who died on the cross. And it's who He is. It's who
He is that gives value, infinite value, to what He did. It's who He is. It's just not
that a Jewish man died. There's a lot of Jews that died.
But this Jew is God, matter of fact, in the flesh. Dying for
His covenant people. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin. Bearing our sin in His own body
on the tree. The just for the unjust that
He might bring us unto God. Christ crucified is everything
to the believer. Now look what it says there.
In the last second part of verse 14, Galatians 6, 14, "...by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Now what's
he saying here? I'm crucified, I'm crucified
with Christ. I'm crucified this way, I'm dead
to this religious world. This religious world is dead
to me. We have nothing to fear from
them, neither in this world, nor from them in this world.
This religious world of unbelievers. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us and gave Himself for us. The believer is dead
to this world's opinions, to this world's influence, applause
and approval, which means nothing to us. We count it all but loss. Happy is the man who has learned
this lesson by God's grace. Now, here's what he's saying.
It doesn't matter if this religious world criticizes me or congratulates
me. I'm dead to this world. Now,
there was a young seminary student. I heard this story recently.
Now, this goes way back years ago, but a recent story that
I heard, he asked, sitting in this classroom in this seminary,
he asked his professor, what does it mean to be dead to this
world? What does it mean to be crucified
to this world? And the old teacher thought for
a minute, man of years, man of wisdom, he said, let me explain
it to you this way. There was a young man who had
recently, in that community, had died. And evidently this
young man was a part of that school, a part of that seminary.
And he told this other student that was struggling with this
thought, how am I dead to the world? How am I crucified in
the world and the world unto me? He said, here, I'll tell
you what to do. There's that grave out there, Brother Willie
Smith. You go out there into that grave, and you stand over
that grave, and you call that Brother Willie, you call him
every foul name you can think of, and criticize him all you
want to, and criticize him, and criticize him, and speak everything
you think evil about that man, and then come back and see me.
Well, he did what the professor said. He went out to the graveyard,
and he stood there before the grave of his departed brother
Willie, and he called him everything he could think of, said, you
are low down, you are no good, you're a snake, you're a thief,
you mistreated me. Now, those things probably weren't
true, but he did what the professor told him to do. And he went back
to the professor, and he said, well, I did what you told me.
He said, I got one other thing for you to do. You go back out
to that graveyard. Go back out to that cemetery,
and in that grave, before that grave, and you say every nice
thing you can think of about that dear brother. You tell him
how lovely he was, and how kind he was, and how generous he was,
and how he magnified the Lord. You go back and say everything
nice about him, and then you come back and see me." Well,
he did that. He went back out to the cemetery,
and he went Bernie spoke all those flattering things about
his brother, and he went back to the professor. And the professor
said, well, what did he say when you went out there and criticized
him? What did he say back to you? He didn't say anything.
What about when he went out the second time and told him all
those flowery things? What did he say to you then?
He said he didn't say anything! He dead! And that's the point. We're dead to this world. It
doesn't matter if they criticize us, if they talk all manner of
evil against us. I've even had people up where
I'm from in Pike County to get on public radio and denounce
me and my ministry and invite my congregation to leave. But
it doesn't bother me. It makes me happy and glad when
the enemies of the gospel start to criticize and start to become
very unhappy in what I'm preaching. At least I know I'm preaching
truth because they hate it. But it doesn't matter if they
criticize me or applaud me. It doesn't change my message.
You see, if we preach to please men, we're not the servants of
Christ. He says that in chapter 1. That's
what it means. I'm crucified to the world and
the world unto me. I don't care what they say. I've
got, by His grace, I've got a good hope in Christ Jesus. And He's
given me this message of grace, this message of Christ Jesus.
And by His grace, I'm determined to preach it until God is pleased
to remove me and to take me home. But I'm going to keep preaching
Christ. Now, having said all that, look at verse 15. I hope you can remember that
illustration. Dead to the world. Dead to the world. That's what
we are. Look at verse 15. For in Christ Jesus, now watch
this. For in Christ Jesus, now that's
the key. Salvation is in Christ Jesus. You read Ephesians chapter 1,
and we'll be looking at this, Lord willing, next week. How
many times in that first chapter He talks about in Christ, chosen
in Him, blessed in Him, everything God has for any sinner is in
Christ Jesus. So, in Christ Jesus, verse 15,
neither circumcision, that avails nothing, It doesn't remove God's
wrath. It does not gain God's favor.
All you religious ceremonies, all you religious deeds, it counts
for nothing. We say with Paul we count all
things but loss and dung and ruin that we might win Christ
and be found in Him. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availed anything nor uncircumcision. But a new creature. Now, in Christ
Jesus, we are a new creature. Now, with God, in Christ Jesus,
that's salvation. For in Christ Jesus, we are a
new creation. A new creation. Old things are
passed away, behold, all things have become new. We are a new
creation in Christ Jesus. Now, here he's talking about
the new birth. He's talking about being born
again from above. He's talking about being born
again of that incorruptible seed, the Word of God. "...Of His own
will beget He us with the Word of truth. For in Christ Jesus
we are a new creation." We are what we never were by nature. By nature we're dead in sin,
shaped in iniquity, but in Christ Jesus we are a new creation. Did we have anything to do with
that creation in the beginning when God said, let there be light? Did we have anything to do even
with our physical beginning? when we were conceived in the
womb. We were totally passive in that. We had nothing to do
with it. Even so, in the new birth, God who commands the light
out of darkness has shined in our heart to give us the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We are His creation. Look what it says in chapter
2 of Ephesians, verse 10. For we are His workmanship. Whose? His workmanship created in Christ
Jesus. You see, we are His creation
by His power, by His design, by His purpose. We are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. There it is again, in Christ
Jesus. Unto good works, that's the fruit
of salvation, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them. Now, look at verse 16. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things have become new. Now look at verse 16. As many
as walk according to this standard, and that's the word there, standard.
As many as walk according to this rule, this standard. What's he talking about here?
What's the rule that we live by? What's the rule of the believer's
life? What's the standard that we live
by? glory only in Christ Jesus. That's what he's talking about.
As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and
mercy upon the Israel of God. Now this word here that's used
in verse 16, rule, is where we get the word canon. C-A-N-O-N. We talk about the canon of Scripture,
it's the rule of Scripture. It actually is a rod or a measurement
Something we measure something by. And that's what he's talking
about. We can measure ourselves by the
rule of Scripture. To see if we are believers or
not. Whether we are real or not. It
has to do with the work of Christ for us. And it has to do with
the work of Christ in us. You can't have one without the
other. the work of Christ for us. We glory in Christ crucified. That's what we call justification.
That's the work of Christ for us. He justified us with His
own blood. We glory in that. The standard
of our salvation is Christ and Him crucified. A true believer
will have only confidence in what Christ did for him. If we
have confidence in anything else, I'm not a real believer. You
see, we glory only in Christ. That's that work of Christ for
us in justification. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord would impute righteousness without works. Now, we glory
in that. But look what he says here. We
also glory in this. For in Christ Jesus we are a
new creation. You know what that is there?
Two things we see here. We see the work of Christ for
us, and then we see the work of Christ in us. We call that
sanctification. We call that the work of the
Holy Spirit in us, creating in us a new nature that loves God,
that cannot sin. The work of Christ in us, and
we call that holy implantation or impartation of a new nature
in Christ. I know the work of Christ in
me is a new creation. He created in me that which was
not there before. Just like in creation, God created
something from nothing. I know that the faith I have
came from Him. Faith is the gift of God. I know
that the love I have came from Him. In the first creation, man
contributed nothing. In the second creation, man contributes
nothing. Nothing. As many as walk according
to this rule, the work of Christ for us, and the work of Christ
in us, peace be on them, and the mercy, and peace and mercy
on them, and upon the Israel of God, upon the blessed chosen
of God in Christ Jesus. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 17, as many as walk according to
that standard, that rule, glorying only in Christ, what He's done
for us and in us, And then he closes with these words, verse
17, "...from henceforth let no one trouble me no more. For I
bear in my body the scars, the scars, the marks, the beatings,
the whippings for the Lord Jesus Christ for standing for that
gospel." Those who troubled these believers troubled Paul. He says
over in chapter 5, verse 12, he said, I wish these people
were cut off. Your enemies are my enemies. And the enemies of
the cross of Christ are my enemies. And they're the enemies against
God and his gospel. And Paul carried these battle
scars as a faithful soldier of the gospel. He said, yea, all
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now, verse 18, brethren, In spite
of all the heartache that some of these erring people put him
through. Brethren, he wants the best for
them. Brethren, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. In spite of the heartache
and the grief this church brought upon the apostle, he still prays
for them, he still wants the best for them. The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. As God's servant, Two things
I constantly strive for in the ministry. These two things I
desire for you and for those to whom I preach in other places.
To make the name of the Lord Jesus Christ known to you through
preaching and teaching His Word. And to make your name known before
Him by praying for you. I preach to you, but I pray for
you too. Paul closed with these words,
to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20. Now, brethren, I commend
you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build
you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit. Amen. He closed 2 Corinthians
This way the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen.