Now, we're turning in our Bible
again to Galatians chapter 1, verse 1. And he simply begins
this epistle. We know it's God-inspired, God-given. Although Paul was used to record
these words, we know all Scripture is God-breathed, God-given. And we treat it as such. We treat
it with respect because it is the word of truth. It is the
word of God. So he writes, Paul, an apostle,
not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father
who raised him from the dead. Now not many years after Paul
preached the gospel to these people here in Galatia, and I
don't know how many years or months or days or weeks for that
matter that he spent among these people there in the region of
Galatia. But not many years after Paul
had preached the gospel to these people and left to preach in
other places, false teachers crept in among the people and
introduced what he calls down here in verse 7, a perverted
gospel of Christ. He says, which is not another,
but there be some that would trouble you and would pervert
or change change or distort or confuse the gospel of Christ. These Judaizers came among these
believers in these churches in Galatia who denied that salvation
was by Christ alone. They didn't deny him altogether,
but they said he wasn't enough. You must have Christ and something
you do, something you bring. They denied salvation by Christ
alone. They denied justification by
free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus alone. They said there
must be something else to this. And Paul warns them, just as
he warned those elders at Ephesus about false teachers. He said,
be on guard, be ready, because there will come among you people
not preaching the gospel. By God-given authority and inspiration,
he writes from Rome to warn the churches of Galatia not to leave
the Gospel. To stand fast for the Gospel. Don't compromise, don't budge,
don't move away from the Gospel. Now hold your place here in chapter
1 and find chapter 5, verse 1. Stand fast. Stand fast. Be of one mind and one heart.
Stand fast. Don't move. Don't budge. Notice
chapter 5 of Galatians, verse 1. Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. He is the liberator. He has set us free. And be not
entangled again, be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, he said, I Paul, saying to you that if you be circumcised,
for religious purposes, thinking it recommends you to God, Christ
shall profit you absolutely nothing." Now that's strong. Nothing, nothing
at all. So he warned these churches to
stand fast. You know, the warning is relative
to us in our day. Because we are so plagued in
our day with false gospel, which is Something Paul calls a perverted
gospel. Because we're so plagued in our
day with men who are preachers who preach what men want to hear. They're men-pleasers. They're
not God's servants. Well, how do you know that preacher?
Well, they're not preaching God's gospel. They're preaching a man-centered
gospel, not a Christ-centered gospel. So, be on guard. Take heed. Watch. And then stand
fast. Stand fast. Now, there are several
key verses, I believe, in this epistle to the Galatians, and
it's one of my favorite, one of my favorite epistles. Notice,
if you will, chapter 2, verse 16. I believe this is one of
the key verses here, and I think it sounds a theme of what he
writes here, Galatians 2, verse 16, knowing that a man, a sinner,
and that's us, that's what we are, we're sinners. Sinner is
not justified by the works of the law. but by the faith of
Jesus Christ, by the obedience and the performance and the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by
the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified." Now stay in that same chapter, look at
verse 21, Galatians 2, 21. Now this is a Powerful, powerful verse. And
it's teaching us that salvation is by grace alone. He says, I
do not frustrate, distort, or confuse the grace of God or salvation
by God's grace. For if righteousness is by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain. There's no need for Christ to
die if I can honor the law in my puny efforts in the flesh. Not at all. And this is what
he's writing about. Now in chapter 3 of Galatians,
here's another setting theme, and it's the same thing. Galatians
3 verse 11, that no man is justified by the law and the sight of God.
It is evident. It is most evident. And this
statement here is in the Word four times. Four times. Habakkuk, Romans, Hebrews, and
here in Galatians. The just shall live by faith.
Or the justified live by Christ. That's what he's saying. They
live by Christ. So he's writing and teaching
that salvation is by faith alone, not law. That salvation is by
grace alone, not works. That salvation is by Christ alone,
not circumcision, not ceremony. Salvation is by truth alone,
not traditions. Truth, not the traditions of
man, but truth. Now, let's begin with verse 1.
He simply identifies himself as Paul. Paul. Now remember, he was known before,
before he met the Savior, he was known as Saul of Tarsus. You know, Saul was one of Israel,
they're Israel's first king. When they cried, God give us
a king, they gave him old Saul. And I guess Saul of Tarsus, was
named after that king. But the word name, Saul, means
somebody big, somebody important. But Paul, when he was converted
and after he met the Savior, he dropped that Saul of Tarsus. He was further known and moreover
he was known by this name, Paul. And you know what it means? Small,
insignificant, a nothing, a nobody, a sinner saved by God's grace. So he identifies himself as Paul,
and then he says, he describes his office. He says, I'm an apostle. I'm an apostle. An apostle is
one who is sent of God, gifted, called in a special way. He's
an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, having received the message
of the gospel directly from the Lord Jesus Christ, having seen
the resurrected, glorified Lord. This is the one who called him
to be an apostle. God gave him special credentials,
special power, and special authority to demonstrate that he spoke
for God. Now, there are no apostles today,
not in the sense that these men were. The word simply means one
sent of God. God does call and equip and send
men with His gospel, His message, but they're not apostles. They
are preachers of the gospel. But they're not apostles. And
then I like this, he says here, he gives a negative, not of men.
He's saying this, I wasn't voted into this office. They didn't
hold a vote. Now you remember when Judas betrayed
the Lord. In the church, they got together
and they selected those two men, and they had a vote. And they
selected Matthias, but you know, we never read of that man again. It wasn't God's choice. He wasn't
God's Apostle. God has something else in mind.
That ought to teach us something about voting. What not vote?
We ought to pray, not vote. If they prayed long enough and
waited on the Lord, He would have revealed to them that Paul,
Paul the Apostle, Saul of Tarsus was God's man. Who would have
ever thought this God-hater, This God, this persecutor of
the gospel, he said, I was one who caused injury. He was one,
his own testimony said, I was a blasphemer. But God had mercy
on me and he put me in the ministry. Paul, an apostle, not of man,
neither by man. Someone didn't select me or a
group of men. It wasn't a vote. But he says,
by the resurrected Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ and God the
Father who raised him from the dead. This is the one, the Almighty
Savior, who called me, who chose me, who redeemed me, and He put
me in the ministry. He did it, all of grace. All
of grace. An apostle. By nature, a sinner. By grace, made a trophy, an object
of God's love. He attributes all He is, all
He has, all He knows to the power of Almighty God. Not of men,
not by man, but by God Almighty. Now, verse 2, and he writes,
as God's apostle, with God's inspiration, by God's inspiration,
he says, and all the brethren, they're with me, fellow laborers
together, fellow workers, he calls them, we're in this together. He said, we're of one mind and
of one heart and one body, we have one head, all of their brethren,
they're with me and we're riding unto the churches, the churches
of Galatia. Now notice it doesn't say church,
it says churches. Now evidently there were several
assemblies that God had called out and churches, assemblies
like this assembly, are made up of sinners chosen by God in
that eternal covenant of grace, redeemed by the blood of that
covenant sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ, called out of darkness
into God's marvelous light, translated out of the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And that's what the church,
what the Word actually means. Those who are called out. And
he's done that. And he's called his people out
and put them together and they form local assemblies. Tennessee
and Kentucky, Virginia, other places. And they make up this
larger picture of the redeemed from every tribe, kindred, tongue,
nation under heaven. And they are the redeemed of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is part of the body of Christ.
churches in different areas and they love the Lord Jesus Christ. They are lovers of Him because
God chose them and called them. Our Lord said that. He said,
you didn't choose me, I've chosen you. And I've ordained you that
you should bring forth fruit. Now verse 3, He goes on and He
says, grace, grace to you. Now this is not common grace.
This is not common mercy. This is that sovereign, special
mercy and special grace that God has to His covenant people. This is grace to you. You see,
salvation is all by the grace of God. All spiritual blessings
flow out to God's people because He is gracious. Grace to you and peace. Notice it's grace first and then
we have peace. We have peace through grace.
from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace. The grace of God to you through
Christ. This is the sole and single cause
of all our spiritual blessings. Grace. Grace. Grace alone. God's free favor. That's what grace is. God's free
unmerited favor. God saves us by His purpose and
grace. And flowing from that is peace
from God to you through Christ. We enjoy the peace of God from
the God of peace." How is peace made? He is the offended sovereign. We've offended Him. How is peace
made? Well, I know what most religious
people think in our day. I've heard people say this, trying
to make peace with God. You ever heard someone say that?
A guilty, impotent, Sinful worm cannot satisfy an infinite holy
God. Well, how is peace made? One
way. You interested? Turn over here
to Colossians chapter 1, and I'll show you how peace is made.
It's peace through strength. It's peace through blood. Colossians chapter 1, verse 19.
For it pleased the Father, Colossians 1, 19, that in Him should all
fullness dwell, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
By Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you
that were sometimes alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath He reconciled. How in the body of His blessed
through death to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in His sight." That's how peace is made. Peace through the blood,
justified by the blood, redeemed by the blood. Grace to you and
peace all flows from the sovereign throne of God Almighty. He's
God our Savior. You ever notice how Paul writes
about God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ? He's a just God
and Savior. Now, in verse 4 and 5, we have
these four fundamentals of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ,
and here's the first point, substitution. Substitution. The first fundamental
of the gospel is substitution. We see who gave himself. Who
and what He did. Substitution. We see something
of a substitute and what He did. We see who He is. He is the Lord,
heaven and earth. And He is the Savior. He's the
only Savior. Neither is there salvation in
any other but the Lord Jesus. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the life. He's the Lord Jesus Christ who
gave Himself. No man took his life from him.
He said that specifically. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take
it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. He gave
himself willingly, submitted himself unto death, even, even
the death of the cross, who gave himself for our sin. Now, he had no sin of his own.
He gave Himself for our sin. Now, you know what we call that?
Substitution. You know the word substitution
thought in the Bible? The truth of it is, all through
the Scripture, Christ took my place, He died in my stead. Who gave Himself for our sin. We see who He is and what He
did. Remember where we started? Acts 20, 28. Who bought us with
His own blood? God purchased us with His own
blood. It's who He is. It's just not
that a mere man from Nazareth died. This man is the God-man
mediator. It's who He is that gives infinite
value to what He did. He gave Himself for our sins. He's a surety of the covenant.
He's a mediator of the covenant. Substitution. That means He took
my place. He took my sin. And He took my
punishment and in doing so, He put it away. He didn't make an
attempt. I never preach or tell anybody
I have a theory of atonement. Or what is your theory of atonement?
I don't have a theory. I have an atonement. He is the
atonement. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Now let's look at those three
things about substitution. First of all, He took my place.
He died in my stead. He took my place. That's substitution. Now, I want you to find 1 Peter
3, verse 18. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. You see, He died
in the room in the stead of His covenant people. Now, not for
all the sins of all men. No, no, no. But for all of the
sins of some. His sheep. He said, I lay down
my life for the sheep. He's a substitute, not for all
the sins of all men, but for His covenant people. 1 Peter
3, 18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just. You know, in Scripture, He's
called the Just One. Even those demon spirits said,
we know who you are. You're Jesus of Nazareth. You're
the Holy One of God. He is the just one. He had no
sin. He knew no sin. He did no sin.
But yet He dies with my sin on Him. Charged to Him. God laid
on Him my sin. Christ also once suffered for
sins. My sins. The sin of His covenant
people. The just one. For in the stead
and room of the unjust that He might bring us to God. No one
brought any other way than by the suitable, appointed, substitute
sacrifice of God, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, that
He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh. Was
His death real? Absolutely. Did He really die?
Absolutely. What does sin demand? Death.
And He died a real death. It wasn't something play-like.
It was real. He died. He was put to death
and buried. Put to death in the flesh? Oh,
but He didn't stay dead. God put His seal of approval
on Him, put His stamp of approval on Him, and declared unto all
men everywhere in that He is the Son of God, in that He was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification,
and declared to be the Son of God, in that He ever lives to
make intercession for us. You see, He took my place. the
just for the unjust that He might bring us unto God. And in doing
so, He took my sin. Now, I want you to find 1 John
chapter 3. He took my sin. Now, He had no
sin. He knew no sin and He did no
sin. He is the spotless Lamb of God,
yet He dies with my sin charged to Him. 1 John 3, 5, and you
know And we do know. We know this.
We know from the record of Scripture, from the revelation of the Spirit.
You know that He was manifested to take away our sin. Wasn't
that the message of John, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
our sin? How does He take away our sin?
By burying our sin in His own body on the tree. He was manifested
to take away our sin and in Him is no sin. You see, He took my
place. He took my sin. He became responsible
for my sin, my transgression, my iniquity. God laid on Him
all the sin of that covenant people given to Him, and He stands
charged before God's throne of holy justice, guilty! Guilty! God made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He took my place. He took my
sin. And thirdly, He took my punishment.
He took my judgment. He bare my sin in His own body
on the tree. I want you to turn to some scripture
and look with me. Study with me here, Isaiah 53. You see, my friend, a lot of
people don't understand what happened at Calvary. They see
the work of wicked men, and we see that there. But it's not
what wicked men did at Calvary, that's our hope. It's what God
did at Calvary, that's our hope. You see, it says here in Scripture,
Isaiah 53, 10, "...yet it pleased the Lord." Now we know it pleased
the Pharisees. They hated Him. They went out
and held a council, it says in Scripture, how they might destroy
Him. It pleased the Pharisees. It
even pleased old Pilate. Get rid of this Nazarene. Crucify
Him. Crucify Him. But what we must
see that it pleased God to bruise Him. He put Him to grief. When thou shalt make His soul
an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, His covenant people. He shall prolong His days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall
see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied by his
knowledge. Shall my righteous servant justify
many? For he shall bear their iniquities."
He took my punishment. Now I want you to find Lamentation.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, then that little letter or prophecy, the lament
of Jeremiah. Lamentation chapter 1 verse 12. Lamentation 1 verse 12. And we're
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ bearing the wrath of God
on account of my sin. Lamentation 112, have you got
it? This is the first sermon I ever
preached here in Kingsport from this text. Some of you remember.
This is one of my favorite verses. And the Lord Jesus, you can take
these words of Jeremiah the prophet and put them on the lips of the
Lord Jesus Christ as he hangs on Calvary tree and hear him
say, is it nothing to you all ye that pass by? To most people
Christ crucified is nothing, nothing to them, it's meaningless
to them. To you who are perishing, Christ crucified its foolishness. Behold, he said, behold and see
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto
me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger."
He looks beyond the instruments of the cross to the author of
the cross and said, I'm suffering at the hands of God. No wonder
he cries, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? in Psalm
22. You see, He dies with my guilt,
my sin, and He bears the punishment of God. Now find Zechariah. Zechariah 13. That's the second
to the last book in the Old Testament. Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew.
So you have Zechariah 13. Look at this verse here. You
see, wicked men did what they wanted to do. But they did what
God determined before to be done. Zechariah 13, 7. Awake, O sword! What sword is this? Sword of
His justice, sword of His wrath. God holy cannot look upon sin
with favor. He's too holy to look upon sin
with favor. Awake, O sword! Wherever sin
is found, He must punish it, even if it's in His Son. Awake,
O sword! Against My shepherd, against
the man that is My fellow, sayeth the Lord of hosts, smite the
shepherd, smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,
and I'll turn my hand upon my little ones, and I'll save my
little ones through the shepherd being smitten for their sin."
Oh, I tell you, my friend, we have a great substitute in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see what he's saying? Look
back at the text again. "...who gave himself for our
sins. He gave Himself for our sins. Oh, the blessedness of the Gospel. Here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and He sent His Son to be my
sacrifice, my propitiation, my mercy seed. Now, the second point
is this, talking about the fundamentals of the Gospel. We see substitution
And we see satisfaction. Satisfaction. Who satisfied the
infinite justice of God? Who satisfied the law of God
both in precept and in penalty? None other than my Redeemer,
my Advocate, the Lord Jesus. He gave Himself for our sins
and the fruit of that is no condemnation to those who are in crime. That
He might And it's not the might of possibility, it's the might
of God's decree. That He might deliver us from
this present evil world. Deliverance. That's why I sang
that song a moment ago. He is able, He is able to deliver
thee. You know, He is called the Deliverer.
The Deliverer. Turn to Romans. The book of Romans. He's called the Deliverer. In
Romans chapter 11, verse 26. So all Israel shall be saved,
as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer."
He's the only one. A kinsman-redeemer, who is the
deliverer, he must be near kin, he must be willing, he must be
able to redeem. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
my kinsman-redeemer. He is my deliverer. And I know
this, when the ransom's paid for the hostage, what happens
to the hostage? He's set free. He is set free. He is our Deliverer. Turn to
Romans 8. Romans 8, verse 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, Romans 8, verse 1, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free, hath made me free, set me free. He is my Deliverer.
Then thus, therefore, in the liberty with which He has set
us free, Free from the law, oh, happy condition! Jesus had bled,
and there is remission. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and
death." Look at verse 3, "...for what the law could not do, and
it was weak through the flesh." Nothing wrong with God's law.
It's good and holy, but what's wrong? Flesh! I'm a sinner! And the law cannot lift this
maggot-infested pile of sinful flesh before God. My flesh is
wicked, rotten, it's sinful. God sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemns sin in the
flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Deliverance from all sin. Back
to the book of Galatians and find Galatians 3 verse 13. Galatians 3 verse 13. Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. That word redeemed
is delivered. He is the deliverer. Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law. What does the law demand
of me? Perfection. I cannot produce
it. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? with His own blood, being made
a curse for us." There's substitution again. There's satisfaction again.
For it is written, this is Deuteronomy 21, you can go back and read
it, "...cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree." That's
why He was hung up, to show God's justice and His wrath against
our sin. But He's our deliverance, redemption
from sin through the blood of Christ. Turn over to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. We have.
It's not something that we will have someday. It's something
we enjoy right now. Ephesians 1 verse 7. In whom we have redemption through
His blood. We have deliverance through His
blood. In whom we have right now redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. of His grace. Christ paid my
sin debt in full by Himself, by Himself. When He had by Himself
purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand of God. He appeared
once in the end of the age, Hebrews 9, 26, to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. He put away my sin Himself with
Himself. You see, the great high priest,
and that's what he is. He's my great high priest who
represents me before God with a suitable sacrifice, an appointed
sacrifice, an ordained sacrifice. And you know what that is? Himself.
He didn't bring the typical animal sacrifice as those Old Testament
priests. They brought the blood of bulls
and goats, but it says in Hebrews 9, 12, He didn't bring the blood
of bulls and goats, but He brought His own blood. And having shed
His own blood, He obtained for us eternal redemption with His
own blood, by Himself, with Himself. And my friend, He did that for
His covenant people. None for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died will ever perish. They're all justified completely
and eternally in Christ Jesus. The messenger from heaven declared
that day, Call His name Jesus, which means Savior, Emmanuel,
God with us, for He shall save His people from their sin." And
my friend, he got it done at Calvary Street. He said, it is
finished, it's done, it's over, it's complete. So that's the
second fundamental of the gospel. He gave Himself for our sins.
Substitution. Satisfaction. Complete deliverance
from all sin. that He might deliver us from
this present evil world. Here's the third point, and this
is crucial, this is critical, don't miss this. According. According. According to somebody's
will. According to somebody's will.
Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but it's
God who shows mercy on whom He wills. It's according to the
will of God. Everything in salvation from
the get-go, from eternal election to eternal glorification and
everything in between, the Alpha and the Omega of all salvation,
it all works according to the will of God Almighty. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. Let's see if we can find that
in Scripture. Where's that at? I think it's Ephesians chapter
1. Turn over there. In salvation, all of salvation
is by the will of God. Nothing in salvation is determined
with an emphasis upon nothing. Nothing is determined in salvation
by the creature's will or the creature's work. Everything in
salvation is totally dependent on the decree, purpose, and grace
of Almighty God. Ephesians chapter 1. Notice,
if you will, verse 5. Let's read verse 4 and 5 of Ephesians
1, "...according," here's the same word, "...according, He
blessed us according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy without blame before
Him in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of..." Whose
will? His will. "...to the praise of
the glory of His grace." wherein he hath made us accepted in the
Beloved." Stay right here in Ephesians 1 verse 11, "...in
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated,"
and here again that word, "...according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will." And again he
says that we should be to the praise of his glory who first
trusted in Christ. What I'm saying is this, everything
in salvation is determined by God's will. Everything, everything
in salvation. "...of His own will beget He
us with the word of truth." His coming is by the determination
of God Almighty. You have it right there in Ephesians
4, 4. Turn over there. I mean Galatians
4, 4. Excuse me. Galatians 4, 4. His
coming, I mean by that, His incarnation is all according to the will
of God. Galatians 4.4, 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 into your heart, crying,
Abba, Abba, Father. All by the will of God, His coming,
His dying. His death was no accident. He
died on purpose. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken Him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain the Lord of glory." That's Acts
2.23. His resurrection is by the will
of God, delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification
and in salvation. In our salvation, everything
in salvation, our salvation is determined by the will of God,
not the will of the creature. Now this is contrary, understand,
this is contrary to what's preached in religious circles today. If
you understand something of depravity, total depravity, total inability,
you'll have no problem. If you understand something about
dead-end sin, dead-end Adam, you'll thank God that salvation
is in Christ and by Him alone. Our salvation is always determined,
dependent, and accomplished and applied by God Himself, God who
has begun a good work in you. He will perform it. He will perfect
it. He will complete it. Salvation is according to the
will of God our Father. That's an important point. One, I think, that needs to be
emphasized in our day where it's so blatantly, blatantly denied. Salvation is not by free will.
It's by free grace. Free grace. The last point is
found in our text, Galatians 1 verse 5. the fourth fundamental of the
gospel and all works of this one glorious sin, to whom be
glory forever and ever. Amen. God forbid, I'll let you
go with one verse here. Turn to Galatians chapter 6 verse
14. All the praise goes to God alone
who is worthy of all praise. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive all honor, blessing, glory, and power, both now and
forever. Have you got Galatians chapter
6 verse 14? God forbid. God help us. God forbid that I should glory,
save, and that word there, glory, is rejoiced. We're both saved.
We're accepted in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me. and high unto the world. For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. As many as walk according to
this rule." What rule is that? Whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. You want a rule to live by, to
walk by, to die by? Glory only in Christ. God forbid
that we should glory in any other. Peace be on them and mercy upon
the Israel, upon the Israel of God. Anything short of that message
and those four fundamentals is another gospel that won't save
a flea. Not even a flea, not even a bug.
Paul calls it down here a perverted gospel. Anything that's changed
in that fundamental message is another gospel. It's a perverted
gospel. It's idolatry because it centers
around what you must do rather than what God has done for us
in Christ Jesus.