into the message that I feel
led to bring tonight and one which I shall continue Wednesday
night. I want to read a scripture from
1 Timothy chapter 2 in regard to this awesome situation
that's upon us and the days that lie ahead. and our freedoms and our peaceful
life has been interrupted and stands in danger because we have lived in this
country for many years just so secure within our borders, but
now we've been invaded And there's some decisions going to be made
in the next several months and maybe years that will vitally
affect our way of life. And we feel such a small part
of such a vast endeavor. But we're not a small part. We're
very much a part of it. And this is what Paul is saying
in 1 Timothy 2. Verse 1 and 2, to all believers,
he says, I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications,
prayers, intercessions, interceding for someone, giving of thanks
be made for all sorts of men, for kings. Not many people think
about praying for a king, for a president. or a senator or
a congressman. But that's what he says, for
us to pray for all sorts of men, those in imminent positions and
those who are not well known, and for
all that are in authority. We're supposed to, supplications,
prayers, intercession, giving of thanks be made for kings and
for all in authority. Why? That we may live a quiet
and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. What they do is
going to affect us drastically. And that's why we need to pray
for them. Pray that God will give them most unusual wisdom
and guidance. I quoted that scripture this
morning. The heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord.
He turneth it whithersoever he will. And his ear is open to
the cries of his people and their supplications and their petitions
and prayers. So let's, every one of us, pray
for our president, our vice president, our secretary of state, our leaders,
our congressmen, our senators, our men in the armed forces,
the generals, those who make these awesome decisions. Because
he says in verse 3, this is good and acceptable in the sight of
God, our Savior. God's pleased with this. And
you notice today the men who have led us in prayer have prayed
for our leaders. And I hope we don't get caught
up in our activities and forget that this thing's not over by any measure. and we need to
continue to pray for them. And we shall. And we shall. All right, Galatians 3. I'll be speaking from this chapter
tonight and again on Wednesday. We'll go as far as we are able
tonight and pick it up Wednesday night. Before I read the first
verse, let me make some comments. The Apostle Paul had been God's
instrument human instrument to raise up several churches in
Galatia. And Paul preached to these people
for a good while, and after he departed, some false preachers
and teachers crept in among the believers and seduced them. Paul said, bewitched them. And
some of these Galatians they seduced from the gospel of free
grace in Christ. and persuaded them that they
should go back to the law of Moses, believe on Christ, but
go back to the law of Moses for their sanctification and to adopt
such laws as circumcision and Sabbath observance and other
rituals. What they said to these poor
people was that justification before God was partly by faith
in Christ and partly by what we do, by our works. That's what
they were teaching. The justification before God
is partly by Christ and partly by our works. If you look at
chapter 4, right across the page, this seems to sum up what they
were doing. In chapter 4, verse 9, Paul says
here, but now after you've known God, and these people They knew
God. Paul had preached the gospel
to them. God in Christ Jesus had been revealed to them through
the preaching of the Word. God had shined in their hearts
to give them the knowledge of God, the knowledge of himself
in the face of Christ Jesus. And having given them the spirit
of his Son, they cried, Abba, Father. They knew God. Christ
said there, You have known God. Now after you have known God,
and I like this next statement a whole lot, I've talked about
this recently, or rather known of God. What knowledge we have
of God originated with Him. What knowledge we have of God
is because He knows us. We know Him because He knew us.
We choose Him because He chose us. We love him because he loved
us, and that's the reason Paul said, after you have known God,
or rather are known of God, we are known of God and loved of
God with an everlasting love. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
you. We're accepted of God, approved
of God, seated in Christ in the heavenlies. And here is the question,
that now after you've known God, or rather are known of God, and
this is what was going on, how turn you again to the weak and
beggarly elements? Back to circumcision, back to
Sabbath keeping, back to new moons, and back to touch not,
taste not, handle not. Why have you gone back to these
weak, beggarly elements? Why does Paul call them weak?
Well, I'll tell you why. Paul calls them weak because
they never could give life. All of these sacrifices and ceremonies
and rituals and sabbath days could never give life, could
never give righteousness, could never give peace, could never
bring comfort, could never bring salvation. Hold that scripture
and turn to Hebrews 10. They are the weak things. How do you turn back to these
weak things? It cannot give life, cannot give
peace. Hebrews 10 verse 1 says the law,
the law of Moses, the ceremonies and sacrifices and holy days,
is a shadow, the law having a shadow of good things to come. No substance,
just a shadow. And not the very image of these
things can never can never, with these sacrifices which they offer
year by year continually, make the comers down to perfect? For
then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because if the
worshippers, once forgiven, once purged, once saved, would have
no more conscience of sin. But in these sacrifices offered
every year, there's a remembrance again made of sins every year. It's not put away. It's not gone. It's still there. It's not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. And that's
why he calls them weak. Weak elements. Now you've known
God, and you're known of God. Why on earth would you turn back
to something that can't do you any good? Because it's weak. And he calls it beggarly. weak
and beggarly elements. Why are they called beggarly?
I'll tell you why, because they lay in the observance of material
things. Meats and drinks, washings, which
are only shadows of types of the good things to come. This
is not spiritual truth and spiritual power, it's material things. He asked this question next,
he said, Do you desire again to be in bondage? Read on. Here's what they were doing.
You're observing days. Sabbath days. Seven day Sabbath. Then seven Sabbaths in one day.
Fifty days. Pentecost. You observe these
days. And we're slipping into that
a whole lot. We observe Christmas and Easter and Lent and Good
Friday and all these days. They're beggarly things, weak
and can't save, can't comfort, can't give peace, can't bring
joy. They're material things. You
observe days and months. These months are new moons. New
moons. They blow trumpets in the new
moon. That's the beginning of the month.
They observe sacrifices. They abstain from certain foods. on these new moons. And then
he said, you observe times. What are these times? Well, three
times a year the males must appear before the Lord in Jerusalem.
All over the world you see these, Mecca, Jerusalem, this place,
that place. Three times the Jews would go
to Jerusalem, the males that is, three things, tabernacle,
Passover, Pentecost. Had to go, the women didn't have
to, but the men had to. And you observe years, sabbatical
years, in which the lands, every seventh year, would not be plowed,
would not be planted, it would not be reaped, but it lay dormant. He says in verse 511, I pray
to you, I'm afraid of you. How is it
that you have known God, are known of God, and now you turn
back to these powerless, beggarly, common, materialistic things
in which you hope to find some peace, some rest, and some joy? I'm afraid of you. Paul used
this word over here in 2 Corinthians. I fear, I'm afraid, I return
to 2 Corinthians. Chapter 11, 2 Corinthians 11,
I'm afraid that I might have bestowed labor on you in vain.
You frightened me, turning to these weak and beggarly things.
You scared me, he said. Because here's what he saw them
doing, the same thing that Eve did in the garden. 2 Corinthians
11, 3, I fear, lest by any means, as a serpent Beguile Eve through
his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity. What's that word mean? The singleness
of Christ Jesus. Christ alone. The scriptures
alone. Grace alone. Plus nothing, minus
nothing. Scares me, he said, when I see
you getting some feeling or comfort or something through doing. and days, and days, and new moons,
and times, and places, and years, and observances. It scares me
that you're looking away from Christ looking to these beggarly
things that were just types and shadows. He never saved anybody. God Almighty was never pleased
with him. He gave them as pictures and shadows, not saviors. Here's
another scripture that describes what they were doing. in Colossians
chapter 2. I'm reading these so we can get
some kind of idea of what these people were doing. In Colossians chapter 2 beginning
with verse 16. This problem arose also in Colossae
as well as Galatia. Colossians 2 verse 16. Let no
man therefore judge you in meat, What kind of meat to eat? That's
a thing that today has been for many years in Catholicism about
eating certain types of meat and refraining on certain days,
or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, a special day out
of other days. This is a day the Lord has made
every day. We rejoice and be glad there.
or new moons, or Sabbath days. All of these are shadow. What
is a shadow? A shadow is given for a moment. It's there for a moment. Three
things about a shadow. One, it's there for a moment.
Secondly, it has no substance. There's no substance at all.
There's nothing there at all. And it leaves no impression.
It leaves no effect. A shadow leaves no mark. It's
a shadow, it's no substance, it's there briefly, it leaves
no mark. And that's what these, all of
these things were shadows of things to come. But the body
is of Christ. Now watch this. I warn you, let
no man, this is a warning to us too, let no man beguile you. Let no man beguile you of your
reward. Let no man Deceive you, and trick
you, and fast talk you, and snow you. No religious leader. Beguile you of your reward. What
is our reward? Christ is our reward. That's
what God said to Abraham, I am thy exceeding great reward. I'm
your shield and reward. I'm your reward. This is my reward,
that I might win Christ and be found in him. That's my reward.
That I might know him and the power of his resurrection, his
resurrected life. That I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead by the power of him who conquered death. That's my reward. Now don't let
anybody, don't let anybody beguile you of your reward, to know him. Don't allow some preacher or
religious zealot Turn you away from three things. I give you
these three things. This was the very watchword of
the Reformation. Three things. Christ alone. Christ alone. Savior, Redeemer,
Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption. Christ alone. The
Scriptures alone. The very foundation of everything
we believe. cold, dear, precious, depend
upon, in which we find our comfort, the scriptures alone. The third
thing is grace alone. Grace alone. Salvation in no
way. Before we're saved, while we're
being saved, or when we shall be made like Christ, salvation
is not by works of any kind at any time. It's Christ alone,
it's scriptures alone, and grace alone. Don't let anyone beguile
you and drag you away from those three things by insisting, listen,
on a volunteer humility. That's a put on humility. And
not a God-given state of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
This is something you produce. You've got to learn to wall your
eyes just right to show religion. You've got to learn to say certain
things and hold your hands a certain way. Don't let anybody present
to you a voluntary humility, a false humility, a false self-abasement. And the worship of angels, the
worship of anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, Those men who do that are intruding
into those things which they have not seen, and they're vainly
puffed up by their fleshly minds. All false duties and works and
self-abasement and philosophies do one thing, take you away from
Christ. However they're spelled and however
they come to you and however attractive they are, they do
one thing. Anything they put in your hands or on your head,
or require you to do outwardly or produce from yourself, days,
moon, moon, Sabbath, whatever, they succeed in doing just one
thing, take your mind off Christ and the singleness of Christ. Don't let them do that. Verse
19, not holding the head from which all the body, by joints
and bands, having nourishment ministered, and knit together
with the increase of God. Wherefore, my friends, Christ
is the only head, he's the only mediator between God and man,
and all other ways and means and visual aids divide rather
than knit together the body. They divide the body. Wherefore,
look at verse 20, if you'd be dead with Christ, if we died
with Christ in union with him, When he died, we die and are
crucified with Christ. If we are buried and risen with
Christ, and we are seated with Christ,
if in Christ we are redeemed and justified and accepted, if Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the law and from the ceremonies, days, types, and
all these things which were fulfilled in him, why? Read verse 20, wherefore if you
be dead with Christ from the rudiments of this world, why,
tell me why, as though living in this world, are you subject
to ordinances? Why would you want to return
to these things? What purpose would they serve if you are crucified
with Christ, fully pardoned, made clean, justified, sanctified,
redeemed, seated with Christ in the heavenlies? Why would
you want to return to any of these physical, material works
of religion and laws? Why would you want to? What purpose
would they serve? Verse 21, touch not, taste not,
handle not. All of these things are to perish
with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men. What is
this touch not, taste not, handle not talking about? He refers
to certain meats. unclean things, forbidden things
under the Mosaic law. These things are of service and
reference to the body and have no value to the soul. Our Lord
said that. Turn to Matthew 15. Your soul will never be purified
by anything you leave out of your body. It will not be corrupted
by anything physically you put in it. That's what Christ is
saying. In Matthew 15, verse 11, verse
10, Our Lord called the multitude and said to them, Now hear and
understand, it is not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth
a man, it is that which comes out of the mouth that defileth
a man. And then our Lord's disciples said to him, Don't you know that
the Pharisees were offended after they heard this? And our Lord
said, Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall
be rooted up. Just leave them alone. The blind leadeth the
blind, and if the blind leadeth the blind, they'll both fall
in the ditch. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And the Lord said, Are
you yet without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever
entereth in at the mouth, whether it be ham or fish, whether it
be a clean animal or an unclean animal, whether it be whatever
you eat or drink. That which goeth into the mouth,
goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draft. But
those things which proceed out of the mouth, they come from
the heart. This is what defiles us. Out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemy. These are the things that defile
a man. These are the things from which
Christ redeems us, from which Christ saves us, from which his
blood washes us. But to eat with unwashing hands
may not be very sanitary, but it's not going to damn your soul.
It's not going to defile you. So that's
what he's asking over there in Colossians. If you're dead with
Christ, Risen with Christ and seated with Christ. Why, as though living in the
world, are you subject to ordinances? Touch not, taste not, handle
not. Read that verse 22 and 23, Colossians 2, that's where I
am now. Which are to perish with the using after the commandments
and doctrines of me. And verse 23, which things? Have them be a show of wisdom
in will worship and humility, neglecting the Bible. but not
in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. All right, back
to my text, Galatians chapter 3. So that's the background of
this chapter 3. I'm just going to touch on some
things now and then speak again on Wednesday night. In verse
1 of chapter 3, O foolish Galatians, these are Paul's friends. The
people whom he preached, people whom he loved, people who heard
the gospel. But people that these false preachers
had bewitched, seduced, and tried to take them back to Moses' love.
And he says they're foolish. He said, foolish? I'll tell you
why he calls them foolish. Any man's foolish who leaves
Christ and goes to Moses. Wouldn't you agree? I'd have
to call you foolish if you did that. I love you. But I'd have
to say, you're foolish. to leave Christ and go to Moses?
Is it a man's foolishness who leaves the gospel of free grace
and goes back to the works of the law? That's foolish! Actual
stupidity! That's a little stronger. Is
it a man's foolishness who leaves the peace and rest of free justification
and goes back to the bondage of the law? You that would be
under the law, Paul said, don't you hear that law? powerful, condemning. Oh, he
says, Who hath bewitched you? Who hath deceived you? It wasn't
that these people hadn't heard the gospel, they had. They'd
heard the gospel. They'd heard the best preacher
to ever live, the Apostle Paul. Paul himself preached to them,
set forth Christ and him crucified, plain and clearly. Now who hath
deceived you? Who hath seduced you? Who hath
bewitched you? That you should not obey the
truth, you before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently
set forth, crucified among you. I've got to read Romans 3. This
is what he's referring to, Romans chapter 3. And you know what he is saying
to those people there can be said to this church right here.
You haven't heard Paul, the apostle, but you've heard one of his friends. You've heard not that good a
preacher, but you've heard a plain preacher. You've heard the gospel.
And that gospel is here in Romans 3. He's talking about Christ
is set forth before you. Verse 23, Romans 3. For all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth. God set him forth in a plain
way, in a powerful way. Set him forth in promise, prophecy,
in picture, in person, on the cross, risen, ascended. God set him forth. before you
to be a propitiation, a sin offering, a reconciliation, a mercy seat. Not through your works, but through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins of the past through the forbearance of God, to declare
at this time his righteousness that he might be just and justify
of him that believes in Jesus. Now, where is boasting then?
It's excluded. By what law? No, by the law of
faith. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. That's
the way Christ was set forth before these people, whom Christ
has evidently been set forth, crucified among you. Now, he
asked them five questions. I'll give you these five questions. The first question is in verse
2. what I learned of you. Received
you, the Spirit, by the works of the law and by the hearing
of faith. Did the Holy Spirit come and beget life in you? We are born of the Spirit. We
are dead in trespasses and sin. You have to quicken who are dead
in trespasses and sin. The Holy Spirit came in giving
life, regenerating us, giving us understanding, adoption. Did that come to you through
your obedience to the law? Or by the hearing of faith? Well,
you know, hearing the gospel. That's when you were born again,
when you heard the gospel. That's how you receive the Spirit
of God. By the hearing of faith. That's
why he said over here, don't you turn, do not turn, but if
you... 1 Thessalonians, talk to these churches, Thessalonica,
he said, Brethren, I know your election of God because our gospel
came not to you in word only, but in power and the Holy Ghost.
What came to you? The gospel. Not the law. Not
the days, months, and years, and times, and touch not, taste
not. The gospel. All right, here's the second
question. Now, are you so foolish, are you so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit, are you now made perfect in the flesh? Are you
so foolish, she said, as to think that having begun spiritual life
in the Spirit, you're now made perfect by what you eat and drink,
by the days you observe or don't observe, by these ceremonies? Having been chosen in Christ
by God's sovereign grace, you're kept in Christ by your works?
Absurd. The life of God begotten in you
by the Spirit and is sustained and perfected by your performances?
That's absurd. Having been accepted by God in
the Beloved. Accepted. You're not fully perfect
until you add your righteousness to His. You know the answer to that.
It's absurd. He that hath begun a good work
in you were completed in the day of Christ Jesus. Third question,
verse 4. Have you suffered so many things
in vain, if it be yet in vain? Now these Galatians had suffered
for the gospel. Paul came to them, preached the
gospel to them, some in paganism, some in Judaism. But they suffered
reproach and persecution because of the gospel of God's grace
in Christ Jesus. Turn to Acts chapter 8. I'll
give you a verse or two here that shows some of the persecution
that these people, not just the Galatians, but the people of
Jerusalem and everywhere, what they endured for the sake of
the gospel. You know, they stoned Stephen,
and then chapter 8 begins in Saul. was consenting to his death,
and at that time there was a great persecution against the church.
Why? Because they observed the Sabbath?
No, they believed on Christ. Why? Because they didn't eat
pork? No, because they believed on Christ. Why? Because they
kept holy days? No, because they believed on
Christ. Persecution for Christ's sake, that's what it was. Great
persecution against the church at Jerusalem. They were scattered
about. throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except
the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen
to his burial, and made great lamentation over it, as for Saul
he made havoc of the church. He went into every house and
hurled men and women and committed them to prison." Now Paul asks,
here in Galatians 3, after you've suffered so many
things, for the gospel's sake. Are they in vain? You here who believe the gospel
of free grace, you came out of Catholicism, you came out of charismatic religion, you came
out of ritual religion, you came out of free will religion, you
came to the knowledge of Christ, and because you believe on Christ
that he's an effectual Savior, a sufficient Savior, a sovereign
Savior. He hasn't let people be redeemed
by his particular sacrifice. And they begin to shoot at you.
You took a lot of flak. You took a lot of harassment
and reproach and persecution. They cast you out of their social
company, some of you out of your churches. Now Paul is asking
them, is that in vain? Have you suffered all that in
vain? I'll tell you if this gospel
is not true, it's in vain. If salvation is in works, you
and I have suffered in vain, but it's not in works. We're
not going back to them either. Not in vain. It's all in the
purpose and will of God. Here's the fourth question. I
told you there's five. Here's the fourth one. He therefore
that ministered to you the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit,
see it's capitalized, the Holy Spirit. He that ministered to
you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you. Does he it by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith, by the gospel? That's the question. He that
ministered to you, the Holy Spirit, works miracles among you. That's
the apostles, preachers. Dr. Gill says that's talking
about the Holy Spirit himself, God the Father, the Son, because
he said no man can minister the grace of the Spirit to any man.
But I beg his pardon. Turn to Acts chapter 8. Acts
chapter 8. These apostles, apostles of Christ,
were given special gifts and special power. And that's who
Paul was talking about. I came down there and preached
to you the gospel and ministered to you the Holy Spirit and miracles. God gave us signs and wonders
and they were performed by his apostles. Now look at Acts 8,
verse 14. Now when the apostles which were
at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God,
they sent unto them Peter and John, two apostles. And when
they were come down, they prayed for them that they might receive
the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon
none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the
Holy Ghost. Now when Simon saw that through
the laying on of the hands of the apostles the Holy Ghost was
given, he offered them money, Simon Bacchus. And he said, Give
me this power on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy
Ghost. And Peter said, Your money perish with you, because you
thought the gift of God could be purchased with money. You
don't have a part or lot in this matter. Your heart's not right
in the sight of God. pray God that perhaps the thought
of your heart be forgiven you. These apostles didn't discriminately
in their own will and power bestow the Holy Ghost. That's what Simon
wanted to do. He wanted the glory and the gain
from doing that on whom he pleased. But these men, these apostles,
turn to Hebrews and I'll cement this in chapter 2. These apostles
You see, our gospel first came to us through our Lord Jesus
Christ. I love Hebrews 2, Hebrews chapter
2. Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed, Hebrews 2, to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we let them slip. For the words spoken by
angels were steadfast. And every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward. That was Old Testament
preachers and prophets and men sent of God and even angels sent
of God. But how shall we escape? Now watch it. If we neglect so
great salvation which at first began as spoken by our Lord.
He's that prophet. And was confirmed unto us by
apostles who heard him. God also bearing them witness
with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy
Ghost according to his will. So what Paul is saying to these
Galatians in chapter 3, I came down there, an apostle, anointed
of God, with gifts and signs and credentials and miracles.
And I preach the gospel to you. You received the Holy Ghost and
I performed miracles. Now, I'm going to ask you in
verse 5. He therefore that ministered
you the Spirit and worked miracles among you, did he do it by the
works of the law or hearing of faith? Was that a law picture
you heard? Do this, do that, do that? No, sir. That's a gospel
picture. So now, are you going to be perfected
by that law that couldn't save you? It couldn't regenerate you,
it couldn't help you. Last question, verse 6, Even as Abraham believed,
God was counted to him for righteousness. Paul brings these questions to
a close, taking them back to the one in whom they held in
the highest regard, Abraham. They called him the father of
us all, Abraham, our father. Those Arabs over there claim
Abraham as their father too. A lot of folks claim Abraham.
But this is Abraham who believed God, and these are the people
who believed God. And he takes them back to Abraham.
He said, Abraham believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness.
Now verse 7, the question. Do you know this, therefore,
that they which are of faith are the same as the children
of Abraham? Not the law then, not the law
of Moses, not all the seed of Abraham, but those who believe. They are the
sons of Abraham. They are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, that's the Gentiles,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying to him, In thee
shall all nations of the earth be blessed. So then, they which
be of faith, not of the law, faith. Believe Christ. They're sons of Abraham. They're
blessed with Abraham. Abraham had two blessings. He was righteous before God, and he was a friend of God. That
just stirs me, threw down to my shoes when I read that God
said, Abraham's my friend. He's my friend. God talked to
Abraham as a man talks to his friend. And they that believe are blessed
with that same righteousness and relationship. Perfect righteousness
and perfect friendship with God. One other scripture, I promise
you, I'm going to let you go home. One other scripture, Romans
4. Romans chapter 4. Verse 19, Abraham's salvation
and being not weak in faith. Incidentally, Abraham lived 430
years before the law was given. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead when he was a hundred
years old, neither yet the deadness of Saber's womb. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in
faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded of
what God had promised, God was able to perform. Therefore it
was imputed to him for righteousness. Now this isn't written for his
sake alone, that righteousness was imputed to him. But for us
also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses
and raised for our justification." Justification by faith. It's
a crowning jewel.