to the book of Galatians, Paul,
the Apostle Paul, had helped to establish several churches
in Galatia. And now Paul is in prison, writing
this epistle, Scripture, holy men of God wrote or spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But he was in prison, and he's
writing to the Galatians, to the people in that area where
he had preached and where several churches had been established.
And it's such an important epistle. It was important to them, and
it's especially important to us in the light of present-day
theology and present-day preaching, which today makes every effort
to mix grace and works, and that was the problem here, trying
to mix the grace of God and the works of men. You see, when Paul
left Galatia, some false preachers and teachers came among these
Galatian believers. and unfortunately persuaded many
of them evidently that the observance of the old ceremonial law, the
law of Moses, was necessary to be saved. These men said, yes,
you believe on Christ, but it's necessary for you also to be
circumcised. You believe on Christ, but it's
necessary for you to observe certain days, Sabbath days and
holy days, like were observed under the law. It's necessary
for you to abstain from certain food and certain drink. And reinstituted
the old support of the Levitical tribe by the tithe. And they
preached that all of these duties were necessary for acceptance
with God. That's the background of this
epistle. That's the reason, the main reason
Paul wrote these chapters, this epistle to the Galatians. You
see, this is all contrary to justification by the righteousness
of Christ. It's just totally contrary. And
it's totally contrary to the scripture in Ephesians which
says that he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. They said we're
not accepted in the Beloved totally unless we do these things. That
makes us accepted in the Beloved. That's contrary. And it's contrary
to the statement which occurs in the Bible four times. And
it's in this book too. It's in Habakkuk, Romans Galatians
and Hebrews. You know what that statement
is? That just shall live by faith. Not by works, not by our righteousness,
by Christ, by faith in Christ. And so Paul writes this epistle
to the Galatians. And I want you to notice about
three or four things to begin the message. He writes in chapter
one to declare the true gospel. Now listen to him in chapter
1, verse 6. I marvel, I'm amazed, that you
people are so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
He's talking about himself. He's the one that went down there
and preached the gospel to them. And you've departed and removed
from him that called you unto another gospel, which is not
another, but there be some that trouble you, these false preachers
and teachers, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
Paul is so strong on this. I'm just as confident in the
gospel I preach, which is the gospel he preached, that it's
the only gospel. And if any man preach any other
gospel than the gospel of free and sovereign grace in Christ,
based on his blood and his righteousness, Paul says, let him be accursed.
And look at the next verse. In verse 9, as we said before,
I'll say it again. It's not a slip of the lip. This
is not just off the top of my head. I'm going to repeat it,"
he said. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received, that I preach to you, let him be anathema when
Christ comes. Now, that's one reason he wrote
this epistle, to once again, emphatically dogmatically declare
this one gospel. Then turn to chapter 3, where
we're going to look for a little while this evening. And he writes
this book, this epistle, to try to recover those who've been
led away, to try to recover those who've been led away by these
false teachers. And I tell you, folks come in, you know, It was
a lot of charisma and a lot of intellect and persuasive powers. And Christ said they would deceive
the elect if it were possible. They'll arise false Christs,
false preachers, show great signs and wonders, and if it were possible,
they'd deceive God's elect. But folks are drawn after a new
boy. Bella comes in with a little
charisma, you know, and that's what he says in chapter 3, verse
1, O foolish Galatians! Who hath bewitched you? Who hath
fascinated you? Who has come along after I left
and led you astray, that you should not obey the truth before
whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently and clearly set forth,
crucified? Paul wants to restore them. He wants to get their attention. He wants to warn them. Who's deceived you? Who's bewitched
you? Who's done this deed? And then
fourthly, or thirdly, turn to Galatians 5. He wants to encourage
all believers to stand fast. in the liberty wherewith Christ
has set us free. Free from the law. Free from
the law. Oh, happy condition. Jesus has
bled and there's remission. Cursed by the law, bruised by
the fowl. Christ has redeemed us. And that's
what he says in chapter 5, verse 1. Brethren, stand fast. Therefore
in the liberty and freedom, if the Son sets you free, you're
free indeed. free from the law of power, free
from its curse, free from its penalty. And be not entangled again with
that yoke of bondage of days and holy days and Sabbaths and
circumcision and tithing and rules and regulations and foods
and drinks and all these things. No, don't be entangled again
with that bondage. Behold, I pause saying to you
that if you do, if you be circumcised in order to find acceptance with
God, or if you keep a day, or if you're tired, if you do anything
to be accepted of God, Christ will prophet you nothing. I testify
again to every man that does this that he's a debtor to do
the whole lot. And then the fourth thing that
he writes to declare this gospel, one more time. And he writes
to recover those who've been led astray. And he writes to
exhort all believers to stand on the rock. Stand fast. Don't waver. Don't be moved. Stand fast. And then, fourthly,
he writes to show the seriousness of this error. Now I want you
to turn back to chapter 2. That's where we'll start. To show the seriousness. You
say, well is this, Paul sounds really troubled. Well he is troubled. This is serious. The seriousness
of trying to mix grace and works. Trying to mix with the grace
of God anything that we've done, have done, are doing, or will
do. So look at verse 18, chapter
2. If I build again the things which
I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." What's he saying here? You see,
Paul the Apostle was Saul the Pharisee. When God saved him
and called him, he was in religion. He was in circumcision, Sabbath-keeping,
holy days, food and drink, tithing, All of these things. He was in
that. He was in the bondage of the law. And God saved him. Now he says, if I restore the
ceremonies of the law, such as circumcision, if I restore the
seventh day, the supper, if I restore the food and drink and the storehouse
tithing, the things which I preach as fulfilled by Christ, That's
what I preached to you. He said, I said, all the Old
Testament is fulfilled by Christ, in Christ, through Christ. He
kept everything, fulfilled everything, every jot and tittle. Now, if
I restore any of that or all of it, I make myself an unjustified
sinner all over again, a transgressor. You see, that's what I was before
I met Christ. I was a law-keeping transgressor.
I was a Sabbath-keeping unjustified sinner. That's what I was before
Christ called me and saved me. And that's what I am again if
Christ is not all and enough. See what he's saying? I could not be otherwise. If
I preach again the law, the law demands perfection. And if I
restore that which I destroyed, if in Christ I'm not perfected,
then I'll never be perfected. See what it says? If I build
again the things which I destroyed, I told you that Christ fulfilled
them. He taketh away the first, that
he must establish the second. The first covenant, ceremonial
law, all of these types and shadows and pictures, takes them away.
Fulfilled them. He is my rest. Now, if I bring
them back and filter them in and put you under an obligation
to do any of these things in order to find acceptance with
God, then we're all unjustified sinners. Hopefully. Now, what's verse
19? Now, what's this? For I through
the law am dead to the law. What does that mean? I'll tell
you. Listen. I through the law am
dead to the law. I, through the law of Christ,
the gospel of grace, the gospel of free, full grace, am freed
from the curse of the law of sin. In Christ, I'm free from
the law. In the law of Christ, I'm free
from the law of sin and death. You see, the law of Christ says
this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Is that what the law of Christ
says? That's the law of Christ, the commands of Christ, the commandments
of Christ. It says, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Well, that frees me
from this law over here that said, Cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
of Jesus. I can't be on the boat. I'm not under this anymore. I'm
under Christ. The law of Christ, the law of
love, the law of grace, the law of mercy, I'm under Christ and
that's freed me from this law which says you're cursed if you
don't do everything I say. And then the law of Christ says
this, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Well that frees me from this
law over here which says do this and live. Believe on him and
live. Delivers me from do this and
live. I'm no longer under this. You see what I'm saying? Do this
and live. You can't be under do this and
live and believe and live. So when you're under the law
of Christ, you're delivered from the law of sin and death. It
has no more claim on you. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law being made a cursed father. That's what he's saying
there. All right, look at the next line, that I might live
under God. I'm free from the law of sin and death. I'm free
from the covenant of the law, the ceremonial law. Not that
I might live in sin, not that I might live in violation of
God's moral laws, but that I should live to God. You see that? Christ,
the law of Christ, hath redeemed me from the law of sin and death,
that I might live unto God. Live unto God. Live in his will.
live for his glory, and I'm not living under the law as a slave,
I'm living under the law of love as a son." Then I might live
under God as a son. All right, verse 20. You see,
Paul says, I'm crucified with Christ. Now, not literally. Paul wasn't crucified when Christ
was crucified. There were two thieves crucified
when Christ was crucified. So, literally, that's not true.
He was not crucified with Christ. There were two thieves crucified
with Christ. But I'll tell you how he was crucified with Christ.
By God's grace and God's covenant, Jesus Christ, who hung on that
cross, is the head and the representative of every believer. He is us,
and we are in him by covenant grace. We were in Adam. In Adam all died. In Adam. He was our head, he was our representative,
and when he sinned, we sinned. By one man, sin entered this
world, and death by sin for all sinned in him. What he did, we did. In the same
way, by God's grace, when Christ hung on the cross, I was crucified
with him in that he represented me and you. Christ took the person,
literally the person, of all believers. And what he did, he
did for us, it was imputed to us, it was charged to us, it
was reckoned to us as if we did it ourselves. I was crucified. I was crucified. You were crucified
in Christ. We died in him, we lived in him,
and we obeyed the law in him and honored him. When he went
to the cross, we literally went there in him. In Christ we lived. You see, our old man was crucified
when he was crucified. For all our sins were laid on
him. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree, and he bore them away, and he destroyed them,
and he put an end to them. And God says they don't exist
anymore. I remember them no more. See,
that's how we died with Christ. When he died, we died. Our old
natural man died in Christ. Then he says this, nevertheless,
I live. I died, but I live. Yet not I. It's not the natural man who
lives, the old man is dead. The old man is crucified with
Christ. The old man still exists, but he's on his way out. He's
just finishing his course. He's just here a little while
longer, but he's dead. He's destroyed. But nevertheless, I live. Yes,
listen. Yet not I. Not I. Yet not I. Christ liveth in me. It's the
new man. It's the new man. The new man
wasn't crucified. The old man was crucified. The
new man is sinless, holy. The new man is created anew in
Christ, and that new man lives by faith, not by works, not by
deeds, not by duties, it's by Christ. Now you see that? The law of Christ has set me
free from the law of sin and death. For I was crucified with
Christ. My old nature, my old man, my
old sin, everything about it. was condemned, and judged, and
sentenced, and executed. And he's still running around
here, but he's on his way to the grave. He's just out. To
death thou shalt return. But by the grace of God, through
the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, there's a new man.
The new man being Christ, he's a new creature. And I, the old
man, was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I'm living. Yet
not I. I'm dead. It's Christ that liveth in me,
the new man. And the life which I now live
in this flesh, in this body, I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. What is this
faith of the Son of God? Is it his faith? Well, two things. It's his faithfulness. Back over
in Romans chapter 3, that says in Romans 3, verse 22, it's the
righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. It's
by His obedience, by His faithfulness, by His submission, by His righteousness. And it's unto us, it's upon all
them that believe, there's no difference. And so I live by
the faithfulness, by the obedience, by the godliness, by the holiness
of Jesus Christ. It's him that liveth in me. But
there's another application to this. I live by the faith of
the Son of God. I live by the faith he gave me. The just shall live by faith.
I live by the faith he gave me. For by grace are you saved through
faith. That and all of yourself, it's
the gift of God. And we live by the, what is this
faith by which we live? What is the new man? What's he
like? What's his nature? What's his, what's his creed? I'll give you five things, listen.
This faith by which this new man lives, it believes Christ. and receives Christ, and bows
to Christ. That's right. As many as received
him, to them gave he the right privilege to become the sons
of God. Secondly, it sees the Son. That is, it views him in
his excellency, in his perfection, in his glory, in his mighty person
and work. He that sees the not as a failure,
not as a martyr, not as a reformer, but as an effectual, victorious,
conquering redeemer who got the job done. We see him, we view
him, sufficiency of Christ. And then thirdly, it owns his
righteousness to be all of my righteousness. You see that? It says his righteousness is
my righteousness. And fourthly, it disowns my righteousness. It's not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to his mercy he has saved us.
It believes Christ. It views the person and work
of Christ, sees the Son by faith. It rests totally in his righteousness
and renounces my own works. And fourthly, It gives him all
the glory, now and to him who loved me and gave himself, pardon
me, now and to him be all glory, both now and forever. Amen. He loved me and washed me from
my sin in his own precious blood. Oh, I hope that's a blessing. Now look at verse 21. I do not,
Paul said, frustrate the grace of God. I do not frustrate the
grace, I do not despise the grace of God, free grace, pure grace,
all of grace, pervenient grace, keeping grace. I don't reject
and confuse and make void the grace of God. I'll tell you this,
if righteousness, acceptance with God, comes by the law, in any way, by any obedience
to the law. If I have to be circumcised to
make his righteousness effectual, if I have to keep a day, if I
have to be diligent in my tithe, if I have to avoid certain foods
and drinks, if I have to do all these things in order to find
final acceptance with God, He died in vain. That's strong,
isn't it? I think a long time for it. A
fellow came up to me at a funeral one time, and he said about the
deceased, he said, well, I know he didn't believe like we believe.
He never did receive Christ and believe on him. He never made any kind of commitment
to Christ, but I believe he's in heaven. If he is, Christ died
in vain. That's what Paul said. If he
is. If that's your theology, if obedience
to any law in any shape, form, or fashion, part, parcel, or
whole, if anything is required for a person to be justified,
to be accepted of God, then all that Jesus Christ did was to
no avail. It was all in vain, because nobody's
going to be justified, because nobody can keep the law perfectly. In other words, Brother Ron,
if Christ isn't enough for you to take you wholly and completely
before God, if I give you something else to do, you've got to do
it perfectly, and you can't do it. So you'll never be justified. If Christ can't save me, I'll
never be saved. If he can't fulfill everything
God commands and demands and requires and expects, then there's
nobody going to be saved in this. He died in vain. And I'll tell you another verse
that says the same thing, Galatians 5. He said in verse 2 of Galatians
5, Behold, I, Paul, say to you, if you be circumcised, Christ
prophets you nothing, and nothing wrong with being circumcised.
and certain things right about it and needful. But if you do
it for religious purposes, Christ profits you nothing. If you do
it because the Jews did it or because some preacher says do
it or because it'll get you more like Christ, Christ profits you
nothing. For I testify to every man that
keeps a sapper, pays a tithe, keeps a holy day, is circumcised,
he's a debtor to do the whole law. You don't just do part of
the law, you don't just do that which appeals to you. If you
start this foolishness, if we start meeting here on Saturday
because that's the Sabbath day and we need to do that to go
to heaven, then we're going to have to dig out all the law.
We're debtors to do it all. And then verse 4 says Christ
becomes of no effect. So brethren, isn't that something?
I do not complicate the grace of God. If righteousness comes
in any way, shape, form, or fashion, by anything we do, he died in
vain. Now let me just run down a few
verses in chapter 3, and I'm going to let you go, but I want
you to see this. Verse 1, Paul so plain spoken, O foolish Galatians! Let's don't be foolish. Any man's
a fool that leaves Christ and goes back to Moses. Any man's
a fool who leaves free grace and goes back to the bondage
of the law. Any man's a fool that leaves the city of refuge
and attacks the avenger of blood in his own strength. Any man's
a fool to exchange a person for a picture. Who has bewitched you? Who has
captivated you? Who's cast a spell over you?
and deceived you, before whom Jesus Christ was set forth crucified."
Who set him forth? Paul in the gospel. He's sufficient. Verse 2. Let me ask you some
questions. This only will I learn of you.
Now listen to these questions. Received you the Spirit by the
works of the law or the hearing of faith? The Holy Spirit of
God who regenerated you. who gave you understanding, who
opened your ears and opened your eyes, opened your heart, gave
you a knowledge of Christ, granted you repentance and faith, revealed
the things of Christ to you. Did he do it by your works? Or
under the preaching of the gospel? That's what he's asking. All
right, verse 3, here's the next question. Then are you so foolish,
having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Here's the question. God chose you by grace. Does
he keep you by works? You look to Christ and you began
life. Now you look to the Lord to perfect
it? You were accepted in the beloved.
Were you fully accepted or partly accepted? Fully accepted. Then there's
nothing else to be done. If I'm accepted, I'm accepted.
If I'm in Christ, I'm in Christ. Nothing else required. Verse 4. Have you suffered so
many things in vain? When you declared your confidence
in Christ, salvation by grace, free, sovereign grace, you were
hated, you were despised, and you were harassed, and you suffered
many things because of Christ whom you believed. Was that all
in vain? Did you suffer those things in
vain? You're going back now? If it yet be in vain? He, watch
this, now He, this is talking about our God, the Lord God.
The Lord God, therefore, that gave you the Holy Spirit and
worked miracles among you. Doeth He it by the works of the
law or by the hearing of faith? The Lord God who gave you His
Holy Spirit. The Lord God who sent you his
apostles, the Lord God who worked powerfully and miraculously among
you, did he accompany the giving of the law with those graces
or did he accompany the preaching of the gospel? No, sir, the law
was accompanied by fire and thunder and lightning and the coming
of Christ by grace. Verse 6. What about Abraham? Abraham is our example of faith.
He's the father of all believers. Abraham believed God. It was
counted to him for righteousness. The law was given, what did you
read, Ronnie, 400 years after Abraham? And the scripture, verse 8, here's
talking about us Gentiles. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen, that's us, through faith, preached
before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations
be blessed, not just the Jews, but the Gentiles. So then, they
which be of faith, not law, not works, faith, are blessed with
Abraham. For as many as are the works
of the law, or under the curse. For it's written, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things you can't let down. You've got
to continue in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them, not to admire them or believe them, but to
do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it's evident for the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not a faith. But
the law says the man that doeth perfectly shall live in them.
Christ did it perfectly for us. We live by his righteousness,
because it says in verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. All right, I hope
that's a blessing, and I hope you'll be here Sunday morning
to start all over again in the book of Galatians. All right.