Good morning church. It's great to be together today, to pray together, to sing together,
and now to come around the inspired holy word together. And so before I preach to
you, would you please join me in asking our Father for his help in this morning.
Father God, words escape us with how thankful we are that we are not like people who clamour
around in the darkness, but have seen your light. Seen your light because by your grace,
you have shown it to us. This morning we asked that as we come around your word, that you would
hold the light, the Lord Jesus Christ to us all, and that we would all be drawn to him,
that we would be changed by the Holy Spirit for the sake of Christ and for your glory.
We ask for this in his name. Amen. So if you've been with us for the past few weeks,
you'll know that we've been in a series in the book of Galatians, and more specifically,
in a part of the book where there's been a bit of controversy over the nature of the gospel.
You might remember it, in the first few words of this letter, the Apostle Paul reminded these
congregations in Galatia that the risen Jesus had met him on the way to Damascus and then
revealed the gospel to him. Later he summarised what he'd been taught by saying that we've been
justified by faith alone in Christ and not by works of the law. Now this message wasn't something
that was unique to Paul. No, as we saw in chapter 2, he explained that he went and met the apostles
there in Jerusalem, and it was there that they celebrated that they were preaching the very same
gospel and that they would continue in the mission fields that the Lord had called them to, Peter to
the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles. Now where there's been a bit of controversy, well we've
seen it with a group of Jewish teachers in the early days that travelled around to the different
and various Gentile churches and they claimed Christ, but they said people had to stick to the
ceremonial Jewish customs as found in the law to be truly accepted before God. What's the problem
with this we might ask? Well Paul said using the story of Peter coming to Antioch as his backdrop
that that doctrine was leaving behind faith in the perfect and final work of Christ and his
substitutionary atonement to justify us for a life at working to be accepted before God by our own
efforts. In other words these Jewish teachers known as the circumcision group were incredibly
dangerous because they were encouraging people in a false gospel that would damn people to hell.
That's because they were saying yes Jesus is important but not enough, more has to be done
to really be saved. Horribly they'd infiltrated Galatia with this false teaching and the
congregations there were falling for a Jesus plus something else doctrine. That's the context of
what's been happening so far in this book. The people of Galatia had received the true gospel
of Jesus Christ yet false teachers had infiltrated their ranks and were calling them to a Jesus plus
something else doctrine and they were falling for it hook, line and sinker and they were in serious
serious danger. That's why Paul says to them in verse 1 of our chapter this morning you foolish
Galatians who's bewitched you before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
To say that another way you've heard the preaching of the word you've embraced what was clearly
held out to you who has cast a spell on you who has taken you from the way of truth. Are you that
dim with it? This morning we're going to see our dear Apostle continue to call his brothers and
sisters back to the true gospel of Jesus Christ by pointing out to them two incredibly important
truths that we all need to reflect on here this morning. First he points them to the importance
of personal experience with the gospel. We'll see that in verses 1 through to 5 and then second he
points to how even the law testifies that faith is instrumental in salvation which we'll look at
in verses 6 through to 14. Two things that Paul points to us this morning to encourage us not to
fall not to backslide into a self-justifying works based doctrine. So if you have your Bibles with
you this morning it would be handy to have them open but look with me at verses 2 through to 5.
We read I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of
the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish after beginning by means of the Spirit
are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain if
it really was in vain? So again I ask does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you
by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Okay church so the first thing that I want
you to notice here is that Paul is asking these people a bunch of questions to get them to really
reflect on their actions. Notice the questions every single one of them there is something that he
wants them to reflect on and think about in regards to their own life. We see here in verse
2 did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? It's a really
interesting question and I say it's an interesting question because it has to do with personal
experience of how we began the Christian life. It has to do with our experience of being born
again. It has to do with our experience of being spiritually dead to being made spiritually alive
by believing and embracing Christ. What Paul's doing here is he's bringing their mind back to
the gracious and personal work of the Holy Spirit when he first worked in their hearts. When he
first opened their understanding to the truth of Jesus and when they were ripped out of this world
and grafted into Christ. That's not something you easily forget from being spiritually dead to being
made spiritually alive from being lost to knowing that you're lost they're then knowing that you're
found by the Good Shepherd. In other words Paul points them back to that time when they began their
Christian walk and he says that that work of conversion, that work of faith, did that come
from what you earned from your own good works? Did that come from your adherence to the law?
The obvious answer is absolutely not. Think about the context that we've looked at in this
series so far. These people were pagans, absolutely dead in sin and following the
course of this world quite happily. Thus all they deserved was wrath and condemnation but
then by the grace of the Living God their lives were infiltrated by the Holy Spirit. God broke
through the darkness with the light of the gospel and showed mercy on them. He gave them saving faith
and united them to Jesus. Say that another way, the Spirit was at work not because they deserved it
but because God chose to work on them and bring them to Christ and so Paul asked did you begin
your Christian life by earning it? It's about as ridiculous as giving yourself credit for the hard
work you did in your parents conceiving you. So first he wants them to reflect on that. How did
you begin? Second he asks how have you been progressing? Look with me at verse 3. After
beginning by means of the Spirit are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Again
that's interesting what Paul's doing because he presumes that they've been born again, that they're
progressing in the Christian life. Notice that language there after beginning by means of the
Spirit. This is the thing that they began but now they've fallen for the lie that they had to
progress by relying on their own strength and flesh and Paul he points out the utter inconsistency
of this. By grace the Spirit's broken into our lives, by grace we've been born again,
thus by grace through the leading and the guiding of the Spirit we leave behind what we were and
we move forward in his strength and power, not our own. Church this is touching on something that
the scholars call the doctrine of sanctification. We thought about this a little bit last week.
Justification is a once-for-all declaration before the judge of the universe that you're
not just innocent but completely, totally, utterly righteous and because of the finished
and perfect work of Christ that status can never ever change. Sanctification on the other hand is
talked about in a few different ways in the Bible and always in the way of separation and here in
the text that we have before us this morning it's talking about the old life leaving behind what was
and moving forward to what we now are in Christ. Paul talked about this last week in verse 20 of
chapter 2. He said I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The
life that I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
for me. He's being justified by the death of Jesus and he no longer walks this life in his own strength
but empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit in him. To put this all as simply as I can by the
continuing work of the Holy Spirit who brought about our spiritual birth, our spiritual new birth
who united us with the Lord Jesus Christ we're led to be more and more like Jesus from the very core
of our being. It's as we trust and obey the word that we're being conformed more and more into the
likeness of Jesus. The Bible does speak about progression. It does speak about growing but it
is empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit. It's not animated in our own strength. So first our dear
Apostle he wants us to reflect on how we begin the Christian life. Second on how we progress in the
Christian life. Third he asks his audience is it all just an intellectual exercise on your part?
Verse 4, have you experienced so much in vain? Now notice what Paul's doing here because he's
presuming that it's not just been an intellectual tip of the cat but a tangible experience. The
point that Paul's wanting to get to them is that they've enjoyed the ministry of the Holy Spirit
in a real and personal and tangible way. So in other words no this hasn't been an intellectual
persuasion for them but a living relationship that these people have with the living God. And so in
a roundabout way he's asking are you really that persuaded by these false teachers that you're
willing to leave what you know and have experienced to latch onto something that brings no real life
at all? Have you really experienced, the ESV says suffered so much in vain. Finally in verse 5 with
that kind of thinking as to what he's just been talking about. Paul once again gets them to reflect
on their experience on the power of the Holy Spirit that's been at work among them. He says
so again I ask does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law
or by believing what you heard? By believing what you heard. These people had received the gospel
of Jesus Christ and God was pleased to approve the message they heard with signs and wonders
and various miracles. This wasn't actually unique to them in fact we read in the book of Hebrews this
salvation which was first announced by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God
also testified to it by signs wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed
according to his will. Notice that they had seen miraculous signs performed among them which
validated and authenticated the ministry of the Apostles and the gospel they preached and I must
admit it's an interesting subject indeed. But notice what Paul is putting his finger on here.
Notice the point that he's making. It's not about the miracles but about the spirits mighty work
among them which hadn't come on the basis of their worthiness to receive it. Notice the point here
the Holy Spirit didn't work miracles among them because they deserved it or earned it from their
adherence to the law. No he was pleased to work among them according to his will to affirm the
message they heard. Faith alone in Christ alone. Church everything that Paul's talking about here
it points to one overarching fact. Everything we are, everything we have, everything we enjoy
from beginning to the end is a special work of grace by God. That's what Paul wants us to see.
You and I haven't received the Holy Spirit of God because we measured up somehow and passed the test
for God to finally be pleased with us. Now his ministry among us, his work of grafting us to
Christ, his applying of Christ's perfect work to us wasn't deserved by any of us. But by a special
act of grace on God's part he bore us against all the odds to trust in his Son and fill us with his
most Holy Spirit. That's what Paul wants us to see here. And so in light of what our Apostle is
showing us think about these questions for yourself. Did you convert yourself? Do you sustain
yourself in the faith? Do you slay that secret sin in your own power? Will you stand before God
one day and glorify yourself before him? That's what Paul wants us to wrap our heads around here.
Our Christian lives, they're a gift from God Almighty. As 18th century Puritan Jonathan Edwards
once said, the only part we play in our salvation was the sin that made it so necessary. How riot
he was. So in light of that, stop relying on yourself. You can't be perfected by your own
works any more than you could have been converted by them. If you have called upon the name of the
Lord, if you trust in Christ alone, the Holy Spirit has been given to you and the Holy Spirit
is the one leading and guiding. He is the one empowering you to be more and more like Jesus
every step of the way. Why is this so important for us to know? Why did the Galatians and why
do we here today need to know this gospel? Well, reflecting on what Paul's saying here,
kills legalism. We've thought about this already in this series, but just to jog the memory,
legalism causes us to look at the law and say, look how good I'm doing today. It always leads
to pride. People who backslide into this mindset tend to focus on how they're measuring up and deep
down think that God must be really impressed with just how good they're doing. So he owes them
something. The tremendous problem with that way of thinking is that it comes from a faulty
presupposition that God isn't infinitely holy beyond all comprehension and that we're sinful
above all else. A heart that can take pride in their own works before a thrice holy living God
hasn't a clue just how desperately wicked we are and just how gracious he really is. Church,
believe you me, we all get pulled back into this mindset, but it's here that Paul gives us the cure.
But when you find yourself going back to that legalistic mindset, focus on the gospel. When
you feel yourself being dragged that way, say, how was I saved? How was I saved? How were those
chains that shackled me to hell? How were they set loose and how was I set free? Think about how,
despite everything that has happened in your life, that you still trust and obey.
That you still desire holiness. That you still, in the middle of the night,
ask the Lord to help you with the things that you struggle with.
We can't take credit for any of that. Brothers and sisters, we're all tempted,
all of us attempted to look at our own good works and throw them up to God as heavenly credit.
The fact of the matter is this. God's infinite holy, infinitely holy. And we were born, as I've
heard it put before, as vipers in diapers with our little fists up to heaven.
By His mercy, His grace, His incredible love, He reached down. He revealed, He saved, He sanctifies.
He's faithful when we're faithless. He's the one who is with us all the days of our lives.
He's the one who said, I will never leave nor forsake you. We did not leave, we did not forsake
you. I will never leave nor forsake you. We did nothing, nothing to deserve this.
We did nothing to earn it. It's a reality in the life of the children of God because
He loves you and me more than we could possibly ever hope to imagine.
That's first. That's what Paul points to. He points to the importance of a personal experience
with the gospel because in the light of the gospel, we're protected from backsliding into legalism,
protected from not relying on our own work, so protected from not relying on the work of the
Spirit in our lives in the process of sanctification. We don't become lawless people
because of the gospel. We don't become lawless people because of the gospel. We become
holy people because of the gospel. Holy people whose lives have been crucified with Christ
It's no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us.
And that comes by faith. And that's the next thing Paul wants to show us here.
Faith is instrumental in the Christian life. And it's not a new thing. No, God has always
worked with His people in this way. Read with me verses six through to nine. So also Abraham
believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those that
have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith and announce the gospel and events to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you.
So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Right, so looking at verses six through to nine, Paul's drawing on Genesis 15. And he says,
Paul's drawing on Genesis 15. And he's showing us that blessing comes by faith. He takes us back to
a conversation that God had with Abraham to make that point in which God gave Abraham promises.
And what do we read here? Abraham believed God and what? It was credited to him as righteousness.
That's justification. And how are people justified according to Scripture? How are we justified?
Paul makes the case here from the Scriptures. It's not works of the law, but on the basis of faith
alone. It's so clear what he's saying here. That's how God has always justified people. It's not by
adhering to the law, but by faith. That says Paul, that's who are justified, just like Abraham.
No, when I first became a Christian, I didn't actually know how to approach the Old Testament.
It seemed like a book that was written on a different planet. But then you notice these
words from the apostle Paul when writing to a young pastor, Timothy, there in Ephesus,
in his second letter. And he says to him, as for you, continue in what you have learned and become
convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it. And how from infancy, you have known
the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, through
faith in Christ Jesus. That is so important to see because Paul isn't speaking about the New
Testament there. He's talking about what we call the Old Testament. And he's telling Timothy,
as you read, as you study, as you meditate on the scriptures, it will make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus. We don't have all the time to go through this morning and how it
all fits together, but the point is simple. God has always had one way of salvation,
grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That has always been the way. There's only ever
been one way of salvation and that is through faith in the gospel. And those who put their
trust in the Lord will never be put to shame, but be blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
It's so important that we see this this morning. Abraham wasn't saved by the works of the law,
but by faith in the gospel. That's what's so vitally important for us all to get. No one is
saved by our own works, but by faith in Christ. In the old, it was concealed. In the new, we have it
revealed. And blessed are all those who call upon the name of the Lord. And that's Paul's other
point here. Blessing comes by faith, but people remain under a curse if they reject Christ and
rely on their own works. We read in verses 10 through to 14, for all who rely on the works of
the law are under a curse, as it's written, cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the book of the law. Clearly no one who relies on the laws justified before God,
because the righteous will live by faith. The law isn't based on faith. On the contrary,
it says the person who does these things will live by them. Now what our apostle is doing here is
he's using quotes from all over the Old Testament to make his case. And this is the main point.
If you try and live your life on the basis of works of the law and not by faith, you would better do
it perfectly. And you would better do everything in the law, because if you don't, you will be
damned. That's the case that Paul makes so clearly. The case that was revealed to him, mind you,
by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. If you reject Jesus, if you reject his sacrifice,
if you reject his sacrifice and you rely on your own works, you're under a divine curse for all
eternity and the wages of sin is death. There's only two types of people in this world, people
that rely on themselves and are under a divine curse or people that rely on God's Son and are
blessed for all eternity. If you're here this morning and you're still relying on your sense
of being a good person, on your own religious works, on your own attempts to impress God,
and dear friend, I hope you hear the gospel that was once and for all delivered this morning.
There is a way that leads to death and destruction and there is a way that leads to eternal life and
joy. Today, you are not hearing the gospel by accident. Today, you're being called to let go
and hold on. Let go of your own attempts and hold on to Christ's perfect work on behalf of his people.
As Paul says here, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.
As it's written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. That's what's being held out to you this
morning. The Bible clearly says that anyone who relies on their own work is under a curse,
but the gospel, the gospel is that God sent his only begotten Son who lived a perfect life on behalf
of his people who stood in their place and received the wrath of God on the cross. He took
the curse that we all deserve. He took everything you deserve on himself so that he could be
set free for all eternity. How do you go from being under a curse to being blessed for all eternity?
Well, we've heard it this morning. Give up. Give up on your own attempts and put your trust,
put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the inspired words of Scripture
He, it is He that redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
By faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Let's pray.
Father God, we thank you for the gospel. We thank you that you have redeemed us from the curse of
the law, that you have taken us from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you Father that you have filled us full of the Holy Spirit
and that where we are faithless you remain faithful to us. When and where we backslide into
legalism, when and where we backslide into faithlessness, you remain faithful to us,
to your people calling us back by the gospel. We ask this morning, Lord God, as we've heard
afresh, as we have put our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would be reminded continually
that His work is perfect. His work is accepted on our behalf. His work is perfect. Lord, we ask that
we would live in light of that, that we would live in light of the gospel, that we would be led
to share this gospel with those who are still trapped, who are still in the darkness.
We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.