1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,560 Thank you, Orchestra. 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:17,760 When I was in the seventh grade, I entered a new school. 3 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,920 I had gone to a country school, a one-room country school right out of the little house 4 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,520 on the prairies kind of a moat. 5 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:28,760 And I went to town school. 6 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:36,040 Now that may give you the picture of a Moundsview High School or some large gigantic place like 7 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,840 that, but my class had 30 people in it. 8 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:46,400 But for me, that was a huge, huge class and a whole new set of people to get to know. 9 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,000 It was pretty intimidating. 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,080 I remember the first fall that I was in that school. 11 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,360 It was a brand new student. 12 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:06,280 One of the athlete bullies in the class said an emissary to me. 13 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:14,560 And he said to me, Jim, who was the bully, wants to fight you and he wants to meet you 14 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:20,400 after school tonight. 15 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,880 And my response was, no. 16 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,440 Now it wasn't that I was so afraid of Jim, although I was rather intimidated of him, 17 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,040 but I was more afraid of my mother. 18 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,480 You understand what I'm saying? 19 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:39,800 Because I knew what would happen when I got home if I got into a fight. 20 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:46,200 Over the years, I've learned, however, a basic lesson about fighting. 21 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,000 Avoid it if you can. 22 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,280 But if you can't, win. 23 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,120 Did you agree with that? 24 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,500 There are different kinds of fights. 25 00:01:57,500 --> 00:02:02,000 I was looking at my library shelf yesterday and saw a book called The Battle for the Bible 26 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,120 written by Dr. Harold Linzel back in the 1970s. 27 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,480 Dr. Linzel was a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. 28 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:16,880 Now at that particular time, the Southern Baptist Convention in its institutions, its 29 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:23,080 seminaries, the colleges, and so on, had been largely taken over by liberal theologians 30 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,320 who did not adhere to the inerrancy of the Scriptures. 31 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:36,480 Dr. Linzel understood the threat that that posed to their theology and to the Southern 32 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:43,400 Baptist mission of evangelizing the world and establishing Southern Baptist churches. 33 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:48,420 And so he wrote the book The Battle for the Bible in which he raised the flag for the 34 00:02:48,420 --> 00:02:51,280 inerrancy of Scripture. 35 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:56,320 And there followed for the next number of years quite a brouhaha in the Southern Baptist 36 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,380 Convention. 37 00:02:59,380 --> 00:03:04,200 And gladly, from my perspective, those who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture managed 38 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:12,320 to wrest back the control of the Convention at all of its institutions so that today the 39 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:18,960 Southern Baptist Convention solidly stands in its leadership right on down for the inerrancy 40 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,320 of the Scriptures. 41 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,480 It was a battle that was worth fighting. 42 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:30,360 They took a stand, and by the grace of God, they won. 43 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:36,720 Now Paul was in a similar fight when he wrote this book of Galatians that we have begun 44 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:38,880 studying. 45 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:45,400 He was in a battle for the soul of the Galatians, but there was another battle larger than that. 46 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:53,040 It was a battle for the nature of the gospel, what the gospel really is. 47 00:03:53,040 --> 00:04:00,440 Now Paul knew when to walk away from conflict in order to keep peace, and he knew when it 48 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,240 was necessary to stand and fight. 49 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:11,960 He knew that he had to win this one, or the consequences would have been devastating to 50 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,560 the gospel. 51 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,960 Paul was vigorous in his defense of the gospel. 52 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:23,540 The first thing he had to do was to defend himself and his apostleship, and so as we 53 00:04:23,540 --> 00:04:30,000 have studied chapters one and two together, we have observed Paul's sturdily defending 54 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:38,800 himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, because the message that he had as an apostle, the 55 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:45,960 gospel of Jesus Christ, depended upon his authority as an apostle. 56 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,960 But now Paul is going to enter a new argument in his epistle. 57 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:58,480 It is his argument for the gospel itself, that it is salvation by grace through faith. 58 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,920 Paul was aggravated with the Galatians. 59 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:06,640 We've seen that in chapter one, but we see it again in our text in chapter three. 60 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:14,160 He was absolutely astonished at the defection of the Galatians from the message of the gospel. 61 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:20,600 He began by stinging them a bit with words, and now he does it once again as we begin 62 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:28,840 reading in Galatians chapter three and verse one, as soon as I get there. 63 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:30,880 All right. 64 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:40,280 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly 65 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:44,240 portrayed as crucified? 66 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,800 This is the only thing I want to find out from you. 67 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:55,600 Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? 68 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,200 Are you so foolish? 69 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:05,160 Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 70 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,660 Did you suffer probably better? 71 00:06:07,660 --> 00:06:14,680 Did you experience so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? 72 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:22,200 Does he then who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the 73 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:28,440 works of the law or by hearing with faith? 74 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:33,120 Even so, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 75 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:41,680 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 76 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:47,600 The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel 77 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:53,520 beforehand to Abraham, saying, all the nations shall be blessed in you. 78 00:06:53,520 --> 00:07:02,000 So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer. 79 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:08,080 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. 80 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:14,440 What is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book 81 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,720 of the law to perform them. 82 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:24,560 Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident. 83 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,480 For the righteous man shall live by faith. 84 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,880 However, the law is not of faith. 85 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:39,800 On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. 86 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,360 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. 87 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:50,280 For as written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. 88 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:57,000 In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that 89 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:03,240 we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 90 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:07,600 I invite you to pray with me. 91 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,960 Now Spirit of God, you authored these words through the Apostle Paul. 92 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:19,560 You spoke through him to the Galatians who were tempted by false teachers to leave the 93 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:29,600 gospel of grace and to return to the law as a means of being right with you. 94 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:35,360 Just as you authored these words, I pray that now you will illumine our hearts. 95 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,640 Teach us what we need to know. 96 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:43,560 And Father, if there be some friend here this morning who does not yet know what it means 97 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:54,320 to be right with you, have the assurance of knowing that they are on their way to heaven. 98 00:08:54,320 --> 00:09:00,680 I pray this morning the gospel will be clear and that you would call that friend of yourself 99 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:01,680 as your child. 100 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:06,200 In Christ's name, amen. 101 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:14,800 I tried to read this text as I think Paul would have read it to the Galatians. 102 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:20,960 Because you see in here his strong words, Paul strenuously argues that the gospel of 103 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:30,840 Jesus Christ is the promise of justification by faith apart from works. 104 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:37,960 And by the way, that is the same message that we preach today, and it is the only message 105 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,360 that saves sinners. 106 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:51,560 That salvation is by faith apart from works. 107 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:59,060 Paul initiates this idea back in verse 16 when he says, this is in chapter 2, a man 108 00:09:59,060 --> 00:10:05,880 is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. 109 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:12,320 Now remember, that was the message he had preached to them when he was first there. 110 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:13,880 But false teachers now had come in. 111 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:19,920 We called them Judaizers who were trying to tell the Galatians that Paul did not preach 112 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:27,520 the full gospel, that it was fine to preach faith in Jesus, but they said you also have 113 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,840 to keep the law of Moses. 114 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:38,960 You have to keep the law of Moses and add works to your faith. 115 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,440 That's the full gospel, they said. 116 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:48,040 Paul argues strenuously against that when he says a man is not justified by the works 117 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,400 of the law. 118 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:57,120 But through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may 119 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:04,160 be justified by faith in Christ, not by the works of the law, since by the works of the 120 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:09,320 law shall no flesh be justified. 121 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:17,040 Notice how many times he uses that phrase, works of the law, in verse 16, three times. 122 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:21,520 He uses it again in the text that we've read today. 123 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:26,640 Because the false teachers were saying you need to do something as well as believe on 124 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,680 Christ. 125 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:35,200 You must keep the works of the law and obey Moses' teaching. 126 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:40,300 And so Paul uses now in chapters three and four a series of arguments to prove his claim 127 00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:46,200 about the gospel, to defeat the false teachers. 128 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:53,000 His goal is to rescue the Galatians from their theological error. 129 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,720 Well the first argument we find in verses one through five, and that is the argument 130 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,160 from their profile. 131 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:07,680 The apostle Paul reminds them of what they had experienced, their own spiritual journey, 132 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:12,740 the way in which they themselves had come to know God when he had preached the gospel 133 00:12:12,740 --> 00:12:14,760 to them. 134 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:23,400 He asks them the question, was it by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? 135 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:28,360 When Paul had gone to Galatia on his first missionary journey, he had made a public announcement 136 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,480 of Christ. 137 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,000 He had portrayed Christ openly to them. 138 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:45,640 He explained to them Christ crucified, Christ who delivered Himself up for our sins. 139 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:51,520 He had preached to them the message of God's grace. 140 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:58,440 He had not set the gospel of grace aside, but they may have, he says at the end of chapter 141 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:05,160 two, he says, for if the righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly, 142 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:10,480 you foolish Galatians. 143 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,520 Their experience with Christ is really captured in two questions that he poses to them. 144 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,600 The first one is in verse two, and it points to their past. 145 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:26,240 He said, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? 146 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:32,640 Now, to receive the Spirit, Paul is equating with salvation. 147 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:40,200 He says back there when you believe the message that I proclaim and you receive the Holy Spirit 148 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:47,040 because you trusted in this gospel, did you receive the Spirit because you worked and 149 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:54,580 performed and did the works of the law or because you simply heard what I proclaimed 150 00:13:54,580 --> 00:13:56,600 about Christ and believed? 151 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:02,440 Well, of course, the answer is obvious. 152 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:06,780 He asked the second question in verses three and four. 153 00:14:06,780 --> 00:14:15,960 He says, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected, that is brought to maturity 154 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:22,260 by the flesh, by the works of your human nature? 155 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:28,640 He says, did you suffer so many things or experience all of these things in vain? 156 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:37,200 He says in verse five, does he then who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among 157 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:41,840 you, do it by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? 158 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,780 Here the question points toward the present. 159 00:14:45,780 --> 00:14:51,800 He says, the Spirit who now is at work in you, bringing you to maturity, the Spirit 160 00:14:51,800 --> 00:15:00,480 who is doing powerful deeds in your midst, in your church, in your congregation, is He 161 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:06,680 doing this by the works of the law or because of faith? 162 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,120 Of course, again, the answer is obvious. 163 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,320 You see, the Galatians were forgetting what they should have known. 164 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,720 That's what he means by being fools. 165 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,640 He's not saying that they are deficient in their minds. 166 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:25,320 He is saying they're simply not using them. 167 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:31,440 He says, you have forgotten what you should know, that it's all by grace through your 168 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,040 faith in the promise of God. 169 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:40,560 And so Paul's point here, as he argues from their profile, is that you cannot experience 170 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:46,180 the reality of the Holy Spirit through law keeping. 171 00:15:46,180 --> 00:15:54,680 The Spirit's presence and His power in your life, in your church, are in response to faith 172 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:58,000 in the promise of God. 173 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:05,920 It is that faith then that connects you to the eternal one. 174 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,000 Paul then proceeds to a second argument. 175 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:15,560 It is the argument from the patriarch, because he refers to the patriarch Abraham, whom the 176 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:21,640 Galatian Christians would, of course, revere, and especially the Judaizers, the false teachers. 177 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,200 They also would look back to Abraham. 178 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:29,100 And so he brings Abraham forward as his witness. 179 00:16:29,100 --> 00:16:36,520 He draws upon the example of Abraham to show the continuity of this notion of salvation 180 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,800 by faith apart from works. 181 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:47,160 Now, in setting forth his argument, the apostle Paul quotes two significant texts from the 182 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,160 life of Abraham in Genesis. 183 00:16:50,160 --> 00:17:00,240 The first is a text from Genesis 15 and verse 6, which sums up Abraham's saving experience. 184 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:11,240 It is that when he heard God's word, he heard the promise of God, he believed. 185 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:18,360 And God therefore declared him righteous. 186 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:22,640 Abraham did not do anything. 187 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,240 Abraham was not himself circumcised at this point, which was an important point to these 188 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,960 Judaizers. 189 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:41,000 The law had not even been written in Abraham's day, and yet Abraham believed and was justified, 190 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:45,740 declared righteous before God. 191 00:17:45,740 --> 00:17:51,200 The word believed back in Genesis is the word amen. 192 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,480 Abraham amen'd God. 193 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,640 That is, he affirmed what God said. 194 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,600 And therefore God made a verdict regarding Abraham. 195 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,360 He said, Abraham, you aren't righteous. 196 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:11,280 Abraham, you're coming out of a pagan, Gentile background. 197 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,520 You are a Gentile. 198 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,360 But Abraham, you have believed me. 199 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:23,040 And therefore I declare you righteous in my sight. 200 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:29,200 In doing this, God was not only saying to Abraham, you are no longer guilty of your 201 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:34,800 sins, but I accept you, Abraham. 202 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:40,720 I accept you as righteous in my sight. 203 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:49,760 So Paul says, before there was a law, before there was the right of circumcision, Abraham 204 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:54,400 simply believed and was saved. 205 00:18:54,400 --> 00:19:01,720 He quotes another text in Genesis 12 and verse 3 when he says, all the nations shall be blessed 206 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:06,000 in you, God's promise to Abraham. 207 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:11,720 Paul's point here is that the Scriptures foresaw that God would do the very same thing 208 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:18,760 that He did for Abraham for other Gentiles. 209 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:23,960 This was a part of the gospel that was given to Abraham, which he believed, which led then 210 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:31,520 to his justification that God would one day bless all the nations, the Gentiles of the 211 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:39,320 world, with this gospel of salvation by grace through faith apart from works. 212 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:49,400 Now as he calls Abraham forward to give this witness, Paul points to two groups of people 213 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,000 in the text. 214 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:57,040 He points first to those whom he labels, those who are of faith. 215 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,600 Do you see that phrase? 216 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:03,700 It's in verse 7, again in verse 9. 217 00:20:03,700 --> 00:20:09,560 Those who are of faith, who is he referring to? 218 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:16,740 Simply those who believe God's promise to them, just as Abraham believed God's promise 219 00:20:16,740 --> 00:20:17,740 to him. 220 00:20:17,740 --> 00:20:24,160 Now he says, all of those who are of faith, who believe the promise of God are included 221 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:34,560 with Abraham in the blessing of salvation, and they become by their faith the descendants 222 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,600 of Abraham. 223 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:47,880 They're the descendants of Abraham not because of their lineage or because they have performed 224 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,440 some ritual upon themselves, such as circumcision. 225 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:58,960 And this was the big claim of the Judaizers, we're the descendants of Abraham. 226 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:05,000 Paul says, you Gentiles who have believed the gospel of Jesus Christ, you who are of 227 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:11,680 faith are the true spiritual descendants of Abraham. 228 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:23,640 The other group he labels in verse 10 as the many who are of the works of the law. 229 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:29,080 Paul is including in this group all of those who want to add works to the gospel of grace, 230 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,600 like the Judaizers were doing. 231 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:38,480 Those who followed this false teaching that we have to add our own human efforts to what 232 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:43,480 God has done for us at the cross. 233 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:49,960 Paul warns that those who do this place themselves under the curse of the law because they are 234 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,440 not able to perfectly obey its regulations. 235 00:21:54,440 --> 00:22:01,880 And here he quotes in verse 10 from Deuteronomy chapter 27, the 26th verse. 236 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:07,080 He says, those who are of the works of the law need to understand something. 237 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:19,800 Yes, they can be justified by the law if they abide by all things that the law says to perform 238 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:21,960 them. 239 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:28,200 If they perfectly keep the whole law, then they can be justified before God. 240 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:29,480 Paul acknowledges this. 241 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,480 But what's the problem? 242 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,000 No one can do that. 243 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,120 Not even these Judaizers could do that. 244 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:45,320 And he says, therefore they place themselves under the damnation of the law. 245 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:53,160 The judgment of the law, it falls upon all of those who fail to keep it perfectly. 246 00:22:53,160 --> 00:23:00,120 It condemns them before God. 247 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:07,800 And so his point is this, it is not those who preach circumcision and the works of the 248 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:13,480 law who are Abraham's descendants and who are right with God. 249 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:18,880 Indeed, they have placed themselves under the condemnation of the very law that they 250 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,760 seek to uphold. 251 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:29,360 Rather, it is those who believe the promise of God in Jesus Christ and who forsake their 252 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:38,400 own works and rule keeping as a means of earning righteousness before God. 253 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:43,760 It is they who are Abraham's true descendants. 254 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:53,000 And finally, in verses 11 to 14, the apostle brings forth a third argument. 255 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,560 I call this the argument from the prophet. 256 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:01,900 He's still going back to the Old Testament, but here he goes to the prophets and specifically 257 00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:06,940 to a statement by Habakkuk. 258 00:24:06,940 --> 00:24:12,680 He quotes him in verse 11 as saying, the righteous man shall live by faith. 259 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,960 Habakkuk 2 and verse 4. 260 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:23,520 And we need to think about the historical context of this prophet for a moment. 261 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:31,440 Habakkuk prophesied in Judah at the time that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was about 262 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:39,880 to invade Judah for the first time, which was approximately 605 B.C. 263 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:45,000 Now in this book that Habakkuk wrote, he had two significant questions that were eating 264 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,440 away at him. 265 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:53,200 And he records them for us and gives God's answer. 266 00:24:53,200 --> 00:25:04,560 His first question was this, why, God, do you not judge the evil of your people, Judah? 267 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,720 It just seems to go on and on. 268 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,160 God, why are you not judging them? 269 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:17,760 And so God responds in the last part of, or the next part of chapter 1. 270 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:23,800 And God essentially says, I am about to judge them, Habakkuk, and I am going to bring the 271 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:28,120 Chaldeans, the Babylonians, to judge them. 272 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:34,720 Well, this raised a second urgent question on the part of Habakkuk. 273 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:39,480 He says, God, how can you do that? 274 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,760 Because the Babylonians are worse than we are. 275 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:49,560 Surely, Lord, you will not bring the Babylonians to judge Judah. 276 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,320 God says, yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. 277 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:59,320 I'm going to bring Babylon to discipline my people. 278 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:06,880 And then in the second chapter in verse 4, God says, see, he is puffed up. 279 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:17,640 His desires are not upright, but the righteous will live by his faith. 280 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:18,640 Who is puffed up? 281 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:24,600 Well, in the context, it seems best to understand it's the Chaldeans that Habakkuk sees as 282 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,160 being puffed up in their pride. 283 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,040 And their desires were not right. 284 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:37,920 Nonetheless, God would use them to discipline his people. 285 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:44,000 But God says, the righteous will live by his faith. 286 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:53,760 That is, those who are in a right standing with me, the righteous, shall live by their 287 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:58,000 steadfast waiting upon me. 288 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:05,240 Now, when this word came to Habakkuk, it likely had mostly a temporal meaning. 289 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:11,800 In other words, I am going to bring judgment upon Judah, but the righteous need to know 290 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:18,480 that I have not forsaken them, that they will live by their steadfast trust in me, and I 291 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,680 will bring them through that. 292 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,720 I will deliver them. 293 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,920 I will be with them. 294 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:37,200 But Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to take that statement from Habakkuk's context of 295 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:46,560 temporal salvation from judgment, to apply it to salvation broadly and generally. 296 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:51,560 And he does that twice, maybe three times, if he wrote Hebrews. 297 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:56,760 As the verse enters into the New Testament in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews in a significant 298 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:03,120 way, the just shall live by faith. 299 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:08,800 Paul is saying, even the prophet said this. 300 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:17,800 It is the just who live by faith, not by the works of the law, but by steadfast faith in 301 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:18,800 me. 302 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,280 They are saved. 303 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:27,240 But it goes on to say the law is not of faith. 304 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:33,640 The law is not of faith, he says, because it is predicated upon performance. 305 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:40,080 Verse 12, here he quotes from Leviticus, which says, he who practices them, that is, the 306 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:45,840 demands of the law, will live by them. 307 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:52,280 Do and live is what the law says. 308 00:28:52,280 --> 00:29:00,600 Someone has written a little poem that says, do and live the law demands, but gives me 309 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,240 neither feet nor hands. 310 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:10,600 A better word the gospel brings, it bids me fly and gives me wings. 311 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:19,560 You see, the law says if you want to live, then do, do, do, perform, perform, perform. 312 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,480 And if you do that perfectly, God will accept you. 313 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,360 But we sinners don't have feet and hands to do that. 314 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:37,040 We are born in sin and cannot keep the law. 315 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,000 Those who fail, the law pronounces a curse upon them. 316 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,640 And of course, that's all of us. 317 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:44,640 For we all fail. 318 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,000 We are all sinners. 319 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:57,020 The way of law keeping or works leads ultimately not to God's acceptance, but to His judgment 320 00:29:57,020 --> 00:30:01,980 upon us because we fail. 321 00:30:01,980 --> 00:30:06,800 When Paul writes about a curse here, that is a strange sound to our pluralistic ears, 322 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,960 isn't it? 323 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:15,800 This postmodern culture in which we live does not think that God ever judges. 324 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:27,000 They like to see God as one who is accepting, a God who promotes tolerance, a God who will 325 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:35,200 accept anyone because they believe that all truths are equal. 326 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:39,000 But that is not the message of the Bible. 327 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:47,360 Our society today has created a God in the image of its confused ideas. 328 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:52,480 The God of the Bible who has revealed Himself is a God who is not only loving and gracious 329 00:30:52,480 --> 00:31:02,320 and kind, but a God who is severe and just and holy and righteous. 330 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:10,020 And God says, the sinner who seeks to be right with me through His works only places himself 331 00:31:10,020 --> 00:31:16,220 under my just judgment. 332 00:31:16,220 --> 00:31:22,360 But the good news, says Paul, is that Christ has redeemed us from this curse. 333 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:24,120 How? 334 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:30,080 By becoming a curse on our behalf. 335 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:37,840 By dying under the law, not as a law breaker, but as the only one who has ever lived on 336 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,240 the face of the earth as the law keeper. 337 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:50,560 He nonetheless was crucified for our sins and was hung upon a tree. 338 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,880 And he says, the law says, cursed is anyone who hangs upon a tree. 339 00:31:54,880 --> 00:32:05,840 Now the Jews never crucified, but for particularly heinous crimes after stoning, they were known, 340 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:14,760 it was customary sometimes to put the body up on a pole to display the body to show he's 341 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,560 cursed under the law. 342 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,760 That's the meaning of that text, cursed is anyone who hangs upon a tree. 343 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:32,720 But Paul applies that to Christ, who was nailed to the cross alive and who suffered and died 344 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:39,440 there, that he might deliver us from this present evil world. 345 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:45,160 Paul says, the law brings a curse, but the prophet says that the righteous will live 346 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,480 by faith. 347 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:53,440 The justification and the gift of the Spirit come by faith apart from works. 348 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:59,420 And he concludes the text that we've read this morning by saying there are two purposes, 349 00:32:59,420 --> 00:33:05,240 two coordinated purposes that come from what Jesus did for us. 350 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:11,720 The first he says is that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the 351 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,920 Gentiles. 352 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:23,640 The blessing of Abraham refers to justification by faith. 353 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:35,360 The Lord Jesus died so that even the Gentiles might be justified by faith in him. 354 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:44,760 Secondly he says, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 355 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,240 So he goes back to where he began really, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. 356 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:52,480 You receive the Spirit, he works in your midst, don't you understand that that was all by 357 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:53,560 faith? 358 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:59,540 So he concludes in verse 14 by saying we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 359 00:33:59,540 --> 00:34:06,240 And to receive the promise of the Spirit is equivalent to becoming a Christian. 360 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,880 Now I want to close quickly with just three thoughts. 361 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:18,040 The first thought is this, that the successors of the Judaizers are with us yet. 362 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:25,280 There are still those today in our world in the realm of Christendom who mix works with 363 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,240 faith. 364 00:34:28,240 --> 00:34:35,400 There are those who talk about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and faith in Jesus Christ 365 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:44,760 who then go on to talk about other things that we must do in order to be justified. 366 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:49,320 Sometimes it involves the sacraments of the church. 367 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,840 Sometimes it involves being a good and moral person. 368 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,520 Sometimes it involves being baptized. 369 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:03,280 Some people relate baptism to circumcision and they say you must be baptized as well 370 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,680 as believe on Christ. 371 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:12,520 That's why I'm saying that the Judaizers, their descendants, are still with us. 372 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:14,840 Beware of them. 373 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,900 Beware of them. 374 00:35:18,900 --> 00:35:26,480 Because these doctrines lead people to unexpected damnation. 375 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,060 They think they are right with God. 376 00:35:30,060 --> 00:35:35,880 They think somehow that their faith in Christ and their good life together is going to make 377 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:40,320 God accept them into heaven. 378 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,240 And they're wrong. 379 00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:51,800 That's why the Proverbs says, there's a way which seems right unto a man, but the end 380 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,000 thereof are the ways of death. 381 00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:00,040 Yes, I know people are very sincere in believing this. 382 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:04,200 Maybe you're sincere in believing it this morning. 383 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:11,640 But I want to say to you based upon what God says, that you can be right with God only 384 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,840 through your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 385 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,480 That's all that it takes. 386 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:22,760 You can get off the treadmill of your own works and trying to perform to impress God. 387 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,160 You don't have to do that. 388 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,160 You can't do that. 389 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:32,760 The second thing I want to say is this. 390 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:37,400 The descendants of Abraham are those who believe. 391 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:42,520 Not those who seek acceptance with God through their works or their religious duty, but those 392 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,800 who trust in the promise of God. 393 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:50,440 And of course for us that means the promise of eternal life through the death of Jesus 394 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:51,440 Christ. 395 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:57,040 Believing that His death is sufficient for our sins, that nothing more needs to be done 396 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:03,920 that God accepts us completely in His Son. 397 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:10,320 We who are the descendants of Abraham inherit the blessing that Abraham knew, which is being 398 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:17,000 justified by faith that is being right with God, our works aside. 399 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:26,760 And finally, the gospel of God is justification by faith based upon Christ's death for sinners. 400 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:32,760 That is the only hope for a broken world in need of healing. 401 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:41,080 Chuck Swindoll wrote, through Paul we learn that Christianity is a religion of done and 402 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:46,440 that all other faiths are religions of do. 403 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,600 You stop and think about that. 404 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:58,240 Any other religion in the world has the human being up front doing his thing, trying his 405 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:02,520 best, performing his duty. 406 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:10,880 But Christianity says God's already done all that needs to be done because His Son has 407 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:12,680 paid the price. 408 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:16,360 Therefore proclaim it. 409 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,560 You and I have an opportunity to do that next month. 410 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:26,480 You may notice in the bulletin today this flyer regarding the seminar regarding faith. 411 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,060 It's not just for those who are in the Friend to Friend training. 412 00:38:29,060 --> 00:38:30,860 It's for all of us. 413 00:38:30,860 --> 00:38:35,480 I hope that you'll come even if you can't find a friend to invite, but hopefully you 414 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:40,680 can approach a friend that you're praying for and invite them to be there for those 415 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,600 three Tuesday nights, to be here for those three Tuesday nights. 416 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:54,160 It is going to be powerful teaching regarding why the Christian faith makes sense, why it 417 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,320 is the truth. 418 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:03,180 The gospel that we preach is the gospel, the only gospel that works. 419 00:39:03,180 --> 00:39:05,560 It is the only good news there is out there. 420 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:08,360 That's why we must proclaim it. 421 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:12,840 Let's be about our Lord's work. 422 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:17,560 We have to close. 423 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:25,720 With our heads bowed, I wonder this morning if you have claimed salvation, if you've claimed 424 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:30,640 this blessing as one who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. 425 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:38,720 If not, if you've been working your way toward God, if you've been trusting in what you 426 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:47,160 can do, will you this morning understand that God has done for you all that's necessary 427 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:53,560 what He requires of you is simply to accept that free gift to believe on Christ, to claim 428 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:54,560 that blessing. 429 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:56,960 Will you do it? 430 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:07,920 Pray in your heart something like this, Lord Jesus, I lay aside my works, my failed righteousness, 431 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:16,640 and I come to you believing that you died for my sins, that I might be forgiven. 432 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:22,340 And I receive you by faith into my life to be my Lord and Savior. 433 00:40:22,340 --> 00:40:28,280 I am trusting in you alone that I might be right with God. 434 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:35,880 And friend, that is a message that if you believe it, if you claim it, you too will 435 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:45,040 enjoy the blessing of Abraham and all of those who believe. 436 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,640 And if this morning you've prayed that prayer, that is your heart's desire, I invite you 437 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:50,680 to come here to the front after the service. 438 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:55,240 I'd like to talk with you a little bit further. 439 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:56,680 Let's stand together, please. 440 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:03,240 Father God, in these closing seconds, will you write upon our heart the joy of the gospel 441 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,840 of grace? 442 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:15,520 Will you also just clear out our minds from all the garbage and the confusion of our culture? 443 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:21,960 And help us to see the singularity of this message, not only the claims that it makes, 444 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:31,360 but the power that it has to change the life of every sinner who trusts it. 445 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:36,520 And we pray together that you will be powerfully at work in our midst by the Holy Spirit whom 446 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:45,680 you've given us, that you will change us as your children into the image of Christ, 447 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:52,560 and that you would use us in our world to reach those who yet need to hear this gospel. 448 00:41:52,560 --> 00:42:04,480 And it's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen.