[0:00] Good morning, everyone. Welcome here this morning. It's a beautiful spring morning.
[0:11] We'd all enjoy being outside and soaking in that beautiful sunlight. We have in our bulletin this morning, and they cover the verse in Hebrews.
[0:27] We have this hope as an anchor for the soul. Here in Alberta, we're a little landlocked. Not so much water around, but I think we all know what an anchor is and what it does, how it steadies the boat in the water.
[0:47] And we have the wind here. We can see the evidence of it. We see the grass waving around and the trees and so on.
[0:59] And yet, in our souls, our hearts, we have the anchor of Christ Jesus that is our hope, and he steadies us.
[1:10] Thank you, Brother Bill, for reading the text for us this morning. We'll be looking at the entire chapter.
[1:23] The first half of it there is a little bit of the history on Paul and his defense of the gospel. Paul started a number of weeks ago with chapter 1, and so continuing into chapter 2 this morning.
[1:41] And so just a little bit of review on chapter 1, just to refresh our memory. So Paul is writing a letter to the Galatian churches in a response to the perversion of the gospel, and as well as attacks on his apostleship.
[2:02] Now, the Galatians were being fed lies, and they're starting to believe them. That danger is there. And so Paul, in the first two chapters of this epistle, of this letter to them, he writes to set them straight.
[2:18] And he goes so far in verse 8 of chapter 1 to say that, And he goes on as he addresses the attack on his apostleship.
[2:41] He clarifies how he has received it from God through revelation by Jesus Christ. And so obviously, some of the accusations against him were that, you know, he was picking up information from the apostles in Jerusalem, and he was using that to declare himself an apostle as well.
[3:03] And so accusations there on that. And so chapter 1 kind of ends with that, and it carries through into chapter 2. Again, just on the attack on his apostleship and the accusation that he's stealing that away from the other apostles.
[3:27] And so the three points that I want to bring out this morning here in chapter 2, we have Paul's continued defense of the gospel, and then Paul's rebuke of Peter.
[3:42] And then thirdly, living by faith. So I've titled the message this morning, By Faith and Not the Letter.
[4:03] Let's read the first 10 verses of chapter 2. Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas. And took also Titus with me.
[4:14] And I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run or had run in vain.
[4:28] Yet not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.
[4:45] To whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But from those who seemed to be something, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me.
[4:58] God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter, for he who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles.
[5:25] And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
[5:40] They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. So in the last few verses in chapter 1, Paul reveals how little time he has actually spent in Jerusalem.
[5:56] It was not enough to teach him the gospel that he preaches. And he brings it out that, you know, by the way, I didn't go to Jerusalem until I'd been in the ministry for three years already.
[6:12] My ministry had been going on for three years before I went to Jerusalem the first time. And so now, in chapter 2, he continues that defense. And so it was three years before he ever went to Jerusalem.
[6:28] And now he brings it out that after that first visit, another 14 years passed by before he went back again. And so it is believed that this trip to Jerusalem that Paul is talking about is the Jerusalem council trip of Acts chapter 15, where they were dealing with false brethren from Judea who were teaching to the Antiochians, those in Antioch, that they must be circumcised along with their faith in Christ.
[7:03] So the faith in Christ was not enough. They needed to be circumcised. That is the teaching they were bringing in. And it's not directly mentioned here that it is that Jerusalem council trip, but the accounts, they do seem to align.
[7:23] And so here, 14 years after his first trip to Jerusalem, Paul goes back again. And he goes along with Barnabas, and he brings Titus as well.
[7:38] And it says, And he communicated with them, or to them, the gospel that he preaches among the Gentiles. And so, two things to take note of here.
[7:51] It says that he communicated to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles.
[8:03] So who is the them? He goes on, he goes on further in, in the verse there that, but privately to those who were of reputation.
[8:23] So the them is those who are of reputation. And so he does this privately. And so, so there in Jerusalem, who would be of reputation? In the church in Jerusalem.
[8:36] It would be the apostles. And so he communicates to them the gospel that he preaches. So by communicating it to them, he is asking their opinion of it.
[8:54] He brings out what it is he is preaching to the Gentiles, and to the apostles, what are your thoughts on this? Are you in agreeance with the way that I am bringing Gentiles into the church?
[9:11] So why, why does Paul do this? Why is he asking their opinion on it? He says, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
[9:24] So, you know, if the apostles weren't on board with, with the gospel that, that Paul was preaching, there was no further need to, to waste his breath in that meeting, right?
[9:42] We know that the apostles were in agreeance. They didn't argue against the gospel that, that Paul was bringing. The issue hadn't come up because of them.
[9:56] They'd been brought in by false brethren, and yet it was something that needed to be dealt with. A third thing to note in this is who does Paul take with him?
[10:15] It says that he went up with Barnabas, but also says that he brought, he also took Titus with me. Who is Titus?
[10:31] He's a Gentile. So here stands an uncircumcised believer of the Gentiles before the Jerusalem church leaders in Jerusalem, the holy city.
[10:49] Here is proof that salvation is by faith, not by the law. And Peter speaks more on this later in the chapter.
[11:05] But here's Titus. He has heard the gospel. He has responded to it. He has come to the faith. Not once has the fact that he is uncircumcised has it bothered him in the slightest.
[11:24] Not once. And so, the message there is that, you know, anyone who cares to argue that circumcision is even, is even necessary.
[11:41] Here is the proof. Here stands the proof against it. Titus believed by faith. He had a testimony and the law had no part in his salvation.
[11:55] It was through faith. Paul continues his defense in verse 6. But from those who seem to be something, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me.
[12:11] God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seem to be something added nothing to me. Those who seem to be something added nothing to me, Paul says.
[12:29] And so, what he's saying is that those who seem to be something, those who, who had any kind of authority there, the Jerusalem leaders, the apostles, they had nothing to add to his gospel.
[12:46] The gospel that Paul preached was complete. These leaders here in Jerusalem had nothing further to add to his gospel. They didn't add anything to Paul to his gospel.
[13:02] They had no more knowledge of the gospel than Paul did. So, what then?
[13:13] What came of it? Because Paul was right in his preaching, there was nothing for them to add to it.
[13:26] says that they gave to him and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Basically telling them, you know what, you guys are preaching the truth, we're with you on that, so carry on doing what you do.
[13:45] Paul continuing his defense of the gospel that he preaches of his apostleship. That continues throughout the rest of the chapter, but it shifts a bit.
[14:01] We have the next scene here in verse 11 through 16. Now, when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be blamed.
[14:15] For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
[14:26] And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
[14:51] We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
[15:11] For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. So the Jerusalem council is over. Paul has gone back to Antioch and doesn't specify when, but at some point later on, Peter comes to Antioch.
[15:33] You know, he probably hasn't been there for too long when Paul notices something. And he lays into Peter in public.
[15:44] He doesn't take him aside. So what was Peter doing? Away from Jewish eyes?
[15:57] Nothing. He mingled with the Gentile believers in Antioch. He ate meals with them. No issues, right? But Jews show up in Antioch.
[16:13] what does Peter do? He removes himself from the Gentiles. He sits, he goes and he sits and eats with the Jews.
[16:27] So they come in as visitors there and so Peter gets up and he goes and sits with them, which in itself may be not such a big deal. but the big deal is in the reason why Peter chose to do this.
[16:49] Looking again at verse 12, for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
[17:08] He feared what these Jewish men would think and say of him, of the reports that would go out about him. The fear of man.
[17:20] what would Peter have feared? One, in their eyes, he was associating with heathens.
[17:36] Gentiles were not God's chosen people. They were of the world. We do not get together with them. Now, remember how the Pharisees reacted to Jesus eating with the tax collectors and sinners?
[17:56] These tax collectors and sinners were Jews. They weren't even Gentiles, but they were still, they were the least of the Jews and looked down upon. The Pharisees were shocked that Jesus would sit and eat with them.
[18:12] We don't even have anything to do with those lower class Jews, so let alone the Gentiles. Now, these Jews who came to Antioch, they were not Pharisees, but it brings out the picture, the attitude that has been ingrained into the Jews, the mold that they have been cast in for such a long time already.
[18:39] There's a second element, so what else could be so wrong in sitting and eating with Gentiles? Well, it would be the food that they would be eating.
[18:56] The laws of what and what not to eat, they were to the Jews, not the Gentiles. You know, Peter is sitting and eating with them.
[19:09] Could he have been enjoying some good bacon and sausages with them? Doesn't say it, but in all likelihood, these foods that would have been unclean to Jews in their mind, they would have been on the table before them and, you know, what do we do?
[19:28] New foods get put out before us? You know, it looks pretty good, let's try it. And so, another thing that could have brought something up had other Jews seen him eating with these Gentiles.
[19:48] And so, that's what's going through Peter's mind. You know, what will these Jews think when they see me eating with these Gentiles? what are they going to think about me?
[20:01] What will they tell others about me? And so, out of the fear of man, Peter separates himself from the Gentiles when these Jews show up.
[20:15] You know, he starts a Jews-only club. And the other Jews, they all go along with him in that. They stay away from the Gentiles. They keep themselves separate.
[20:27] It says that even Barnabas, you know, Paul's right hand man in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, even he is swept into those ways.
[20:40] So, the persuasion that is there. And Paul notices this behavior. Hypocrites, he calls them.
[20:56] So, what exactly is Peter doing here? We remember Peter's vision in Acts 10.
[21:07] And maybe we should just quickly flip there and read that. In Acts chapter 10. Just looking at verses 10 through 16.
[21:28] Acts 10 verses 10 through 16. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat. This is Peter. But while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners descending to him and let down to the earth.
[21:47] In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.
[22:02] But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And a voice spoke to him again the second time, What God has cleansed you must not call common.
[22:17] This was done three times and the object was taken up into heaven again. So God revealed to Peter that all animals were clean for him to eat.
[22:34] And it also revealed, as Peter finds out, that the gospel is intended for the Gentiles, whom the Jews considered common and unclean.
[22:47] And so on the surface, Peter eating with the Gentiles, it paints the picture that he is in agreeance with God. You know, Gentiles are part of the plan.
[23:00] They're not common or unclean. And yet, Peter's actions when the Jews show up, reveal his heart's true condition.
[23:11] Somewhere within his heart, Peter still considered Gentiles common or unclean. In certain circles, he did not want to be associated with them.
[23:25] Peter was being a hypocrite, and it was affecting others as well. You know, first, as Paul writes it here, it affected the other Jews, even Barnabas.
[23:41] men of faith, because of the actions of one man, faltered in their walk with the Lord. We don't know the depth of the faith of these Jewish men, but Barnabas, we know, should have known better.
[24:03] You know, would these other men have done this if Peter hadn't started it? You know, had Peter remained sitting there and eating with those Gentiles, would the faith of these other Jews have been strengthened?
[24:20] You know, would they have been emboldened? Would they have sat down and ate a meal with these Gentiles? Would they have embraced the Gentiles as their equals?
[24:33] We don't know. All because one man, Peter, by his actions, put a stumbling block before them and they fell. So then, do we see how one single man's action can cause others to stumble, to falter in their walk with the Lord?
[24:56] Lord, this is something that we are all vulnerable to. it happens to the best of us.
[25:09] Remember verse 6 of our text? God shows personal favoritism to no man. Who are we talking of here in our text?
[25:26] Surely, the apostle Peter would not do something like this. this. Yes, even that Peter was capable of doing something like this.
[25:42] God has no favorites. We are all equal. All of us are capable of doing this. So let us be mindful of our actions.
[25:54] Does our Christian walk match our talk? So not only were the Jews affected, but how must the Gentiles have felt?
[26:09] They must have noticed this as well, and how deep it must have cut them. You know, nothing has really changed.
[26:21] We're still the outcasts. We'll always be a class lower than the Jews. the thoughts that would have been running through their mind.
[26:35] And so then, too, what if Paul had not addressed this? How open would we Gentiles be to the gospel?
[26:49] Would we even be sitting here in church this morning? Praise God, he made Paul who he was. Paul didn't fall for this hypocrisy.
[27:04] He knew it was wrong, and he knew how far from the truth of the gospel this was, and he exposed it. He called them out. Again, verses 14 through 16.
[27:18] But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, if you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
[27:34] We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
[27:53] For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Paul identifies the Jews' fault here.
[28:10] They're not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel. So where was the root of this problem? Who started it?
[28:21] Peter started it. So how is Peter not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel?
[28:35] You know, he went out and he preached, he professes the gospel of Christ. You know, that the wall between Jew and Gentile is broken down.
[28:47] The gospel equally is for both. And so how is he not being straightforward? It's by his actions. He doesn't practice what he preaches.
[29:01] his message is, you know, the Gentiles are equals. They are not common or unclean. And yet, by removing himself from them, his actions contradict that.
[29:18] They go against what he preaches. His actions say, I'm above you. I'm better than you.
[29:29] And so, Paul points the finger at Peter. His rebuke is aimed, first of all, at Peter.
[29:44] But, he does it in front of the others. You know, they all had their part in it. He says, Peter, you are a Jew.
[29:55] If you're okay with putting ceremonial Jewish laws aside and living as the Gentiles do, and I've seen you do it, you know, you're showing that these ceremonial Jewish laws are no longer necessary, even for the Jews.
[30:19] Why, then, should Gentiles submit to and live and live by Jewish laws? Today, your actions have shown that these Gentiles, they are not equal to Jews, that in order for them to fit into Christian circles, they must comply with Jewish customs.
[30:44] He's saying, what you just did, Peter, makes you no different than those who came here teaching that faith in Christ Jesus was not enough, that they needed to be circumcised to be saved.
[31:04] I think that whole ordeal must have been playing through Paul's mind again. It's the same thing over. We're going through it again, and Peter, of all people, is at the root of this.
[31:23] Paul's rebuke continues, and he takes the opportunity to preach to them here as well. He goes from pointing the finger at Peter by saying, you, now it's we.
[31:40] It says, we who are Jews by nature. So, born and bred Jews, followers of the law, zealous to God, and not sinners of the Gentiles.
[31:52] You know, that is who the natural Jew thought the Gentile to be. They were sinners. Knowing that a man is not justified or declared righteous in the sight of God by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
[32:13] us, believing Jews, have figured it out that the law does not and cannot justify it or justify us. It is by faith in Jesus Christ that we are made right with the Father.
[32:34] He said, you know, Paul is saying that even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, not by the works of the law.
[32:50] You know, Paul is saying to them, you know, we're Jews by nature and we have figured this out. We put our faith in Christ and we are justified.
[33:01] justified. We know the works of the law can't do this, for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. We've lived under the law for too long.
[33:15] We've seen what the law does. It doesn't make us right with God. It exposes sin in our life. Amen. Exactly.
[33:36] Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. What was the word for it again, the world view? Slipping my mind here at the moment. Presuppositions.
[33:47] So presuppositions, the way we view the world, our world view. And so, yeah, Peter's world view. The Jew is still a cut above the Gentile.
[34:01] It's not what he's preaching. He's preaching faith in Christ. You know, that curtain has come down. We have full access to God, Jew and Gentile alike.
[34:13] And yet, his world view is being exposed here. It's coming out. We Jews are still a cut above you Gentiles.
[34:25] That has been so deeply ingrained and it has not been rooted out yet. Yet. We know this to be true as well.
[34:44] all that, you know, what does the law do? It doesn't make us right with God, but it exposes sin in our life.
[34:56] We know that to be true. God is just. He will deal with sin. He must deal with it. You know, all the good works that we have done, you know, the laws that we have kept.
[35:14] We've got the rich young man who comes to Jesus, you know, have kept all the laws from young on. He's boasting in it, you know, the good that he has done.
[35:30] But, you know, all the laws that we may have kept, they will not erase the blot of sin. All of us have committed sin, and for that, we must pay.
[35:50] You know, regardless of the good that we have done, we are still guilty of that crime. And justice must be served.
[36:02] You know, it's like in a courtroom. The good does not cancel out the bad. You know, it was brought out in the evangelism course as well, you know, the courtroom scene.
[36:15] Brought in guilty, and it's, well, you know, judge, look at all the good things that I've done. Like, they outweigh this one bad thing, you should just let me go. Does it work that way? No, it doesn't.
[36:28] The good does not cancel out the bad. The bad is canceled out when the penalty is paid in full. And that is where Jesus came in.
[36:44] We couldn't keep God's law. Our works did nothing to make us right with God. God's God's God's blood.
[36:57] The black blot of sin hid us from God's view, for he cannot look upon sin. So how could we be made right with him?
[37:10] How could that dark blot be cleared away? Who would pay a debt that we couldn't pay?
[37:21] there's only one. That was God's own son, Jesus. He who knew no sin came to offer his life for our life, to shed his blood where ours was required.
[37:40] For the penalty of sin was death. His blood paid the price that we couldn't pay. his blood washed away that dark blot of sin that stained us.
[37:58] That the father through the blood of his son could look upon us and his favor could rest on us.
[38:12] And it cost us nothing. all we had to do was to believe in Jesus, to put our faith in the sinless lamb of God, to trust that his blood had truly washed us clean and justified us with the father.
[38:34] God will do it. God will do it. Paul is beginning to preach to them, to set them straight.
[38:47] And he continues it. And he is bringing in faith. You know, the issue throughout chapters one and two, and for so long, the issue has been the law and wanting to keep the law in, to keep bringing it back in.
[39:08] Paul goes on in verse 17, But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin?
[39:22] Certainly not. For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. for I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
[39:37] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
[39:53] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. So Paul goes on and he proposes a question to them.
[40:10] Verse 17, but if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin?
[40:25] You know, let's use the example of Peter out of our text here. Peter was living by faith, right? He believed in Jesus as his personal savior. Yes, he did.
[40:40] But, if, while believing in Christ, Peter also was found a sinner, where did we read that word before, sinner?
[40:52] Back in verse 15. we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, sinners of the Gentiles, you know, the Jewish mindset toward the Gentiles, they are common, unclean.
[41:23] And so, if Peter was living by faith in Christ and yet also found a sinner, unclean as a Gentile in Jewish eyes, did that make Christ a minister of sin?
[41:41] sin? Is it Jesus' fault if I sin? Is he to blame?
[41:52] Did he make me do it? The answer, certainly not. Why not? If I claim Christ as my savior, he has paid my ransom and set me free and then I, like Peter, am caught in sin, does that make, sorry, I'm jumping ahead here, oh no, maybe not, does that make my transgression Jesus' fault, you know, bringing it back to myself?
[42:32] Certainly not. And so again, why not? The answer in verse 18, for if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
[42:51] Where is the finger pointed at? I. If I bring back again those sins that I dealt with, that I claim to have put behind me, I make myself a transgressor.
[43:15] There's nowhere to go, nowhere to turn. I am to blame. Peter was to blame. Jesus didn't tell Peter to go and sit with the Jews.
[43:30] It was Peter reviving the law in his life that caused him to do it. He was guilty. If I am found a sinner, I am guilty.
[43:42] There's no room for the blame game. I'm at fault and I must own it. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
[44:01] What did the law do? Let's turn to Romans chapter 7. So the question, what did the law do?
[44:24] First of all, in verse 1, Or do you not know, brethren, for I speak to those who know the law, that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
[44:37] So the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. So he is in bondage to the law. And then also going to verse 7, in chapter 7 of Romans, the first part of verse 7.
[44:53] What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law.
[45:05] So what did the law do? It exposed sin. And yet, from our text, we're not going back to the law.
[45:18] living by faith. So how do we die to the law? Looking at the first part of verse 4 in Romans 7.
[45:32] Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to him who was raised from the dead.
[45:44] we die together with Christ, that we may be raised with him, married to him.
[45:57] And then, how might I live to God? And then, how might I live to God? the second part of verse 4 in Romans 7. So, second half of verse 4 through verse 6, that we should bear fruit to God.
[46:14] For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now, we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
[46:37] So, we bear fruit or live to God. And we serve God in the newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter or the law.
[46:50] And it has been made clear through the issue of circumcision which brought about the Jerusalem council and by Peter's actions when other Jews came around him in Gentile circles, that the law does not justify us.
[47:10] It cannot save us. Faith is the only way. And so, what does that faith look like? What is the evidence of it in my life?
[47:24] So, we have the key verse in our text this morning before us. The main focus of the whole passage, verse 20.
[47:39] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
[47:55] I have been crucified with Christ. And Romans 6 verse 6 puts it well.
[48:12] Let's quickly read this. Romans 6 verse 6. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
[48:32] Our old man was crucified with Christ. The body of sin done away with, it's gone. That we should no longer be slaves of sin.
[48:47] Our old man, with its sinful nature, was nailed to that cross where Jesus hung on our behalf. Our sins, every single one of them, were nailed to that cross, covered by the blood of Jesus.
[49:06] And by putting our faith in him, in his finished work on that cross, we experience freedom. Sin no longer controls us, its grip on us is released.
[49:24] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The old man with his selfish, sinful desires is dead.
[49:37] He has been put to death. The new life within me is Christ living inside of me. I seek his will.
[49:49] I aim for his standards. I live to bear good fruit to God. Yes, I'm still human.
[50:01] I still have my faults. The times where I stumble, you know, I haven't reached perfection. But Christ, through the Holy Spirit, indwells me, teaching me all things.
[50:19] It tells us in John 14, 26. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
[50:33] So as I said, I'm still human, still in this body of flesh, and I'm not perfect. but I trust Jesus when he says that he is the Son of God.
[50:48] He is the Messiah, my Redeemer, my rock. He is all that and more. The life I now live doesn't resemble my old life at all.
[51:02] The Son of God, Jesus Christ, has made me a changed man. my chains are gone. I have freedom in my Lord.
[51:17] And his love is far greater than the love that I can hope to give in return. He sacrificed himself for me.
[51:31] His life was worth the cost to set me free to give me life. I say this about myself, about my faith in Christ, and I trust it is true for you as well.
[51:53] And if not, today is the accepted day. Today there is still time. Give your life to Jesus.
[52:04] tomorrow is not promised to us. It may be too late if we want to put it off to tomorrow, so don't delay.
[52:18] Can we reread verse 20 together? We did this last Sunday and I liked it. Can we, if this verse, verse 20 of Galatians 2, if this is true for you, can you read it together with me?
[52:34] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
[52:57] Our last verse. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
[53:12] We must remember the grace of God. You know, all of this, Christ's coming to die for all of mankind, our walk with the Lord, our Christian faith, all of this is by the grace of God.
[53:31] In his grace, he had mercy on us. He loved us enough to send his Son to die for us, to die in our place. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
[53:51] You know, this morning we've seen the shortcomings of mankind in trying to keep the law. By God's grace, his Son did not come to die in vain.
[54:08] Let us walk in faith. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow before you again this morning.
[54:20] Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, we know the law is from you. It is your standard for us.
[54:32] And we see too, Lord, that we fall short. We cannot keep it. What the law did is expose sin in our lives.
[54:45] it did not bring about our salvation. And by your grace, Lord, you sent your Son to die for us.
[54:58] And we praise you that it is not in vain that he did it. There is salvation through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
[55:12] And we thank you for that. Lord, help us to live by faith and not by the letter of the law. We aim for those standards, but we only achieve them by walking in faith with our Lord.
[55:35] Lord, strengthen us and help us to do this, to walk by faith. I thank you for each one here this morning. Lord, as we depart from here, help us to walk by faith each and every day of the week.
[55:54] In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.