Good morning, everyone. You can turn in your Bibles with me to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Just a reminder that we've been looking at the Apostle Paul over the last four Lord's Days now, including this one.
A reminder that in looking at the Apostle Paul, our minds, our hearts, our souls don't stop there, but much rather, as Paul would have it, a study of him is a vehicle by which we glory in the triune God and we glory in the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of amazing grace. And we'll finish off this morning by looking at the doctrinal legacy of the Apostle Paul. We've looked at his former career, his conversion, his commission as an apostle. We've looked at his missionary endeavors, as well as his ministerial character.
And we noted last Lord's Day, his death, not recorded in the Bible, but according to history and tradition under Emperor Nero. prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. And so it's fitting, I believe, to end this series of sermons in looking at Paul's doctrinal legacy. What would he have us to know in our knowledge of God and his Christ? Let's pick up reading in Acts chapter 20 at verse 17, and we'll read to verse 35.
From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus, and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
And indeed now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember, that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.
Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for me necessities and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time of worship, the preaching of your word. We pray that you would help us as we continue in worship to honor and glorify you. We pray that we would reflect with great reflection upon the greatness of our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. that we would reflect upon the greatness of your gospel, the greatness of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray that this exercise of worship would be unto the edification of the saints and unto the salvation of sinners.
And we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Introduction
Well, here in this particular section of the Book of Acts, the Apostle Paul first gives a reminder to these Ephesian elders, a reminder of his ministry in verses 17 to 21. He expresses joy in the face of coming opposition. He has heard that it is coming and it is coming, but nevertheless he expresses joy in verses 22 to 24. We see a vindication of his apostleship and the warning of forthcoming dangers in verses 25 to 31.
And then we see the section close with his benediction and final exhortation. Captured in this, we have a great expression of the Apostle Paul's ministry, perhaps summed up in the statement that he was testifying to both Jews and Greeks the gospel of the grace of God. And that's what Christianity is all about, the worship of the triune God, the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ because of, among other things, the blessedness and the glorious nature of the gospel of the grace of God. So in looking at Paul's doctrinal legacy, we want to look at seven things, and we'll name those as we move along to introduce or to sort of govern our thoughts in a sense with regards to the Apostle Paul's doctrinal legacy.
This is Chrysostom Paul, more than any other had Christ speaking in him, and his mouth was the mouth of Christ. Paul's teachings are sufficient to give us a clear and exact knowledge of divine things. And so the
Sin and Total Depravity
first thing we want to look at with regards to the Apostle Paul's legacy is the comprehensive nature of sin and depravity. The Apostle Paul did not shy away of expressing what man's true plight is. Man's true plight is that he is dead in his trespasses and sins. Man is not simply sick, or man is not simply hindered and needs a little bit of a nudge of a small spark of grace, but rather the Apostle Paul sets forth before us the true nature of man as he is, dead in his trespasses and sins.
Augustine summarizes Paul, the teacher of the Gentiles, is like a spiritual physician who knew well the power of sin and the necessity of grace. He shows how the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, heals the wounds of our nature, and sets us free from the bondage of sin. So first, with regards to the comprehensive nature of sin and depravity, I want you to turn with me to the book of Romans. Paul highlights this in much of his writing, and one place in which it becomes very clear is Romans chapter 3, beginning at verse 9.
He's speaking with regards to Jew and Gentile here as he works towards the doctrine of justification by faith alone. He closes with the reality of the nature of sin and depravity and its gravity. So here we see the truth of Sin and depravity. Notice Romans 3, verse 9, and continuing, what then?
Are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands.
There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood.
Destruction and misery are in their ways in the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. says quite the indictment of the nature of man, of man in sin and depravity, the gravity of sin, the weightiness of sin, the severity of man in sin. And if anyone was to come to this passage and say, well, you know, the Apostle Paul here must be speaking of some other class of men. He must be sort of bringing into view the really wicked.
They're really sinful and focusing on them. Well, there's a universal Condemnatory statement that follows immediately after to answer and reject that idea notice at verse 19 now we know that whatever the law says it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may become a guilty before God. So the Apostle Paul renders the universal condemnation of both Jew and Greek, Jew and Gentile, all men, all women, every boy and girl, everyone under God's good sun and on God's green earth, those who are outside of Christ are marked by this severity of sin and depravity. And there is a particular gravity to it.
It's not just that men are dead in their trespasses and sins, that all men are marked by sin and iniquity, but there is a gravity that is brought to the fore in Paul's opening, really, of the book of Romans back in verse 18 of chapter 1, where he writes, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So again, it's not only that man is dead in sin and trespasses, but by virtue of that, he sits under the very wrath and the hotness of God's justice for being marked by ungodliness. unrighteousness and this caught the comprehensive nature of sin and depravity its Acknowledgement is used in the movement from sin to grace as we'll see in a number of moments the Apostle Paul doesn't just let the nature of man hang there and and that's it and But Paul's expression of the nature of man in sin and depravity is often used as the launching pad to then speak with respect to the very grace of God in the salvation of sinners. Notice in Ephesians chapter 2. In Ephesians 2, as we see the comprehensive nature of sin and depravity brought forth by Paul, but in the case, in this case we see it as that which leads in a movement from sin to grace.
In Ephesians 2, at verse 1, And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which ye once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit, who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, Just as the others and we won't look at it yet, but notice verse for the first two words But God as we move on to a particular point later in our discourse here this morning We'll see this blessed transition from the comprehensive nature of sin and depravity in man to the blessedness of amazing grace but let's move secondly then after we mark the nature the comprehensiveness of of man in sin and depravity. We want to notice,
Incarnation of the Divine Son
secondly, under Paul's doctrinal legacy, the incarnation of the divine Son of God. Because what is the answer to man in his depravity? What is the answer to man dead in sin? What is the answer to man's grave plight?
It's not that man would do better, that man would lift himself from out of his plight, but rather it is that one would come down from heaven to save those dead in their trespasses and sins. And the incarnation of the divine Son of God is central in the Apostle Paul's discourse and in his missionary engagements. John Owen writes, the Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians, he's specifically speaking of that epistle, provides a profound exposition of the mystery of the incarnation when he declares who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Here Paul sets forth the eternal pre-existence of the Son, his equality with the Father, and his voluntary condescension in assuming human nature.
The Incarnation is not merely the assumption of a human body, but the taking of the entire human nature into personal union with the Divine. This is the foundation of our salvation, for without the true and full humanity of Christ, joined inseparably to His deity, He could not be our mediator, nor could He offer a sacrifice of infinite value for our sins. That being the case, the Apostle Paul takes pen to paper and he spends a good amount of time exalting the Lord Jesus Christ in his incarnate mission. Very often, in fact, the Apostle Paul is not specifically arguing arguing the chief point of Christology or the doctrine of Christ, he's very often using the incarnation in order to exhort his hearers onto good things in this lower earth.
For example, with regards to the giving of money to help other churches, he writes to the Corinthians that the son of God, though he was rich, Nevertheless, he took on poverty for our sakes that we in our poverty might become rich. Our poverty, speaking with regards to our lowness in sin, our deadness in sin, the fact that we are marked by this comprehensive nature of sin and depravity. The Son of God took on not sin, but he took upon himself our nature that he might redeem us. And Paul spends much time there.
In fact, The Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 2 serves as the foundation for century upon century of Christian articulation. In Philippians chapter 2, remember in a similar manner to the verse we just noted, the Apostle Paul is exhorting his hearers unto unity. There was a problem of unity at the church in Philippi, and the source of that problem was pride, a lack of humility. And so he brings the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ to the fore in order to speak to these Philippians. in order to say, as Calvin says, since then the Son of God descended from so great a height, how unreasonable that we who are nothing should be lifted up with pride.
And Paul in Ephesians 2 uses the language of the one who is equal with God in the form of God took on the form of a bondservant coming in the likeness of men. And generation after generation, in defending our doctrine, the Christian doctrine of Christ, would use that form of God, form of a bondservant language, in order to argue for the full, I should say, the true divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and His true humanity. As John Owen says, the foundation of our salvation is that the Son of God took to Himself human nature into personal union with the divine. And the Apostle Paul, in many a place, speaks with regards to the truth of it, and he also speaks with regards to the glory of it.
So Christ did come in the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. But there is so much glory in that condescension. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh.
And as we are always to do with these sorts of things, we're to marvel in that. We're to praise God for that. We're to have our minds enraptured by the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Paul glories in it.
The apostles gloried in it. Christians throughout generations are to glory in it. And let's remind ourselves of how the fathers would speak with regards to the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, that God stooped down to assume humanity. They would say things like, the incomprehensible was held in a grasp.
The immutable took on the nature of changing humanity. The one who is pure spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable took on finitude, took on mutability. The impassable took on passability. The one who created the heavens and the earth took upon that which he himself created.
There is so much glory in the incarnation. Paul speaks to the truth of it, he speaks to the glory of it, and he speaks to the purpose of it. Remember the first verse that we sort of launched from in this study of the Apostle Paul's ministry and doctrine was in 1 Timothy, and you can turn there. What's the purpose of the incarnation?
Paul speaks of the truth of it, it took place. Paul glories in it, great is the mystery of godliness. And Paul speaks to the purpose of it. In 1 Timothy 1 at verse 15, this is a faithful saying. worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." What a blessed, concise statement of the purpose of the incarnation.
Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. That was the purpose of the incarnation. It was not to display himself, Christ, as a great teacher, though he was. It was not simply for the Son of God to act as a great prophet, though He was.
It was so that the Son of God, in taking on our nature, would redeem the sons of men, would save sinners. From their sins what a faithful saying it is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners The Apostle Paul uses that faithful statement because in the context he's engaged in his own autobiography Remember he was a blasphemer a persecutor and an insolent man But this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world sinners to save of whom I am chief. I Paul glories in the incarnation, in the truth of it, and displays for us the purpose of it that Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save. And remember the words of Calvin, because in the coming in of Christ to the world, the Son of God did not depart from heaven, coming down to a place where he previously was not, and departing a place where he previously was.
Christ being God fills the heavens and the earth just as he has from the beginning. As Calvin said, this is a marvelous thing, that the Son of God came down from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, he willed to be born in the Virgin's womb to go about the earth, to hang upon the cross, but he filled the heavens and the earth as he always had from the beginning. What a glorious doctrine we have. in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sovereignty of God in Salvation
Thirdly, the Apostle Paul speaks much of the sovereignty of the triune God in the perfection of salvation. the sovereignty of the triune God in the perfection of salvation. Remember, Paul is a Trinitarian. The Bible is a Trinitarian document. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the one God of the Holy Scriptures.
And Paul acknowledged the Trinity of God. For example, in places where he's simply ending letters and encouraging his hearers or the recipients of his letters, he ends 2nd Corinthians with that blessed language, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Paul was a Trinitarian.
And how did he speak of this God? How did he speak of our glorious God with regards to his sovereignty, generally speaking? You can turn to the book of Acts with me here and look at Acts 17, we noted it only briefly a number of Lord's Days ago with regards to Paul preaching at the Areopagus, preaching in Athens to those entrenched in man's philosophy. we see Paul declaring the unbounded glory of God in his unmitigated sovereignty. Notice, beginning at verse 24, God, who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life breath, and all things.
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring. The Apostle Paul declares to this audience, an audience of many of whom would have subscribed to notions of deity. First off, a polytheism, a many-god religion, but also an anthropomorphic religion where the gods are simply old men with beards or women bedecked with dresses who descend from mountains. and interact with the sons of men.
He declares to them the boundless majesty of God. He is Lord of heaven and earth. He does not dwell in temples made with hands. Echoes of that that Solomonic temple blessing where Solomon says that God is even above the heavens.
He doesn't dwell in houses made by men but rather he fills the heavens and the earth just as he always has. The Apostle Paul speaks further to the sovereignty of God in the book of Ephesians where he says blessedly in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11 in a in a very concise but strong statement the following language he wrote in verse 11 of Ephesians chapter 1 in him we also have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will Paul Paul would know the psalmist's language, our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases. Echoes of that are in the mind of the apostle Paul when he writes, the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. What is the answer to man dead in his trespasses and sins?
We've already noted that the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ affords that objective foundation for salvation. It is the sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners that answers the deadness of man in trespasses and sins. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases.
He has purposed and worked all things. according to the counsel of his own will, and the Apostle Paul glories in this. Similar to the Incarnation, not only is it true, the sovereignty of God, generally speaking, but Paul glories in this truth. In Romans chapter 11, we have a record of that glorying in the sovereignty of God. Near the end, Romans 11 after having opened up the sovereignty of God in the redemption of the elect we read at verse 33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him for of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever, amen.
You know, these pleadings by the apostles, by the writers of Holy Scripture with regards to God, to whom be glory forever and ever, those are pleadings to call us to lift our souls above this lower plane and find them contemplating the God of glory. The modern conception of God has fallen on tough times with regards to man's contemplation of God. Even within the Christian church, God has been brought down to one who is a strong and divine helper, just a little bit above men and angels. I think it was, I can't remember if it was Lorraine Botner or A.W.
Pink or something, but they said something like, in comparing the God of modern Christianity to the God of the Bible, they said it's like comparing the dim flickering of a candle to the brightness of the noonday sun. We need to get back to contemplations of God with respect to the brightness of the noonday sun. Our doctrine of God is not a flickering candle. It is the brightness of the noonday sun for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen. and the ultimate display of this sovereignty of the triune God in the salvation of sinners, we can read in Romans chapter 9. What is the display of it? The display comes to a head in verse 19. The demonstration of the sovereignty of God and the salvation of sinners.
What is the purpose? Verse 19 of Romans 9, you will say to me then, why does he still find fault? For who has resisted his will? But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?
Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy Which he had prepared beforehand for glory even us whom he called not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles what is What purpose does creation serve? What purpose does providence serve?
What purpose does time in its rolling serve? It serves the display of God's grace in the salvation of sinners by virtue of the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Creation, providence, time, space, these things serve to display the grace of God and even the visitation of the hotness of his divine justice is so that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had beforehand prepared for glory. Paul was a champion of the sovereignty of the triune God in the salvation of sinners.
And
Amazing Grace in Salvation
fourthly, The Apostle Paul was a champion of amazing grace in the salvation of sinners. We use that term and we know it mostly, of course, from John Newton's hymn, Amazing Grace. John Newton wasn't exaggerating when he was speaking of divine grace. God's grace really is amazing.
Why is it amazing? Well, because of the glory of the triune God, and also because of its powerful utility in bringing those dead in their trespasses and sins to life in Christ. So we want to know the truth of amazing grace. And for that, we can turn back to the book of Ephesians.
Remember, we said we'd look a little bit later beginning at verse 4 in verses 1 to 3 of Ephesians 2, we already noted the situation with man, his grave plight, that he is dead in trespasses and sins, but then we find the amazing grace of God opened up by the apostle Paul. The opening up of the sinfulness of man was that vehicle whereby he was to lead into, to move into the blessedness of amazing grace. Notice at verse four, but God, that beautiful transition, but God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
It's verses like this that ought to bring us to worship. You know, the act of preaching isn't worship set aside for a moment and just some guy up here at the pulpit opening his fallible mouth to a gathered audience. The act of preaching is an act of worship, and it's not about the preacher and the precision of words and what he says, necessarily. It's about the ascended Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, dwelling with his gathered people, and by the Spirit, communicating the glories of God and the glories of Jesus Christ.
We are brethren to know with certainty that Christ is with us. He walks amongst His lampstands, we read in the book of Revelation. The ascended Christ is with His people. He is the worship leader.
He is the one who, by His Spirit, cheers our hearts with the knowledge of God and with the knowledge of amazing grace. The Apostle Paul mounts, adjective upon adjective, word upon word, the riches of His grace, kindness towards us, God who is rich in mercy, His great love. What a blessed thing, knowing from where we came prior to amazing grace, dead in our trespasses and sins, not seeking God, seeking everything that is not God, seeking everything that God hates and God abominates. And yet now, because of his rich mercy, because of his loving kindness, because of his amazing grace, we can gather together a motley crew and together sing the glories of God, together pray to that God in one accord, together read from his revelation, and together engage in the act of preaching, the act of worship, the preaching of his word.
What a blessed thing we have in the amazing grace of God. The truth of it is displayed by the Apostle Paul, and the glory of it is written by the Apostle Paul. Notice in Ephesians 1 at 6, 7, 12, and 14. First, at verse 6, what is amazing grace about?
It's to the praise of the glory of His grace. Notice in verse 7, in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. In verse 12, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory, And then in verse 13, we have this language in him. You also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession note. to the praise of His glory.
We have the truth of amazing grace, which doesn't just stop in a contemplation of that amazing grace, but lifts us up to praise our glorious God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as Paul opens that up in Ephesians 1, 3 to 14. the blessedness of amazing grace, it is true and there is much glory to be found in it. And we would want to note as well the manner in which it is demonstrated.
Grace Through the Preached Word
How does amazing grace come to bear? Man is dead in his trespasses and sins. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God came down from heaven to redeem us. The sovereignty of God is interposed or the sovereignty of God comes and punctuates man's lower depravity in this lower earth and how is it then what is the vehicle what is the instrumentality where all of those things come to a confluence if you will and Bring forth man from the deadness of sin to life in Christ.
You can turn with me to Romans chapter 10 because It is by the word of truth that God in His sovereignty brings forth dead sinners to life in Christ. Notice in Romans chapter 10 at verse 11. For the Scripture says, whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. The amazing grace of God attends the preaching of the Word of God, in some instances the reading of the Word of God, but nevertheless, under normative circumstances, under the ministry of the Church, within the context of the gathered Church, The ascended Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, meets the proclaimed word, meets the red word, and sinners are saved by that amazing grace. What a blessed thing that we have word and grace meeting sinners, bringing them forth from the deadness of sin to life in our blessed Savior.
Justification by Faith Alone
Fifthly, we have the fact that the Apostle Paul emphasizes justification by faith alone. One of those, of course, cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. The blessed doctrine of justification by faith alone. Spurgeon says, take away the doctrine of justification by faith and you have taken away the foundation. of Christianity.
You may as well attempt to pull the sun from the sky as try to remove this glorious cornerstone from the fabric of the gospel. The Apostle Paul knew this. The Apostle Paul preached this, and the Apostle Paul wrote Page after page spilled much ink, spilled much sweat and blood over the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Where do we see the truth of it?
We could turn to a number of places, but let's turn to Galatians 2. one of those addresses of Holy Scripture that speak to the absolute clarity of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, that we are not justified by deeds of righteousness which we have done, whether in part or in whole, but justified solely and alone by the act of impassive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, His perfect saving work. Notice in Galatians 2, and the Apostle Paul here in Galatians 2 could not be any clearer One clear statement should suffice, but we're so sinful that we need reminder. And very often in the span of two seconds, in the span of one verse, we need reminder in order to drive home divine truth. Notice in Galatians 2 at verse 16, three times he makes this clarity in positive and negative statements. 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, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." So here we have the truth, of justification by faith alone.
And it's inescapable for the papist. It's inescapable for those who would like to smuggle in human works as some particular measure or part which gives us justification from God on high. To smuggle in even the smallest work or the smallest human deed or merit is to destroy Christianity, and it is to cast into the mud of heresy the doctrine of justification and the glory of our God. Notice again, Paul, we don't have to read the verse again, but reading it on your own, on your own time, Paul, in a threefold strong emphasis, with positive and negative statement, not by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, emphasizes justification by faith alone. he also then speaks to the importance of it.
Not only do we have the truth that man is justified solely and alone by the perfect work of Jesus Christ, and when we say justified by faith, We don't mean that our act of faith justifies us. The act of believing isn't that which justifies us before God. Faith is the instrument that lays hold of that which truly does justify us, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. As our brother prayed this morning, or as our brother spoke this morning, I can't remember if it was in the comments on scripture or in prayer, but either way, it was a great statement.
We have an alien righteousness. It doesn't mean UFOs and little green men. That means from outside of ourselves, something external to ourselves. That alien righteousness means it's not ours, but it is another's.
And that other is Jesus Christ, the Savior. We cannot redeem ourselves, we cannot atone for our own sins, we cannot justify ourselves, but much rather it is Jesus Christ who saves us, Jesus Christ who justifies us by his active obedience unto the whole law and his passive obedience in his death. And as we engage in that perusal of the diary of our memories of sin, to steal Spurgeon's language, aren't we then led to glory in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that we, at every second, at every jot, at every tittle, failed in any sort of act of obedience unto the law. Even if we could engage in any measure of obedience for a time, we would always stumble, we would always fall, we would always trip by virtue of our sinfulness in seeking to do the will of God.
So not only did we violate the law of God, not only did we not actively obey the law of God, but we rightly deserve the punishment due to the transgression of God's law. Because of our sin, we rightly deserve divine punishment for transgressing the law of God. We're sinners. But Christ comes, and he was actively obedient unto the whole law, and not just that, generally speaking, but in our place.
We failed, Adam failed, we in Adam failed, and from that vantage point of original sin does flow our own wickedness. We sinned against God, yet Christ comes and he is actively obedient unto the whole law in our place. And not only that, but he dies upon Calvary's cross in order to remove the curse in order to bear the wrath and bear the curse of God for our violation of His law. What a blessed gospel that we have.
As we reflect upon ourselves, we then quickly fly to the redeeming King, Jesus Christ, who justifies us by faith alone and by virtue of the perfection of his own work. Notice, so we have the truth of justification by faith alone.
Importance and Gravity of Justification
We also have the grave importance, the blessed importance, but also the gravity if it's rejected. Notice at verse 21 of Galatians 2, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. The importance of justification by faith lands in this very strong verse. If holy, for sure, but even if in a small measure we say that we somehow gain our own justification, the Apostle Paul comes quickly and says, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
Christ came to save us. We cannot and could not save ourselves. Praise God for the blessedness of salvation in Jesus Christ. And there is so much utility for the doctrine of justification in our Christian walk.
There is so much of a usefulness as we reflect upon the doctrine of justification by faith alone. what ought it to bring to the Christian soul, but peace with God. That's what the apostle Paul writes. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the Christian preacher is not to feed the flock with the tainted food of presumption and doubt. but to speak to a gathered flock with confidence that Jesus Christ did come into this world, sinners to save.
And you can have assurance, you can have blessed assurance, not by looking at yourself, but by looking at the Lord Jesus Christ and resting upon the perfection of his work and the glory of his salvation.
Sanctification in Union with Christ
Sixthly, as we move towards a close, we'll Notice that Paul also, having preached justification by faith alone, that we're saved solely and alone by virtue of the perfect work of Christ, he speaks of sanctification in union with Christ. So we are justified that legal declaration by God that we are not guilty or not condemned, but rather justified because of the work of Christ. And then sanctification ensues. We grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Owen. would say, the work of God's grace, sanctification is, the work of God's grace by which believers being united to Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit are progressively renewed in the whole man after the image of God. The whole man was marred by sin. The whole man, our body and soul, all the faculties of body and soul were affected in sin, by sin and total depravity. Sanctification comes after our effectual call, that blessed declaration justified.
Then we have this growth in grace and the fact that the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, as our confession says, and the several lusts thereof. more and more weakened. The Apostle Paul speaks to this. You don't have to turn there, but in Ephesians one very briefly, he writes this at the beginning of this doxology, long doxology. He writes, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
That includes that blessed package, golden chain of redemption, one of those things of which is our sanctification. Verse 4, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. We're not holy and without blame before Him, Then we merit salvation because of that or that's not the ground of our salvation But notice again the language He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him by the Spirit Paul would say the sinner is brought towards that progressive renewal after the image of God, the truth of sanctification and the source of it. Our sanctification, we are not the source of our own sanctification.
We don't sanctify ourselves. The doing of good works is an evidence of sanctification, but that isn't somehow how we sanctify ourselves. Who sanctifies us? It is God.
Sanctify them by thy truth, Thy word is truth. The power in sanctification is not the one sanctified, but the God who sanctifies. And it is unfinished, this side of glory. The Apostle Paul speaks to the nature of sanctification in Romans 6, where he talks about the fact that we're united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
We're noting not just sanctification by Christ, but sanctification in union with him. We as Christians are united to Christ. We are in him, in Christ, as the Apostle Paul would repeat so many times. And in Christ, we grow in the grace and knowledge of Him, and it's unfinished in this lower world.
Paul would write, the Spirit lusts against the flesh, and the flesh lusts against the Spirit. They're contrary to one another, but the Spirit wins, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the ascended Christ forms us after His own image. And
A Simple and Glorious Eschatology
we want to close with the doctrinal legacy of the Apostle Paul with this. The Apostle Paul taught a simple and a glorious eschatology. Remember that eschatology means the doctrine of last things. There's a cosmic eschatology, what happens in the end to the cosmos, the universe, and a personal or human eschatology, what happens with man in the end.
And in our modern church, You know, eschatology has become a thing where, you know, massive charts and chronologies are multiplied where, you know, the eschatology contains helicopters and F-22s and nuclear bombs and all that sort of madness. Paul's eschatology, Paul would say that there are no helicopters and F-22s and nuclear bombs in the Bible, that the eschatology of our blessed God is very simple. Spurgeon would say something like this, the light of divine truth is obscured by the fog of human invention. These modern day gross elaborations on what they think the Bible says about the last times.
The simplicity of scripture is not to be adorned with the gaudy decorations of human imagination. Turn with me in closing to 1 Corinthians 15. Here we see Paul. writing concerning a simple and a glorious eschatology. Notice in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 20, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, but each one in his own order. First Christ, the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ's, it is coming. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. for he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. Now, when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all. And now verse 50.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in the moment, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
What is Paul's simple eschatology? It's that Christ will come again with great glory and bring his people home. The next blessed event is the bringing home of the sons of God redeemed by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the casting into everlasting fire those who believe not the gospel and reject the God of Holy Scripture. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote this with regards to the simple and glorious eschatology.
Cyril was essentially the Spurgeon of the fourth century. Some might say Chris Austin, but they can have a battle. But someone will say, how are the dead raised? Oh, what a thing to be astonished at.
A seed, a little grain of wheat, is cast into the earth. It lies dead, dry, without form. And who would expect it to live again? But the power of God, through the rain and the warmth of the sun, raises it up, and it becomes a root, and ears of corn are formed.
Therefore, if a little seed of grain has such power, shall not the human body, which once had life, be raised again by God's power? This dead and mortal shall put on immortality, and this mortal shall be clad within corruption. And so that which is written shall come to pass, death is swallowed up in victory. Amen.
Application
What a wonderful legacy that the Apostle Paul has left us. And we would want to say, what a blessed legacy that God, through the inspiration of the human author Paul, has left us with. The glory of Jesus Christ. If we could sum it all up with Paul's words, we could say, God forbid that I should boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and eye to the world.
And Paul would want us to close with an exhortation. I believe he would. To the saints, that you would be built up in the knowledge of God and his Christ. To Christians, to saints, that you would be lifted up in the knowledge of his gospel and the knowledge of amazing and glorious grace.
That you were once lost but are now found. That you were once blind but now see. And for sinners here this morning, for those outside of Christ, in unbelief, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Yes, dead in trespasses and sins, but God has the power, the amazing and glorious power, to, by His amazing and victorious grace, lift you up from the deadness of sin to behold the glory of Christ.
Believe on him and you shall be saved. And you will know this blessed eschatology. Death is swallowed up in victory. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time in your word. We rejoice in your goodness to us. We thank you for the fact that we can gather in freedom to worship the one and only living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we pray that you would help us as we go now to continue in keeping the Lord's day, that you would impress upon us the joy of being found in Christ, not having our own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that righteousness that comes from God.
And we pray that you would help us to reflect with Great reflection upon the doing and the dying and the rising again of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfection of his work for the salvation of sinners. Do be with us and might you be glorified in all things. We pray in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well, our closing hymn this morning for a doxology will be the doxology. You can turn to 568 if you don't know the hymn and we'll stand as a church and sing together. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise him, all God, here below ♪ The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Amen. Well, we'll have a brief time of prayer. You can sit. A brief time of prayer and meditation when the piano's finished.
You're dismissed.