← Back to sermon library

Good evening to everybody. You 
can turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Galatians as we 
continue, get back to an exposition of the book, the study as we 
move through this strong epistle of the Apostle Paul to the churches 
of Southern Galatia. Last time we had a bit of an 
excursus in the doctrine of justification by faith alone because that doctrine 
central to the book of Galatians, of course, central to Christianity 
itself and the Apostle Paul is going had gone through many pains 
in his ministry to defend the true and saving gospel of Jesus 
Christ, and here is opposing those who were seeking to steal 
those away from the proper presentation, representation, an expression 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course, those who are Christ's 
can never fall away, but he is writing against those who were 
perverting the gospel of saving and victorious grace. And we're 
in the midst of, and perhaps this will be one of the last 
Sundays that you hear the term, autobiographical defense of the 
doctrine of justification by faith alone. But that's the section 
that we're in now, that Paul is writing about himself, autobiographical, 
writing about himself as a defense for the proper doctrine of justification. And so let's read, picking up 
in the section as it pertains to him withstanding Peter to 
his face. This is Galatians 2 at verse 
11, and we'll read to the end of the chapter. Galatians 2, 
beginning at verse 11. Now, when Peter had come to Antioch, 
I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed. 
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. 
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 Jews, why 
do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 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. for by the 
works of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if, while we 
seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, 
is Christ therefore a minister of sin? 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. 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. I do not set aside the grace 
of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. Amen. Well, let's go to God in 
prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. in worship, 
the preaching of your word. We pray for your spirit, that 
the spirit would help both preacher and hearer in this act, that 
we might glorify you, that we might engage with your truth, 
that you might be with us, that the Son of God might be walking 
amongst this, his lampstand. We pray for that communion with 
our God. our communion with our precious 
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we do pray that in this act 
of worship, we would be honoring you, that we would be praising 
you, that you would receive all glory, that your people here, 
Lord God, would be edified by your word and spirit. And Lord 
God, that sinners would be saved by this same word and that same 
powerful spirit. And we pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Savior. Amen. Well, this is still this 
section that we're going to look at tonight, verses 17 to 21 of 
chapter 2. This is still the rehearsal, 
Paul's rehearsal, of him withstanding Peter to his face. And the quotation 
is continuing. Remember, we've noted that The 
quote doesn't stop here. If you, being a Jew, in verse 
14, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as Jews, why do you compel 
Gentiles to live as Jews? End quote. That's not where the 
quote ends. It continues all the way through 
to the end of chapter 2. And that brings us to the end 
of this autobiographical defense of the doctrine of justification 
by faith alone. So Paul had just given, in verse 
16, this glorious five-fold repetition of the truth of justification 
by faith alone. Again, with negative statements, 
not by the works of the law, and with positive statements, 
but by faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified before a righteous 
and a holy God. And now we get into a section 
that is glorious, and I must confess the first verse, verse 
17, is a little bit more difficult than the others, because there 
are a number of approaches to what Paul is meaning or getting 
at here. All acceptable, but I think one 
fits the context the best. And so the first thing we're 
going to look at then is the accusation refuted. in chapter 
2, verse 17. Notice the text. But if, while 
we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, 
is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not. Is this, 
perhaps, the Apostle Paul doing similar to what he does in Romans 
6? Remember there's these statements 
that the Apostle Paul makes in the book of Romans. What shall 
we say then, for example, in chapter 6? Shall we continue 
in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. He uses that same 
convention here. He is dealing with a possible, 
or more likely, an actual objection, and he is then going to refute 
it. So he states a particular objection, or what, in this case, 
Christians may be accused of, and then he says, certainly not, 
and then he answers that particular refutation, or girds up the refutation 
with a proper theological answer. So in verse 17 then, what is 
the accusation or what is perhaps the false charge on the part 
of the Judaizers against the Christians and the Gentile Christians, 
we could say, or those Jews who had taken upon themselves the 
proper view of justification by faith alone, by virtue of 
being born again. So the objection is, but if, 
while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also 
found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? So is this 
the same thing as, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 
Certainly not. How can we who died to sin live 
any longer in it? It could be I mean that's an 
acceptable reading of the text But I don't believe based on 
the context that that is what Paul is getting at notice the 
language in verses 14 and 15 With regards to Jews and Gentiles 
and the use of the word sinners In verse 14 we read but when 
I saw that they I Peter, others, the rest of the Jews, even Barnabas. 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, and this is important, 
live in the manner of Gentiles and not as Jews, why do you compel 
Gentiles to live as Jews? So Peter is living in the manner 
of Gentiles. And what do we see that that 
is or what language was applied to Gentiles? We who are Jews 
by nature, verse 15, and not sinners of the Gentiles. And 
so when we get to verse 17, after Paul had already said that even 
we, in verse 16, even we, that is, Jews, have believed in Christ 
Jesus that we might be justified by faith, He deals with a particular 
objection. While we seek to be justified 
by Christ, that is, Jews, we ourselves are also found sinners, 
that is, sinners like the Gentiles, that is, those who are not being 
obedient to because they don't have to be in Christ, those who 
are outside of the Mosaic institutions, those who are not or who have 
forsaked the ceremonies as being obligatory because Christ has 
come to fulfill them. So the charge comes against these 
Jews who are believing in justification by grace alone, through faith 
alone in Christ alone, Jewish Christians, are they found sinners 
then because they have forsake the law, the ceremonial law, 
the old covenant is that which commends us savingly to God. And if so, is Christ therefore 
a minister of sin? The refutation comes with that 
Pauline phrase, certainly not. It's not the case, why? Because 
that ceremonial law, those Mosaic institutions, were fulfilled 
by Christ. They were abrogated by Christ. 
They were given for a time, and they were now fulfilled in Christ, 
and therefore it certainly is not sin to forsake those things 
as something not now to be observed, because the Christ has come. 
So if we seek to be justified by Christ, are we found sinners? Certainly not. Is Christ a minister 
of sin? Certainly not, because he came 
to put an end to that as the champion of the new covenant. 
Gil reads this way, we are reckoned sinners by you, Judaizing Christians, 
for leaving the law and going to Christ for righteousness. 
And if so, Christ must be the minister of sin, for he has directed 
us and taught us to do so. But God forbid that any such 
thing should be said of him. He rightly instructs, he rightly 
teaches that he is the fulfillment of the law. His apostles teach 
that he is the one. The substance has come. What 
further need was there of the shadow? The true has come. What 
further need was there of the copy? The one signified has come. What further need was there now 
of the signal? The glorious reality is that 
it's Christ who makes us clean, not the ceremonial law. One man 
has put it this way, the law does not make us clean, it reveals 
the fact that we are dirty. The law does not, the law, the 
mosaic institutions of the old covenant do not justify us. They display, they show us the 
need that we require an alien righteousness, one outside of 
ourselves to justify us who is the Christ, the son of God who 
assumed our humanity for our redemption and for our recovery. 
Secondly, from verse 18, we want to look at then this, the true 
transgressor. So after giving this refuting 
statement, certainly not, these false charges are not accurate. 
There is a theological answer, a reflective theological answer 
given by the Apostle Paul that girds up and gives weight to 
the refutation, the true transgressor. Notice, for if I, Paul, build 
again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. So who is the true sinner? Who 
is the true transgressor? It's the one who imposes upon 
themselves or others the old covenant mosaic institutions 
and the ceremonial law in order to be justified before God. And 
by extension, a great question was asked by our brother and 
a great discussion ensued yesterday in the theology study, because 
our minds really don't go to circumcision as an issue in our 
modern day. Our minds don't immediately go 
to the imposition of mosaic ceremonies on the minds and hearts and souls 
of Christians in order to be justified, because we really 
don't face that in our modern context. But I don't want to 
say rest assured because that means we're resting in this truth. 
But beware of the fact that the spirit of this sort of Judaizing 
does continue in legalistic Christianity, in strong fundamentalism. in 
a multitude of ways that ministers of the gospel, or Christians 
so-called, can impose upon souls weights and burdens and yokes 
that no one can bear, and that defy the very gospel of saving 
and amazing grace. And so this is certainly applicable 
for us. But notice again this language, 
who is the true transgressor then? For if I build again those 
things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. Let's turn to the Bible to a 
few passages just to see what Paul is talking about here. You 
can turn with me to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 6. It's not 
the one who has forsaken the law as a covenant of works whereby 
to be justified or condemned. It's not the one who has set 
aside or who has forsaken the ceremonial law because it's been 
fulfilled in Christ, but it's rather the one who imposes and 
goes back to those things that is the sinner or the transgressor. 
Notice in Hebrews 6, beginning at verse 1, This is very similar 
to Paul's statement here. If I build again those things 
which I tried to destroy, that is, obligation to the ceremonial 
law in order to be justified, I make myself a transgressor. 
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles 
of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation 
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, the 
doctrine of baptisms of laying on of hands of resurrection of 
the dead and of eternal judgment and this we will do if God permits 
for it is impossible for those who have once and who were once 
enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift of and have become 
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word 
of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, 
to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for 
themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame." We 
need to make sure we understand this passage, because it is not 
teaching, Paul is not teaching that this is a Christian who 
has been saved, and then they can, by sinning, somehow lose 
their salvation. The evidence for that is the 
Bible, but also the context, verse 6. But beloved, we are 
confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany 
salvation. But let's get back to the point 
here. This falling away in verse 6 
is not a Christian stumbling in sin and then somehow being 
just absolutely cast off by God. This falling away is building 
again those things which I once destroyed. It is taking upon 
ourselves or imposing upon others, again, the weight of the Mosaic 
institutions in order to be commended salvificly to God. And so that 
is what this passage is teaching, the same passage or the same 
truth, the same instruction that Paul gives in Galatians 2.17. You can turn a bit forward in 
the book to Hebrews 9. Notice in Hebrews 9 at verse 
6, Now, when these things had been thus prepared, the priests 
always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing 
the services. But into the second part, the 
high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered 
for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. 
The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest 
of all, was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was 
still standing. It was symbolic for the present 
time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which 
cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard 
to conscience. Concerned only with foods and 
drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances, notice all 
of that to arrive at this phrase, imposed until the time of reformation. So the one who imposes again 
these ceremonies, these washings, these sacrifices, the one who 
imposes all of these things that Christ was the fulfillment of 
is the transgressor. But not only that, the one who 
imposes these things upon the consciences of Christian men 
and women and boys and girls as ways by which we can be saved, 
that Christ is not enough. but you need to engage in those 
old things, those earthly things, those physical and temporary 
and typical things in order to be saved before God. It is that one who transgresses 
and not the Christian who rests solely and alone upon Christ 
for his salvation. Gill gives this sort of description 
or summary of that particular reality. Notice the words of 
the Baptist here. These were only imposed, that 
is, the ceremonies of Moses that the Judaizers are trying to impose 
again. These were only imposed on them 
until the time of Reformation. Again, not the 16th century Reformation, 
but the first advent of Christ. where he comes to fulfill all 
things. They were enjoined the Jews only, though by God himself, 
and were put upon them as a burden or a yoke, and which was on some 
accounts intolerable, but were not to continue any longer than 
the time of the gospel, here called the time of reformation 
or of correction, and amendation, in which things that were faulty 
and deficient are amended and perfected, and in which the burdensome 
rites and ceremonies are removed, and better ordinances introduced, 
or rather of direction in which saints are directed to Christ, 
the sum and substance of all types, shadows and sacrifices, 
and in whom alone perfection is. The argument is, is the one 
is truly a sinner or a transgressor that says Christ's work, his 
perfect obedience unto the whole law in our stead, his passive 
obedience in his death wherein he bears the curse for all who 
believe in his name, that that somehow is imperfect and we need 
to add to it these burdensome rites and these ceremonies. They 
are not to be removed, but much rather added and imposed upon 
the souls of men. Paul says, certainly not. The 
one who believes in Christ alone for his justification is not 
the sinner. It is those Judaizers imposing 
the madness of their heresy. Going back to the book of Galatians, 
we see this in our own book. Notice in Galatians 3, if you 
turn back there, we see this reality in our own particular 
epistle that is before us. Notice in Galatians 3 at verse 
23. Well, first of all, at verse 
19, notice Galatians 3, 19. What purpose then does the law 
serve? It was added because of transgressions 
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and 
it was appointed through angels by the hand of the mediator. 
There was a purpose to the old covenant, here referred to as 
the law. There was a purpose to the Mosaic 
era, the Mosaic epoch. It was added because of transgressions 
till a particular point, the time of reformation, till the 
seed should come to whom the promise was made. And so now 
that the seed has come, now that the Christ has come now that 
the substance of the shadow the true of the copy the signaled 
of the sign has come there is no longer any need for these 
things notice as well 323 but before Faith came we were kept 
under guard by the law Kept for the faith, which would afterward 
be revealed Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to 
Christ that we might be justified by faith But after faith has 
come we are no longer under a Tudor. Why bring us back to the Tudor? 
Why impose again upon us the Tudor? The Christ has come. And remember Paul's reason in 
Galatians 4 for articulating the blessed reality of the Incarnation. Why does he say, when the fullness 
of the times had come, God sent forth his Son? Born of a woman, 
born under the law to redeem those who are under the law? 
Well, it's because of what precedes it. Notice in Galatians 4 at 
verse 1. Now I say that the heir, as long 
as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he 
is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until 
the time appointed by the father. Even so, we, when we were children, 
were in bondage under the elements of the world. So there's this 
law given as a tutor, this law given as a preparatory master 
until the time appointed by the Father. We're not to go back 
to bondage. That's Paul's point in Galatians 
5.1. Stand fast, therefore, in the 
liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled 
again. in a yoke of bondage. And so 
the Apostle Paul, getting back to 2.18, rightly answers and 
gives this reasoning for the certainly not refutation. If 
Paul builds again those things which he destroyed, obligation 
to Mosaic institutions, I make myself a transgressor. And now 
notice the death that brought life in verse 19. This fore-language 
is continuing the argument, giving purpose and reason and breadth 
and width and height to the argument. For I, through the law, died 
to the law that I might live to God. The law exposed Paul's 
sin and drove him to despair of legal righteousness, as the 
old guys would say. Turn to Romans 7 with me. This 
death to the law and life to God is to come as a spiritual 
sword to the hearts, to the matter, to the weight of the argument 
of these Judaizers, and to impress upon the minds of these Galatians 
being bewitched. that it is in Christ alone that 
salvation reigns. Notice in Romans 7, this language 
of Paul dying to sin and living unto God. In Romans 7, this is 
Paul speaking as a believer. Romans 7 at verse 4, 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, that we should bear fruit to God. 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. The Apostle Paul here 
speaks of his deadness to the law and his life to God. He was, as we'll see here, crucified 
with Christ, and as he writes in Romans, he's buried and raised 
with Christ. What a blessing it is to be found 
in union with the Savior. The marrow of the gospel, as 
John Murray called it, our mystical union with our head our Savior, 
our prophet, priest, and King Christ. To be in union with Him? As we'll see here in a moment, 
it was good timing with Pastor Butler reading to the end of 
the high priestly prayer this morning. What are those blessed 
words that the high priestly prayer closes with? It closes 
with Christ saying, and I in them. Paul's gonna say here that 
Christ lives in me. This union that we have with 
Christ. Our savior, the son of God, the 
maker of all things, the upholder of all things, the redeemer of 
his elect, in time took upon himself our nature for our redemption 
and recovery such that we would be in union with him and that 
he would dwell with us. What a blessing that we have 
in salvation through Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law, 
but by faith in the one who is our whole and sole righteousness. So the death that brought life, 
Christ, or rather Paul, is dead to the law, but he lives to God. And that brings us to the union 
that defines Christian life, this blessed verse 20. Notice 
the union that defines our Christian life. Paul goes on. The weight, 
these propositions, these glories, these truths, mount one upon 
another to this theological crescendo that comes in verse 21. But before we get there, notice 
Verse 20, 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. For the sake of time and for 
the sake of honing in on a particular clause in this verse, I want 
to simply look at this latter phrase, who loved me and gave 
himself for me. But very briefly, we have, Paul 
has, been crucified with Christ. This union with Christ in his 
death, burial, and resurrection. Christians are united with him. 
I have been crucified with Christ. Paul is dead to the law, but 
alive in Christ. The handwriting, the requirements, 
all of these things that were against him were nailed to the 
cross. He lives to God. It is no longer I who live, that 
one who was a persecutor, a blasphemer, and an insolent man. But now 
as a redeemed Christian Christ lives in him and the life which 
he lives now he lives By faith in the Son of God and then we 
have this glorious phrase who loved me and gave himself for 
me This isn't only for the Apostle Paul. This is for all of us who 
believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior He loved us and gave 
himself for us. What a monumental phrase that 
is something that should launch a thousand sermonic ships. He 
loved us and gave himself for us. You know, if we think about 
the Psalm 23 for a moment, you know, David could have written, 
the Lord is the shepherd and his people shall not want. But 
he wrote, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. This personal 
appropriation of our God, this personal appropriation of the 
salvation wrought by Jesus Christ. Thomas could have said, the Lord 
and the God, but he said, my Lord and my God. As Christians 
here tonight, we can say, Paul could have written the one who 
loved his people and gave himself for his people. But Paul knows 
that personal connection, that personal reality, the glorious 
truth that yes, Christ came to save the church, but that that 
church is constituted by those whom he loved, individuals whom 
he loved before the foundation of the world, and individuals 
for whom he lived and gave his life in time and in history. 
What a blessed thing that we have in this proper use of pronouns, 
the first person plural or the first person singular. He loved 
me and gave himself for me. He loved us and gave himself 
for us. And one of the things that we 
ought to gain from this is the fact that we were not resting 
upon anything else other than Christ. And specifically, if 
we want to focus on the point of our perseverance in the faith, 
and our assurance as Christians. Our confession in chapter 17 
and paragraph two says that our perseverance, our perseverance 
in the faith does not depend upon our own free will, but upon 
the immutability of the decree of election flowing from the 
free and unchangeable love of God the Father and upon the merit 
and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him. Paul would 
want these Galatian Christians to know that these Judaizers 
are trampling upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Your security, your perseverance, and your assurance does not rest 
upon your circumcision, does not rest upon your law's obedience, 
does not rest upon anything other than the Son of God who loved 
you and who gave himself for you. What a blessed thing that 
we have in this definition of the Christian life, the life 
that we now live in the flesh. We live by faith in the son of 
God who loved us and who gave himself for us. And then lastly 
and finally, we see here the gospel undone. Of course, the gospel cannot 
be undone. But the implication of this Judaizing 
heresy, the implications of these being bewitched, or those who 
were seeking to bewitch, the impact, the influence, the reality, 
the implication is that the cross of Christ is rendered as vanity. 
Notice in verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God, for 
if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in 
vain. These closing words to Peter 
no doubt would have cut to the heart, just as those gazing eyes 
of the Savior gazed upon Peter as he denied him three times. I do not set aside the grace 
of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. This is that theological crescendo. This is a building up by the 
Apostle Paul to this point, to finally drive that final nail 
into the coffin of works righteousness, of Judaizing heresy. It is to 
render the cross of Christ as empty, as vain, as nothing, to 
impose upon the souls of men not just salvation exclusively 
by works, not just salvation or justification 50% by works, 
not just a little bit of us, but a lot of Christ, but rather 
any measure of works imposed in the economy of salvation is 
to render the incarnation, the perfect life, the glorious death, 
and the victorious resurrection as vanity and empty and nothing. You see the weight and the implication 
of a legalism, of a moralism, of anything other than the blessed 
and soul truth that in Jesus Christ we have the perfection 
of salvation. That from first to last, midst 
and throughout, it is a triune God who saves without a helper 
through the perfection and efficacy of a Savior who perfects the 
law, who brings an end to these types and shadows and signals, 
and who brings in everlasting righteousness. To return to the 
law as a means of righteousness is to nullify the grace of God. This renders Christ's death purposeless. Imagine just the weight of this. Paul has already said, the weight 
of it It mounts and it builds on top of one another. He has 
already said, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from 
him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, 
which is not another. He's already pronounced these 
anathemas that anyone who preaches any other gospel than by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, let him be accursed. He's already written at length 
this autobiographical defense of the doctrine of justification 
by faith alone. He will say, and we'll look at 
this next time, oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? And all 
of that is weighty, and all of that is significant, and all 
of it supports and builds up the biggest hammer, the largest 
hammer, which is this, if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. Imagine, when we just think about 
the Incarnation for a moment, and the marvel that it is, that 
the lawgiver takes upon himself the form of law breakers so that 
as a law keeper and the law's curse bearer, he might bring 
many law breakers to glory. But you're going to add to the 
glory of that work, you Judaizers? You foolish Galatians are going 
to be bewitched by the notion that anyone can add to the glory 
of the law giver's work, becoming the law keeper to save law breakers? The one who is the very covenant 
giver takes on the form of a servant in order to bring covenant breakers 
to glory by keeping the covenant. As the old boys would say, the 
one who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable takes on finitude. takes on changeableness in the 
assumption of humanity without casting off that which he was, 
he took to himself, that which he was not. In the words of Calvin, 
this is a wondrous thing. He came down from heaven, the 
Son of God came down from heaven in such a way that without leaving 
heaven, he willed to be born of a virgin, to go about the 
earth, and to hang upon the cross, yet he fills the heavens and 
the earth as he always had. From the beginning. Oh, but you 
Galatians are going to be stolen away by the notion that we can 
add to that glory by the cutting off of Four skins and the obedience 
to Jewish calendars in our own day. You guys are going to be 
not you guys Christians You're gonna entertain any movement, 
any notion, any tradition that adds to the glorious gospel of 
Jesus Christ, man's work, man's doing, man's deeds in an economy 
of salvation. It is to render the Christ of 
glory and his glorious cross as vanity. Praise God that by 
God's grace, we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, not in 
ourselves, not in our own deeds of righteousness, but we believe 
in the one who himself is our pardon, who himself is our righteousness, 
the only one who can bring us to that bliss of Emmanuel's land 
where we will Sing with the holy angels. Holy, holy, holy is the 
Lord of hosts. The whole earth, the whole world, 
the whole cosmos is filled with His glory. What a thing we have 
in Christ. And this is why, as we noted 
last Lord's Day evening, as Pastor Butler noted this morning, this 
is why we preach the gospel and preach it often, why we preach 
it every Lord's Day. Not only because people can be 
forgetful, but there are those who are ravenous wolves who are 
coming into the flock and seeking to eat and devour the sheep. 
We need to gird ourselves up in the glory of a gospel of exclusivity, 
that it is Christ alone who saves, that the blessed one who came 
down from on high is the one who saves his people from their 
sins. We'll look as we continue because 
Paul's argument doesn't end there. This brings an end to the autobiographical 
defense of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, but his argument 
mounts and continues as he opposes this most grievous error. If 
you're here tonight and you're a saint in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
once again, what a blessed thing to rest upon him. to have our 
perseverance and our assurance resting not upon the filthiness 
of our remaining corruption and our trying to, you know, if we 
come out on top of this battle against the flesh, as if it's 
us raging against the flesh or fighting against our flesh, it's 
the spirit who wages war upon the flesh and the spirit is victorious. It's not our fighting, it's not 
our wrestling, but rather it's the saving perfection of Jesus 
Christ with the blessed, victorious, and amazing grace of God behind 
the scenes. Imagine the madness of saying 
that to the blessed cross, which is the very crux of history. 
You know that creation itself, serves the redemptive purpose 
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why did God create the 
world? Think of the beginning of the 
creation. Think of the upholding of all creation. Why is the divine 
power exercised in creation and in the upholding of it? It's 
so that in due time, in the fullness of the times, Christ would come 
forth, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those 
who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as 
sons. And so the madness of stealing 
anything away from that glory. your hope, your salvation, your 
joy, and your happiness. is in the Christ who saves and 
who saves gloriously. Continue believing and resting 
upon him, saint. And if you're a sinner tonight, 
we're all sinners. Some of us save by grace alone, 
through faith alone in Christ alone. But if you're here tonight 
and you stand outside of this savior, not in union with him, 
not justified, but rather condemned, know that your only hope is not 
in yourself, Your hope is not in Christ plus yourself. Your 
hope is solely alone in Jesus Christ, the son of God, the creator 
of all who took upon himself his creation that he might redeem 
guilty sinners. Believe on him and you have the 
blessing of everlasting life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for your word of truth. We rejoice in your goodness 
to us in disclosing your will for us and the glories of Jesus 
Christ to us. We pray that you would help us 
to always return to the cross, to always and often return to 
that place where you began with us and where we began with you, 
that blessed place of salvation by Jesus Christ, our Savior. 
We rejoice in the perfection of His redemption, and we pray 
that you would help us to go forth into this week, resting 
upon Christ solely and alone. We pray that you would help us 
to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, 
and that we would have many occasions to share the blessings of the 
gospel with those whom we come into contact with. Do go with 
us, might you continue to be glorified as we sing a doxology 
and as we engage in a time of prayer. Might you receive all 
honor and glory in this place and we pray in Christ's name, 
amen. Well, you can stand with me and 
sing the doxology 568. 568, let's stand and sing together. is Jesus from the dead, that great 
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting 
covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, 
working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, 
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Well, please be seated. We'll have a brief time of prayer. 
When the piano's finished, you're dismissed.