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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Galatians chapter five. We continue in Paul's letter 
to the to the Galatians. Tonight, we're going to take 
up specifically verses 13 to 15, 13 to 15, but I do want to 
read the entire chapter so we can see how it flows together. Galatians five, I'll begin reading 
in verse one. Stand fast, therefore, in the 
liberty by which Christ has made us free. and do not be entangled 
again with the yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that 
if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And 
I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that 
he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged 
from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. You have 
fallen from grace, for we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the 
hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. 
You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying 
the truth? This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. 
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you, 
in the Lord, that you will have no other mind. But he who troubles 
you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, 
if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross 
has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble 
you would even cut themselves off. For you, brethren, have 
been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an 
opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 
For all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, you 
shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one 
another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. I say then, walk 
in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 
For the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against 
the flesh. And these are contrary to one 
another so that you do not do the things that you wish. But 
if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now 
the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, 
uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, 
jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, 
heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. Of which 
I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, 
that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom 
of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live 
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become 
conceited provoking one another, envying one another. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
come now to the Scripture. We pray for your blessing upon 
us as we study your Word. We pray that we'd have clarity 
in our thought, God, as we understand the place of the law and the 
Christian life and the role of the Spirit and the power of the 
Gospel. All these wonderful themes brought 
together by Paul in this book of Galatians. We just pray, Father, 
in heaven, that you would forgive us now for all of our sin and 
anything that casts a darkening influence over our minds. We 
pray that we would take every thought captive to the obedience 
of Christ, that we would take seriously the caution in this 
passage of Scripture, and that, Father, we just pray that we 
would seek by your grace to live lives pleasing in your sight. 
We just ask as well, Father, that you would be with us and 
cause us to fear you and to rejoice in your presence. And we ask 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we have had cause 
to note, the apostle is transitioning from the doctrinal portion into 
the practical portion. Towards the end of, in this particular 
section, however, as he closes the doctrinal section, he notes 
the judgment that is to come upon false teachers. We saw that 
last time in verses 7 to 12. We remember that statement, that 
very powerful rhetorical statement of verse 12. I could wish that 
those who trouble you would even cut themselves off. The Apostle 
is saying, if they're so caught up in circumcision, let them 
go all the way and emasculate themselves. And while this may 
cause some surprise to us, it ought not to surprise us in light 
of the Apostle's teaching throughout this particular letter. Remember, 
in Galatians 1, he pronounces anathema on those who would distort 
or twist the gospel of free and sovereign grace. Paul does not 
take lightly attacks or assaults upon the truth of Christ and 
him crucified. The apostle knows how important 
the message of the gospel is, and we do well to imitate him 
in this. And then as well, before he gets 
specifically practical in verses 16 and following, where he highlights 
the need to walk in the Spirit, in verses 13 to 15, what he does 
is he exhorts the Galatians to exercise their liberty biblically 
and as well to lovingly serve one another. So we're going to 
take up this brief section, a brief section, but a very important 
section, because if you've trafficked or you've followed or you've 
been attentive up to this point in Galatians, you might have 
cause to conclude that Paul has no place for the law. But that 
simply isn't the case. Paul has a place for the law. 
as long as it is being used lawfully. And I think that's what he is 
demonstrating here in verses thirteen to fifteen. So look 
at verses thirteen to fifteen under three considerations. The 
first is this call to liberty in verse thirteen. Secondly, 
the fulfillment of the law in verse fourteen and then a very 
specific warning in verse fifteen. As you survey the New Testament 
epistles, there are certain sins which seem to be going on in 
the midst of the congregation. Thessalonica, for instance, Paul 
tells them to engage in sexual morality, to guard against sexual 
infidelity, so we can conclude or imply that they had an issue 
there. Of course, all of the sins of the Corinthians are played 
out in the pages of that epistle, so it doesn't leave us wondering. 
Here it seems that there is internal strife within the churches of 
Galatia. Probably we could attribute that 
to the introduction of heresy. When heresy affects a church, 
the result is not peace, it is not harmony, it is not good order 
and discipline. But when heresy affects the churches, 
what happens is disharmony, confusion, contempt. suspicion, all those 
particular things, and that is what the apostle cautions them 
in specifically in verse 15. But let's look at this call to 
liberty in verse 13. For you, brethren, have been 
called to liberty. Only do not use your liberty 
as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 
You have been called to liberty. We talk a lot about that. What 
is Christian liberty? Well, I think the confession 
of faith demonstrates or defines this very effectively. It says 
in chapter 21 of the London Baptist Confession, the liberty which 
Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel consists in 
their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath 
of God, the rigor and curse of the law, and in their being delivered 
from this present evil world, bondage to Satan and dominion 
of sin from the evil of afflictions, the fear and sting of death, 
the victory over the grave and everlasting damnation, as also 
in their free access to God and their yielding obedience under 
him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing 
mind. That's very instructive for us. 
That's liberty, Christian liberty, biblical liberty. It's not the 
ability to go drink a beer. Very often that is what Christian 
liberty is defined as in the Christian church today. That's 
not what's in view here. Notice that the gospel is the 
antidote both to legalism. Verse one of Galatians five and 
to licentiousness. Verse thirteen. You have been 
called to liberty. We need to understand this. that 
we need to avoid this abuse of something good that the Lord 
God, in His mercy, has given unto us. Notice back in Romans 
chapter 6. We see the apostle emphasize 
the same thing here. He gives this whole context of 
Christian living. Justification by faith alone 
will always result in a sanctified life, a godly life. And there 
is within us, unfortunately, a temptation to abuse the good 
gifts that God has given us, either through wicked calculation 
or lazy indifference. Notice, in Romans 6, wicked calculation 
is in verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall 
we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin 
live any longer in it? Simply not a good implication 
for us to say, well, since our sins have been forgiven, we can 
continue in it that grace may abound. Paul says, may it never 
be. But then look at lazy indifference 
in chapter six, verse 15. He says, what then shall we sin? 
Because we are not under law, but under grace. Certainly not. Do you not know that to whom 
you present yourself slaves to obey you are that one slaves 
whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience 
leading to righteousness. So back in Galatians five, it's 
a similar mindset here. You have been called to liberty, 
but he gives this necessary caution in verse thirteen. Only do not 
use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. Don't rejoice 
in the free salvation of God and go out and celebrate with 
sin. Don't continue in sin that grace 
may abound. You must exercise gospel liberty 
biblically, responsibly, carefully. It isn't the freedom to do whatever 
we want to do. Gospel liberty is the freedom 
to do what God has saved us to do. Again, the London Baptist 
Confession, chapter 21, paragraph 3, defining this abuse of Christian 
liberty. It says, They who, upon pretense 
of Christian liberty, to practice any sin, or cherish any sinful 
lust, as they do thereby pervert the main design of the grace 
of the gospel to their own destruction, so they wholly destroy the end 
of Christian liberty. Which is that being delivered 
out of the hands of all of our enemies, we might serve the Lord 
without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all 
the days of our lives. Liberty isn't wearing jeans to 
church. Liberty is serving God. Liberty is enjoying the free 
access that we have as children before the throne of grace. Liberty 
is that freedom to serve God most high in the manner in which 
he is called us. Now, unfortunately, people who 
don't understand justify justification by faith alone look at this and 
are frustrated by it. Well, if you preach that people 
are justified by faith alone, then their conduct doesn't matter. 
No, that's simply not the case. The justified by faith alone 
will always enter into the life of sanctification. The life of 
sanctification will evidence the fact that they've been justified 
freely by God's grace. This morning as I was driving 
home from church, I saw something on the road. I always think it's 
a dead cat whenever I see a little bump on the road. So I, you know, 
swerve a little bit because I don't want to run over a dead cat. 
But I got close and I saw it was a McDonald's bank. Now, we're 
not supposed to blame McDonald's for the carelessness of its patrons. We're not supposed to say, those 
dirty, rotten scoundrels at McDonald's, their litter is all over the 
ground. No, it's the patrons who are careless in disposing 
of their litter all over the ground. The same is true with 
justification by faith. We don't blame that doctrine 
when we witness the sinfulness of its recipients. We call the 
recipients back to a lawful use of Christian liberty. This is 
what Paul is saying. The gospel is the best antidote 
against legalism. Don't let these Judaizers tear 
you down by adding words in order for your acceptance with God. 
But on the same token, don't engage in license. Those are 
the two things we're always prone to. Legalism on the one hand, 
licentiousness on the other hand. The gospel answers or the gospel 
defends us against both of those extreme positions. And you know, 
just concerning Romans chapter six for a moment. It's very interesting 
how Paul argues there. What shall we say? Shall we continue 
in sin that grace may abound? Does Paul say no, the law forbids 
it? Notice what Paul does. He preaches 
more gospel. What's the answer to licentious 
living? The power of the cross. Michael 
Horton says sometimes we forget that Paul was accused of being 
an antinomian. We're going to see this word 
again in our exposition tonight. An antinomian is somebody who's 
against God's law. Everybody understand that? Namas 
is the great word for law. Not trying to dazzle anyone. 
Anti means to be against that law. Antinomian. So Paul has been accused of being 
an antinomian. That is, of inviting people to 
sin that grace may abound. But instead of retracting the 
doctrine of justification that he sets forth in Romans 3 to 
5, that he knew would provoke that question again, the apostles 
simply explained how the gospel is the answer to the tyranny 
of sin as well as its condemnation. The gospel of free justification 
is the source of genuine sanctification. You have to get this. We have 
to understand this. It's an amazing thing as we trace 
through Paul's arguments. What's going on in Galatia? They're 
biting and devouring each other. They're at the point of possibly 
consuming each other. What do they need? Do they need 
a conference on effective communication? Do they need a conference on 
five principles on how to be better church people? They need 
justification by faith alone. They need to understand the freeness 
of the grace of God and its liberating power, not only with reference 
to the tyranny of sin, but to the practice of sin. Horton goes 
on to say the gospel of free justification is the source of 
genuine sanctification, not its enemy. Yet that is counterintuitive 
to us. It is gospel logic. It is not 
the logic of works righteousness. So, the apostle here tells them, 
you have been called to liberty. He cautions them, only do not 
use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. That's a negative 
statement, but positively, look what he has to say. But, he says, 
through love, serve one another. That's interesting, isn't it? 
Look at the word he uses, serve. You say, but I'm a free man now, 
right? Imagine if you emancipated your 
slave and said, now I want you to go serve in this capacity. 
He says, wait a minute, you've broken my shackles. You've written 
a writ. You've given a decree. You've 
said I'm free. Since I'm free, I get to go do 
whatever it is I want. No. That's not gospel liberty. It's not Christian liberty. Christian 
liberty is freedom from the tyranny of sin and slavery to the service 
of God and the service of others. He says, but through love, serve 
one another. Christian freedom or gospel. The gospel is not freedom from 
responsibility, but freedom to responsibility. You have been 
saved to serve. You have been saved to love God 
and to love men. You have been saved to shine 
as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. You have been saved 
to hold forth the word of truth. You see, the apostle knows nothing 
of a liberty that says, well, I'm free from sin. I can just 
do whatever I want. I can go wherever I want. I can 
engage with whatever I want. No gospel liberty or the freedom 
that is secured for us by Jesus Christ means service to God and 
service to one another. The man who believes that salvation 
means he has no responsibility to God or others has not understood 
the gospel of free and sovereign grace. It is the foundation justification 
by faith alone is the very source of all genuine sanctification. Let's move on to the fulfillment 
of the law in verse 14. Notice that verse 14 is a reason. For, all the law is fulfilled 
in one word, even in this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You are not to use liberty as 
an opportunity for the flesh. You are to use liberty through 
love to serve one another. For, the law is fulfilled when 
you serve one another. The law is fulfilled when you 
engage in love. Johnny said they had been exhorted 
to stand fast in the liberty, but they are specifically cautioned 
not to abuse it. And this is a temptation. Maybe 
you haven't ever felt it, maybe you're just so holy you don't 
need relations like a pastor, what are you talking about, man? 
I've never tried to abuse anything. I just worship God. I rejoice 
in my free access. I love God. I love others. What's 
the deal? We pick it on before. Well, for 
most of us, we need Galatians 5. We need this caution. We need to guard against legalism 
on the one hand, where we think we can gain acceptance by our 
doing. But we need to guard against 
license on the other hand, where we think because God has graciously 
saved us, we can just do whatever we want, either through wicked 
calculation or lazy indifference. We just think that it doesn't 
matter how we live. But Paul says it does matter. He says that the way that we 
love one another affects law keeping. He says they were to 
be on their guard against antinomian licentiousness, for though they 
were not under the law as a means of justification, they were still 
under it as their rule of life. So, again, if you got to Galatians 
5 at this point, say, Paul really doesn't like the law. Oh yes, 
he does. As long as it's in its lawful 
place. This is beautiful. He couldn't 
have constructed this epistle more perfectly. Again, I know 
he doesn't need me to commend him. He doesn't need Jim to sort 
of pat him on the back and say, good job, Paul. But he answers 
every question. Antinomianism is a reality. It 
has always haunted the Church of Christ, this sort of anti-lawism, 
whether practically, whenever we sin, or doctrinally. There are people out there today 
that say the Christian has nothing to do with the law of God whatsoever. Not according to Paul. Look at 
what law he cites. This is straight out of Leviticus 
19, verse 18. It says, For all the law is fulfilled 
in one word. Even in this, you shall love 
your neighbor as yourself. The entirety of Leviticus 19, 
18 says, You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the 
children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. I am the Lord. Now this comes up several times 
in the New Testament. I'm going to ask you to think. 
I'm going to ask you to engage your mind. We're going to learn 
something about the law of God in relation to the gospel that 
we need to get a hold of. If you don't see the distinctiveness, 
or the distinction rather, and the connectedness of these two 
doctrines, gospel and law, you're going to miss a lot of what Paul 
has to say. So, look over in Matthew 19, 
19 for just a moment. Just survey some of these passages 
really quickly, and then we're going to make a couple of theological 
observations. Matthew 19, verse 19. The rich young ruler, Jesus, tells 
this man what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Now, 
Jesus does not believe that the rich man can perfectly fulfill 
the law of God. I think Jesus is using the law 
here to expose the rich man's sin. That's an effective use 
of God's laws, to take that law and to hold it up to the sinner 
who thinks he's really something. Try this sometime. Go out into 
the street and ask somebody, do you think you're a good person? 
I guarantee you nine out of ten will say yes. It's only the Calvinists 
out there that'll say, no, I'm just a miserable wretch. Calvinists 
like that word wretch. We're wretched. In fact, who 
is the fellow, Todd Freel, Wretched Radio. But nine out of ten people 
will say they're good. Well, try this. Just say, well, 
let's look at the law. Have you ever had other gods 
before God? Well, yeah. You ever made idols? Well, yeah. 
You take the name of the Lord your God and say, yeah. You ever 
had a sinful thought or a lustful thought? Yeah. We haven't even 
finished the ten and you're already indicted. You're done. You're 
not good. You're bad. You see, the law 
functions in that way. Therefore, by the deeds of the 
law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law 
is the knowledge of sin. This is why we need to preach 
the law, so that sinners will see their state. That's what 
Jesus is doing with the rich young ruler. You think you're 
good? You think you're righteous? You 
think you're wonderful? Let's just run through these 
commandments, shall we? He said to him, which ones? Jesus 
said, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you 
shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your 
father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, all 
these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? 
If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to 
the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. 
You see, for a few of those commandments, the rich young ruler said, yeah, 
yeah, yeah, yeah. So what does Jesus do? What about 
that? That's in a covetousness. What 
about that 10th word? What about that 10th commandment? 
Go sell everything you have. Well, I don't want to do that. 
He's a sinner. Jesus uses the law to expose 
his sin. The point in this particular 
survey is not as you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Same 
thing Paul says from Leviticus chapter 19 over in Romans 13, 
a passage similar to what we find here in Galatians 5 Romans 
chapter 13 at verse 8. Oh, no one anything except to 
love one another. For he who loves another has 
fulfilled the law for the commandments. You shall not commit adultery. 
You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall 
not bear false witness. You shall not covet. And if there 
is any other commandment, they're all summed up in this saying, 
namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You see, it sums 
it up over in James chapter two, James chapter two. James, two eight specifically. If you really fulfill the royal 
law, according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. You do well, but if you show partiality, you commit 
sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. And then two passages that are 
key, that are very important, that we need to get our minds 
wrapped around. Matthew chapter, uh, uh, Matthew chapter 22, Matthew 
chapter 22. We're just trying to identify 
the law that Paul has in mind. And as I said, make some theological 
implications or observations from this. Matthew twenty-two 
at verse thirty-four, the fair when the Pharisees heard that 
Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, then 
one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him and 
saying, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law. 
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all 
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This 
is the first and great commandment, and the second is like it. You 
shall love your neighbor as yourself, and notice on these two commandments. hang all the law and the prophets. You see, the Bible envisions 
this. The Ten Commandments are summarized 
in these two sayings. Love God, love man. The first 
four commandments are our duty toward God, summarized in love 
to Him. The last six commandments are 
our duty toward man, summarized in the statement, love your neighbor 
as yourself. So, far from Paul being an antinomian, 
Paul says that within the confines of the local church, when justified 
by faith believers through love serve one another, they are actually 
in the business of fulfilling the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, 
that blessed statement of Christian ethics given by God on Mount 
Sinai. Now, the fact that Paul says 
in verse 14, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even 
in this, and he says, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, 
he's not negating love to God. Love to God is the foundation 
for a proper love to man. St. Calvin and Edy explain this. 
But as well, the context is one of dealing with horizontal things. 
So that's what the apostle has in mind here. The idea simply 
is this. The Ten Commandments as a rule 
of life have not been abrogated, have not been invalidated, have 
not been done away with. A few theological implications 
are simply these. The first is that Paul is not 
in antinomian. Paul is not against the law. If Paul was against the law, 
he would not call Christian believers to, through love, serve one another 
and thus fulfill the law of love. He simply wouldn't do that. He's 
not an antinomian. Paul has no place for law with 
reference to our acceptance with God. But for those who have been 
accepted with God, we are to engage in spirit. What obedience 
to the law of the Lord? A second implication is that 
the apostle recognizes a distinction in the law. This is very important. Please track with me here. This 
is something that reform theology didn't stumble onto, but certainly 
codified or or or highlighted or explained very well what's 
called the threefold distinction in the law or the threefold division 
in the law. There is the ceremonial law. 
There is the judicial law and there is the moral law of God. 
Remember the ceremonies, don't eat certain animals, sacrifice 
in such and such a way. Those things are fulfilled by 
Christ. The book of Hebrews takes great 
pains to show us that the Christian is no longer under that ceremonial 
law. The judicial law had reference 
to Israel in the land. It had issued to the specific 
application with reference to their civil policy. Our confession 
says that that judicial law has expired, but wait, the general 
equity does remain. In other words, we can learn 
a lot about civil policy from that old covenant law. But then 
that third division or that third way is the moral law, the non 
changing, forever abiding, not going away law. Paul recognizes 
that distinction within this very chapter. He says circumcision 
doesn't avail anything, but love to your brother does. The Old 
Testament recognized this. This division, again, wasn't 
imposed by the reformers when they drew up their confessions. 
It is biblical in nature. Remember, in First Samuel, chapter 
15, Samuel was to wipe out the Amalekites, or Saul was to wipe 
out the Amalekites, but he didn't. He spared Agath. He spared the 
booty. And then as his reason, as his 
defense to the Lord, he said, we wanted this so that we could 
offer up sacrifice to you, God. And what does God say? Obedience 
to obey is better than the sacrifice. What is that? God instituted 
sacrifice. God accepted sacrifice. But with 
reference to obedience to his word, to his law, he would prefer 
that than your sacrifice. Hosea 6 says, God, through the 
prophet, says he desires mercy and what sacrifice. Remember, 
in the Sabbath wars that Jesus engaged in with the Pharisees, 
it's to Hosea that he pointed that you don't understand this 
passage. When Jesus indicts the religious 
leaders of his day, he says, you tie the mint and the anise 
in the oven, but you neglect what the weightier matters of 
the law. Love to God and love to men are 
the weightier matters of the law. Paul recognizes that distinction. It isn't simply a reform convention 
that happened in the 16th century. In fact, for those of you who 
are interested in this, a very profitable study is a book entitled 
From the Finger of God, A Biblical and Theological Defense for the 
Threefold Division of the Law by Philip Ross. And he shows 
that what the reformers said had its tap roots in the early 
church fathers. But even more so, he takes great 
pains to establish that this division is obvious in the word 
of God itself. And so while the ceremonial is 
done with, while the judicial is expired and yet the general 
equity remains, the moral forever abides. You don't get rid of 
the Ten Commandments. You don't get rid of this. This 
blessed statement of love to God and love to man. Thirdly, 
the apostle here assumes continuity in the moral law. Our confession 
of faith again in London Baptist Confession, chapter four, paragraph 
two. I know this is a bit more theological 
in nature, but it's very important. This is what he's arguing. This 
is what we need to get. This is often the cross. This 
is what separates the men from the boys within Christianity. 
But there are a lot of people that would be at odds with what 
I'm saying here. But it's right here. Paul is highlighting the 
place of moral law within the life of the Christian. You've 
met people who say, we're not under law, we're under grace. 
In fact, Paul says that, but we need to understand what he 
means by that. We need to get what he's saying, 
because here he is telling us that we, by loving one another, 
are fulfilling the law. So the Baptist confession says 
that at creation, this is important. We consider this in Sunday school 
a few weeks ago. At creation, man was created having the law 
of God written in their hearts. In that book by Philip Ross, 
he shows that from Genesis 1 up to Exodus 20, all ten commandments 
are seen. The violation of all ten commandments. You say, well, how could that 
be? Because God writ it on our hearts at creation. We are image 
bearers. We cannot escape. We cannot flee. We know in our heart of hearts 
that it's wrong to commit murder. We know that it's wrong to commit 
adultery. We know that it's wrong to steal. 
And dare I say it, we know it's wrong to have other gods before 
him. That entire law is written on 
our hearts. Then the confession in the Sutton, 
the chapter law, the law of God identifies this law. It says 
the same law that was first written in the heart of man continued 
to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall and was delivered 
by God upon Mount Sinai in ten commandments and written in two 
tables, the four first containing our duty towards God and the 
other six, our duty to man. So, what was written in the hearts 
of Adam and Eve is codified at Sinai. And while the Sinaitic 
covenant has been abrogated, the law remains. Remember back 
in Jeremiah 31, that Old Testament word concerning the new covenant. 
God says, I will write my law within their hearts. What law 
is he talking about? That you can't eat a jackdaw? 
That you can't eat carrion vulture? You're not supposed to eat a 
grasshopper? You can't eat pork. No, he's talking about the Ten 
Commandments. That's what's written in our 
hearts. That's what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 
eight and Hebrews ten. That law has been internalized 
in a way it was not before. You see, Paul assumes that Paul 
is not an antinomian. Paul is pro for the law, provided 
it is used lawfully. And then the fourth observation 
or implication concerning the law is that the Apostle Paul 
recognizes both spirit and law in the Christian life. Now, to 
read some commentators and to read some authors, they so stress 
the spirit, they neglect the law. They say the Christian has 
nothing to do with the law. It's all the spirit. Well, the 
spirit works with the law. They're not at odds. There's 
not an antithesis. When the Spirit comes to make 
men holy, he doesn't do it in some unheard of way. He takes the definition of holy 
and he conforms the redeemed one to that pattern. The Spirit 
works with the law. The Spirit conforms the people 
of God unto the law. That is a form of doctrinal antinomianism 
that is prevalent outside of Reformed churches. Most everybody 
thinks that the Christian does not have anything to do with 
the Ten Commandments whatsoever, except those who are identified 
by reform theology or covenant theology or those confessions 
of faith that were written in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
century. Paul recognizes both spirit and 
law in the Christian life. Notice, after he highlights the 
fruit of the Spirit, verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 
self-control. Against such there is no law. 
What's the implication? Against those deeds of the flesh, 
there is a law. You're not supposed to murder. 
You're not supposed to lie. You're not supposed to steal. 
And it's not just some nebulous sort of spirit filled Humpty 
Dumpty. I'm just going to do the good 
thing. No, the spirit conforms you to the law. That's the whole 
point of Jeremiah 31. I will put my spirit in them. 
I will write my law on their hearts. Spirit and law are not 
in antithesis, but they work together in the transformation 
of the justified by faith alone believer in Jesus Christ. Finally, the specific warning 
and then we close. I think this is very important 
to my war. Wait a minute. This is very important. Again, you don't get gospel and 
law. You don't get that. You miss a lot of the Bible. 
You don't understand the connectedness, the distinction. You don't understand 
how they relate, how they don't. You don't understand the covenantal 
categories in view. You need to get it in your head 
and mind and heart. It affects us as God's people. And it's a blessed thing, too. 
One of the things I like about having a confession of faith. 
Let's say you come to visit our church. What do these people 
believe? Here's a confession of faith. This is what we believe. 
These are 32 chapters of things most surely believe the miles. 
Oh, great. Everybody's on board. Everybody knows what they're 
supposed to do. Holiness, godliness, Christian living isn't defined 
by us. It isn't defined by Benny Hinn. It isn't defined by this guru 
of Christian ethics. It is defined by God. And it protects us. It helps 
us. If we will not be governed by 
10 commandments, we will be governed by 10,000 commandments. G.K. Chesterton. Brethren, the 
law of God is good. We're the problem. The law of 
God in its place is blessed. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. Paul doesn't have a problem saying 
that through love serve one another for all the law is fulfilled 
in one word. Even in this, you shall love 
your neighbor as yourself. When he's dealing with children 
in Ephesus, what does he do? Children, obey your parents in 
the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and your mother 
for this is the first commandment with promise. When he's exhorting 
little Ephesian children, He goes to the decalogue. When he 
goes to Romans 13, we've already seen that. Oh, no man anything 
but to love one another. How do we know what love is? 
Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Love isn't I got 
to send you a card every Friday. Tell you I love you. Send you 
an email every day with X's and O's. You can do that. The Bible 
doesn't forbid it. is measurable. It is quantifiable. It is something that you can 
see. The same with holiness and godliness. I mean, you meet people. 
You see, oh, they're the holy ones. Why? Because they do this, 
that, or the other. Well, if it's not according to 
the law of God, how do we know that they're not some hypocritical 
wretch that's pouring on something that in their apparent humility 
is only promoting themselves and their pride? Paul seems to 
intimate that that's what asceticism can breed in Colossians chapter 
2. This is important. Get the place 
of the law of God in your mind and heart. Take the confession. 
Read chapter 19. Read through it again and again 
and again. And it starts to make perfect 
sense. And you start to say, yeah, the 
ceremonial law. I can eat bacon for breakfast. 
That's great. The judicial law, yeah, we are 
not under that theocracy, but there is some wisdom there. These 
framers saw general equity. They saw that God spoke clearly 
concerning civil polity. And why ought not we to pray 
that God would move the hearts of men in such a way that they 
would mandate death penalty for certain crimes? That's legit. With reference to that moral 
law, it stands as that blessed guide for Christian ethics. That 
law shows us our sin and our need for Christ. We, by God's 
grace, fall at the feet of Christ. We receive the pardon of sin 
and the imputation of righteousness. Jesus puts his law in our hearts, 
puts his spirit in us, and then sends us on our way to fulfill 
the law by loving God and loving man. Thirdly and finally, the 
specific warning, if you bite and devour one another, this 
has to be the opposite of, through love, serving one another. He's 
speaking metaphorically. I don't think they had a problem 
in Galatia with people, you know, wanting to really bite each other. 
You know, sometimes you hear that little kid, oh, Billy bit 
Johnny. You shouldn't do that, Billy. 
We hit him. You should hit Johnny. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. or bite him back so he knows 
just how bad it is, right? That's not what's in view here. 
If you're a little child, wait a minute, they're biting and 
devouring people? Boy, that's a messed up church. Don't want 
to go there. They might hurt me. No, it is the opposite of 
through love serving one another. Metaphor, figure of speech. Galvin 
says, by biting and devouring, he means, I think, slanders, 
accusations, reproaches, and every other kind of offensive 
language, as well as acts of injustice arising either from 
fraud or violence. Drop down to verse twenty for 
a moment, you'll see some manner of this biting and devouring 
spirit. Hatred, contentions, jealousies, 
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy. These are the kinds of things 
that are contrary to through love, serving one another. This 
is what seems to be the issue in the churches in the southern 
Galatian region. And Paul wants to warn them specifically. If you bite and devour one another, 
beware lest you be consumed by one another. The specific verb 
that he uses here to consume, to devour these verbs suggest 
wild animals engaged in deadly struggles. You say, man, what 
is it? What could that look like? A 
church having problems. It can look like wild animals 
tearing each other apart. So what's happened here? They 
didn't listen to Paul in Galatians, chapter five, verse 15. They 
didn't listen and realize that when we bite and devour one another, 
the problem is we become like savage beasts ripping each other 
apart. We're not trying to promote one 
another. We're not through love serving one another. We're not 
trying to encourage and help one another. We're simply trying 
to destroy and tear down. Again, Calvin says beautifully, 
I wish we could always remember when the devil tempts us to disputes 
that the disagreement of members within the church can lead to 
nothing else than the ruin and consumption of the whole body. It's better to fall on your sword 
than ruin the church. It really is. It's better to 
have your pride hurt. It's better to have your you 
be offended. It's better to have that than destroy the Church 
of Jesus Christ. He says how distressing, how 
mad is it? Again, that doesn't mean just 
knuckle under and suck it up and never voice your concerns. No, there has to be something 
in place where those things can be dealt with. 2615 in our confession 
gives everybody here the right to call for assistance if you 
feel that you've been wrong. There's a biblical way to go 
about it. There's a God-honoring way to go about it. He says, 
how distressing, how mad is it that we, who are members of the 
same body, should be leagued together of our own accord for 
mutual destruction. John Brown said, it is not the 
conscientious differences subsisting among true Christians which causes 
these evils. Not conscientious differences, 
we all have that. You differ with me in some things, 
I differ with you. And I imagine they're conscientious. 
I like to think that we do what we do based on certain beliefs. You might have a position that 
I think is a bit awkward. I might have a position that 
you think is a bit awkward, but praise God, people are willing 
to deal with and to tend to fight for a particular distinction. 
That's OK. That's not what's being condemned 
here. He said it is not the honest avowal of these differences. but the un-Christian temper in 
which such questions are often, nay, almost always debated that 
produces the mischief. It's not the differences, it's 
the un-Christian temper. He says the flesh takes occasion 
from them to seek its own gratification. Couldn't agree with that a hundred 
times more. In this brief section, verses 
13 to 15, we have seen the need to guard against licentiousness. Do not use your Christian liberty 
as an occasion for the flesh. Do not say, well, since God in 
his grace has dealt with my sin, let it abound. If it glorifies 
him to show grace, well, then I'll go out and sin so that he 
can pour it out on me. May it never be. Do you not know 
that those who died to sin no longer live in it? He meets that 
wicked calculation with the gospel of Jesus Christ, but as well, 
laziness, indifference. A lack of concern, a lack of 
caution, a lack of watchfulness. These are all things that threaten 
to destroy us in our use or abuse of Christian liberty. As well, 
we need to serve one another through love. That remains. That's what he says. Through 
love, serve one another. If the opposite is to abuse our 
Christian liberty, let's be so taken up with the loving of one 
another that we don't have time to abuse our Christian liberty. 
I've often thought that. People with a commute, you know, 
you've got to drive to work. This happened a lot in Southern 
California where we lived. Most people drove an hour, hour 
and a half to work. Put in Christian music or a sermon 
or Bible reading or something. I mean, that's a good thing. 
I'm not mandating that's the holy way. I'm just simply saying 
that is a good thing to fill your mind with while you're making 
that commute. To put on certain things helps 
to put off. for putting on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, we will not make provision for the flesh to fulfill its 
lust. If we busy ourselves through 
love serving one another, we won't be busying ourselves exercising 
our Christian liberty in godless ways. That's the point. Put on, 
put off. Put on, put off. We need to understand 
the lawful use of God's law, and we need to understand the 
source of unity and peace in the church. If we trace backward 
through what Paul says here, specifically in verse 15, the 
presence of biting and devouring in the church evidences a failure 
to serve one another through love, which means the absence 
of Christian liberty that comes only through the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. That means that if a pastor heard 
that there was a church full of biters and devourers, and 
he was asked to come in and address that congregation, it would certainly 
be wise to preach justification by faith alone. Wait a minute. They need to know 
how to communicate better. They need to know about arbitration. 
They need to know about that. They need to know the gospel. 
You see, a church that is full of biting and devouring evidences 
lack spirit. How do we receive the spirit 
when we believe the gospel of free and sovereign grace? Brethren, 
this is an instructive three verses in Holy Scripture. If 
you are here tonight and all of this makes little to no sense, 
I want to direct you to the Lord Jesus. I mentioned justification 
by faith alone. That's one of the best doctrines 
in the Bible. Not the best. It's one of the 
best. Justification by faith alone 
means simply this. We are sinners. We have gone 
astray. We have violated God's holy law. Pastor Kim referenced the Shorter 
Catechism this morning. Sin is any lack of conformity 
unto or transgression of the law of God. That means we sin 
when we actively break God's law. We sin when we actively 
don't do what God says. Some people call these sins of 
omission and commission. We've all done that with every 
one of the Ten Commandments. We have fallen short. We have 
sinned and violated against the holy God. The good news. The gospel is simply this. Christ 
always obeyed his father. Christ died as a sacrifice and 
a substitute at Calvary. Christ rose again and descended 
on high. And Christ has said that all 
those who come to Him in faith, those who believe the gospel, 
He will receive unto Himself. So the good news tonight, if 
you are a sinner, there is a Savior who is greater than you. If you 
are a sinner, Christ saves to the uttermost. all who come to 
God through him. So, a brief few verses, but a 
very instructive few verses, and I hope that God will cause 
us to think through these things and to seek by His grace to align 
our lives accordingly by His Spirit and with that blessed 
instrument of His holy law. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for Your Word. We thank you for its clarity, 
and I pray, God, that you would give us wisdom in these things. Grant us the ability, God, to 
search out the scripture, to have a proper understanding of 
gospel and of law. Help us, God, to see the lawful 
uses of your law and help us to seek by your grace to live 
in a manner that is consistent with your word. We ask now that 
you would go with us, watch over us in this coming week, bless 
your people and strengthen them. And God, we just pray that in 
all things you would be glorified in our private lives and in our 
corporate life together as a local church. May we not be those who 
bite and devour one another. May we not seek to consume one 
another. But God, may we, by your grace, 
truly put others first, esteem others as better than ourselves, 
and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of 
peace. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.