Sunday Sermon: The Righteous Shall Live By Faith (Galatians 3:10-14)

WWUTT Podcast

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:18

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabrielle Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.

00:25

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

00:30

New Testament book. On Thursday is our Old Testament study, and then we answer questions from listeners on Friday.

00:37

Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. This is the sermon that was preached last week from our pulpit.

00:43

Here's Pastor Gabe. Galatians chapter 3, starting in verse 10.

00:50

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written,

00:57

Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.

01:05

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.

01:13

But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by them.

01:21

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

01:27

For it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. So that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the

01:36

Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.

01:44

Let us pray. Our wonderful God and Savior, we thank you for this beautiful morning and the gorgeous weather reminding us that spring is here.

01:55

And through the change of seasons, we know that our God is making all things new.

02:01

And so you are doing this even in the lives of your children. The old is passed away and the new has come.

02:11

And we have been instructed day by day to renew our thinking to the pattern of our

02:18

Savior being made in His image. And so I pray that our thinking this morning would be conformed to yours based on what we have heard from you in your word, in your law, which reveals to us the character of God.

02:37

Though we are reading here that it is by grace through faith that we receive salvation and not by the works of the law, may we not fear the law, but rather understand it rightly in how it is to be handled and yet still cherished and revered by all men, especially those who are your children.

03:04

But all men may stand in awe of the word of the Lord. Teach us these things as we embark on this study today and may they be written on our hearts and minds that we may dwell on them in the days to come.

03:20

And we pray this in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. Thank you. You may be seated.

03:27

So some of you know, I believe I mentioned this last week that early on Sunday morning,

03:33

I've been going down to the jail and witnessing to a young man there. I wish that I could do this another day of the week.

03:39

I wish it didn't have to be Sunday morning, but however they work out their schedule of visitation and things like that, this is the only day that he can receive visitors and the jail will receive visitors as early as 8 a .m.

03:52

So that's the time that I've got to go run down to the jail, spend half an hour there, and then

03:57

I've got to come here and get things ready. So sharing with the young man this morning, knowing the text that I was coming into because it was what

04:05

I went to bed reading last night, it's what I woke up this morning thinking about as I was getting ready.

04:11

And I'm talking to this young man this morning across the glass from me about the law.

04:18

And I said to him, now you're a lawbreaker, correct? That's why you're in there.

04:24

And of all the occasions that I share the gospel and an understanding that we've broken

04:29

God's law and we need a savior to redeem us, it is the easiest to explain this to somebody in jail.

04:37

You know? So this conversation, which I have with a lot of people, it's a little easier to have with somebody who's across the glass from me who's going to go back into a jail cell when we get done talking.

04:48

So I'm saying to this young man, you know that you are here because you have broken the law. But really in this sense, there's no difference between me and you.

04:57

For as we read in Romans 3 .23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

05:03

We have all broken God's law. And that makes everyone who has broken

05:09

God's law, which is everyone, an enemy of God. We're guilty of treason, having committed treason against the high throne of heaven.

05:19

We have said to the God of the universe that my way is better than your way.

05:25

And no one has any excuse. No one can say to God, I didn't know your law.

05:32

So how did I know that there was a law that existed for me to be broken? As it stands in our own

05:38

American system, nobody can make such an excuse. If you go blowing through a red light and a cop pulls you over and hands you a ticket, you can't look at that officer and say, well,

05:48

I did not know that this law existed. You're still going to get a ticket. Matter of fact, you might lose your license if you say you don't know that such driving laws existed.

05:59

And you are therefore driving illegally. So all have sinned and all are worthy of a sentence worse than being put in jail for a few months.

06:10

But we are worthy of death, eternal separation from an eternally holy God, punished for all eternity in hell.

06:21

But God is gracious to us and he did not leave us dead in our sins and our transgressions.

06:26

We were helpless to keep the law and thus attain righteousness by our own merit.

06:32

And yet God did not leave us in that state, but sent his son Jesus to die on our behalf.

06:38

And as I'm sharing the gospel with this young man, I said to him, it would be the same as if you go to your hearing, well, it wouldn't be the same as if, drawing an example.

06:50

If you go to your hearing before the judge and the judge tells you all the things that you're guilty of, and I even asked him,

06:58

I was like, what are you in here for? What are the things that the judge is going to say, this is what you've done wrong?

07:04

And he told me, because I want to bring to his mind that he has done wrong and that's why he's here.

07:12

And I said, the judge is going to lay out all of these things and what if there was somebody who stepped forward and said,

07:18

I'm going to take this for him. I've never committed a crime before, I've never been in jail for anything, but I'm going to do this for him.

07:27

So if you would be so kind judge as to let him go, I'm going to take his sentence for him.

07:32

That's what Jesus did for us, but on a much more serious scale, because you have

07:39

God in heaven, taking on human flesh and living perfectly for us, kept the law in every way.

07:47

Where we fail at it at every point, James 2 .10, whoever breaks one law or stumbles at one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

07:56

And Paul's saying here in Galatians chapter three, that we were powerless to keep the law.

08:02

So though we have sinned at every point, Jesus Christ kept the law perfectly, died for us, took our sins upon himself, gave us his righteousness, conquered death for our sake.

08:20

He did these things so that all who believe in him will not perish, but our sins are forgiven.

08:28

In the book of John, the last words recorded of Jesus are, and the book of John is the book that I've been encouraging this young man to read.

08:37

The book of John, the last words of Jesus are, it is finished. In the Greek, it's tetelestiai, paid in full.

08:45

And Jesus has paid the price for our sins. So that on the day of judgment, when we stand before the great judge of all men, we will hear from him, well done, good and faithful servant, instead of depart from me, you worker of lawlessness, because those who believe in Christ by faith have had their sentences paid for in the precious blood of Jesus.

09:17

And so we come to understand that gospel again, as we approach the text this morning.

09:23

In Galatians chapter three, the sermon entitled, the righteous shall live by faith.

09:29

This is no doubt a statement that you've heard before, when we went through Romans a couple of years ago.

09:34

It's in Romans 1 .17, the righteous shall live by faith. We come to that here in verse 11, and we'll talk about that once again this morning.

09:43

But the apostle Paul is sure to remind us that it is the man of faith who receives the promises of God, first given to Abraham, the man of faith,

09:56

Galatians 3 .9, that was a passage we looked at this week. And then in verse 10, contrasting with the one who has faith versus the one who tries to accomplish righteousness by works.

10:07

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

10:14

For it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and does them and do them.

10:24

Let's look at verse 10 again. I want to break this down into three parts with this first statement that Paul makes in verse 10.

10:32

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

10:39

How do I want to explain this? For all who rely, that's first, on works of the law, that's the second part, and under a curse, that's the third part.

10:49

So let's break this first statement down into understanding these three sections of it.

10:57

For all who rely on works of the law, who are all?

11:03

Verse 10, who is all? Now, perhaps you've heard the statement said before, all means all, and that's all all means.

11:13

That's a common refrain. Whenever we see all, it means everyone. Well, that's not really true.

11:18

There's always a context. Every word has a context. I can say the word bat to you. What pops into your mind?

11:25

Well, it could be either a flying mammal or a wooden stick that you hit a baseball with, okay?

11:32

Either one of those could be a bat. You got to know the context to know which bat I'm talking about.

11:38

The word all is like that. What are we talking about in context with the word all? Are you using that very specifically in saying that it means all people, and all people in what group?

11:50

Are we talking about a specific group? Are you using all in the exaggerated sense?

12:00

You're saying it as though you mean everybody, but not really. You're just talking about a great number of people hyperbolically.

12:08

Well, in this particular case, we can actually receive the word as meaning everyone, every single person.

12:16

Galatians 3 .10, for all who rely on works of the law in order to attain righteousness, in order to be justified by God.

12:25

Every single person who relies on works of the law is under a curse.

12:33

Now, the interesting thing about this, though, when we read that, all who rely on works of the law, that's every single person at some point.

12:43

Everyone at some point relied on works of the law, and we were therefore under a curse.

12:50

Okay? Do you understand what I mean by that? So, all who rely on works of the law. Well, we might say as Christians, as believers here, well, that's not us.

12:59

That would be somebody else who's trying to keep the law in order to attain righteousness. But I tell you that every single person who has ever lived, this description applies to at some point in their lives.

13:13

Before we came to faith, we were among those who are relying on works of the law. Every single person does this.

13:20

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse. Is that making a little bit more sense now?

13:27

Consider these words from Charles Spurgeon. Note well the persons spoken of.

13:35

As many as are of the works of the law. Now, of course, he's quoting from the King James. As many as are rather than all.

13:43

Okay? In the English Standard Version, we have for all who rely on works of the law. Perhaps a little bit more descriptive in the

13:50

King James in the way that that's worded. As many as are of the works of the law. And that would be everyone who is not a follower of Jesus.

13:59

As many as are of the works of the law. Spurgeon goes on. That is, all you who hope by works of the law to commend yourselves to God.

14:11

We are all of the works of the law by nature because it is our bounden duty as creatures to keep the law of our

14:23

Creator. I gave you the example in my opening of knowing the law as a driver.

14:31

Right? You have to know the traffic laws. You break a traffic law, you will not be able to say to the officer that pulled you over,

14:38

I did not know such a traffic law existed. As American citizens, as people who are living on American soil, we have a bounden duty as American citizens to keep

14:53

American laws. And if we break those laws, we cannot say that we did not know such a law existed.

15:03

For in order to keep justice in this country, in order to keep civil order, the person who breaks the law at any point will be guilty of having broken the law.

15:17

And you will not be able to say, as a lawbreaker, that look at all the other wonderful good things that I have done.

15:26

Why are you going to hold this one thing against me? Let's say, for example, that you have a man who has murdered a child.

15:37

Let's be more specific about the scenario. He was drunk at the wheel. A child wandered into the street.

15:44

He made no attempt to stop at all. And he ran the child over, killed the child.

15:51

And so now he is guilty of manslaughter, having killed a child, being a drunk driver.

15:57

Let's say also that this man was a wealthy individual and given much money to the community.

16:03

This man goes and stands before a judge. And the judge says, I have every intention of throwing the book at you.

16:15

And the rich man says, why though? Why are you going to throw the book at me when

16:23

I've only committed this one crime? I was drunk behind the wheel.

16:29

I ran over a kid. But do you realize, judge, how much money I've given to this community?

16:35

I've paid for these education programs. I've provided this many scholarships.

16:41

I've built this many playgrounds. I have helped children get to school and paid for school lunches and school backpacks and school supplies.

16:53

Look at all the wonderful good things that I have done for children in my community.

17:00

And now you want to send me to jail? Isn't that actually going to harm way more kids?

17:07

And you're not going to be able to bring this other kid back to life. So surely you can see how much good

17:12

I have done for the community. And therefore, there's no reason to throw the book at me. Yeah, I killed one kid, but I've done so much good for every other child.

17:27

How is that judge going to respond? Now, I hope that we would think that that judge is going to give that man a life sentence.

17:39

He actually deserves to be on death row. But the way that those laws have become so lax in our country now,

17:47

I doubt anybody would be put on death row for such a crime as this. So he's going to end up getting life in prison, 20 years minimum, whatever that would happen to turn out to be.

17:58

But he is going to try to give this man the maximum sentence that he can, which is what the judge means when he says,

18:03

I'm going to throw the book at you. Now, that's what we would expect to have happen.

18:10

Regardless of what this man has done, he killed a child. He deserves to go to prison so that justice may be served and continue to be served on American soil.

18:22

But let's say this judge said to the man, well, you're right. I mean, you killed a child, you got drunk, you ran over him, you killed a kid.

18:32

But I can't dispute all the good that you've done for all these other kids. I mean, you've probably saved many more lives than this one child that you have killed.

18:43

So you know what? Yeah, sure. We'll let this one slide, but don't do it again.

18:49

What if the judge responded to this man that way? I don't think any single one of us would call that man a good judge.

18:58

We would say the bench has been corrupted. Justice has been perverted in this particular case because the judge did not throw the book at this man.

19:08

It doesn't matter what this man has done, what good he has accomplished and how generous he has been in other areas.

19:18

He committed this crime. And so he is going to get the maximum sentence.

19:25

And where he has failed at one part, he is guilty of breaking all of the law.

19:32

Does that kind of make sense? So we have a bounden duty as American citizens to keep

19:41

American laws. So surely you can recognize that from general revelation.

19:47

Therefore, as Spurgeon says, everyone who has been made in God's image, who are image bearers of our

19:56

Creator, who are meant to be worshippers of God, who owe

20:01

Him everything because of the life and breath that we've been given by God, we have a bounden duty as His creatures to keep the law of our

20:15

Creator, just as we as American citizens are obligated to keep American laws.

20:21

So everyone who has been made by God, and that's every single person, has an obligation to keep the law of our

20:30

Creator. That's the point that Spurgeon has made. Therefore, as many as are of the works of the law is all who hope by the works of the law to commend themselves to God.

20:41

Spurgeon goes on. He is our benefactor, our king, our

20:48

Lord and God, and He has claims upon us which we ought not to disown.

20:56

He has set forth those claims in the Ten Commandments, and these are binding on all of us without exception.

21:07

Because we have disobeyed the law and denied His just claims, our violation of the law has brought us under penalty, which is described here as being under a curse.

21:25

So now you have a clearer picture, a better understanding of what Paul means when he says all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

21:35

That is everyone. That is every person who is not relying upon Christ for righteousness, but relying upon themselves.

21:44

Every single one of us before Christ are attempting to try to justify ourselves by our own righteousness, and it cannot be done.

21:56

For every point at which we fail at keeping the law, we are guilty of breaking all of the law.

22:06

All who rely on works of the law. Now, what are we talking about when we say works of the law?

22:11

That's the next part of this first statement in verse 10 here, so let's kind of understand that a little bit more.

22:17

What does it mean when we read works of the law? Now, last week

22:23

I made a statement regarding the works of the law being legalism.

22:29

I equated it with legalism. Now, that's not certainly wrong. I think that you can ascribe legalism to a statement of works of the law, but generally when we're talking about works of the law, or I'm sorry, whenever we're talking about legalism, we are talking about adding to the law.

22:47

It is an excessive keeping of the law and thinking that by our excessive keeping of it, that we will attain righteousness by it.

22:58

So the Pharisees were guilty of this. They were legalists. They not only said to the people that you have to keep all of the law in order to be as righteous as us and gain eternal life, but you also had to keep the additional laws that the

23:13

Pharisees were tacking on to that, like not only tithing money, but tithing mint, dill, and cumin, as Jesus rebukes them for in Matthew 3.

23:24

Not only being clean, but you also must wash your hands before every meal.

23:30

That's why I think it's in Mark 7, where Jesus confronts that particular Pharisaical command.

23:38

They were always adding something else to the law, and not just fasting, but fasting three times a week, right?

23:47

And you have to keep the laws that you have in the Mosaic law, but then you must also keep all these other extra things that the

23:54

Pharisees said that you had to keep. They added the Sabbath laws and other things. So that would really be legalism.

24:00

That's what we understand by legalism. And all of us, even prior to Christ, are in some way, shape, or form, legalists because we write our own law apart from the law of God.

24:12

Surely you've heard the term in today's cultural climate, virtue signaling. Virtue signaling is when a person wants to parade their own virtue in front of everybody else.

24:24

And as Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, if that's what people are after by the good things that they do, is praise from men, then

24:31

I tell you that they've already received their reward. But you must give in secret.

24:36

You must do in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

24:43

So we do things not for the benefit of heaping praise upon ourselves from people, but we do all things for an audience of one, is the term you've probably heard.

24:55

That audience being Christ, who searches mind and heart, He says, and will give to everyone according to their works.

25:03

May our works be done, carried out in the righteousness of Christ, and not trying to merit our own righteousness.

25:11

So when we're using that term, works of the law, I equated it with legalism last week. That can certainly apply, but that's not exactly what

25:19

Paul is referring to here when he says works of the law. He's talking specifically about those who rely on keeping the law, like what the

25:31

Judaizers were saying that you had to do in order to gain righteousness.

25:38

Now, anytime that Paul talks about works, he's not always talking about works of the law.

25:45

In Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, we read, For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no man may boast.

25:57

And in that particular context, Paul is saying works of any kind, not just talking about works of the law.

26:04

We're talking about anything that you think that you can do in order to attain righteousness.

26:12

And it is evidently clear in all of the New Testament, even the

26:18

Old. We'll talk a little bit more about that next week. I won't go into that so much here. But it is evident throughout the biblical narrative that we are never justified by our works, works of any kind.

26:33

Whether we're talking about works keeping the law or works by our own justification, by our own righteousness, by thinking that if I do this,

26:45

I will be a good person. Works do not always mean works of the law.

26:51

But in this particular context, since this is the problem that's going on in Galatia, Paul is specifically talking about the

26:59

Judaizers who have said, these works of Moses you must keep in order to be justified.

27:08

And all who rely on works of the law in order to be justified will not be justified, but they are rather under a curse.

27:19

Now this is Paul coming back to something that he stated in the thesis of his letter. All who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

27:28

The Judaizers were saying, you must follow the law. And what did Paul say of them? These who come preaching to you a different gospel, a gospel of works, which is really no gospel at all.

27:39

What did he say of them? Galatians 1, 8, and 9. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one that we preach to you, let him be accursed.

27:52

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, he is accursed.

28:05

And these are those who have come preaching that it's great that you have faith, it's fine that you believe in this

28:12

Jesus, but you must also abide by these things. And if you're not doing these things, then you're not saved.

28:20

The works of the law. All who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.

28:34

That comes from Deuteronomy 27, 26. And as James will repeat this in James 2, 10, not just as it pertains to the law, but by any command of God, whoever breaks one law or stumbles at one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

28:53

So we cannot find righteousness by the law. We're not even going to be graded on a curve.

28:59

And that's the way that we all like to grade ourselves, right? Do you consider yourself a good person?

29:07

Well, sure, I consider myself a good person. I mean, I'm not Hitler, right? And everybody compares themselves to Hitler.

29:15

I'm not Hitler, so surely God has to accept me into heaven. Apparently, hell is occupied by just a few people.

29:23

There's hardly anyone there at all. But we will justify ourselves trying to compare ourselves to other people.

29:32

But curse be everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law and then does them.

29:40

Verse 11, now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law.

29:47

For the righteous shall live by faith. We are not justified by the law.

29:52

We are justified by faith. And like I said earlier, we've seen this statement before.

29:59

Paul quotes this also in Romans 1, 17. The righteous shall live by faith. Where does it come from?

30:05

He gets it from the Old Testament. Habakkuk 2, 4, the righteous shall live by faith.

30:13

Now, some of you may have a translation that says the just shall live by faith. The righteous shall live by faith.

30:19

The just shall live by faith. What's the difference? Well, there really is no difference. Whenever we're talking about righteousness or justice, we're talking about doing what is right.

30:30

And not just doing what we think is right, but specifically what God says is right.

30:39

It is doing what He says is just. And God in the book of Deuteronomy is described as just, and all

30:47

His ways are justice. So we know what is right and what is righteous by what

30:53

God says. What has He said? We find it in the law. You know the mind of God when you read

31:00

His word. What does the righteousness of God look like? What does the justice of God look like?

31:07

It's what we have found in the Scriptures. And our culture and our society today, I mean, justice is like one of the top talking points right now.

31:16

Everybody wants to tell you what they think justice is. Justice is this. Justice is getting what you owe me.

31:24

The whole social justice argument. Social justice in a nutshell is this. You owe me and I deserve to be compensated.

31:34

That's what the social justice outcry is right now. And there may be a few that are speaking on behalf of somebody else or think that they are anyway.

31:43

That person has been wronged. You owe that person and they deserve to be compensated by you.

31:53

But the message of the gospel is rather this. You deserve death.

32:01

But what you get instead is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

32:09

The justice of God. Justification. That you stand before God declared righteous, innocent, cleared of all wrongdoing.

32:20

Not because of anything you did because you couldn't do it. But because of what Christ has done for you.

32:30

And the wonderful thing about this gospel message is that the way that God has chosen to transmit all of the wonderful promises that come with justification in Christ Jesus.

32:49

He transmits the promises, the benefits, the treasures, the pleasures, the blessings.

32:58

All of this are given to us. The grace of God upon us by faith.

33:05

By faith. By believing. And you're cleared of guilt.

33:14

You are forgiven your sins. You are adopted into God's family.

33:21

And even greater still, you become a fellow heir of his kingdom.

33:28

The kingdom that you had treacherously, treasonously betrayed by your breaking of his law.

33:38

And God has changed you from being a rebel into a recipient.

33:45

From being an enemy into an heir.

33:50

From being a sinner into a saint.

33:57

And that is all by the gracious work of our Lord God, which he gives to us by faith.

34:07

And faith itself is not a work. It's the work of God. In John chapter 6,

34:16

Jesus says, This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.

34:23

And I've already quoted to you Ephesians 2 .8, By grace you are saved through faith, and this is not your own doing.

34:30

It is the gift of God. In Hebrews chapter 12,

34:36

Jesus is described as the author of our faith. He's the one that gives it to us. And the perfecter of our faith.

34:44

He is the one that keeps us in it and is growing us in it as well. All of this is the work of God.

34:52

And we receive these wonderful treasures and promises by faith in his

34:58

Son. It is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.

35:08

But the law is not of faith. Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.

35:20

Verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

35:26

For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Now that particular word comes from Deuteronomy.

35:37

It's Deuteronomy 21 verses 22 through 23. And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day.

35:55

For a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the

36:01

Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. Now whenever we think about being hanged on a tree, we probably think about a rope around somebody's neck.

36:12

That's because of the Old West and being hanged by the neck until dead.

36:19

That was the death sentence given to a person before we had the electric chair and then lethal injection and on and on.

36:26

Firing squad was a waste of bullets. So you had hanging by rope, lynching. That's what we think of whenever we hear that term hanged.

36:35

But specifically, we're talking about nailing someone to a tree or impaling them, skewering them on a post and hoisting them up in the air.

36:45

Those were the two kinds of hangings that were being done in that part of the world at this particular time.

36:51

Either nailing a person to a tree, tying a person to a tree until they die, suffer and die, or you're talking about impaling someone on a stake and hoisting them up.

37:03

I know you didn't come for the blood and guts this morning, but nevertheless, Deuteronomy 21, 22 through 23, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

37:14

Why? Because a person's been hanged there for breaking the law. That's what has resulted.

37:21

Their hanging there is the result of having broken the law. So the punishment has been death, so they've been hanged on a tree.

37:30

And God says you shouldn't leave a hanged person on a tree because it will defile your land. A person that's been hanged on a tree is cursed.

37:39

What happens to our Lord Christ? But He becomes a curse for us.

37:45

As Paul says here, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

37:53

2 Corinthians 5, 21, For our sake He became sin, who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God through faith in Him.

38:09

Jesus takes the curse that was upon us for our sinfulness.

38:15

He takes that upon Himself with His death on the cross. He gives us His righteousness.

38:22

This is that double imputation doctrine we've talked about in recent weeks. We were going through 2 Corinthians. I mentioned it to you.

38:29

It was either last week or the week before. But our sins have been imputed upon Christ with His hanging on the cross.

38:36

The wrath of God taken upon Himself as He died in our place and His righteousness has been given to us.

38:45

And again, this is all by faith. So when God looks at us, He sees not our sin, not the curse of sin that is upon us, not the wages of sin, which is death, but He sees someone who is clothed in the righteousness of His Son.

39:00

Someone who stands before Him justified because by faith we have believed in the

39:07

One who has paid the debt for us so that God may be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

39:16

Romans 3 .26 And we're going to look a little bit further next week as to how the

39:31

Old Testament even reveals to us that we are justified by faith and not by works of the law.

39:37

We think of the Old Testament as being the law. That's where all the law is. So you were justified in the

39:43

Old Testament by the law and you're justified in the New Testament by grace through faith. Nope. Justification was by grace through faith, whether you're talking about the

39:52

Old Testament or the New. In the Old Testament, they were looking forward to the

39:58

One who would redeem us from the curse of the law, who would fulfill all of the ceremonial laws and sacrifices that had been done throughout the

40:12

Old Testament in so keeping the law, but did not have the ability to justify a person.

40:18

This was all pointing towards something greater, and all of those things were fulfilled in Christ. The New Testament looks back at the cross.

40:25

The Old Testament looks forward to the cross. But in either case, justification was by grace through faith.

40:34

The penalty was ultimately paid by Christ with His death for us, so that in Christ Jesus, verse 14, the blessing of Abraham might come to the

40:45

Gentiles, not just Jews, but Gentiles, all who believe in Him.

40:50

That's the context of John 3, 16, by the way. For God so loved the world. This was

40:56

Jesus telling Nicodemus, this Savior who is coming is not just a Savior for the

41:01

Jews. He is a Savior for the whole world, Jews and Gentiles.

41:08

For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

41:18

That was a splash of cold water in the face of Nicodemus for Jesus to say that.

41:26

That you are not redeemed by the law that you've been keeping, and as a Pharisee, you're imposing upon everybody else to keep.

41:34

You are redeemed by the one whom God gave to die, not just for Jews, but also for Gentiles, so that all who believe in Him will not perish.

41:45

In Christ, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised

41:50

Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, through faith, filling us up.

41:56

We have the presence of God Himself living within us. For all who have faith in Jesus and those who do not have the

42:04

Spirit, it's impossible to please God, according to the Apostle Paul in Romans 8. So we have

42:09

God Himself dwelling within us by His Spirit that has made our bodies a temple of the living

42:19

God. And the presence of the Spirit within us is also a seal for the promise of that great day when we will be with our

42:30

Lord forever in glory. And we receive all of these things, not because of the works that we have done, but because of the works that Christ has done and the righteousness that we have received from Him by faith.

42:49

Now we must live as one who is walking not in the pattern of this world, but is being renewed after the image of our

43:00

Creator. And we walk by faith, keeping the commandments that Christ has given to us.

43:08

But we do this not believing that the commandments will redeem us, but knowing that we have been redeemed by Christ who kept the commandments for us.

43:19

And so now it is our delight to do what Christ our Savior has asked of us to do as a statement of faith, as the evidence of our faith.

43:35

For it is the righteous who shall live by faith in Christ alone.

43:45

We are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

43:52

According to Scripture alone. And this is all the grace of God.

46:18

Son of man and Son of God. Hear the wrath, is the name of which we boast.

46:48

Lamb of God, sacrifice to cancel guilt.

46:59

None shall ever be confounded.

47:12

Thank you for listening to our weekly sermon presented by First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City, Kansas. For more information about our church, visit fsbcjc .org.

47:24

On behalf of our church family, my name is Becky, inviting you to join us again this week, Growing Together in Christ, when we understand the text.