Sunday, August 15, 2021 PM

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Sunnyside Baptist Church Josiah DeForest Study in Galatians

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I greatly appreciate James interceding for me about my preaching tonight, but I will not be preaching tonight.
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We're going to have Joe DeForest, our intern, come preach for us, another passage out of Galatians, and I'll leave that between you all.
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And looking forward to the word from Galatians, so brother, come on up and preach for us. It's a joy to be with you all tonight.
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I've been meditating on how the word of God is sufficient to answer all of the questions we have in this life, and to give us direction, and to give us hope, and to give us everything we need.
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God is truly good to supply us with everything we need. We'll be in Galatians 3, we'll be reading through the first 25 verses, but we'll be focusing on the first 14 verses tonight.
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So, Galatians chapter 3, starting in verse 1. Now you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain.
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Therefore he who supplies the Spirit to you, and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
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Just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
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And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying,
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In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with believing
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Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.
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For it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
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But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident. For the just shall live by faith.
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Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.
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For it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the
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Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
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Brethren, I speak in the manner of man, though it is only a man's covenant. Yet, if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.
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Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He does not say, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, who is
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Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
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For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise.
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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 a mediator.
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Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law, then, against the promises of God?
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Certainly not. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly, righteousness would have been by the law.
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But the scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
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But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
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Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
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But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. This is
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God's word. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you for tonight.
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We thank you for providing for us all that we've needed this past week and more. As our good
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Heavenly Father, Lord, you know exactly what we need. And you watch over us,
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Lord. Your spirit protects us and leads us and guides us. We thank you for your word,
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Lord. We thank you for this portion of Galatians. And as we come to it, Father, we ask that your spirit would open our eyes to the truth, that we might see it and we might see
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Christ and him crucified tonight. And Heavenly Father, I ask that you would strike the match tonight.
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And it's in Christ's name I pray, amen. The gospel comes under fire in any age, and it did so in Paul's day.
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He's contending for the faith, he's contending for the gospel, that we are justified by faith and not by the law, not by the works that we do.
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And in Galatians so far, he's shown the gospel to be by God's grace. There is no other gospel, it's not according to man.
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And he gives a little personal testimony there, saying that I did not receive it from man nor was
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I taught it. It's recognized and confirmed, Paul's gospel, by true everyday believers, as well as true apostles at Jerusalem.
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Yet it's not dependent on man, as we see with the confrontation with Peter. As when one believer fails to uphold the gospel rightly, the gospel does not change.
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It's not dependent on man. And in this confrontation, Paul doing the
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Christian thing, in calling out his brother in Christ, contends for the gospel still.
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Specifically, that believers are justified by faith in Christ alone, and we continue in faith in Christ alone by God's grace.
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As one commentator put it, chapter 2, verse 16 of Galatians, is Paul's thesis, his main point.
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And it reads, 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.
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For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. This is the main point he wishes the
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Galatians to come away with. He wishes them to live by this truth, to hold fast to this truth, to hold fast to Christ in faith.
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And now, in chapter 3, comes the pivot, something that changes in Paul's writing.
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You can divide Galatians into three basic parts. Chapters 1 and 2, Paul plays defense for the gospel of Christ.
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In chapters 3 and 4, he goes on the offense with sound theology, explaining the law and explaining faith.
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And in chapters 5 and 6, he gives application, how then the believers at Galatia should live.
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In playing defense so far in the first two chapters, Paul has led up to his thesis, his main point of justification by faith alone, and now pivots to playing offense.
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Now he has the ball and he's going to run with it and run with it well. He does so initially in the first 25 verses of chapter 3 by taking hold of faith and law, the two things that the
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Galatians had wrongfully led away by Judaizers, false teachers who had come in and said, you need faith in Christ, but also you need to follow the works of the law.
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You need to be circumcised and follow what Moses has taught us. They had mixed law and faith, but not in a good way.
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And the apostle demonstrates that this is faith and this is law.
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He separates them and he shows that this is how God designed them and this is how he utilizes them in redemption.
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In loving kindness and strength, concern for the Galatians as a parent is for a child who lives foolishly,
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Paul continues to contend for the gospel. And in the first nine verses of chapter three, we see that he again goes over that we are justified by faith and not by works.
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First nine verses of Galatians 3, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes
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Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you.
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Now, did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish?
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Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain?
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Therefore he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
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Just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
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And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying, in you all the nations shall be blessed.
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So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. William Hendrickson notes that Paul supports this idea that we're justified by faith in two particular ways in these first nine verses.
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He examines the Christian life and he also looks back to an Old Testament example showing that it's always been one is justified by faith alone.
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This letter particularly shows Paul is coming across as severe with the believers at Galatia.
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That's what it seems like for he starts out, oh foolish Galatians. But he doesn't seem to, he doesn't intend to call them out and saying you are mentally dull here.
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But that they're foolish in having been taught the gospel, having been preached the gospel,
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Jesus Christ and him crucified. They had received the true gospel, they had believed it in faith, they had begun in the gospel.
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But now being fascinated, being bewitched by false teachers who had come into their midst, they had begun to turn away.
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Begun to turn to a different gospel which is not another. And this is indeed foolish to have received the full gospel but to be fascinated by something else and to walk away to something else rather than the message that gives life, the message that leads to Christ.
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And Paul asks them a series of questions in these first nine verses. One of the questions is, did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
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That is, did your Christian walk begin with you following the old law or by believing
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Christ and him crucified? If Paul was speaking to the Galatians in person,
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I would imagine he would have given them a moment to think. Think that over for a moment. And they would have come back to him and said, we believe in faith, yes, but these teachers make an excellent point about needing to be circumcised and following the law and doing all this stuff.
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And Paul continues, are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
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That is, so you begin with faith and then the flesh comes along to continue the work for you.
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The flesh, which works against the spirit, which is contrary to Christ, which does not work for the believer but against the believer.
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A believer does not continue his Christian walk by works but continues in faith by grace.
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And Paul continues, have you suffered so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain?
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I admit that this verse troubled me for a little bit and I couldn't figure out how does it fit into the rest of Galatians?
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Because it kind of sounds like when you read it initially that Paul is questioning himself about is your faith genuine?
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Is it actually real? Or are you beginning to fall away? Looking at the rest of the letter,
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I don't believe this is the case. Paul calls the Galatians brethren.
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He calls them his children. And in chapter 5 verse 10 he says, I am confident in you in the
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Lord. I appreciate the words of Calvin on chapter 3 verse 4.
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He writes, but to mitigate the severity of this complaint, he, that is Paul, adds, if it be really in vain, thus inspiring their minds with the expectation of something better and rousing them to the exercise of repentance.
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So this is not Paul asking himself, was this all in vain? But he is asking the
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Galatians, was this really in vain? He starts with the negative idea, was this in vain?
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And then he moves on to that little insert, was it really in vain? To start them to think about this.
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And he's asking them questions to stir up thinking within them. Examine the Christian walk and examine what you've already experienced, what you've suffered beforehand.
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And he's doing so to direct them in this situation to come to repentance and to turn back to the true message.
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Paul asks, he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
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That is, does God give you his spirit and works miracles among you because you have done certain deeds, you've kept the law?
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Does he do this because you've done stuff? Or does this occur because you have faith in Christ?
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Paul is examining the Christian walk, the life, to see, does it begin, does it continue, does
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God live in his people and work through his people because they have worked hard enough and do enough?
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Because they have lived holy lives by their own strength, by their flesh. Or does the
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Christian life happen, does it start, does it continue because one has faith in Jesus Christ?
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Indeed, we're justified by faith in Christ alone. We don't trust in the strength of our flesh, our spiritually dead flesh that produces nothing more but more and more sin.
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We don't begin our walk because we have met the standard. We don't begin with faith and then trust in our flesh as if Christ opens the door and says, it's up to you, buddy.
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Good luck. I'll see you on the other side if you make it. No, God doesn't give us his spirit, nor does he work miracles in us and through us because we have followed the law or do particular works.
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As if to say, we do something and now God owes us his spirit, owes us his favor, owes to do miracles to us.
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That's not the case, no. We begin with faith in Christ alone, we continue in faith in Christ alone and God grants us his spirit to live within us and works miracles in us because we trust in God alone, in Christ alone.
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And what a joy it is to reflect on what miracles has he done for you? What miracles has he done for you?
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For he takes the proud and humbles them. He takes the selfish and makes them servants. He takes the one who fears man and transforms him into one who fears
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God alone. He takes the anxious and gives them peace. He takes the scared and makes them bold.
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He takes the fishermen and makes them apostles. He takes sinners like you and I and makes us his people by his grace.
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He forgives our sins, he justifies us, he adopts us and he sets us apart.
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This is by God's grace through faith in Christ alone and we see this in God's word and it's all to God's glory.
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Ephesians tells us, for by grace you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works least anyone should boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
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God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. To further prove his case for justification by faith alone,
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Paul moves on to an Old Testament example to Abraham. And yes, we know that Paul is most assuredly on the offense here by bringing up Abraham.
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For the false teachers, the Judaizers most assuredly took confidence and that was one of their main selling points to the
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Galatians in presenting to them their false doctrine. We are sons of Abraham, we're sons of the law, we keep the law, we do what
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Abraham wants to do, has done beforehand. They even probably had a full breakdown on Ancestry .com
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to show everyone we are sons of Abraham. It's all in the
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Old Testament, it's in the word of God, it's there, our gospel is true. And now
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Paul uses Abraham to show, no, we're justified by faith just like Abraham was.
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Paul certainly had an excellent way of bringing up the best possible examples inspired by the
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Holy Spirit. For we see earlier in Galatians that he took Titus with him along with Barnabas up to Jerusalem.
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He took a Greek who was uncircumcised into deep Jewish territory into Jerusalem and said,
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I preach the gospel to Gentiles. Exhibit A. This is a man who is not circumcised, who is a
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Greek, but who is a brother in Christ justified by faith alone. And now he looks back to the
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Old Testament and says, we are justified by faith alone just like Abraham. Abraham believed
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God's promise that all the nations of the earth will be blessed in Abraham. The patriarch of the
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Jews believed the gospel, he believed in Christ to come without clearly seeing him.
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And we know this from Hebrews, for in Hebrews it says, talking to Abraham and to those who had come before Christ, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them and embraced them.
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And Paul in Galatians makes the connections that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
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Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. And it's not that they believe in Abraham, but that with Abraham they believe.
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Abraham, a man of faith, one who had believed in Christ. By faith one is justified before a holy
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God, made right with him. And this is the way it's been since Abraham and even before the patriarch of the
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Jews. For Abel had faith, Enoch had faith, Noah had faith.
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So then it was never a matter of before Christ in the Old Testament, there was another way to be saved, to be made right with God.
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It wasn't as if God after the fall had, I have a backup plan, keep the law and you'll be good.
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And then with the arrival of his son, new plan, believe in my son and you'll be good.
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No, it's always been faith in Christ alone. For he is the way, the truth, and the life.
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No one comes to the Father except through him. This is the way it's always been. When we get to heaven, there's not going to be department
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A before Christ, all the saints of old, and then department B, everyone after Christ.
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But it's going to be one people underneath Christ, redeemed by his work, redeemed by his work.
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The church today can read through Galatians and be tempted to say, those
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Galatians were truly foolish. They had received the gospel and now are being turned away.
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I'm really glad I'm not like those weak believers. Yet the church today still faces the temptation, the draw, the natural inclination of self -salvation.
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That is, salvation according to your works or possibly a mix of faith and works.
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To mix faith and works is to dilute the gospel into something else entirely.
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It is to pervert and to twist it into another gospel, which is not another. The present church does not face the temptation exactly like the
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Galatians. We don't wander about thinking justified by circumcision and by following Mosaic covenant.
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But there's always that draw to believe that one can do works to earn salvation, or one can stay in salvation by your works, by what you do.
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To be made right with God. Let us not be drawn away from the simple and essential truth we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone.
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Paul has shown faith now in these first nine verses. Here is the life of the believer and it's always been the way of justification before God as we see in Abraham.
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And now the apostle is going to move on to law. And the transition is a smooth one.
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Those of faith are blessed with Abraham. And those who lay hold of the law, of the works of the law, their salvation is not secured.
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They're not justified, but they're under a curse. And we'll look at that next time. Would you pray with me?
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Father, we thank you for tonight. We thank you for the reminder in Galatians that we are not justified by what we do.
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Our salvation is not secured in our flesh or by our own strength, but it's secured by Christ who has done the work for us, who has met the standard for us.
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And we thank you, Father, for all that you do. We thank you for Jesus Christ. And we pray that we would remember him this week in all we do and that we would rest in him.
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Oh, Father, help us to rest in Christ. And it's in his name we pray, amen. Well, thank you very much for that encouraging gospel word.