The Theology of the Gospel

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Jew, Gentile, both are hopelessly lost without faith in Jesus Christ. Someone can be born and raised in a New Testament church like Morse Corner, and that's great.

That's a great advantage. But if you don't actually place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, it doesn't do you any good. You're just as lost as the most lost, heathen, or ever in the world.

It's a great advantage, but if you don't actually believe it, you're in the same position. So I think Paul's being a little sarcastic. Look at verse 16. This is the most important verse, I believe, in the whole book.

Galatians 2 .16. Paul says, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we who have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.

For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. So now starting in verse 16, we're getting into the theological part of the chapter. And listen, don't let your eyes glaze over here. You hear that?

Theological. Okay, now it's time to get in that quick nap.

No, no.

This is very important because these are the inner workings of the gospel. This is the heart of our faith right here, that we understand how could a man die for us. Jesus died for our sins. We've all said that, heard that a thousand times.

Do you actually know how that all works? But notice in verse 16, Paul uses this word justified three times. This word is crucial. Justified. So here's the question. How can a sinner stand before God and be declared justified?

Some people have defined this term justification as just as if you never sinned, right? Who's heard this? That's a fine definition, I suppose. But he's not just talking. This word is not just referring to someone being innocent.

That you can stand before God as innocent. It's way more than that. You can stand before God justified. You can stand before God perfectly righteous in His sight. How is that possible? That a sinner, admittedly, we're all sinners, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

How can a sinner stand before God as righteous? Because if we are in the new covenant, if we are in Christ, and if Christ is in us, when God looks at us, that's who He sees. He sees Christ. Colossians 3, 3 says, For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

So because we are in Christ, when Jesus died on that cross, it's like you were hanging there. It's like you died. This is called the vicarious substitutionary atonement. That's the big theological term.

Vicarious substitutionary atonement. Look at verse 20. Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. He also says something similar in 2 Corinthians 5, 14. He says, The love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that if one died for all, talking about believers, then all died.

So everyone who is in covenant with Jesus Christ, everyone who is part of the true church of Jesus Christ, we died in Him. Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross in full. So God's wrath, God's punishment against sin, has already been dealt with.

God's wrath has been appeased. God's justice has been satisfied. So God views it this way. When Jesus died on the cross, you were there. You died in Him. Your sin has already been punished. What's the wages of sin?

Death.

Okay.

So I gave this illustration in Sunday school. If somebody goes out and commits a crime, somebody goes out and commits first-degree murder, and they're arrested by the police, they're brought into the courtroom, they're put on trial, they're condemned guilty, they're brought to the gas chamber, they're put to death, they're laying there dead.

Can they be,.

Hey, let's retry him again for something else.

You can't. He's already dead.

Let's put him to death again.

It's not gonna do any good.

He's dead.

Well, that's the way we are, in that we died in Christ. It's been dealt with. Nothing else can happen to us. Now, this sinful flesh is still walking around, and that's gonna die. But spiritually, and that's who we really are, the new man, the new woman in Christ, you are a spiritual being.

You're never gonna die. You will never die. Jesus said that. If you believe in me, he who believes in me, shall never die. And then he asked the question, do you believe this? So, do you believe this?

Another illustration, here's another word, imputation, all right? Imputation. This is the great transfer. Our sins were put on him, his righteousness is put on us. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.

Sin has left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. So, this is the other term we should be familiar with, imputation.

Think of it,.

Here's an illustration of like going to the bank. You know, you make a deposit. You put something into your account, and it's there, and the bank can see that. Well, think of it like this. Spiritually speaking, you're bankrupt, right?

And this is the thing where some people say, that's not true, I'm a good person. Well, that person's pride will keep them out of the kingdom of God. But any true believer recognizes, yeah, I'm a sinner before God.

So, you are spiritually bankrupt. You have no money. There is no way you could pay off this massive debt that you owe. And worse yet, it keeps piling up more and more every day. You can never pay it off.

Jesus, on the other hand, has infinite wealth. So, when God, who's the banker in this illustration, when he pulls up your file on the computer, and he looks at your account, he sees that, wait, Jesus just transferred all of his wealth into your account.

You're good.

You're good.

Someone might respond,.

Well, I just don't,.

I don't know if I believe that. It can't be that easy.

Faith alone,.

It can't be that easy. I must have to do something.

So, I'm gonna work,.

And I'm gonna make deposits. I'm gonna try to pay off this debt myself, you know.

I got this. No, you don't got this.

This is the gospel. Sola Fide, faith alone. This is person's only hope. Because Jesus is their only hope. You cannot do enough good.

In your life.

To pay this debt of sin and condemnation before God. So, this is how the gospel works. It's a free gift. Believe and receive. That's all you have to do. So, when you are in Christ, when God looks at you, if you are in Christ, what does he see?

You and all the terrible things you've said and thought and done? No, if you're in Christ, if you're in covenant with Christ, when he looks at you, that's who he sees. His only begotten son. So, God doesn't deal with us any longer as sinners.

Rather, he deals with us as sons and daughters of God. What does the Bible say? Salvation is of the Lord. It's all of him. He did it all. Now, we just have to trust in this. Well, the Judaizers, going back to Galatians, what was the problem?

They're saying, believing in Jesus, yeah, that's necessary. You got to do that, but it's not enough. You need to be circumcised. You need to keep the law of Moses. You need to do all of these works. They were saying the cross was not enough.

Galatians 2 .16, again, Paul says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we who have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by what?

By faith in Jesus. And not by the works of the law. And in case you missed it, he said, by the works of the law, he says it again. No flesh shall be justified. So why is Paul saying that? Going back to Peter, Peter's actions signaled a return to the law.

Peter, through his actions, was sending the message, well, maybe you do need to be circumcised after all. And the Judaizers could have pointed to Peter and his behavior and say, look, he agrees with us.

He's having no fellowship with these uncircumcised Gentiles. So he's giving ammunition to the false teachers. Paul sees this clearly and he said, nope, not on my watch. I'm doing something about it. And it's kind of a bold move to rebuke the apostle Peter to his face in front of the whole church.

I mean, can we really imagine that? That's pretty, pretty serious. So Paul was not about to risk all of this. Instead, he nips it in the bud. Sometimes we have to do that with a problem. Nip it in the bud.

Because if you don't, guess what? It gets worse. And then other people see it and they join in. And then all of a sudden you have a big problem on your hands. Look at verse 17. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners.

Is Jesus therefore a minister of sin? So now Paul is, what he's doing is he's using a logical argument to prove a point. Peter was denying a basic principle of the new covenant. If Peter was correct, or if the Judaizers were correct, that means Jesus was incorrect, right?

It can't happen both ways. The Judaizers said it's faith plus works. Jesus was going around Judea preaching that all a person had to do was believe in him. Jesus gave the gospel to Paul, that it's by faith alone.

So either the Judaizers are right, and if that's true, then Jesus is a minister of sin. Doing what Jesus says actually increases your guilt. So it's one or the other, Paul says, is Jesus therefore a minister of sin?

As he respond, by using the strongest language possible, certainly not, or God forbid. So there's no middle ground. There's no middle ground. Paul sees this as the crucial issue within the church. You know what?

It's always been, and it will always be the crucial issue in the church. We're talking about first century events. Did this go away?

No.

In the 16th century, Paul is having to contend with the Judaizers, in the 16th century, the Protestants had to contend with the church of Rome during the reformation, and in every century in between and since, this battle has had to be fought, and it continues to be fought.

In the 19th and 20th century, evangelical Christians had to contend with the rise of the cults. So it's still happening. It's still happening today. And this is the crucial issue because if the gospel is, listen now, if the gospel is lost, all is lost.

The Ongoing Battle for the Gospel

Paul continues with his logic in verse 18. He says, for if I build again, there's things which I destroyed. I make myself a transgressor. Another translation puts it this way. He says, rather I am a sinner.

If I rebuild, rebuild that old system of law that I already tore down. Paul was once a Pharisee, right? Paul was once a Pharisee, and he believed that salvation came through the law. But when Paul came to Christ, he abandoned that, and he worked and fought to kind of tear down that system of works righteousness.

And he said,.

God forbid,.

I should ever go back to that. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornett Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornettchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.