Good morning to everyone, good to see you all this morning. A little chilly this morning; we had frost on the pumpkin up there at my house this morning, ice on the cars, and so looks like warm weather coming but a little reminder of what's coming soon, I guess. 

I'd like to begin this morning; we're working through the book of Galatians. Last week we looked at Romans 12, 1 and 2 for our communion service on biblical sanctification, and this is kind of a parallel message to that in Galatians 2. But I'd like to begin this morning with a quote from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon called The Warrant of Faith, and it's a message I heartily recommend.

Spurgeon began his sermon this way: "the old law shines in terrible glory with its ten commandments. There are some who love that law so much that they cannot pass over a Sunday without it being read in their hearing, accompanied by the mournful petition, 'Lord, have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law.' Know some are so foolish as to enter into a covenant for their children that they shall keep all God's holy commandments and walk in the same all the days of their life. Thus they early wear a yoke which neither they nor their fathers can bear, and daily groaning under its awful weight, they labor after righteousness where it can never be found. Over the tables of the law in every church I would have conspicuously printed these gospel words: by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified. The true believer has learned to look away from the killing ordinances of the old law. He understands that as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, 'cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.' He therefore turns with loathing from all trust in his own obedience to the ten commandments and lays hold with joy upon the hope set before him in the one commandment contained in my text, this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. For from the law, death comes and not life, misery and not comfort. To convince and to condemn is all the law can do. Oh, when will all professors and especially all professed ministers of Christ learn the difference between the law and the gospel? Most of them make a mingle mangle and serve out deadly potions to the people, often containing but one ounce of gospel to a pound of law, whereas even a grain of law is enough to spoil the whole thing. It must be gospel and gospel only. If it is by grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. And if it is of works, then it is not of grace, otherwise work is no more work."

Well, it seems that from the beginning of the church, as we see in our text in Galatians and all through history, including in Spurgeon's day and certainly in our present day, there's great confusion about the role of the law in the Christian life. The Reformed tradition carries on this teaching today that the law is a rule of life for the Christian, that which Spurgeon preached so mightily against. We see a mishmash of law and grace in the preaching and teaching of the evangelical church, and in some places that statement rings true: an ounce of grace to a pound of law. The result is confusion about the Christian life and how God intends we should live a holy life. 

And it is amazing to me the power of our tendency to go back to the law, especially in light of the tremendous clarity in the Scriptures concerning the purpose of the law, the law becoming obsolete in the new covenant, and the plan of God for holiness in the lives of His people through faith in Jesus Christ. I don't know how the Scriptures could be clearer. Like I said, we looked at this last week in Romans 12, 1 and 2, and we really see a parallel message from Paul here in Galatians 2.

You know, the concern of the legalist is always this: licentiousness, trading on God's grace, a lack of holiness in the life of the believer, antinomianism, meaning against the law. And frankly, my brothers and sisters, this is a danger. There are those who believe and teach, at least by their example, that we can live like the world, that we can trade on God's grace, we can sin all we want, and God's grace will cover us. But this is a profound misunderstanding of the salvation that is provided through Jesus Christ. As Paul explains in Romans 6, 2, how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 

The question in my mind, as always, is this: what does the Word of God say? A man can become confused listening to sermons, reading books, or seeking the wisdom of men. But what does the Word of God say? What does it say about the purpose of the law? What does it say about the transforming power of God in salvation and the plan of God for holy living, sanctification, the Christian life? 

There's no more powerful text, no more concise words that I know of in the Word of God than these verses before us this morning in answering these questions. And so we will seek the answers that God gives this morning in His Word concerning the law, salvation, and God's means to holiness. Let's look at Galatians 2, 18, please. Paul says, "for if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

I've given you four points on your outline this morning: first, the law and sin; second, the purpose of the law; third, death to the law; and fourth, new life in Christ by faith. 

Well, the context here of Paul's words is the situation that occurred with Peter and Barnabas and not being straightforward about the gospel. Look back to chapter 2 at verse 11. Chapter 2, 11: "Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed. For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, 'If you being a Jew, living in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?' And in verse 16 he gives us this amazingly clear statement, 'Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.'"

Even Peter had succumbed to the pressures of the legalists, his own tendency to go back to the law, and had confused the gospel, not being straightforward, not being clear and endangering the fellowship, the unity in the church between Jew and Gentile. And Paul withstood him to his face publicly because he was to be blamed. This is no small issue. Paul says the gospel is at stake, and that was the case in the region of Galatia. The gospel was in danger of being perverted by adding law to grace. And not only is the gospel itself at stake in our understanding of justification, but the true believer's understanding of sanctification is so easily confused when the law is placed on the neck of the believers as a yoke of bondage, as a rule of life.

Those who are under the law are under a curse. The law is a ministry of condemnation, of death, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3. The law, listen to this now, the law only brings wrath. You know, sometimes we wrestle with difficult questions about the Scriptures, about the Christian life or our world. And I think, I wish the Bible would just answer this question clearly. For example, with the issue at hand, wouldn't it be nice if the Bible would just say, what is the purpose of the law? And then answer it clearly. Then this issue would be settled. Or would it? 

Galatians 3.19, you might look over a couple of pages, what's it say? Paul says, "What purpose then does the law serve?" He asks the question directly, what is the purpose of the law? He says, "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. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. Look at this statement. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our teacher, our schoolmaster, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Notice this: but after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."

Paul asks the very question at hand within the context of the book of Galatians: the law, grace, the gospel, the Christian life, what purpose does the law serve? Why did God give the law to Moses? And he answers it so clearly; it was given to show us our sin. It was given to shut our mouths. It was given to manifest our guilt and our need for a Savior, in fact, to lead us to faith in Christ as our only Savior from sin and wrath and death and hell. But Paul says after faith has come, we're no longer under the law; the law has served its purpose. 

I love the statement in verse 21: if there had been a law given which could have given life, then surely we would have been made righteous through keeping the law. But the problem's not with the law; the problem's with the man, with the man in Adam, and indwelling sin. He can't keep the law in order to establish his own righteousness. And cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things in the book of law to do them. What an amazingly clear statement concerning the law and the condition of the lost man in Adam. The law causes sin to be evident, to abound. In Romans 5.20, Paul says, "Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." 

Think about Paul's statement there. The law entered that the offense might abound. Isn't that the opposite of what the legalist tells us? They're saying the law is given so that we might live righteously and holy. Paul says, "No, the law was given so that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace superabounded so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Why was the law given? So that sin might abound, so that we might become conscious of our sinful dead state in Adam. There was no law from Adam until Moses. Adam was given a law in the garden, "Do not eat of the tree," but there was no law from Adam all the way until Moses. Paul talks about that in Romans 5. Death persisted because all men sinned in Adam. Death reigned over every man born in Adam, but there was no law. 

And it tells us that God gave the law to Moses for the express purpose of showing us our sin. And Paul spends a great deal of time clearly explaining this truth in his letters. Turn over to Romans 7 with me, verse 5. Romans 7, 5, "For when we were in the flesh," that's talking about when we were lost before Christ in Adam, "when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now, we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." 

Look at verse 7: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire, for apart from the law, sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death, for sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good." 

You see, the law arouses the sin in us; it brings it to the surface; it makes it manifest. Saul of Tarsus was a zealous religious man, and he thought that he could earn his own righteousness before God by the law. He thought that the law was given in order to bring him life, eternal life, by him keeping it and earning his righteousness. But when he came to understand the law, when he came to understand his sin, he saw that the law worked with the sin in him to kill him. The law causes sin to abound. 

Remember the old show, Leave it to Beaver? Some of you remember that. Can you see the beaver walking down that street in the old black and white television show? And he comes upon some fresh cement, or down south we'd say cement. He comes upon some fresh concrete, how's that? And now the beaver, he really wasn't thinking at all about getting into trouble; he's just daydreaming; he's just walking along enjoying the sunshine. But here's this new concrete and a big sign that says, "Stay out. Fresh cement." Here's a law, and what is the result? There's something in him, something in all of us called indwelling sin, and that law makes that sin rise up in us so that there's an almost irresistible urge to dabble in that concrete when you're a 10-year-old boy on Leave it to Beaver, right? 

Paul described it in this way concerning his life before Christ when he was dominated by indwelling sin. In Romans 7, 21-23, speaking of this, he said, "I find then a law; there's this law, there's this principle in me; evil is present with me, the one who wants to do good, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Don't be confused in this passage; Paul's intent is to exonerate the law of God and show it as good, holy, and just; we just read that, verse 12, and rather to highlight indwelling sin as the problem for the man in Adam. 

Who is it that delighted in the law of God more than Saul of Tarsus? It was his entire life. He just told us in verses 7 to 12 that it was his means to life, to salvation. It was everything he did. It was everything he defended. Why was he killing Christians? Why was he seeking to... because he thought they were against the law. What did they say of Paul later when he started preaching Christ? He preaches against the people, against the law, and against this place. But what did Paul find? He found that he could not keep it because of the sin that dominated him and controlled his members, his outward actions. And the law only exacerbated this, brought it to light, to the surface, to the understanding of Paul. 

And my friends, that's the law's purpose. The man in verses 21 to 23 is controlled and dominated by indwelling sin. The law only works with that sin. Notice verse 5 again: "For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death." Sinful passions were aroused by the law, causing his members to bear fruit to death. And the law showed him his sin, his guilt, his awful condition before a holy God and led him to faith in Jesus. 

Verse 6: "But now we have been delivered from the law." This is speaking of believers. "But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." Notice it says we should serve. We should serve. But how should we serve? By the Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Stay with me here now. The old man in Adam, when the law came, it aroused the sinful passions resulting in continual sin. Old Saul was dominated and controlled by the sin that dwelled in him. But when the law worked as God intended, he realized his dead condition and he turned to Jesus in faith and was delivered from the law, having died to what he was held by, so that for the express purpose, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Saul lives in 7:21-23 in bondage to indwelling sin. But look at Paul in chapter 8, beginning at verse 1. It says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." 

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Look at this now, verse 3: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh." You see, the law is not the problem; indwelling sin in the flesh is the problem. But the law can't save you because you can't keep it because of the sin in you. And yet we have a whole world of religious men trying to earn their salvation by keeping the law. They can't do it. "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did." God did it. How did he do it? "He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to Spirit, to the Spirit." 

How clear is the teaching of the Word of God? One more passage on the purpose of the law. Turn to 1 Timothy 1 with me, please. 1 Timothy 1, and look at what Paul says here to Timothy. Timothy had some problems over there in Ephesus, and the problem was he had some legalists coming in there and wanting to be teachers of the law. 

Verse 3, Paul says, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus, that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine." No other doctrine than what? The gospel. The gospel, by grace through faith. No other doctrine. He says, "Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith." 

Now the purpose of the commandment, the commandment to not teach any other doctrine. The purpose of the commandment is, "Love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm." 

Now verse 8 is key: "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless, the insubordinate, the ungodly, for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, murderers of mothers, for manslayers, fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, for perjurers, and if there's any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." That's a pretty clear statement, isn't it? 

The law is good if we use it lawfully, God's intent, why He gave it, the things we've been talking about. But the law is not for a righteous man. We see the law in sin; we see the purpose of the law so clear, so important. 

Let's explore a little more the doctrine of our death to the law. Back in our text, Galatians 2:19, Paul says, "For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God." You want to live to God, what has to happen? You have to die. You have to die to the law. "I have been crucified with Christ," he says. Here we find the key, the premise, the foundation, the why I can live a new life, not by the letter but by the Spirit. 

Paul says, "I through the law died to the law." This is what we just saw in an expanded version in Romans 7. Saul of Tarsus, the legalistic Jew, thought he was to find eternal life by keeping the law, but the problem was not the law. It's wholly righteous and good; it's a reflection, it's a representation of the character and nature of God, the law is good. It's indwelling sin that's the problem. 

If there could have been a law given, which could have given life, then surely righteousness would have come through the law. But the truth is that all men are confined under sin in Adam, and they can't do one righteous thing; they cannot please God. Therefore, the law becomes a ministry of condemnation and death, condemning men in Adam because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The good news is God's grace. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did. He sent Jesus; He condemned sin in the flesh to conquer it where it dwells, and He did this by death. 

He died to condemn sin in the flesh, to conquer sin and death and hell, and the glorious truth of the New Covenant is that we died with Him. Go to Romans 6:2. Romans 6:2, Paul after announcing the purpose of the law, that sin might abound and we're sin abounded, grace superabounded, he asks the question in verse 1, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" I mean, it's free grace; we sin all we want. Paul says, "Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him." 

Why was our old man crucified with Him? That the body controlled by indwelling sin might be done away with or rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for he who has died has been freed from sin. We died, Paul explains in our text, through the law; he died to the law. Romans 7 says we were freed from the bondage of the law, that which we were held by, so that we might now serve God by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we believed Jesus, we were united with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection to newness of life. 

That's why Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it's no longer I who live but Christ lives in me." That's why he writes our old man was crucified with Christ, in order that this physical body, whose members, controlled and dominated by indwelling sin, in this body of sin, might be done away with. You see, justification cannot come by the law; righteousness cannot come by the law. The law was given to show us our sin, to leave us guilty, to shut our mouths and lead us to Jesus. But after faith has come, we're no longer under the law. Paul says in Romans 6 that sin shall no longer have dominion over you. Why? Because you are not under law but under grace. 

In other words, law can't produce holiness but grace can. So sin no longer will dominate you when you come to faith in Jesus and you're regenerated and you're united to Him with His death, burial, and resurrection, and you're a new creation with a new heart and a new spirit and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living in you under grace in which you stand, then you will see righteousness. Sin shall no longer have dominion over you because you are not under law but under grace. Our relationship to sin and to law and to death have changed, affected by our death with Jesus Christ, regeneration. My brothers and sisters, we are in Christ. 

I was thinking about this in the course of my studies this week. You know, labels, descriptions get so messy when it comes to defining who we are. People ask you sometimes, "What denomination are you?" I remember years ago when I was guiding the Swedes on a bow hunt, there was a doctor named Bengt who came from Norway to hunt, and we had long conversations and I witnessed him again and again, preaching the gospel, and he was so frustrated to understand me. He kept saying, "What is the name? What is the name?" And I kept saying, "What is the name of your denomination? What is the name of your church? What is the name of your affiliation?" So he could label that; he could understand that. And I kept saying, "The name is Jesus." 

How shall we describe ourselves? Christians? That was a derogatory term, most likely, as we see in the book Acts. Believers? What do we believe? Bible-believing Christians? It seems that every name gets co-opted and twisted as we go, right? 

So here's how the New Testament describes the believer far more than any other way, and this is a term that I think is very good to use: In Christ. Who are you? What is your affiliation? I am in Christ, and all that that means. And it is Jesus, it is Christ that is the name of my faith. He is the essence, He is the life, He is the power, He is divine; I'm just a branch abiding in Him, seeing the fruit that He produces by faith for His glory. I am in Christ. I have Jesus; He lives in me; He will never leave me or forsake me.

There are so many blessings and privileges that come with this, and we talk about those all the time, but those are really not the issue. The issue is that I am in Christ. Jesus is my salvation. And in Christ, I have a new life by faith. "I have been crucified with Christ; it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

I want to make something abundantly clear. It's my understanding of the Scriptures, of God's intent and command, and my heart and spirit 100%, that we as believers in Jesus Christ should live a holy life, a new life. Not like the world, not like the rest of the Gentiles, not like who we were, but rather we should live out who we now are in Christ in consistency with who we are inwardly because of regeneration in the grace of God. Holiness, holy living, hatred of sin, these are all my heart's desire. 

But the question is, how does God intend that we live this new life of holiness for His glory as a witness in this world? What is God's means for holiness? And could it possibly be more clear that it's not the law? Paul states clearly here and everywhere else in his writings in communion with all of the Word of God that holiness, righteous living, consistency with who we are in our outward walk comes only by grace. Righteousness cannot come by the law. 

How many more ways would you like God to say it? Clear, pointed statements of death to the law, of law and sin, of the purpose of law, of the end of the old covenant of the law, by the coming of the new, of new life by the Spirit and not by the letter; life in me, through me by faith, Jesus Christ in me and me in Him. I, the old man, have been crucified with Christ. No longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. This is sanctification, my friends. Paul's talking about how we now live as believers in this new covenant time. 

The life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God. I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law. Righteous, holy living, the life that I now live, how I walk. If righteousness comes through law, then Christ died in vain. My brothers and sisters, righteousness comes only by grace through faith, only by Jesus living His life in and through us as we abide in Him. This is the clear teaching of the Word of God over and over and over again, laboring this truth, trying to overcome our great tendency, our default to law and works righteousness. It's so clear. 

If we'll just take God at His Word, if we'll just believe Him for what He says, if we'll just trust Him and believe Him and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, there is a battle. The struggle is real. Sin still dwells in us. We still live in this world system. Our psuche, our mind and emotions, our bodies have not been regenerated. But what is the nature of the battle? Is it to keep the law? To die to sin? God said these things are done. You have put off the old man; you have put on the new man; you have died to sin, to law, to death. You are in Christ. 

The battle now—and it's a serious battle every day—is to continually renew our minds to His truth, to His Word, and choose to believe Him, abide in Him, trust Him, and yield to His life and power in us to produce the fruit. Without Him, we can do nothing. It is God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ask or think for His will, for His purposes, for His glory. 

And my friends, it is His will and purpose in you for holiness, for Christlikeness, to bring Him glory, to show His power and the transforming power of the gospel. We have to get this right. The Christian life is not law; the Christian life is Christ. Ours is a new life under grace in which we stand, and our motive is not seeking our own righteousness, our own glory, but the glory of God by grace through faith, a life of thank you, a life of praise and glory for His indescribable gift, His love, His grace in Christ Jesus. 

I just want to close with Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5 describing this new life. In verse 14 he says, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died. And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation." 

That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Can you believe that? God has committed to you the means unto salvation, the word of reconciliation, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. That's why we're here in this world. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, for He made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. We died so that we might live for Him. We were slaves of sin; now we're slaves of God. 

We are new creations. We have a great purpose, a privilege to be as ambassadors with a wonderful message of life, the gospel. Remember, my brother, my sister, you are in Christ. This is who you are. And your expectation should now be holiness. Holiness one day at a time, one moment at a time, by the grace and power of God through faith in His Son. This is His commandment. This is the new covenant commandment, my friends. 1 John 3:23, that we believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for Your clear Word, Your truth, so thankful that You tell us the truth, that we can trust You, believe You. Help us, Lord, to know Your Word, to be immersed in Your Word, to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, to walk by the Spirit. Help us to abide in You, look to You, and trust You, and believe what You say. And Lord, by Your power, by Your grace, to live that out for Your glory and for a witness in this world. In Jesus' name, amen.