Galatians, Justification and Law Added

So we had a theme in the song service by Mr. Moody of your calling, and after your call, you need to be justified. So today we have a sermon on the book of Galatians and justification.

Commentators have long debated the specific problem that Paul addresses in his epistle to the Galatians. Most commentators agree that this specific problem centers on some form of Judaizing. However, scholars tend to confuse the spiritual law of God with the Mosaic law, and we'll thoroughly discuss that today, of confusing the Mosaic law with the law of God, the spiritual law. That is, they make no distinction between the Mosaic law and the spiritual law, summarized by the Ten Commandments. Therefore, they will say, well, since the New Covenant, the New Testament, has arrived in Jesus Christ the Messiah, then all of the law is abolished because Christ kept it perfectly for you, and all you have to do is stress in Him. The sermon will be quite repetitive in one sense, in that I will be saying certain things over and over again, and that is one of them, that you're only justified through belief in faith in Jesus Christ. So they make no distinction between the former practices of the Gentiles when they were in bondage to the elements of the world, and the elements of the world are discussed in Galatians 4 verse 3 and verse 9. Just as the scholars lumped the spiritual law and the Mosaic law together, they also lumped the weak and beggarly elements of Galatians 4-9 with the whole law. Now this will be a two-part sermon. I'll be giving the justification part today, and I'll be giving the one about the weak and beggarly elements and how it relates to the Babylonian system that the Galatians were once involved in before they were called into God's marvelous light. So Judah-izing will be examined today, and the weak and beggarly elements will be examined in the next sermon I give, God willing. So what was the problem in Galatia? It's still a problem today. The problem centers on how a person is justified. I've asked various church members, young and old, to explain justification in a systematic way, and they cannot. They say, well, it's sort of like this, sort of like that, and so on. So can you explain justification in a systematic and personal way? Most believers have a hasty or hazy idea, but not systematic, about justification. The Apostle Paul explains and addresses justification and Judah-izing in the first three chapters of Galatians. But as we shall see, Judah-izing, we'll see this in the next sermon, Judah-izing was not the only problem in Galatia. But today we'll examine justification. So what does the word justify, or what does that really mean? It means to balance the scales, so that it is, the meter is not going one way or the other. It's perfectly level, and you are justified. It means to balance the scales on the person who committed a certain action, and that person is no longer under the penalty that should be enacted, but it's perhaps someone paid the fine. We've often used a case of speeding. If you get a speeding ticket, you go to the judge, and somehow somebody's paid the fee, or the judge dismisses a ticket, and you are justified. The scales are balanced. In the case of Galatians, the question is, are you justified from sin? And how are you justified from sin? From the Garden of Eden to the present day, Scripture makes it clear that the wages of sin is eternal death. That eternal death is described in Romans 6.23, if you want to turn there, to Romans 6.23. I didn't bring my glasses today, but I can paraphrase most of it, and some of it will turn too. And in Romans 6.23, it clearly says that the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. It is not just physical death, it is eternal death, because every person who's ever lived, those who are justified, and those who are not, are going to experience physical death. But the wages of sin, if not repented of, will result in eternal death.

Then furthermore, we read in Romans 3.23, and once again you can turn there if you wish, Romans 3.23. Both of these scriptures should be memory scriptures. But Romans 3.23 says, the wages of sin is death. Well, Romans 6.23 says that. And Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned, all have sinned, past, present, future, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Therefore, every person who has ever lived, past, present, future, needs to be justified. True Christianity is the only religion that has a remedy for removing sin, for removing the death penalty on the head of every person who has ever lived. True Christianity is the only religion that has a remedy, a process for doing that.

The teaching of only obedience to Jesus and the immortal soul has corrupted the gospel message. Every Sabbath on the way up here, I listen to a Messianic guy who, Chris Catoka, is his name, and he does a good job because he's a Messianic Jew. He believes that the Jews are to be Christian and Christianized, but he believes in the immortal soul, believes in going to heaven, believes in a lot of things that the Protestants believe in. And even though he tries to meld, that is to bring together Jew and Gentile, really he sets the Jews apart, and the Jews right now are being hated all over the world. I guess you have seen the the protests on campus and several of the major universities, Ivy League schools in the Northeast, especially at Colgate and others, that have been rioting with protesting about Jews and about Israel.

But the teaching of the immortality of the soul has corrupted the gospel. It's just plain and simple. It has corrupted the gospel to the point that there's a lot of truth being said with regard to preaching and teaching in a lot of what you hear on the radio, what you might see on television. And it is so widely accepted that people never question it. If you never question it, you're going to believe what mom and daddy or anybody else has always been taught that you come in contact, what your minister might say, what your mother and father might say, that you don't really even question it. You just accept it as a fact. The same thing is true with the Trinity, especially the notion that the Holy Spirit is a person. Can God be separated from his Spirit? He can't be separated from his Spirit because he is Spirit, and he sends forth his Spirit according to what is in Genesis 1 and verse 6. He sends forth his Spirit on the waters, and he divides the waters from the dry land, and so on, as you find in Genesis chapter 1.

So most people just blindly accept the notion they have an immortal soul, and many religions teach that man can solve all of his problems and the result of sin through human effort. The educational institutions of the Western world have embraced humanism. Humanism is just simply a dogma, a philosophy, or it has really become a religion that man can solve all of his problems. Just leave it to man, leave it to education. We can solve every problem that mankind has ever encountered. So evolution is accepted as a fact. Most people don't even question it now. They just accept that evolution is a fact. They accept the scientific method. Now, the scientific method is easily disproved when it comes to, quote, saving souls. I was listening to the program at the end of Chris Kotoko's presentation where another preacher was coming on. He was talking about there's a lot of souls that need to be saved around the world, and so there are a life essence that a lot of individuals that need to be saved. Yet the world, on the one hand, believes in the tenets of the scientific method. That is, each problem must be observed measured and duplicated in order for it to be accepted as a fact. And yet no one has ever seen an immortal soul and much less measured it. You can't see it. You can't measure it. You can't have anything. It's just you say, oh, you have an immortal soul. And everybody, and it's like immortality.

It's like immortality. No one ever questions you. You are immortal. Well, what part of you is immortal? Well, your soul is immortal. The Jews understood the teaching of Scripture, especially the teaching that I'm sorry, the Jews misunderstood. They did not understand how a person is justified, especially the teachings of Paul and of Jesus Christ himself. And you know that Peter even writes that the writings of Paul are being twisted, and some people find it difficult to understand.

I find it quite easy to understand most of the teachings of the Apostle Paul. So, Judaism fell into the trap of thinking that a person could be justified through a process of works consisting of confession of sin, offering animal sacrifices, and being circumcised in the flesh. Whereas the Bible states, and let's turn to, you probably haven't turned into Scripture because I've quoted it. I don't want to quote every Scripture, but let's turn to Romans 2.25.

Romans 2 and verse 25. Romans 2.25. For circumcision, verily, profits if you keep the law, but if you be a breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncircumcised keep the righteousness of the law, shall not the uncircumcised be counted for circumcision, and shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you who by the letter and circumcision cannot forgive or does not transgress the law.

For he is not a Jew which is one-hourly. So that is the uncircumcised. He is a Jew which is not one-hourly. You don't have to be circumcised to be justified. Neither is he that, neither is that circumcision which is outward to the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one-inwardly, and circumcision of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God.

So you have to be circumcised in the heart. You have to cut out all of the stony parts of the heart and cast them away and repent of anything that you have ever done that is contrary to the spiritual law of God. Judaism fell into the trap of thinking that a person could be justified through a process of works consisting of confession of sin, offering animal sacrifices, and being circumcised in the flesh. And from the verses that we just read, especially the last one, one should readily see that each one of these actions is symbolic of what must be done spiritually.

You must circumcise the heart and your total being spiritually, the process of justification. Of course, in the process, the gospel has to be preached. The gospel has to be convicted. And one of the things that preachers must do, they must preach that which convicts a person to the very depth of their being so that they have a weight placed upon their heart and mind that they need to do something, that they need to change the way that they are living.

So after you have heard the gospel preached and you're convicted by that gospel, you realize the death penalty is on your head. You must confess your sins and repent of your sins and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Receive the Holy Spirit from the laying on of hands and then begin to live God's immutable spiritual law. Now, one of the things that I left out there, which perhaps you notice, was that after you confess your sins, repent of your sins, and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, you are baptized. Now, baptism is a mark showing the whole world or the public that you have made a commitment to keep the old man under the water and to be raised to newness of life, a new life, and you will keep the old man under the water.

That's what baptism symbolizes. The Romans had carried out the demands of the Jews, and the Romans did carry out the demands of the Jews with regard to Jesus Christ. Pilate asked the mom, whom shall I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus? And they cried out, Barabbas! Now, Barabbas was a robber. It was a known fact what Barabbas was, just like in the elections that are coming up November the 3rd. Very important elections with regard to the fate of this nation and the direction it will go for the next year or two, or maybe even more, maybe generations.

Who knows? But they did not really understand what they were doing. They killed Jesus Christ, the only hope for salvation. Of course, it was according to the Word of God, and Jesus Christ had already submitted Himself, humbled Himself, and took on the form of man and was willing to die on the stake to pay for our sins. So exercising faith in the sacrifice of Christ and being baptized, and then receiving the Holy Spirit and start keeping the commandments. That is, keeping the old man under the grave, under the waters of the grave. Now, we're all born in different circumstances that we have no control over. You can't control, you didn't control who are your parents, what your gender would be.

You didn't control what your socioeconomic status would be when you were born. You control none of that. You were born to whatever circumstances, to whatever parents you have. That's it. And you have to make the very most of it. And it's sad to see that those are born in the best of circumstances or usually the ones that have the most problems, especially with coming to Jesus Christ and recognizing that they are sinners. And you read about that in the Gospels.

The Apostle Paul addresses thoroughly the problem of Judaizing in Galatians. So let's turn to Galatians 2.16. Galatians 2.16. There's where we're going to turn to.

Galatians 2.16. As I said, I didn't bring my glasses, and this print in this Bible is small.

I don't know how I forgot them. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of... Now, the King James translators inserted the word, the law. Now, this is an important part of the point, and you may not believe it, but you can go to an inner linear, and you'll see that in the original text, the is not there. So a true translation would be, by the works of law. By the works of law. That means of any law. It doesn't matter what law it is. It's a law that the Chinese have manufactured, the Islamic world, the Jews have manufactured, or even the ceremonial law that God revealed, which we'll talk about later to Israel because of their sinful nature. Any law is excluded. So we're not justified by works of law. The is not in the original. I hope that's clear. But by the faith in, you have faith in Jesus Christ. Christ doesn't give his faith to you in the city. It is a gift, and it is a fruit. The faith is the only thing that is a gift and a fruit that I know of. And maybe something else. Faith is a gift to the spirit and a fruit of the spirit. So the more that you obey, the more faith that you have, by the faith in Jesus Christ. We have faith in Christ, not the faith of Christ. He doesn't pull off his coat and give it to you. He doesn't pull off his faith and give it to you. You have to actually obey the word, as we shall see as we read on here. The faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith in Christ and not in the works of the law.

And it should read there, works of law. For by the works of law shall no flesh be justified. No flesh, no matter how perfectly you keep the Judaic law, the law of any man or any culture, you will not be justified. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore the Christ, the minister of sin, God forbid. So you can't say, well, I believe in Jesus Christ. He kept it all, but hey, I'm going to keep on I'm going to keep on over drinking, over smoking, or shouldn't smoke at all. But I'm going to keep on getting drunk or whatever it might be. I have this gambling problem. I'm going to continue with that. No, you're not justified when you do that. Now, if you would, now here's a question about justification. I would ask all of you who have a notebook to draw a straight vertical line down it on one side, put not justified on the other side, put justified. Now, the question might come about, do you waver between being unjustified and being justified, waving back in two? No, you do not. Once you are justified, you're on the right side of the line. You can commit the unpardonable sin, which we'll talk about, which God deals with in Hebrews chapter 6, but we'll talk about that later. I see I am rambling to some degree. But we continue here, for if we build again the thing which I am, well, which is destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. So we go back into sin.

Now, after you're justified, you're on the right side of the line, you are going to sin, but you can remain on the right side of the line, and you have to remain on the right side of the line throughout. We'll just turn to Hebrews 6 right now, and when I get to it in the sermon, we might review it again, and we might not. Hebrews chapter 6 will show very clearly what I'm saying. Hebrews chapter 6 will begin in verse 6. In Hebrews 6 verse 6, seeing therefore remains that that's five and six. Let's read five, six, five, and have tasted the good word of God. So tasted the word of God, they have been justified, and the powers of the world to come.

So the powers of the world to come, you know that as the saying goes, you're bound for the promised land, you've been justified, you're on the way to the kingdom. If they shall fall away to renew them again to repentance, if they shall fall away to renew them again to a repentance-seeing, they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put them to an open shame. So it is impossible if they fall away to renew them. So you don't go back on the other side. I've used the analogy of a rubber band. The rubber band, you can stray away from the church and engage in sin for a certain period of time and not cross back over that line, but eventually you go so far, you practice so long, the rubber band breaks, or you commit the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin, some have defined as the sin you won't repent of, and you go back over the line. It's impossible to renew those who have lost. Really, you've lost the Holy Spirit. You've lost the very power of God.

So we see that you don't have to be circumcised in the flesh to be justified, because the circumcision in that which was given under the ceremonial law was symbolic of that which was to come through Jesus Christ. We're all guilty of the crucifixion of Jesus because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the death penalties on every person who's ever lived, whoever who is living now or who will live, unless they have truly repented, exercised faith in the sacrifice of Christ for the remission of sin, being baptized, received the Holy Spirit, and are on the way to eternal life. And as I said, we're all born in different circumstances. And the Apostle Paul addresses Judaism in Galatians 2 16 through 18, which we have read. So I hope that is you understand that no law, no matter whose law, what law, will justify from sin. So, as we have noted, it should just state by works of law. However, the process of repentance one must start keeping the spiritual law. Only faith in the sacrifice will pay for previous sins. Now here's another critical point. Let's say you are convicted of sin and you start keeping the spiritual law of God perfectly. Will that justify you for sins that are passed? The answer is no. Only the sacrifice of Christ. We go now to Romans 3 25. Romans 3 25. And Romans 3 25, we'll read it now.

In Romans 3 25, Jesus said forth be a propitiation. That means the word propitiation means he went in our stead through faith in the blood. Life is in the blood. To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed. The death of once you commit a sin, the first sin is you when you reach the age of accountability, the death penalty is on your head through the forbearance of God. So God is faithful. He has sent a Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The faithful, the righteous one, died for your sins. Now the last verse in Romans 3 31, I hope we can all answer. Do we then make void the law of God through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish the law. How do we establish the law through faith? You see, if the law of God were not valid, the wages of sin is death, there would be no need for a Redeemer. So in fact, see the fact that there is law, spiritual law, and you break it means you need a Redeemer, and you have to have that Redeemer to pay for sins that are passed in order to be justified. So we have to, as we've said before, we have to start keeping the spiritual law, and if we are sin, we go before God and Christ, confess our sins. You know, it says in 1 John chapter 1 that He is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness if we confess our sins. Of course, then we have to fill in the blank and say, if we repent of the sins and exercise faith in Jesus Christ, the same sacrifice that allowed us to be justified is the same sacrifice that is employed after we sin, after we're justified. Now, you may go a week or two or three, or some may go even longer and not sin, but if you sin, you go before God and Christ and say, confess that sin and you exercise faith and sacrifice of Christ and you remain in the justified position. You don't waver back into between the lines. Let's say you died tonight and there's some sin that you've committed that you haven't repented of, but you have been faithful and you've repented of your sin. If you die tonight not having repented of that sin you committed last week or whenever it was, is that sin forgiven? Yes. Yes. You haven't committed the unpardonable sin, but obviously as soon as we realize we have sinned, we should seek repentance.

So Paul has argues that regardless of any law that we may want to keep, we are not justified except through the sacrifice of Christ. Now let's go to what laws are done away with. There is a summary of that. A lot of people ask, well, what laws are done away with? Romans 9 verses 8 through 14 really summarize that. And so we'll go to chapter 9 of Hebrews, which are a figure for the time then present, the figure that the high priest went in the holiest of all once a year on the day of atonement. Today we can live in the holy of holies, and Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us, which are a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. I read part of 9, part of 8, and then I read 9. And I'm going to read 8 again. The Holy Spirit thus signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, that is when the Mosaic law was in effect under the Old Testament. While as the first tabernacle was yet standing, and even after they built the temple until Jesus Christ came on the scene, which were a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. So the repentance of God in the spiritual sense should clear the conscience. The conscience is a knowing within. You know within what is right and what is wrong, which stood only in meats and drinks. Here's what it was done away with. Meats, drinks, and different washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation. But Christ become a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle building not made with hands. That is to say, not by this building. It's not by any building. What Christ is building is a spiritual temple, the Church of God. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. And that means we can go before the throne of God at any time and ask for forgiveness. We can remain in a justified position, as we've said several times. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling we talked about in Numbers 20, the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit, here you have the eternal Spirit. See, we are begotten of the eternal Spirit. The eternal Spirit is a Spirit that was in God and Christ before the worlds were made. It is for the pre-existence of Christ as we know Jesus Christ.

That we are begotten of the Spirit that God has always had. We're begotten of that Spirit, and so is Christ. So we're begotten of the eternal Spirit. Some argued with us with regard to the the false teaching that, oh, you can't be in the Kingdom of God because God is eternal. You see, what we're begotten of is the eternal Spirit, not just a Spirit that comes along later. It is the eternal Spirit. We're begotten of the eternal Spirit of God. Have obtained eternal redemption for us. How did we obtain that eternal redemption? It was through eternal redemption is used in verse 12 and in verse 14. The eternal Spirit offered Himself without. That's Jesus Christ's spotter blemish to purge your conscience, the knowing of when of dead works. So what a wonderful thing that is to be purged of dead works.

As I said, we will identify the weak and beggarly elements of Galatians next sermon that I give. So Paul argues that regardless of the law, which law? I've said about four times. No law keeping will keep you or will justify you. And as I've already said, even keeping God's spiritual law perfectly will not justify you from sins that are passed. And I read Romans 3.25. After Paul makes it clear that a person can only be justified by exercising faith in Christ, he realizes some would immediately conclude that a mere profession of believing in His righteousness would save them. And we are, we have covered death that because Christ kept the law perfectly, we are to keep the law as perfectly as we possibly can. Now we turn to Galatians 3 and verse 11, which reiterates once again what we have said already.

Galatians 3.

1 Galatians 3.17. I want to go to, I want to go to Romans 2, Jeremiah. This is a scripture, Jeremiah 7 verse 24 before we go to Galatians. In Jeremiah 7 verse 20, we used to read this scripture very often, and I'm not talking about any certain minister, I'm just talking about ministry in general. You used to hear this scripture quite often because in the early days of the church, the law was hammered and hammered and hammered. And then we started, maybe we jumped into the other ditch of preaching grace too much, but either way we know what the truth is. But look at Jeremiah 3 verse 20. Jeremiah 3 verse 20.

That's not what I'm looking for. There's a mistake in my... I want to, somebody look up the scripture. Jim Ure can do this. I want the scripture that says that when Israel came out of Egypt, he spoke not of sacrifices and offerings. I'm in the wrong chapter, that's why I can't find it.

There's something about, without my glasses, I tend to run things together, even though I have about 20-20 eyesight.

Here it is, the verse as I have in my notes, 20-24. Therefore this says, the Lord God, behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit and ground, and it shall burn and shall not be quenched. Of course, there's a dual sense in that, but the temple then was rasped to the ground in Jeremiah's day and was not put out, so the temple was burned. That says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, put your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and eat flesh. For I spoke not unto your fathers and commanded them in the day that you were brought out of Egypt. So this is the law that was added. The law that was added, and we'll turn to that in just a moment, in Galatians. I spoke not of the law that was added or not in the sacrifices and offerings when I brought you out of Egypt concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this thing commanded I them saying, Obey my voice and I will be your God, and you shall be my people and walk you in all my ways, that I have commanded you that it may be well for you. So he did not speak to them about sacrifices and offerings. Now in Galatians chapter 3, we find that he did speak to them about the law that was added. The law that was added.

First of all, I'll just reiterate this. This is off to subject in a sense. Verse 15. This is Galatians 3.15. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be conformed, no man's dissolales are asked thereto.

So the spiritual law cannot be added to or taken away from. Now to Abraham and to his seed, or the promises made, he said not to seeds as of many, but as of one, and in your seed which is Christ. So it is through Christ that all nations are blessed. And this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God and Christ, the law which was 430 years after cannot disannul, that it should be should make the promise of non-effect. In other words, the law added, which was the sacrifices and offerings that I read in Jeremiah 7 through 25, they were added because of their sins. Wherefore was this law added? It was because of transgressions, verse 19, till the seed, that is, till Christ should come on the scene and pay the penalty for sin, until the promise was made which was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. So the new covenant is mediated by God and Christ.

So the law added was to bring them to Christ. So at this point we should note 1 John 3.4. These two scriptures we're going to turn to in 1 John are definitely members, scriptures, members of scriptures. So the Mormons might knock on your door tomorrow morning. Really, they won't knock on the door tomorrow morning, but they may knock on the door Saturday morning. They're in church on Sunday morning. In 1 John 3.4, Who shall ever commit sin transgresses the law? The law transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of law. And in this case it is the law, the spiritual law of God. Well, two Saturday mornings ago there wasn't a doorbell ringing and we of course weren't expecting anybody. And it was a contingent of Mormons. There were four, two at the door and two standing behind them, younger at the door and two older behind. And they said, we would like to share a scripture with you. I said, all right, you can. If you can tell me the biblical definition of sin. And they went on to say, well, sin is because Adam sinned and sinned and entered into the world and so on. I said, well, there's another reason for sin. They couldn't tell me what it was. So eventually they said, well, I hope you have a good day. And went on down the street to the next house. So the Mormons may be knocking on your door. So, commentators tend to jump to the conclusion that a sense of person is justified by faith from, is justified by faith, not by the works of the law. That the whole law is included, but the spiritual law is excluded from the Mosaic law. What things were done away with, I read that from Hebrews 9 verses 8 through 14.

So death, even though the law was, the spiritual law had not yet been codified, from Adam to Moses, the law was not codified. But as it says in Romans 5, death still reigned, even though the law was not codified. It's either codified or codified. I prefer really codified. The law was not. So turn to Romans 5. Please turn to Romans 5. Please, Romans chapter 5.

For until the law sin was not in the world, but sin is not imputed, where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over things that had not, that had not, even over those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgressions, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense of one man is the free gift. The free, the one man, Adam's sin, led to death. Now the spiritual law, holy place here, the spiritual law was in effect from Genesis to the time that was codified. In Genesis chapter 2, we see very clearly the spiritual law being created by nonetheless no less than Jesus Christ.

In Romans, not Romans, Genesis 2 and verse 1, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his works, which he had made. And he rested on the seventh day from all his works, which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because, in it, he had rested from all his works, which God created and made. So God himself created the Sabbath and rested on the seventh. And so even though the law was not codified, and remember it says of Abraham, because Abraham obeyed God, he was blessed. And we talk about we have inherited some of the blessings of Abraham. So even the codified law was, even the codified law, was in effect in one sense. It was always there from the days of the recreation of the earth until the time of Moses. Then, in Mount Sinai, the law was codified.

So we have seen from the scriptures thoroughly that there is no way that you can be justified without exercising faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In other words, we are to repent of sin and come out of sin. And as a rehearsal and a reminder, remember that in Galatians, Paul said that we are to keep the spiritual law. I didn't say it in these exact words, but after that we are justified from sins that are passed, we are to be baptized and to keep the spiritual law. And we have talked about the the law of sacrifices and offerings that were done away with. Paul said that he was dedicated to keeping the spiritual law in every sense of the word.

Paul said that he was dead to the law. And that means that the law no longer, that is, even the spiritual law, did not have an effect on him because he was remaining in the justified position. And we are to remain in the justified position. Now we go to Galatians 2, chapter 2, verse 20. Here's a scripture that many have memorized, and many quote saying it is their favorite scripture. And in Galatians 2, verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. And this is somewhat a review of what we have said in the sermon. We're just about through. I am crucified with Christ. So we go under that watery grave, and we make a commitment we're going to keep the old man buried. I live, nevertheless I live. Not yet I, but Christ lives in me. Notice that in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith in, not of. I live by the faith in the Son of God. We have the revealed Word of God. We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We have the Word of God. We've been begotten by the eternal Spirit. We know that we are called the minister, the preacher. However we come in contact with the truth. I mean, we may have read it from some newsstand. We might have come in contact with it through a family member, a church member. Just however you come in contact with the truth, and you're convicted of that truth, and you have a weight placed upon you, and you want relief. The only way to get relief is to repent. Repent of your sins, exercise faith in Christ, be baptized, make that commitment, receive the laying on of hands, and begin to live according to the Word, every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That's what Paul did. I'm crucified with Christ, yet not I. Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live, I live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes by the law, and that is a ceremonial law, then Christ is dead and vain. He wouldn't have had to die for the sins of the world. And once again, we come back to, I hope you can explain, Romans 3.31. Yea, through faith we establish the law. How? Because if the law were not in effect the spiritual law, there would be no need for justification. We would be saved some other way. But since the law is in effect, all of sin comes short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. So I hope that you have learned some things here today, and if you will study the book of Galatians and Romans especially. Romans and Galatians go together somewhat like hand and glove. Especially the first eight chapters of Romans will go together. And intense study will allow you to put things together. I gave you somewhat of a framework that you can work within. So the next sermon we're going to go into the weak and beggarly elements. In chapter 4 verse 9, Paul says that Galatians had returned to the weak and beggarly elements of the law, and the commentators tend to lump that with the spiritual law and the ceremonial law. So we'll cover that next time. So remain in the justified position.