Understanding Grace Pt 1

All right, good morning. Good to see everybody on this very cold morning. Good news, it is going to warm up today. So if you guys want to go ahead and stand with me, we'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, I thank you for the day. Lord, I just thank you for who you are, for how much you love us, Lord God. You are so good to us. Lord, we just want to, we want to return praise to you this morning, God. We want to lift you up and glorify you this morning. I just ask that you bless this time, Lord. Bless the worship and bless the word as it goes out, God.

We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. I will confess, Lord, that you are Lord. Amen.

Never fail, just work and bless your name, Lord. And no matter what season that comes, Lord, we will lift you high and bless your name, Father. We love you and we praise you. My sorrow and dead in my sin. Lost without hope, your love made.

When death was arrested, ash was redeemed. Don't lose today, it was arresting.

Let's take a moment, just give God praise for what he's done for us. Amen. With your hands, known and loved by you. For I took a breath, when I doubted. Lord, remind me, I'm wonderful. Canvas and clay, cause you're in all. I'm a canvas and clay. And make something new out of it, Lord. God, you can take something that is awful and sinful and just turn it into something brand new, Lord.

Lord God, everything does work together for your glory, God. And for our good. And God, help us just to rest in that fact. And knowing that you have everything well in hand. God, there is nothing that takes you by surprise. Or there is nothing that you can't fix. There is nothing that you can't do.

God. God, everything is not falling apart. Everything is falling into place. Lord, for your glory. For your purposes. God, help us just to know and rest in that fact.

God, I pray this morning as Pastor Ryan comes, I just pray that your word go out with power. God, that you do something awesome in this place with your word. Allow it to just penetrate our hearts, Lord. And just do something awesome. And just do something good and awesome and mighty. We love you, Father. We praise you and we thank you. In Jesus' name. All God's people said.

Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. If you could start to locate your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Glad you could be here this morning. Over on the left-hand side of your bulletin are the things that are going on throughout the week. So locate one of those spots to get plugged into. And find a spot to fellowship. Over in the middle section, a few things to take note of. First of all, men, don't forget, we have a men's breakfast coming up this Saturday, the 25th at 8 a.m.

So join us for that. And then also, the Family Life Services Banquet will be April the 1st at Calvary College. And we have, let's see, I think I've got 14 tickets left. Because Calvary always buys a couple of tables. So if you're interested in going to that, please see me afterwards. And I can get your name put down for the tickets. Some things that are not in your bulletin.

Coming up on April the 5th, that's the week of Holy Week. We'll be doing something different for Wednesday night that week. We're going to be doing just a worship and communion night. So love to see a bunch of people come out for that. Just take some time just to really praise God together, commune together, maybe pray together. Just a time for that. And then also, there will be Holy Week services.

I'll get that out next week. All that week, they'll be doing the services at noon at different churches in town. And so I will get that listing. It just came in the mail yesterday. So I'll get that into the bulletin next week so that you know where those are going to be. And then before we get to responsive reading, it is, believe it or not, even though it was 15 degrees this morning, the grass is going to start growing any time now.

So. Kurt, would you like to come up and talk with us for just a minute about the mowing ministry? It was definitely not enough degrees this morning for March.

Good morning. My name's Kurt Solomon, if some of you don't know me. So Pastor Ryan last year asked me if I would be interested in taking over the mowing ministry because he's getting busier and busier with the church growing. So I accepted that challenge to take over the mowing ministry. And we have worked on trying to get new grass growing in the front out here.

If some of you noticed that last year, we worked and worked. But Mother Nature did not help us out very well on that. So we're going to try that again this year. But the mowing ministry we have for the church, sign up, volunteer, and I'll make up a schedule where everybody will have two or three or four weeks out of the year of mowing. And I figured it up. So it's 26 weekends out of the year, 26 weeks out of the year that we have it on the schedule for mowing.

And there's been grandfathers and granddaughters as a team. There's been granddads and grandsons as teams, husbands and wives. There's been people that didn't know each other that I signed up for a team. They'd never worked with each other, didn't really know each other. And they worked great last year as a team. So it's... If you are interested in signing up for the mowing ministry for Calvary Chapel,

there will be a sign-up sheet in the back of the church. The Calvary Chapel does have a lawnmower. It's a Hustler, nice big lawnmower that you can use. We have it locked up over here in the back. So if you need to use that lawnmower, I will hand out the key the week before. And so you and whoever you're teamed up with will figure out when you're going to mow for that week.

We prefer to probably do it on a Friday or a Saturday, but sometimes we know that doesn't work on some people's schedule. So you would have to sign up, or I mean, you would have to maybe do it on a Thursday. If you can't do it, then we would also let you contact me, and then we'll work on rotating. Somebody would take your turn and for you to take another turn during the schedule that we have set up.

One thing we also do ask that if you would have a weed eater, with your team, because we do ask that you will trim up around the sidewalks and around what little shrubbery we do have, around the parking lot edges. But if you don't have one, then I could work on getting one for you or sign you up with somebody that does have a weed eater, team you up with somebody. And last year, I think, looked here on my schedule that we had last year, most people only had to do it three times. They were only on the schedule.

So we would sure love to have you sign up for the mowing ministry. If you would be interested, don't be afraid. If you're only by yourself, sign up, and I would team you up with somebody on the schedule. And I don't know if I left anything out there. If I did, Ryan will remember it, and he'll remind you later on. So I will be here after this service, and then I'll be here next service saying the same thing.

And I'll be here after next service, the 1030 service. So please, we would ask you if you feel like that with something that Christ is calling you to do, please sign up.

Very good. Okay, so those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. For our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 19. Psalm 19. Looking at the new American standards, so hopefully we all sound the same. If you need a copy, it should be. One in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 19, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Allen, and the even verses. Psalm 19, for the choir director, a Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words. Their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world. In them he has placed a tent for the sun. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Their rising is from the one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect. Restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, the much more fine gold.

Sweeter also than honey, and the drippings of the honeycomb. More. Over by them your servant is warned. In keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of my hidden faults. Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. And Father, we do praise. We praise you for how you declare yourself to us, both through nature and through your word. And Lord, may we see that more clearly this morning. I pray that as we spend time in your word this morning, that you would declare yourself more fully to us. Lord, may this be a morning where we meet with you.

Move in this place now by the power of your Holy Spirit. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Galatians, chapter 2. Excuse me. Galatians, chapter 3. Galatians, chapter 3. As we move into chapter 3 of the book of Galatians, we start a new section of the book of Galatians. Chapters 3 and 4 will be titled, Understanding Grace.

So the title of this morning's message is Understanding Grace, part 1. And in particular, we're looking at a question, law or faith? To bring us up to speed on what's going on. To give a little background information on what's going on. Paul had started off this epistle to the Galatians saying, I am amazed, I marvel at the fact that you have turned so quickly from a simple gospel

to something that is not truly another gospel. Because what they had done is they had begun to believe false teachers who had come in and said, it's wonderful that you've put your faith in Jesus, but now you also need to keep the law. And he said, I marvel that you have so quickly turned from the gospel to something that's not real. It's not really another gospel.

And as he talks to them about that, he says, or he begins to also defend the message that he gave. And so as he defends the message that he gave in his defending of grace, he tells his own story where it comes to grace. He told them about his message that was just simply the message of Jesus Christ. He told them about his testimony of how Jesus had changed his life.

He told them about his commission, how he'd been sent out to the Gentiles. And he told them even of a story of him having to defend this message of grace. When a pillar of the church like Peter had fallen back into legalism. And as he had done all of those things, he ended this last section with really a great statement on grace. A great statement on salvation by faith.

He said, by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Instead, we are all justified by faith. And then he put that into some more clear words for us. He said, I have been crucified with Christ. And it's no longer. I who live, but it's Christ that lives in me. The old me is no longer me anymore. The old me has been put to death and I'm now a brand new creation in Christ.

And now the daily life that I live, I live through faith in the son of God. I live according to faith. My justification is by faith. My sanctification is by faith. And it is all fully dependent upon the work of Jesus Christ. I'm not going to lie. Yesterday, I was kind of battling with something. I'm watching everything that's going on in the world right now.

I'm watching everything that's happening with the banking systems. I'm watching everything that's happening with the world stage of the wars that are going on. By the way, thank God they finally issued an arrest for the war in a Vladimir Putin, right? That ought to solve everything. I'm watching what's happening with morality in our world right now. And the fact that no one can define.

What a man or a woman is any longer. And I thought it's so ridiculous. It feels like to talk about anything but those things. Lord, should I do something different based on all of the craziness that's going on in the world right now? And I really feel like the Lord ministered something to me yesterday. He said in the craziness of the world, believers need to live in freedom.

In the craziness that's going on in the world. The world needs to see believers in Jesus Christ that are living the freedom that they have in Christ. Because freedom. Freedom is what the world is looking for right now. Liberty is what the world is looking for right now. But they're looking in all of the wrong places. They're looking for it by living however they want to live.

They're looking for it by being bailed out by the government. They're looking for it in freedom of finances. And they're looking for freedom in all of the wrong places. Freedom is truly found in our understanding of who we are in Christ. And so he said, Ryan, keep doing what you're doing. Talk to them about freedom in Christ. Because that's what the world needs right now.

And so as we move into chapter 3, this first section that we'll look at, this question of law or faith is going to be broken down three ways. We're going to see that Paul has some questions. He's going to talk about Abraham and faith. And he's going to talk about Christ and the law. So the first thing that we'll talk about is some questions. Let's pick up in chapter 3, verse 1.

It says, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as Christ? Crucified. This is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?

So then, does he who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you do it by the works of the law? Or by hearing with faith? Five questions, really, he has for the Galatian people. He has for these people living in this region of Galatia as they have given in to this aspect of law. And he works like a masterful teacher here. It's kind of fascinating to watch.

Jesus was really good at this too, was he not? Asking questions that he already knew the answer to, but questions that he wanted to produce thought in the listener. And that's exactly what Paul does with these Galatian people. He knows the answer. He knows the answer to the question, but he wants them to think about it for themselves. He wants them to really consider where they've ended up.

You see, oftentimes the problem that we have is we don't really stop to think about how we ended up where we are. And so sometimes God has to bring a question to mind. It's sort of like when Adam and Eve were in the garden, covering themselves with leaves, thinking that they were hiding themselves from God. When God shows up in the garden to walk with them and he says, Adam, where are you?

It's sort of the same situation that he does with the Galatians. I want you to think about what you've given in to, and I want you to think about if it's actually benefiting you. And so he asks them these five questions. Number one, he asks, who has bewitched you? Who has bewitched you? He starts off by calling them something. He says, you foolish Galatians.

Now, the word foolish here literally means you thoughtless or superficial people. I prefer the J.B. Phillips translation when he says, you idiot Galatians. See, even the word idiot is used in the Bible. I give myself the justification to use that word because sometimes that's all you can do to describe people, right? That's probably not true. Anyway, but the J.B. Phillips translation really does say, you idiot Galatians.

Because they were being thoughtless in the way that they were acting at this point in time. They were being superficial in the way that they had acted. They walked headlong into false doctrine without thinking, does this match up with everything that Paul had taught us? Does this match up with everything that we had learned? Does this match? Does this match up with the freedom that we have in Christ?

They never asked themselves those questions. He says, you foolish Galatians, who has, and then he uses the word, bewitched you. The word literally means charmed you, led you into evil. We're given the idea that they were brought under the spell of another, not because they wanted to, but because they simply believed the words that another man said without checking them out.

Who has bewitched? You. And he says, he goes on with the question to ask one more thing, or to include one more statement. Before whose eyes Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. You foolish Galatians, who has tricked you, knowing that you saw Jesus Christ clearly portrayed as crucified? That phrase means, you who saw Christ as poster boarded, as crucified.

In other words, I bewitched. I put it on a billboard for you. There's no way you could have missed it. That Jesus Christ was crucified. I was reminded of something in studying this, and I'll bring it up when we get to the end, when we talk about Christ and the law, that truly the heart of faith, truly the heart of grace is found in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Because there can be no greater unearned favor than one laying down his life for his enemy. There can be no greater. Yes. greater favor bestowed upon another human being than to have someone who you are at odds with sacrifice their life for you. He said, how could you have given in to this system of works when it was clearly portrayed before you that the heart of grace itself was presented in the cross of Jesus

Christ? He goes on to ask them a second question. The second question he asks them is, how did you receive the Holy Spirit? He said, this only thing I want to find out, did you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing with faith? The receiving of the Holy Spirit that he's talking about there is that indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That moment in time when you put your faith

in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit came to make his home inside you. Remember, that's what Jesus said would happen. He who believes in me believes in the Father, and he who believes in me and the Father, we will make our home. How does the Father and the Son make their home inside of us? Through that indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember when you first started to really sense that presence of the Holy

Spirit in your life? When you first started to sense that there was something different because something had happened to you, how do you think that you received that? Did you receive it because of something that you did, or did you receive it because of where your faith was placed? Because the fascinating thing is the moment that you received the Holy Spirit, you didn't even understand what was going on.

You just put your faith in Jesus Christ. You just knew you were a sinner. You put your faith in Jesus as a Savior, and he came and made his home inside of you. He said, how did you receive this work of the Holy Spirit? How did you receive this indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Was it by law, or was it by faith? Was it something that you earned, or was it a gift from God because of

your belief? And of course, the answer to the question is it was by faith. Third question that he asks is, are you now being a believer? Are you now being a believer? Are you now being a believer? Are you now being perfected by the flesh? Notice what he says in verse three, same word there. Are you so foolish? Are you so thoughtless? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected

by the flesh? That's kind of what we talked about last week, right? That we're fully dependent upon Jesus Christ for our sanctification, for our being made like Christ. And yet how many of us have fallen into the exact same trap that the Galatian people fell into, and that we started off in the Spirit. We started off by faith. After all, that's what we're doing. We're not

that was all we had when we came to Jesus, right? All we had was our faith in Him. All I had was all of my sin and all of the hope that I had in Jesus Christ. And I laid all of my sin before Him, and He laid all of His hope inside of me. And I went, oh, praise God for the salvation that He brought me. But now that I have begun in the Spirit, have I started telling God I can take it

from here? Are you now going to be made perfect by the flesh? Listen, I'm here to tell you right now, as somebody who has tried to be perfected by the flesh, I'm here to tell you right now, to do this, you can't. And I'm not the only person who has this testimony. Many of you here may have the exact same testimony, where you decided you could do it yourself. You were going

to work really hard. You were going to set yourself some regimented works that needed to be done. And by golly, come hell or high water, you were going to grow in Jesus Christ. And you felt like you were in the most miserable position ever. Because you know what it feels like when you try to do all of this work yourself? It feels like running on a treadmill, right? I really like to

run, but I really hate running in the cold. And so when it's really cold outside, and I'm getting old and weak, so much below 40 degrees, and I don't run it. I'm not going to lie. Much below 50 degrees, and I don't run outside, right? Like a Pinocchio moment was about to happen. And so I run on the treadmill. Only, you know what happens when you run on the treadmill? You

don't get where? Anywhere, right? You just stood there the whole ding dong time. I'm always amazed that my watch knows that I'm running. When I'm running on a treadmill, I'm like, I'm literally not, it can't be the location that tells it that I'm running. And it always tells me I've run less than whatever the treadmill tells me that I've run. Because it's probably going, I mean,

your heart rate's higher than it used to be, and it feels like you're moving. You must be running. Your arms are pumping really, really fast. I wonder, I wonder if I just pump my arms, really, really fast. Anyway, that's a discussion for another day. But that's kind of what it's like when we try to be perfected in the flesh. It feels like we're running on a treadmill. And that's what

these Galatian people were doing. They were working really hard, but they weren't getting anywhere. Have you begun in the spirit? Are you not being perfected by the flesh? Of course, the answer is, of course you're not. All you're doing is working hard and not getting anywhere. He goes on to ask a fourth question. Did you suffer in vain? Notice what it says in verse four. Did you

suffer in vain? Notice what it says in verse four. Did you suffer in vain? Did you suffer in vain? Did you so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain, what does he mean by that? Well, when they came to faith in Jesus Christ, there were some who were opposed to them, particularly the legalists, those who were opposed to Christianity. And undoubtedly they suffered persecution.

He says, if it was all about law, did you suffer so many things in vain? Did you suffer for no good reason? Of course the answer is of course not. All of your suffering was because of your faith. Then he goes on to ask a fifth question. Did the spirit and all of those miracles come by the law? So then, verse five, does he who provides you with the spirit and works miracles among you,

do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? It's interesting because there was a story kind of like that in the book of Acts, right? Remember Simon the sorcerer who saw all of the works that the Holy Spirit was doing? Do you remember what he told Peter? He said, can I? Can I buy that from you? Can I buy that ability to do these works? You know why? Because he didn't

want it to be a real heart change. He just wanted works. He just wanted to do things. He said all of the miracles that you saw Jesus do and that dunamis power of the Holy Spirit, that power of the Holy Spirit that is able to do amazing things that you never saw before. Is it because of the works of the law? Listen, if the book of Corinthians, first Corinthians should tell us anything,

is that the spirit moves apart from our deserving it. Because in first Corinthians, you see a gifted church that struggles with the flesh. So why did the Holy Spirit continue to work? Because it's not according to the law. It's not because of how good you are. It's because of your faith. He said, did he do this because of the works of the law or is it because of your faith? And of course,

the answer to all of these questions, they knew. Paul knew. Of course, it wasn't anything that you did. You can never do enough. To earn. Of course, it wasn't anything that you worked for because you can never do enough. You could never be the person that God wants you to be in and of yourself. It was all simply by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. Although I'll put the same disclaimer on faith that I did last

week. And that's that faith is not just an intellectual belief. It is the complete putting of one's trust in someone else. Just like that high rope walker we talked about last week. Just like that tight rope walker we talked about last week. When he was getting ready to walk across the Niagara Falls on that tight rope and said, does anyone believe that I can push someone across here in a wheelbarrow? And they all said,

yes. And he said, who wants to get in the wheelbarrow? And they all said, you see, that's the difference between real faith and false faith. Faith puts every bit of trust in the one in whom you're putting that faith. And so he now begins to give an Old Testament example of faith that works. Notice what it says. Verse six, even so Abraham believed God and it was

reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore be sure that it is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham. The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying all the nations will be blessed in you. So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. Now, Paul does a fascinating job here because the inspiration of the Holy

Spirit, he knows that if you are a legalist, if you are one who is telling a group of people in order to be saved, you not only need to put your faith in Jesus, but you need to act like a Jew. After all, what did Abraham, the father of faith do? He was circumcised. Therefore you should be circumcised. So Paul said, okay, let's take your Abraham argument and let's show you when Abraham was truly made righteous in God's eyes. Now for a little bit

of background, let's talk for just a minute about Abraham. So at the end of Genesis chapter 10, the flood has taken place. They've come off of the ark. There's Noah, Mrs. Noah, Noah's three sons, Hem, Shem, and Japheth, and their three wives. Shem and all of his descendants ends up having a descendant by the name of Terah. Terah has a son named Abram. And while Terah and Abram were living in Ur of the Chaldees,

God looked at Abram and said, I want you to go. I want you to go to a land that I've called you to. And I'll tell you when you get there, leave everything else behind, leave your family behind, leave your land behind, leave your everything behind and come. To a land that I will show you. And so that's what Abraham did ish. You know, he brought his family with him, but he didn't leave the land. And then once his father died, he moved on into

the land that God called him to. And Abraham had his ups and downs, right? It's fascinating because right before Abraham's going to be declared righteous, he's going to make the biggest mistake he'd ever made, right? Well, the first of three really big mistakes that he makes. There was a famine in the land and Abram decided that he needed to take care of his family,

even though God hadn't told him to left the land. To leave the land, this great hero of faith. And he goes down to Egypt. When he gets down to Egypt, he looks at his wife. He says, listen, sweetie, you're hot. Okay. And Pharaoh is going to want you. And so when we get there, do me a solid and tell him that you're my sister. That way he won't kill me for you. Well, unfortunately, Abraham's secret got found out and he was rebuked by Pharaoh

and he goes back to the land. When he gets back to the land, he has to win a major battle, to deliver his sorry nephew lot in all of Sodom and Gomorrah from the hands of some enemies that had taken them over. And now Abram's going, I failed. I've made myself an enemy to all of the people in the land. And the one promise that God had given me through you, all the nations of the

earth will be blessed. I will make your inhabit, or you will have a son through me. The one promise God made me, I don't know how he's going to keep because me and my wife can't have kids. And so at the beginning of Genesis, chapter 15, God appears to Abram. He says, Abram, I am your shield. You're exceeding great reward. He says, what are you going to give me? I go childless. And he says, once you go out and

once you look at the stars, Abraham goes out and looks at the stars. And he says, if you can count the number of stars, then you can number all of your descendants because your descendants will be greater than all of the stars in the sky. And that brings us to Genesis chapter 15, verse six, which write that in the margin of your Bible, because that's what he quotes here. Genesis chapter 15, verse six, because in Genesis chapter 15, verse six, it says, and Abraham believed God and God accounted it to him for righteousness. It won't be for 20 more years.

20 years later is when God will give him the right of circumcision. But when Abraham was, listen, still a Gentile, God counted him as righteous, not because of what he did, because what did Abraham just done? He just sinned worse than he could possibly have sinned. And yet God counted him as righteous. Why? Because God made him a promise, a promise that by all physical standards was impossible to keep.

But Abraham didn't let that stop him. He believed God and he accounted it to him for righteousness. He says in verse six, even so Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. This verse, the verse that's quoted in Galatians chapter three, verse six, the quoting of Genesis chapter 15, verse six will be quoted at least two other places in the new Testament as a proof of righteousness by faith alone. It's one of the most foundational verses for the Christian faith.

It's one of the most foundational verses for the Christian faith. It's one of the most foundational verses for righteousness. One of the most foundational verses for our understanding of grace and all of God's word. He says, even Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Therefore, in light of that verse seven, be sure that it is to those who are of

faith, who are the sons of Abraham. Paul explains this a little bit more clearly in the book of Romans when he says, just because you are a Christian, you are not a Christian. You are not a Christian. You are not a Christian. You are not a Christian. You are not a Christian. You are not a descendant of Abraham does not mean that you are a spiritual descendant of Abraham because only

those who are of faith are the descendants of Abraham. That means that every one of you that's here this morning that has put your faith in Jesus Christ and you have been declared righteous because you believed God. You were bold enough to believe God when he said, I died for you. My death was enough to cover your sins. My death is enough to grant you righteousness. And I am

alive. You were bold enough to believe God when he said that. Therefore, he declares you as righteous. Brothers and sisters, those of you that have put your faith in Jesus Christ, you too are a child of Abraham by faith. That's why that wonderful little kid song, I don't know if you realize this or not, but kid songs have some of the best theology in them. Those old kid songs

have some of the best theology. That's why that old kid song, Father Abraham, his many sons, and many sons has Father Abraham. I am one of them. Hopefully so are you. I added hopefully because I don't always know who all saved and who isn't. So let's just praise the Lord. All right, everybody up, right arm. I'm just kidding. Man, we should. Anyway, we're sons of Abraham because

we're children by faith. It says, even so you and I who have put our faith in Jesus are the sons of Abraham. Let's close on to explain more clearly in verse eight, because the scriptures for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying all the nations will be blessed in you. Okay, guys, truly, this is one of the most amazing things about reading the Old Testament is when you start connecting it to the new, when you start realizing the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the new, you find yourself blown away at everything that God has done. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that.

I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love how Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit connected the fact that the gospel, the good news was preached to Abraham 4,000 years before when he declared to him, all nations will be blessed through you. How are all nations blessed through Abraham?

Well, you could say because he was the father of the Jewish people and through the Jewish people, wonderful things have come. But I think it goes even further than that because through Abraham

Messiah would not just be for the Jew, but he would be for the Jew and the Gentile. After all, the promise was made to Abraham before circumcision. It was confirmed to him after circumcision. Therefore, he is the savior for the Gentiles and he is the savior for the Jews, all people's savior. And we cannot reiterate enough the fact that the gospel is for everyone.

So, The gospel is for everyone. And God knew that, and so he used really specific language. He used really specific language in the Old Testament. He said, all nations will be blessed through you. I'm blessed. I'm blessed by the fact that Abraham believed God and he was accounted for righteousness. I'm blessed not just because I too have an example for what righteousness really looks like,

but I'm blessed because through Abraham came that Messiah. That Messiah who came and was born and who died and took all of my sin upon himself on the cross. That Messiah that we will be celebrating globally in a couple of weeks. Isn't that amazing? He goes on from there to say, so then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham. And I love the title he gives to him.

Abraham, the believer. Because what do we refer to ourselves as oftentimes? We refer to ourselves as believers. Because that's who we are. We're just simply people who have put our faith in Jesus Christ. And even the greatest heroes of the faith all came to faith the exact same way that you and I did. I was thinking about this yesterday with somebody that I was listening to,

a sermon that I was listening to on this particular subject. And I thought, isn't it amazing that it doesn't matter how great the hero of the faith is, they all put their spiritual pants on the same way. They all came to faith the exact same way as you and I did. By humble dependence upon their Savior. I don't care if it's Abraham, or Moses, or David, or Paul,

or James, or John, or Peter. I don't care. Billy Graham, Chuck Smith, David Jeremiah, Greg Laurie, you name the hero of the faith that you have. And they all came to faith the exact same way. By simply believing in their Savior. And listen, they all live by faith the exact same way. Battling against the flesh and the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing makes anyone greater.

Nothing makes anyone lesser. We're all human beings, dependent, upon a Savior. Because even as Abraham believed, so you and I can believe. He goes on from there to give one more argument, the argument of Christ and the law. Notice what he says. Verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things.

Written in the book of the law to perform them. Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident. The righteous shall live by faith. However, the law is not a faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

In order that Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham, might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Christ and the law. The first thing he tells us about with Christ and the law is he tells us about the curse of the law. Notice what it says. For as many, verse 10, as are of the works of the law are under a curse.

For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things. Written in the book of the law to perform them. The wonderful thing he's going to do here is he's actually going to quote three different Old Testament scriptures in this section on Christ and the law. The first one is given to us in verse 10 and it's out of Deuteronomy chapter 27 verse 26.

Deuteronomy chapter 27 is the blessings and the cursings. Cursed are you if you don't do this. Cursed are you if you don't do this. At the very end, this is the last verse, chapter 27. At the very end it says, and cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. It's almost like the last elastic clause of all of the curses, right?

And if none of those got you, if you don't do everything that the law has to say, cursed are you. And everybody went, oh man. You know what that means? That means that if you are going to live by the law, you have to always live by the law. There can never, I want you to listen, there can never be a moment where you break any one of the laws because the moment that you break

one of the laws, cursed, and that word cursed means doomed to destruction. Cursed are you. He says, for as many as are of the works of the law, they're under a curse for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not keep every part of the law. One of my teachers in Bible college, Bob Hoekstra, a wonderful man of God, home of Jesus now, he always said this.

He said, what you strive to attain, you must also strive to maintain. Because you know, I bet a lot of you weren't worried about keeping the Mosaic law, but I bet a good number of you have made some laws of your own. You've made laws of your own about how you're supposed to act as a Christian. I need to tell this many people about Jesus. I need to read this many verses a day.

I need to attend church this many times a month. I need to spend this amount of time in God's word. You name the thing. That's just a handful of them, but we all come up with laws for ourselves, don't we? And it's wonderful when we're doing everything the way that we have decided we're supposed to do it. As a matter of fact, if you're a person who lives by law,

when you're doing everything right, it feels like you are on top of the world. But the moment you make one mistake, how do you do it? You feel crushed. You feel cursed. Why? Because cursed is everyone who doesn't keep the whole law. Brothers and sisters, the law has an intent, and we'll talk about that next week. But let me give you a brief understanding of what the intent of the law is.

After all, we just read about it this morning in Psalm 19 when it said, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. You know what that means? It means the law of the Lord reveals to us that we are in need of a Savior. Therefore, it converts us because it shows us that I need a Savior. You see, the law is so good because it makes me realize I can't keep all of the law.

I am under a curse, and I'm under a curse because I can't keep the whole thing. Cursed is everyone who cannot keep the law. Brothers and sisters, the law does the same thing to all of us. It puts us all under sin. He goes on from there to quote another Old Testament scripture because now he's going to tell us that the just shall live by faith. Verse 11, it says,

Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident, for the righteous man shall live by faith. However, the law is not of faith. He who practices them shall live by them. As he tells us that the just shall live by faith, he says, however, the law, excuse me, he says, now that no one is justified by the law is evident. Now, you should ask yourself a question.

Why is it evident that no one is justified by the law? Because of you, right? Because what do we just say happens if we break the law on any one part? We're cursed. Therefore, it's evident that no one can be justified by the law. Why? Because you can't keep the law and I can't keep the law. In the same way that the cross is a poster board of God's love, my life is a poster board

of the fact that no flesh can be justified by the law. After all, I can't keep it. You can't keep it. I can't be good enough. You can't be good enough. And if you only live in that, it can be a real bummer, right? But he goes on to give us this next quotation. The righteous, righteous man shall live by his faith. In the margin of your Bible, again, you might write

Habakkuk chapter two, verse four. Habakkuk two, four, because that's what that comes out of. As a matter of fact, this scripture is so important that it will be used two more times in the New Testament. It will be used in the book of Romans and it will also be used in the book of Hebrews. All three of these do the exact same thing for us when it comes to this

understanding of faith. We have the understanding that a righteous man and a good man is only good because he lives his life by faith. It's an explanation of what Paul said when he said, in the life that I now live because I've been crucified with Christ, the life that I now live, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It's clear by my life that justification cannot be by the law, that I can never be justified by the law because I've already shown that I've been cursed by the law because I can't keep the whole thing.

Therefore, the righteous man shall live by his faith. The hope that we have is our faith in Jesus Christ. He then, of course, goes on to say, and that no one, or however, verse 12, the law is not of faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. The law is not of faith. It's of works because it's something that you have to continue to live by.

And the moment that you stop living by it, is the moment that you stop having the peace of God in your heart. He goes on from there to tell us about how Christ redeemed us from the curse. Notice what it says in verse 13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. In order that in Christ Jesus,

the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Christ became a curse for us. Do you remember how we define that word cursed? It means doomed, doomed to death. That's what that word means. And so Christ took that upon himself for us. When he went, he went to the cross. After all, in Deuteronomy chapter 21,

verse 23, the law says, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. There were two ways in which Christ became the curse for us. Number one, he took all of our sin upon himself, therefore cursed by God because though he had not broken the law in any one way, he took all of the ways that we broke the law onto himself on the tree. But in a legal sense, he bore the curse for us because he was hanged on a tree.

And according to Deuteronomy chapter 21, verse 23, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Isn't that amazing? Jesus took that curse for us. And why did he take that curse for us? Well, it tells us in the very beginning of chapter 13, so that he could redeem us. That word redeem means to buy back, to purchase back for one's self. Imagine, if you will, a slave that is on

the slave market, on that slave market of sin. And there Christ comes with that payment. And he says, that's the one that I want. I would like to purchase him for myself. It's exactly what he did with you and I, only he didn't purchase us with any amount of silver or gold or anything. Gold, as Peter says, or any other corruptible thing according to your vain imaginations.

No, he purchased us with his own precious blood on the cross. And when he purchased us with that blood on the cross, he redeemed us from the curse. So now, even though you and I rightfully bear the curse of the law, we no longer bear it anymore because the curse was put upon him. Our destruction was put upon him. Our punishment was put upon him. And brothers and sisters,

as we're moving into this time that we get really close to where the world tells us it's time to celebrate the death and the resurrection of Jesus, when the world is going to say, hey, we're okay with you guys celebrating this at this point in time, can we remember that this isn't just a family holiday to gather and eat ham, which, by the way, is a really odd thing to eat on Easter, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a good ham, but I'm going, well, praise God, he redeemed us from the curse, right? But as we come into this, it's not just a time to gather for a family meal.

It's not just a time to hunt Easter eggs. It's not just a time to give each other gifts because that's what happens. It's a time where we remember that Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law. What makes Christmas beautiful is that Christmas had an ending and the ending of Christmas is in the garden where Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law. So that you and I

could be set free. He says he redeemed us from that curse because cursed is everyone who hung on a tree. And when he redeemed us from that curse, it was for a purpose in order that Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham, might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. You see, he redeemed us from that curse so that we could be set free.

So that we could have the blessing. He redeemed us from the curse so that we could have that blessing of Abraham. What was the blessing of Abraham? The Messiah. The Messiah who would be our Messiah. The Savior who would be our Savior. The promise of God's presence that could be our promise with the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us. Brothers and sisters,

I don't know where you all sit this morning in your faith. I don't know where you all sit with where you are with the Lord, but I want to remind you of something. I want to remind you of the fact that you are not being perfected by the flesh. You are not saved by the flesh. You are not saved by your works. You're not perfected by your works. It is all the work of God in you.

It was exampled in the Old Testament. It was guaranteed in the New Testament. And the curse that you and I bear because of our disobedience to the law, Jesus took upon himself for us. The best way that we can respond to that is by our faith. By putting our faith in him and praising him with all of our hearts. Praising him for that wonderful sacrifice that he made for you and I.

Amen. Would you all bow with me? Father, we come to you now and just thank you. Thank you for the time that we've had in your word. Thank you for the time that we've had here together. And Lord, I just ask that you would continue to minister by the power of your Holy Spirit in the lives of the people that are here this morning. Lord, continue to minister your truth to us

and continue to fashion in us the hearts of the men and women of God that you want for us to be. We thank and we praise you, Father. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's all stand.

Again, as we're heading into this time, more and more conversations are going to come up with people. More and more things will continue to happen in the world. And more and more, we need to find ourselves leaning on the only source of hope that we have, on the only source of joy that we have, on the only source of righteousness that we have, complete dependence on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Be blessed.

There's love for us.

He should give his only Son. You would take a wretch like me, Lord, and just make me, Lord, if there are any here this morning that have never known you, Lord, in that relationship with you, never asked you to be their Lord and Savior, Lord, and asked you for forgiveness, your treasure, Lord. We love you, Father, we thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.