Glory In The Cross

May 24, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / 4 Comments

Glory In The Cross

Galatians 6:11-18

Crucifixion was the most painful and the most degrading form of capital punishment to have ever been used.

It is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross, that is governing principle of all our salvation!

It was the Cross by which Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind!

It is the Cross that is also become the symbol of the sacrifice of each of us in the service to Our Lord Jesus.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Just as the Lord Jesus was a living sacrifice we must also become living sacrifices for our Lord!

It is the Cross that is the symbol of denying our own flesh and walking in God’s Holy Spirit!

Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mar 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mar 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

It is the Cross that is the symbol of our own salvation, so if we are to have any glory then let our own glory be in the Cross by which our Saviour caused the death of all our sin!

It was the Cross that broke down the partition between our sinful selves and our Holy God so our prayers can reach into Heaven!

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

It is the Cross that represents our complete surrender to God!

Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

SO, as we come to the end of this great book of the Bible and the foundation of the early Church, let us glory in the cross that Jesus bore in our names!

*****Gal 6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.

We should not forget, men whose intent was to destroy the Church had made their rounds through all the churches in Galatia.

They had taught a false version of Judaism rather than the truth of Christianity.

The Apostle Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit had written this great book of the New Testament.

Understanding the Book of Galatians means we must have a clear understanding of the message of the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

The “Gospel” is the “Good News” of salvation.

The “Gospel” is not preached for us to consider if it is true because it’s truth cannot be denied.

The “Gospel” is preached so that we can immediately accept it’s message and be saved from “all” our sins!

Evidence teaches us that Paul dictated his epistles to a scribe on most occasions, one reason is that Paul was in prison when many of his epistles were written.

Another reason may have been that Paul’s eyesight was failing him.

This was probably not the case in this letter at least in these last few scriptures.

These final words of Scripture to the Galatians were so important that Paul took the pen and wrote in his own hands.

Some 15 times the Lord Jesus used the phrase “He that hath ears let him hear”.

In a sense this is exactly what the Apostle Paul is doing here.

By using large letters Paul wanted these Galatians to know without a doubt that it was Paul who had written to them and not someone impersonating him, as some had!

By using large letters Paul wanted to emphasize the importance of this great Book of the Bible!

The lesson we can learn from Paul is, that we need to give the utmost attention to what is said in these Scriptures!

Paul said it’s all about the Cross!

*****Gal 6:12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

To the Jew, his sign of faith was in his circumcision.

To the Christian it is something entirely different!

Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

These false teachers hated the “Gospel” and they hated the Apostle Paul.

These false teachers were all about religion and not about the truth.

These false teachers made legalism necessary for salvation, a lie from Hell.

These false teachers saw a means to fill their pockets and avoid the persecution of the Jews.

Those like Paul who preached the truth were ridiculed, mocked, abused, and rejected by society and beaten or killed.

Those that preached salvation as the free gift of God, through the cross of Jesus, were thought to be destroying religion by destroying the Laws of Moses.

It was easy to say you preached the truth and avoid persecution by just adding legalism to the truth of God.

These false teachers sought to make a good showing by boasting how many of these Galatians had been circumcised.

Remember the Jew were circumcised on the 8th day after their birth.

These men of Galatia were grown men. This was a mockery in itself!

It took real courage to stand for the truth of God and preach the truth and it still does today!

Something these false teachers did not have was courage, they were only full of deceit.

These false teachers sought recognition by the growth of their false ministry.

As we can see there are many of these false teachers still around today, who do not glory in the cross but only in their own false doctrine.

How do they get away with it?

People are easily impressed with numbers added to congregations.

People are easily impressed with magnificent worship centers.

SO, What is the truth?

Being impressed will not get you saved!

Paul told the Philippians, who struggled with this same false doctrine, let me impress you:

Php 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Paul said these false teachers only glory in your flesh, or in your pocketbooks!

Paul said, I have spent my life doing these things of legalism and they did not get me one step closer to God!

Paul all these things that are counted as gain to the Jew are just losses in serving Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

It was a big deal to go back to Jerusalem and boast how many Christians had converted to Judaism.

And today it is a big deal today for ISIS to brag about how many Christians were murdered or how many Christians were converted to Islam.

Just in the past few days, it was also a big deal in the American networks to boast about how many so-called Christians are departing from the ‘Faith”.

What is the truth?

There are more Christians murdered in our world everyday simply because they glory in the cross of Jesus Christ!

Christians are to be Baptized after accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Church attendance is important.

Bible study, Church programs, Church activities are important!

BUT, if we cannot glory in the cross, and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, we have missed the most important point in becoming a Christian!

*****Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

What does the false preacher glory in?

He glories in the size of the church!

He glories the number of converts to his own agenda!

He glories in himself!

He glories in the flesh!

Though the world be blind to the truth of Jesus Christ, as believers we must glory in the cross of Jesus Christ!

It is only by the cross on which Jesus Christ bore all our sins that we can be saved.

If there is one main thing the modern day church has gotten away from. it is glorying in the cross!

It is not the cross that is to be worshiped, it is the Lord, but it was by the cross that be are washed in the blood of Jesus!

The work that Jesus Christ did to get us saved is the work that we could never have done for ourselves.

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Propitiation means that it was the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that was the only acceptable means of paying my sin debt and your sin debt!

The propitiatory is the same as the “Mercy Seat” which was the blood sprinkled lid on the Ark of the Covenant!

It was the “Mercy Seat” where God met with Moses and it is “Mercy Seat”, the Cross that Jesus bore, where God will meet with every believer!

It is only at the Mercy Seat, the Cross, where mercy and truth come together!

It is only in Jesus Christ, that God rests His lawful case against us!

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Remember what God said to Moses:

Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and “when I see the blood, I will pass over you”, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

God said for it is the blood that maketh atonement for each soul!

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: “for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul”.

At the time of Christ, the cross was the worst of deaths.

It is by the worst of deaths that Jesus Christ has destroyed all kinds of death for all those that believe!

Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Since there is no other approach to God, God will only accept those that come by the way of the cross and every individual from all walks of life stand on level ground at the Cross!

Nothing else in this world is as important as the salvation work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

What is the truth?

Circumcision or uncircumcision are nothing because these are things that a man can do, but only God make make a new creation!

It is at the foot of the cross where God creates the new man!

There is absolutely nothing that can make any human being acceptable to God beyond Jesus Christ and the work He did on the cross!

In fact we would not have any contact with God at all without Jesus Christ paving the way!

Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Why is the world going to Hell? The world refuses to approach God through Jesus Christ!

And you cannot just mention His name as many others believe.

Jesus Christ is so much more than just a good prophet as many say He is!

Just using words, or just using a false profession of faith in the name of Jesus will get you nowhere with God!

God cannot be deceived!

And God will not be mocked!

Jesus Christ did not come to this earth “to preserve life”!

Jesus Christ came to this earth to “give life” beginning with His own!

When any of us are sincere in our belief, God will then and only then, give that person a new spirit, which is a newly created spirit!

That person is spiritually “Born Again”!

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

This is the truth of the “Gospel”!

Anything else is as nothing and will not get you one step closer to the Almighty Living God!

This is the one rule and the ONLY MEANS to approach God!

*****Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

So who can experience the “Peace” and the “Mercy” of God? Only those that walk by the “rule of the cross”!

We must first have “peace with God” before we can have the “peace of God”!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”:

Php 4:7 And “the peace of God”, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds “through Christ Jesus”.

They both come by the cross of Jesus Christ!

These are not hard words and they are easily understood but this is still the stumbling block of our world.

The “Mercy” of God comes only by the cross!

That new creation of God will experience the forgiveness of all sins before and after salvation!

That new creation of God will be given perfect assurance of eternal life in the New Heaven!

That new creation of God will be forever under God’s care!

The sign that began the nation of Israel was circumcision first performed by Abraham.

Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

This was a fleshly sign and Israel will still inherit the promises of God to David.

The Jews of the Nation of Israel still expect the fulfillment of these promises because they take God at His Word!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

This is therefore the Israel after the flesh!

Who are the Israel of God?

Not the Israel of the flesh but the Israel of Faith! The spiritual children of Abraham by “Faith”!

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The Israel of God are the ones in whom God will fulfill all His promises!

It is not the Israel of the flesh that bear the scars of Jesus Christ, it is the Church that bears the scars of Jesus Christ and is the Israel of God!

*****Gal 6:17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Just as Jesus Christ suffered for us all, we must be just as willing to suffer for Him!

In the time of Jesus Christ, certain branding marks were placed on slaves to designate their owner.

We as the Church are the blood bought slaves of Jesus Christ!

As tribulation leaves it’s many marks on us, these are the marks that prove our slavery to Jesus Christ!

If we pick up our own cross daily and die to ourselves daily, we will also bear the marks of the cross.

What is the truth?

You will be made fun of by those in this world, just because you claim to be a Christian!

Your job will always be in jeopardy in this world, just because you claim Jesus Christ as your Savior!

You will be talked about behind your back and be the topic of jokes, if you claim to follow in the ways of Jesus Christ!

And if you are willing to turn the other cheek to avoid confrontation, you will certainly be struck on that other cheek, if you claim that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to get to Heaven.

It is even in all these things that prove that God is right and the world is wrong!

Scars are just the marks on the outside because we choose to carry the truth of God on the inside!

2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

But to deny Jesus Christ will certainly bring eternal death!

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Who are the blessed?

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

And all the rewards for serving the Lord Jesus come only by the “Grace of God”!

*****Gal 6:18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

“To the Galatians written from Rome”.

The Apostle Paul was in Rome when He wrote this Epistle to these Galatians.

Through all of this letter to these Galatians, Paul never forgot that these were his brothers and sisters in Christ.

It is a fact that we will make mistakes while walking in the Holy Spirit!

It is also a fact that we cannot lose our salvation because of that mistake!

We are saved by Grace!

We are being saved daily by “Grace”!

And in the end it is “Grace” that will lead us home!

We are still a foolish people if we allow false teachers to come into the Church.

If we take the time to read and study the Scriptures ourselves, we will not be fooled when we hear someone speak lies and try to lead God’s people away from the truth.

What is the truth? We can trust the Word of God!

What are our choices?

We can either choose a life that is bound up in laws and legalism or we can choose Christian Liberty, bound up in the truth of the “Grace of God”!

Amen!

Amen still means, let God’s Word be established in your heart.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Living In Christian Fellowship

May 17, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Live In Fellowship

Galatians 6:1-10

We know that the Apostle Paul was correcting Christians by teaching the pure results of God’s Grace.

Paul was teaching Christian fellowship.

In Hebrew the word “haber” was used to describe a companion of fellowship.

Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Ecc 4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

The word “haber” was often used to describe the Pharisees as they banded together in the study of the Scriptures and fellowship around the table.

In the Greek, Paul’s favorite word was “koinonia” to describe the Christians relationship with the Lord Jesus.

1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

The true meaning of “koinonia” is best realized in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once we know the Lord Jesus Christ on a personal level then that fellowship with the Lord is to be shared with all other believers!

Php 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

In fact when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, which only Christians are to do, we are showing our ultimate fellowship not only with the Lord but with each other!

1Co 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ will also show in our fellowship with each other!

If we partake of the Lord’s Supper and then ignore the fellowship and the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ then we are not what we say we are!

When we share in the fellowship with each other, we will also share in the suffering of each other and the suffering of all Christians.

Jesus Christ freely gave Himself completely to each believer and Jesus is our example of our own giving of ourselves to His people.

We cannot say we are in close fellowship with the Lord and then not be in fellowship with all other believers!

1Jn 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

We are all in this thing together!

Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

If the Church would only gather “as one in fellowship”, then we could make this world a better place for all God’s people to live in!

Let’s see how Paul describes Christian fellowship:

*****Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

It is a sad fact that God’s Christian army is the only army on this earth that shoots its own wounded!

Christians are notorious for putting down other Christians when they fail or fall.

We seem to forget that our righteousness is as filthy rags and God only sees us through the righteousness of His Son!

Far to often we become judges when we are to be witnesses.

There is not one of us that has not failed the Lord on more than one occasion.

Jesus says when we do these things we are hypocrites and no better than that one who has fallen!

Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

To be honest it is a shame to have to go to the Lord in prayer asking forgiveness for the same things over and over again but if we do not we will carry the burden of that sin!

We are also not to judge a fallen brother or sister who has been overtaken in a fault!

We are see what it will take to get them restored to Christian fellowship and more important, fellowship with the Lord.

It is our job to witness for the Lord and show His love for us all and it is also our job to share responsibility in the restoring of fallen saints of God!

We may not be able to restore that fallen soul but we are to at least show the love of God to all our brothers and sisters, fallen or not!

If we are faithful Christians then we will also be faithful in this thing!

Our main concern should only be that we not fall into the same temptation that brought our brother or sister down!

The Bible describes the Church as the actual body of Christ, with Christ Jesus being the Head of the Church.

1Co 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

We know that when a part of our own body suffers then our whole body suffers.

This is exactly the same for the Body of Christ!

1Co 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
1Co 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

The Greek word used in our scripture for the word “restore” is refers to a dislocated limb of the body and that limb needs to reset in its place or repaired so the whole body can function as one unit!

Therefore:

*****Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

When a Christian falls into temptation, immediately other Christians are to seek the ways and the means of restoring that brother or that sister back into the fellowship!

A Christian community must remain a close knit group in Jesus Christ and we already know that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us! This is His promise and we are to follow in His ways!

What is the law of Christ that is to be fulfilled?

If we just look at the 10 commandments the very first one says we must love God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul.

The first 4 commandments can be avoided by obeying that first commandment!

Jesus said if we loved our neighbor as ourselves then we could avoid the remaining 6 commandments.

Love is the law of Christ!

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Obedience to these two laws of Jesus Christ make obedience to those laws of Moses obsolete!

Since these Galatians wanted to obey some laws then they needed to obey these two “Laws of Christ” first and foremost, as we all do!

Jesus Christ never met anyone who was His equal in the obedience to the Word of God, He therefore bore all our burdens and we are to do the same for each other!

Rom 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Jesus Christ had to endure severe pain and anguish but it was with great joy that He bore all our burdens!

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame”, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we think of ourselves as being too good or too full of the Spirit, to come to the aid of our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we are not walking as Jesus walked and Jesus is still our example of how to walk in this world!

Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

*****Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

It is very easy for a Christian to think of himself more highly than he is!

This in fact the greatest downfall of the believer!

Jas 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

When we think of that one that has fallen by the wayside as being unfit, or being weak in the Spirit, or too tarnished to retrieve, then we have forgotten why the Lord Jesus came to this earth to die for our sins.

Jesus Christ came to save the “nothings” of this world and make them into “somethings”!

We are all sinners and we cannot rate one sin greater than another as far as our relationship with the Lord!

There is no place in this life for any of us to think we are better than any other child of God!

When we think of ourselves as no longer sinners as some do, then we are deceiving ourselves!

1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We must all approach God “by Jesus Christ” because there are no exceptions in the Word of God!

1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

When we proclaim our own goodness, and forget that we are saved by “Faith” and “Faith Alone”we then become fools!

Pro 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

We must all examine our own works before we can be of any help to others!

*****Gal 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

That word “prove” means to “test”.

That word “work” can best be understood “as our own conduct”.

We are to test our own conduct before we are able to help others!

There are no Christians who are to be the official testers of other Christians!

Each Christian is to concentrate on his own works rather than on the works of other Christians!

We are to judge our own lives, using the Lord Jesus Christ as our example, and not some other Christian and certainly not by some fallen Christian which will only cause us to believe that we are not capable of falling ourselves!

If we do not clearly understand that there is an increasing amount of evil in this world and our flesh is so weak, that it is very difficult to remain unsoiled by this world we live in!

Many of our own desires can be beneficial until we step over the boundaries of what God forbids!

God has set the boundaries of our behaviour!

Our own senses will get us into trouble if we allow them to!

For instance, tasting food is good for nourishment, but too much tasting of food is bad and unhealthy.

Wanting to be recognized for an achievement is not sin, but loving recognition and seeking recognition is sinful.

The temptations of this world surround us every moment we are alive and if we spend our time judging others and not guarding our own lives, we will fall into temptation ourselves.

Criticizing and judging others is a great sin in the eyes of God!

Our attitude toward all others is to be that of love and caring!

Our attitude toward our brothers and sisters in Christ, must include ministering to them in their time of need and attempting to restore them back into Christian fellowship!

We can have a certain amount of joy in restoring a fellow child of God but our greatest joy is the knowledge that we ourselves, are pleasing God in our own daily walk!

1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

God did not save us to be judges, God saved us to be witnesses and examples of God’s love!

*****Gal 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

Now we see God’s warning.

We are personally responsible to the Lord for all our actions after we have surrendered our selves to Him!

We will all be judged for what we have done after becoming a child of God!

We all have our own burdens.

We all have our own personal weights to carry.

BUT, It is a fact that we do not have the ability to be perfect in our own selves!

AND, We will all stand before God and answer for our own actions!

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

There may be a time when we may be asked to judge but it is not in this lifetime!

1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing “before the time”, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

So what else are we to be doing, instead of looking upon the faults of our brothers and sisters?

*****Gal 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

We are to bear our own burdens but we must still think of others to help them in any way we can, especially those that are called of God to be His ministers!

As students of the Word of God, we all have the responsibility to respond to what God says!

That word “communicate” as used in this verse means “to share with”.

Those “good things” can be many different things but they must also include carnal things.

It is the responsibility of all Christians to provided financial support to those that devote full time to preaching and teaching the Word of God and who are called of God to do so!

This is according to the written Word of God.

Their part:

1Co 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Our part:

Rom 15:27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, “their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things”.

We may think we know some important people in this world we live in but the people most important to our society are the true God called preachers of the truth of God!

By sitting at the feet of God called preacher or teacher, we are all students sitting at the feet of God Himself!

There is also other great ways to communicate with or share with our pastor, we are also to share in his ministry!

This is much more than financial support.

We can be present when our pastor teaches. We are not to forsake the House of God!

We can be attentive to his message because if he is God called than his message is from God!

We can share his message with others. We are to witness using the Word of God!

We can participate in his ministry at any level that he allows and that can be a benefit to his ministry!

We can invite others to come an learn from him.

We must surely support him financially!

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1Ti 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

Why should we do these things? To not do these things is to mock God!

What is wrong with this world we live in?

*****Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

The world is deceived about facing the judgment of God!

To be “deceived” is to be led astray.

Many of these of the churches in Galatia were being led astray and were not taking the judgment of God serious.

What happens to the Church when this happens?

The Church will get lax in sharing the Gospel with the lost.

The Church will become judges instead of witnesses.

The Church will attack God’s true preachers, therefore mocking God!

That word “mocked” actually means to flare the nostrils, as in contempt, to sneer, as in turning up your nose at the Word of God!

What is the truth?

God will not suffer Himself to be imposed on by empty words!

God will judge according to the works, after salvation, of each individual Christian!

The lost He has already judged and they are condemned unless they repent and turn to Jesus Christ!

God will never accept excuses from His children and certainly no excuses from unbelievers!

2Ch 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, “till there was no remedy”.

We must not forget our God does not ever change!

We may mock God’s messengers, we may despise God’s Words, we may misuse God’s preachers, but God will only allow this to go so far before He takes serious action!

As the farmer knows, it is where he sows his seed where the crop will actually grow!

*****Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

When we sow contempt for the Word of God, we will reap the judgment of God!

When we sow to our flesh, we are only trying to fulfill the desires of our flesh!

We already know our flesh is only devoted to selfishness!

When we are all about self, we can no longer serve God!

When we are all about self, we will only reap destruction!

Corruption always leads to destruction!

Php 3:18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Php 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

This destruction does not come from God. This destruction is the natural fruit of corrupt flesh!

Our flesh only ages, then dies, and then decays to the elements from which is was made.

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

When the spirit of that lost soul returns to the Lord, then that spirit will suffer the wrath of God.

2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

Sowing our seed to the Holy Spirit is an entirely different thing with entirely different results!

Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: “but the righteous into life eternal”.

The decisions we make about where to sow God’s Seed, the Word of God, are final, irreversible, and everlasting!

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When we embed God’s seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, into a Holy Ghost filled body of flesh, then we will reap a spiritual harvest that brings eternal life as opposed to a natural harvest that can only bring eternal death!

What is the truth of the Gospel?

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Those that so to the flesh cannot please God!

What else is God’s truth?

*****Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

One of the greatest downfalls of the Christian is that we expect instant results when we sow the Word of God but this in reality is a very rare thing.

Every farmer knows that once the seed has been sown then there will be some period of time before there can be a harvest!

Sowing the Word of God is not so much different!

The fruit that is reaped occurs in a later season from the sowing!

What else is the truth of sowing God’s Word?

First, the fruit must resemble the seed that is sown.

When a farmer plants corn, he is not looking for beans to sprout!

Jas 3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

When we sow the Word of God the results should be a changed life!

What else is the truth of sowing God’s Word?

Second, the fruit will be in proportion to the seed that is sown.

2Co 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
2Co 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

We cannot sow the Word of God just once, we must continue daily.

What else is the truth of sowing God’s Word?

Third, the fruit must be a new life that did not exist before.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

That old man must become a new man!

The problem is we become weary in well doing.

To “faint” is to become “relaxed” in serving God!

We as Christians must not become relaxed in this ministry the Lord has given us to do!

We must continue to sow the seed until the Lord takes us home by our own death or by the Rapture of all God’s people, whichever comes first!

Thank goodness our Lord has much more patience than we do!

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

And the results of the harvest always lies in the hands of God!

1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; “but God that giveth the increase”.

Just as God gives the increase to that farmer, God gives the increase in the sowing of the “Gospel Seed”!

What else is the truth of God’s sowing principles?

Our own reward can come only from our own labor!

1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

It may be easy to become discouraged, but God says just enjoy life, keep busy in the work of the Lord, and just trust God for the results and then witness as God provides the opportunity to do so.

*****Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

When do we share the love of Jesus? As we have opportunity!

We can be sure God will provided many opportunities!

God leaves us here on this earth after salvation to give us the opportunity to be a part of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we are to make an impact on this world, it can only happen after we have surrendered ourselves to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

SO, let us do good to all men!

BUT, let’s us especially do good to all those throughout this world that have answered the call of God.

Satan will do his best to hinder the work of the Lord now, but after the Church has been removed, Satan will prance around on this earth for a short period of time thinking we has won, just as he did at the Cross, but he soon find out that it is he that has only a short time left.

Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, “because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”.

Because we know we are on the winning side, now is our time!

Now is our time to sow the seed of the Lord.

Now is our time to take advantage of the opportunities given to us by the Father.

Now is our time to sow to the Holy Spirit and not sow to our own flesh!

Lets us live in the fellowship of each other while we remain in the fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Our Walk With God

May 10, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Walk In The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26

We all know that to walk is to move at a slower pace as compared to running.

In the Bible the word “Walk” is also used to denote our conduct in this life or our walk in life.

The Bible declares how we should walk in this life.

1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

The message we learn from the Word of God is this.

“If we walk in the truth of God we can be cleansed from all sin”!

One the greatest examples of Christian faith can be found in the Old Testament.

Gen 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Enoch walked in the truth of God and Enoch never saw death!

When we walk with God then it pleases God and God gives us all the gift of eternal life but that walk with God must be a walk of “Faith”, just as Enoch walked!

Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

BUT, that walk with God cannot be fruitful until we walk in the Spirit of God!

Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

To walk with God is to be in daily combat with our greatest enemy, which is our own flesh!

So let’s pick up where we left off last week:

*****Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Let’s revue verse 13 to clearly understand what the Apostle Paul is saying:

Gal 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, “but by love serve one another”.

Paul said there is only one way to use our Christian Liberty.

Paul said there is only one way to conquer the “lusts of the flesh”, It Is By The Power Of The Holy Spirit!

What are lusts?

Lusts are the desires or the longing for forbidden things or deceitful things!

God says we are to put these thing off:

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

To put off is to put away or to cast off anything that can lead to corruption!

Corruption leads to destruction!

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

In fact the Lord Jesus Christ says that it is sin to lust even if you have not reacted to that lust!

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

The best way to keep sin out of the temple of God is to keep it filled with the Holy Spirit!

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Our own flesh is still our greatest enemy and it is our own flesh that Satan will attack with worldly desires!

*****Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

This conflict between the flesh and the Spirit is a constant theme of the Bible and we first see it in the Book of Genesis before the flood in Noah’s day.

Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

So what is the truth?

When the Holy Spirit is not allowed to take control of our flesh, then we will face destruction!

All of us know we always seem to have a desire for something that we do not possess.

Our own flesh is difficult to control!

BUT, Our eyes are open to this sinful nature once we have accepted the truth of God!

The Apostle Paul and all the Apostles shared this same problem that we all have.

Rom 7:23 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.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Our flesh is contrary to God’s Holy Spirit!

Our flesh is full of unregulated passions, desires and emotions and these things will control our lives and lead us to eternal death if we allow them to take charge of our true being!

This is what the Bible calls the “lusts of the flesh”.

There is no law that has ever been written that can overcome these tendencies of the human being!

Laws just threaten us all with consequences for our failures!

It is only the Love of God that can truly constrain us!

2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

And it is only the conscious commitment to God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit that can enable us to live in a way that pleases God.

*****Gal 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Laws are made for all those that live by their own flesh!

1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can walk away from all these things!

This what we call true repentance!

Repentance is a complete change of mind and a complete change of direction!

Repentance is walking the Christian walk by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Each of us that know the Lord Jesus as our Savior will always be at war with our own flesh because there can be no peaceful co-existence between the flesh and the Holy Spirit!

We have all given in to our flesh and done things we are not proud of!

We are all tempted and even when we know we have the power to over come that temptation, we still give in to our flesh.

In other words the flesh is controlling when we allow it to be that way!

This flesh we live in is so strong that it will often keep us from doing what we know is the right thing to do!

So it is impossible for our flesh to keep laws!

It is the Holy Spirit of God that is the only answer to this dilemma!

So what does the Bible say are the works of the flesh?

*****Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The works of the flesh include not only our sinful actions but also our sinful attitudes!

The works of the flesh are also separate from the works of the Law!

The flesh in itself is not sinful!

The flesh is God’s creation!

The flesh was manifested for God’s use and not to satisfy our own lust!

It is the “works of the flesh” that are the fruit of the sin in our lives passed down to us by Adam!

If God has taken the time and space to list these things then we should take the time to revue them one at a time.

1) Adultery: Is the sexual unfaithfulness to a husband or to a wife.

Adultery also includes looking and lusting after, even if the sexual act never takes place!

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

This would also include books and magazines and the television.

Committing this act within our hearts is the same as committing the physical sin!

2) Fornication: Is all forms of immoral sexual acts!

It is premarital sex and also adultery!

It is any form of abnormal sex beyond the bonding of a marriage relationship between “one man and one woman”!

Fornication includes all sexual vice and depravity!

Fornication is sinning against our own bodies!

Fornication also includes seeking to worship anything other than our Creator!

1Co 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

3) Uncleanness: Is moral impurity.

It is any action we take in this life that dirties, or pollutes or soils our lives from being pure in the eyes of God!

Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

4) Lasciviousness: is absolute filthiness, indecency, outright shamelessness!

This is unrestrained evil thoughts and all evil behaviour!

These are people who have sinned so much that they no longer care what other people think about them!

In fact these people will openly do such things in the eyes of the public, in order to show the world they will do as they please unrestrictedly!

These include but are not limited to, an abnormal display of affection, carnality, gluttony, and sexual immorality!

Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

4) Idolatry: Is the worship of any idol, or any work of man’s hands.

Idolatry is creating within our own minds an image of God other than who God says He is!

Idolatry is devoting your time and energy to things other than God.

God said know this:

Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

And God says this:

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, “and covetousness, which is idolatry”:
Col 3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

6) Witchcraft: Is the use of sorcery, (including the use of drugs) or evil spirits, to gain control over the lives of others and this includes over your own life!

Witchcraft is seeking to control our own fate including, astrology, palm-reading, seances, fortune telling, using crystals or cards or any other from of witchcraft, rather than seeking God and the written Word of God.

Isa 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: “if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them”.

7) Hatred: Is enmity, hostility, or animosity directed at another individual.

Hatred comes from within an unclean heart!

1Jn 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, “is in darkness even until now”.

1Jn 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer”: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

8) Variance: is fighting against another person in order to have the advantage over that person.

It includes, strife, discord, contention, fighting, struggling, wrangling in order to gain a promotion, or a property, or recognition.

To be variant is to be a deceiver!

Satan is known as the Deceiver!

One who is variant will do anything, legally or illegally, morally or immorally or anything within their power to gain the advantage over someone else!

Pro 26:21 As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

9) Emulations: like covetousness is that desire to have what someone else has, not a copy of, but that very thing.

It includes, jealousy, desire, and wanting.

It mainly includes material things but also includes recognition, honor, and/or position.

Pro 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

10) Wrath: Is a sudden burst of anger.

It is violent and explosive.

It is a quick temper that can also just as quickly fade away. It is anger that does not last!

God’s answer to wrath is this:

Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

11) Strife: Happens within our own selves.

Strife is that conflict, that struggle, that fight, within ourselves to do what is right.

Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

12) Seditions: Are rebellions.

Things that create division.

Sedition is standing against another without even knowing the truth.

Sedition is rejecting the Word of God!

God told King Saul:

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

God says it is these people who are self-willed and ignore the Will of God.

2Pe 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

13) Heresies: Are things that reject the fundamental beliefs of God!

The basics are the rejection of Jesus Christ.

The rejection of the Scriptures.

Rejecting God’s Church.

Rejecting Faith and the “Grace of God”!

Heresy, is holding to some teaching other than the truth of God!

Jesus said this:

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

14) Envyings: This is going beyond jealousy. This not just lust for the things of others but includes begrudging the fact that person has them.

This is not just wanting that person to loose those things but for them to also suffer because of the loss of those things.

Pro 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

15) Murders: Murder is taking the life of another person.

The sixth commandment says:

Thou shalt not kill!

This is a direct commandment of God but it also includes hatred.

Every human being is a creation of God and only He has the actual right to take their life!

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

16) Drunkenness: Includes anything that affects our senses.

Alcohol in any form, drugs in any form, “that are taken to affect our lust for pleasure or to loosen our moral restraint”, must be avoided!

Pro 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Pro 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Pro 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Pro 23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

1Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

17) Revelings: Is the uncontrolled indulgence of personal pleasure.

Taking part in wild parties.

Indulging in feeding the lusts of the flesh.

Orgies.

God says these are things what the world does and we are to avoid them!

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1Pe 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

These are the things we must avoid.

These are the things of the world.

God simply says that those who live by the flesh “shall not” inherit the Kingdom of God, which is the promise given to Abraham!

The world believes that God will accept them if their good out weighs their bad on the scales of life but this is not what the Bible says.

God says without the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we are still unrighteous!

1Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?

God says we must walk in the fruit of Holy Spirit!

*****Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

In the Book of Genesis, God, speaking to the Holy Trinity, said let’s make man in our image.

Gen 1:26 And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This image of God is not in our form or features.

This image of God is not in our intellect, for we know that God’s Angels and the Devil are far more superior in these things.

This image of God is not in immortality, for we are not like the self-existing God!

This image, God is speaking of, are the moral dispositions of the soul!

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

It is because of the sin of Adam that we must be “Born Again” into righteousness!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Once we are “Born Again” and become a temple of God and filled with His Holy Spirit, then there should be a noticeable change!

If we are led by the Holy Spirit, then we can avoid the works of the flesh and walk according to God’s nature, or God’s image!

What is the image of the Holy Spirit?

We can see that image in His fruit.

Note that word “Fruit” is singular and not plural. The Holy Spirit has only one “fruit”!

All these traits will be present in each believer and not just some of them!

1) Love: The Greek word used for love in this verse is “Agape”.

Agape love is a love of the mind. Agape love, loves regardless of feelings.

Agape love, loves a person even if that love is not deserved.

Agape love, loves all those that are undeserving of any love.

Agape love is the Love of God!

Agape love is the love that was demonstrated by Jesus Christ for all the ungodly!

Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Agape love is the love that was demonstrated by God, through Jesus Christ for all sinners!

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Agape love is the love of God for all those who do not deserve the love of God, through Jesus Christ!

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Agape love is God’s gift and comes only by the Holy Spirit!

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Agape love is the greatest thing that God teaches each of us that believe!

Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. “There is none other commandment greater than these”.

Agape love is the greatest possession that a Christian can have!

1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; “but the greatest of these is charity”.

All the fruit of the Holy Spirit is based on God’s love!

2) Joy: Love brings a delight of the mind. There is great joy when we consider our present situation and compare that to the glories of the Promised Land, the New Heaven.

Christian joy is a deep seated pleasure and it ignites a cheerful heart.

Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

3) Peace: Peace is a state of quietness and tranquility, free from agitation, again a temper of the mind.

But more important than this, peace also means we are joined to or woven together with God!

Peace by the Holy Spirit is knowing the greatest good, enjoying the very best, possessing the inner goodness of God!

The peace of God is independent of our own environment in this world!

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

4) Longsuffering: Is best described as “Patience”!

The longsuffering of the Holy Spirit means to never give in, and it is never broken, no matter what attacks it!

Longsuffering means we never strike back.

Praise God because He is longsuffering or I could not be saved!

1Ti 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

5) Gentleness: Gentleness is best describes as being kind and good, useful and helpful. That word “Grace” also fits well with gentleness.

Gentleness cares for the feelings of others.

Gentleness experiences the hurt of others within itself.

Gentleness suffers when others suffer.

Luk 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

6) Goodness: Is the state of being good!

Goodness treats all other people as they should be treated.

Goodness does not stand by and allow others to take advantage of other people.

A good person will not let evil run rampant!

Goodness is the trait of the Church that stands up to this evil world!

God says goodness will disappear from this earth when the Church is removed at the Rapture!

2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: “only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way”.

7) Faith: Is faithfulness. Loyal and steadfast in devotion.

Faithfulness will never doubt God.

God’s own faithfulness is our assurance of our salvation!

Our faithfulness as believers is our means of salvation!

1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

8) Meekness: Is humility.

Meekness is a humble state of mind but to be humble is not to be weak!

Meekness is to be strength under control!

A meek person loves people and loves peace more than he loves war.

A meek person desires to be a friend to all and to help all.

God desires us to be meek:

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
1Pe 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

We should never forget that the Holy Spirit is also the most powerful force that exist!

9) Temperance: Is to be the master of your being. To always be in control of your body and of your flesh!

It means self-control in all indulgences; lusts, desires, passions, and sensual urges and includes cravings.

To be temperate is to stand against our own flesh!

To be temperate is to win the war with our flesh everyday!

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the exact nature of God!

Our walk with God must show that we are aware of God’s nature, as we strive to be like the Lord Jesus!

*****Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

When we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become His property and His possession!

Just as the flesh of Jesus Christ was crucified on that cross, we are to crucify our own flesh so that we are no longer slaves to our own flesh, subjected to its lusts, and subject to the judgment of God.

Upon our confession of “faith” God considers that we have also died in Christ’ death and identified with Him!

In the eyes of God our flesh is dead!

We have been made free from the bondage of our flesh!

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

So if we live in the Spirit then our walk in this life should resemble the Spirit!

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Notice now we see the warning. We are never to become super-spiritual!

We are never to think that others have been blessed with greater Spiritual gifts than we possess!

We are never to do anything that might cause divisions in the Church!

Pride can still be our greatest enemy!

Pride comes when we forget the cross that Jesus bore for our sins!

No matter where we stand with God, we are to measure our growth by the Lord Jesus Christ and we will always come up short!

We must remember it is by God’s Grace and God’s Promise that we can become God’s children!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Standing In The Liberty of Jesus Christ

May 3, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Stand In Liberty

Galatians 5:1-15

What does the word liberty mean?

**Liberty means freedom from restraint.

We enjoy this liberty when there are no physical forces that restrain our ability to move.

**There is natural liberty.

Natural liberty means we have the ability to do as we please without any outside control.

We all know that we do not have this liberty because we are governed by a nation who desires to control all the liberties of it’s people and we are loosing our liberties more and more everyday!

**There is civil liberty.

We live in a society that is governed by a set of rules approved by the people while there are many who live in a society that is governed by tyranny or oppression.

It seems that there is one party, who I will not mention who seem to want to live under government control.

We simply cannot allow our own government to become more oppressive.

**There is also religious liberty.

The freedom to worship according to our own conscience.

**BUT, Then there is Christian liberty.

The freedom from spiritual bondage!

The Lord Jesus Christ began His ministry with this message from the Book of Luke:

Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

When Jesus established the Church, He gave each believer “Freedom”.

BUT, This is not freedom to act in any way we want!

Following the desires of our heart is not what freedom is all about!

In fact Jesus also said these words:

Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

So if we follow our hearts, we will certainly fall into the traps of Satan and the evils of this world!

So do we have freedom? YES.

Are we free to do as we please? NO! NO! NO!

To be saved is to filled with the Holy Spirit and He is to be our Guide to a sure and a perfect freedom!

Our freedom must be based on what is acceptable to the Lord!

Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Once we have tasted this “Freedom” we would be very foolish to go back into bondage of “Laws”!

We need to “Stand in the Liberty” given to us by Jesus Christ!

Let’s pickup where we left off last week:

*****Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Laws are intended to govern human conduct but by whose standards?

Laws are intended to promote common good but again by whose standards?

Laws are intended to settle disputes but who decides what is truth and what is not truth?

Laws are intended to develop good behavior but who is our example of what good behavior resembles?

In other words laws only make people slaves to someone else’s power!

What are the facts?

When we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior we are freed from the law and it’s enslaving power!

We no longer have to worry if we are good enough, or if we have done enough good works, or kept enough laws to be acceptable to God!

And if laws are not according to the standards set forth in the Word of God, then they probably only meet the standards of some man who has exalted himself to a position of authority!

Jesus Christ died in order to set us free from laws and regulations.

Not to be free to do anything that we want to do, because that in itself is also slavery to our own desires.

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

To be truly free, is to live unselfishly!

1Co 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
1Co 10:24 “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth”.

The Lord Jesus Christ was righteous in all laws!

The Lord Jesus Christ paid our penalty for us because we could not be righteous in all laws!

Jesus Christ bore “our judgment” and “our punishment” for having broken the law, which was death!

It is only by the Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to stand before God as perfect individuals!

This does not mean that all the world is accepted before God, because most all the world rejects these things as the truth and do not trust in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ has made us free but only if we believe!

And once we are made free we are to “Standfast” in the “Liberty of this Freedom”!

These Galatian Christians were about to get caught up in the bondage of the law in which they had never known.

They accepted Jesus Christ as the Son of God but only as a great teacher and a great example.

This is how many religions see Jesus today!

They were beginning to ignore the reason Jesus had come.

They began to ignore that “Salvation” is only by the “Grace of God”.

They began to ignore that our own righteousness came only by the death of Jesus Christ and eternal life comes only by His resurrection by the power of the Holy Ghost!

They taught that Jesus Christ had not come to give us the only approach to God but that Christ had only come to add to the teachings of the Law therefore the Gospel was only a doctrine of works.

We can see that many of the Church are still confused in our own day!

What are the basic rituals of the “Jewish” religion?

1) Circumcision, baptism, and church membership.
2) Committing fully to the Laws of Moses.
3) Observing all the rituals and ceremonies of the Jewish religion.

If we just omit the word “Jewish” we can see that this is the same doctrine of most all false religions.

But what does God say the truth is?

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

The pure truth is that God will never “Justify” anyone just because they try to be obedient to some law!

*****Gal 5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Gal 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

**The first act in the obedience to Jewish Law was the circumcision of that individual.

This is a ritual observed by the Jew and some others and is in fact good medical advice, but still only a ritual.

Paul says that the same thing can be applied to all rituals, that if anyone attempts to approach God by any other means than Jesus Christ, they will fail!

God will only accept the work of Jesus Christ as the only means of justification and there is no profit that can come when we try to justify ourselves by any means!

**All those that choose justification by the Law must be perfect in obedience to those laws, which is impossible!

Anyone who submits themselves to any religious system, are submitting themselves to systems that Jesus Christ has freed us all from!

If we are going rely on works, laws, and rituals for our salvation then we had better be perfect in obedience to all those things. This means we will forever remain in debt and in bondage to those things!

**If any person seeks to be justified by laws, then they have fallen from “Grace” and Jesus Christ can have no effect on them at all!

To turn away from Christ Jesus is to be an apostate!

Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

An apostate is anyone who has abandoned the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

To be “fallen from Grace” is not a loss of salvation!

When we propose to earn salvation by works, then we must reject the free gift of God’s Grace!

A gift is anything that has been voluntarily transferred by one person to another person, without any type of compensation or it is no longer a gift!

When we have decided we need to try to pay for God’s precious gift of the perfect salvation then, we have cut ourselves off from God’s only method of salvation!

We are saved by “Grace” but we are also kept saved by “Grace”!

We cannot cancel God’s Grace!

BUT, We Can Make God’s Grace Have No Effect!

God writes to us about what will happen to a Church that leans toward works after salvation.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

When God removes a candlestick from any church, it means He will close the doors of that place of worship and move the light of that candlestick, which is the Lord Jesus Christ to another location.

Many a place of worship are no longer open because they fell from the “Grace of God”!

The Church will survive until God takes the Church home, but many places of worship will no longer exist at that time!

Or they will exist as the Laodicean Church of the Book of Revelation!

The hope of every believer is to be righteous when we stand before God but our righteousness can only come by the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the Gift of God’s Grace and is based solely on our “Faith”!

*****Gal 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Worldly hope, is a great desire mixed with at least some expectation of obtaining something that is good.

Biblical hope is something entirely different!

Biblical hope is confidence in our own future and founded only on God’s promises through God’s Grace!

Hope in the Bible comes from the privilege of being a “Redeemed” child of God and one day spending eternity with our own Creator and our own Savior who are One and the same!

This kind of hope can only come by the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell in each believer who accepts the truth of the “Gospel”!

That truth is this:

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

That truth is this:

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit stirs up our own hope by giving us the assurance that God will take “Our Faith” and count it for “Our Righteousness”!

That sure hope of righteousness can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

No ritual can give us this hope!
No Law can offer this hope!
No amount of works can purchase this hope!

Only “Faith” and the “Love of Jesus Christ” can offer this hope!

*****Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Justification comes by “Faith” and not by love.

BUT, those who are justified should exhibit “Faith’s energy through love.

After all, it is by love that all the Law is truly fulfilled!

1Th 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
1Th 1:4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

When we choose God’s plan over any other plan that we may have, we can know the full extent of God’s Grace!

A quick monitor of our faith is to see how much we love others!

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

It is by this first commandment that we can be saved.

It is by this second commandment that we exhibit Faith’s energy!

Legalism cannot save us but it can surely hinder the work of God!

*****Gal 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

In times of war, roads and bridges are destroyed in order to hinder the movement of armies.

SO, What is the truth?

The Christian life is like a race!

**It is not always easy to be a Christian, especially as we get closer to the return of Christ.

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

**The Christian life is short.

Not many years, compared to the eternity of the Promised Land(the New Heaven), will be spent on this Earth.

**All those that persevere in the Christian life will receive a reward.

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

**Christianity differs from the worldly race because all who run faithfully run together, while in other races each runner will hinder the other if the opportunity arises.

**In other races one winner will receive a corruptible reward but all Christians receive an incorruptible reward.

1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

In our Christian race we must not allow mankind to hinder us by destroying the only road and the only bridge to righteousness, which is the Lord Jesus Christ!

These Galatian Christians had been running the Christian race well until they had allowed false teaching to interfere in their race.

The object of our race must be running for the truth of God.

Psa 119:60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

Upon accepting the gift of God’s Grace, each of us also had an urgent need to repent and only then did we feel an urgent need to serve the Lord!

But we also began to realize the truth of God and became aware of just how short is our life in this body of flesh!

Pro 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

These Galatians had felt all these things until legalism began to interfere with God’s intentions for His children!

They were no longer obeying the truth of the “Gospel” and were now trying a different approach, other than Christ Jesus in order to please God, which will always bring failure.

These Galatians had allowed some false teacher to hinder them in their race and they were now stumbling toward the finish line.

God has little patience with a stumbling Christian!

What does God say to us so that we can run better? Just obey the truth!

Legalism does not come from God!

*****Gal 5:8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

In other words anything that comes between us and the Lord Jesus Christ does not come from God!

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

God says if we are “not” looking toward Jesus Christ, in our “Faith”, then we are allowing the weight and the sin of this world to burden us down!

There is no other way to approach God than by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

When we are not running by the truth we will be running away from the truth!

And a little untruth will corrupt the whole truth!

1Jn 2:26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Why?

*****Gal 5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Even a very small portion of legalism will corrupt the purity of the “Gospel of Jesus Christ”!

Leaven in the Bible almost always denotes evil and corruption.

In the baking of bread even a very small amount of leaven(yeast) can influence the whole loaf or the whole lump of dough.

Just one false teacher or preacher that is allowed to teach in any place of worship can influence the entire congregation!

Even when they have moved on to another place of worship to do the same thing, they will have convinced at least a few of their false doctrine!

1Co 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

It is a great shame to any congregation of believers that allow false doctrine to steer them away from the truth of the “Grace of God”!

This is the prophecy of the last Church Age and we can see this develop today!

Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

When the race of the Christian is hindered by legalism, then the Church will become a lukewarm Church and Jesus Christ said, it is this Church that makes Him sick enough to puke.

Today many are attempting to modernize the truth by removing the Lord Jesus Christ, His Death, His Burial, His Resurrection and His Blood from the truth!

God says to beware of this false doctrine!

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

We are only complete Christians if we remain in Christ Jesus!

Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

We must have confidence in the pure truth of the “Gospel of Jesus Christ”!

*****Gal 5:10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.

Notice that the Apostle Paul was not confident in these churches that he had established.

The Apostle Paul was only confident in them through the Lord.

Paul said, open up your scriptures and you will read the truth.

It is only by the Lord Jesus Christ that we can overcome false doctrine!

We are saved by Grace!
We are kept saved by Grace!
We will be saved by “Grace” and all by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jud 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jud 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

What happens to those who change the truth of the “Gospel” to suit themselves?

They will bear their own judgment!

Remember each Christian has already been “Justified”, that teacher of false doctrine will bear his own judgment and we already know what that judgment will be!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

False teachers shall be judged because they trouble God’s Church and it’s believers!

False teachers loose the chords of “Faith” in Jesus Christ and He alone!

False teachers disturb the security and the lives of the believer!

False teachers defile the House of God!

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, “which temple ye are”.

The Apostle Paul preached and taught the truth!

*****Gal 5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

We can be assured that all those that preach a false doctrine will be judged harshly because they have spread a falsehood about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We should never forget this well used passage:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: “but he that believeth not is condemned already”, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Any deviation from this truth will bring condemnation!

Any deviation from this truth will certainly bring the wrath of God!

God will not tolerate any attack on His Son and God will not tolerate any attack on those He has called to preach the truth of the Gospel.

The Apostle Paul could have stopped all attacks on his person, if he had only preached legalism but Paul had refused to give in to false doctrine!

And Paul adds this thought.

*****Gal 5:12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

The sign of the Law was circumcision and Paul said even as these false preachers desire you to be circumcised, to cut away a useless piece of meat, he would wish that their useless message of circumcision also be cut off!

**False teachers will judged because they spread a false gospel!

**False teachers will be judged because they are offended by the cross!

It is a fact the modern gatherings of people stay away from the Blood of Jesus.

In fact true Christianity is sometimes referred to as a bloody religion.

It is the cross that causes most all false religions to stumble in their approach to God.

They simply say that the cross was not enough to bring salvation to anyone.

We can be sure that God will remind them all, how much they are wrong when He returns the second time!

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn”.

Joh 19:37 And again another scripture saith, “They shall look on him whom they pierced”.

How are our sins washed away?

Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”,

There is no greater love, than One who will lay down His life in order to save His family!

Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Anyone who teaches any other doctrine than this will surely feel the wrath of God!

**False teachers will also be judged because they deserve it!

Paul said these that preach circumcision would be better off if they castrated themselves of that false thing they preached!

This may sound repulsive but false teaching is even more repulsive and when they meet Jesus, and they will meet Jesus, He will reward them according to what they have done!

Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then “he shall reward every man according to his works”.

Every human being that wishes to approach God must come through the cross, which is through the death of Jesus, which is through the blood of Jesus, which is by the truth of the Gospel, which is through the Work of Jesus!

Any other way will lead to eternal death!

Why did God leave us on this Earth after He has justified each of us?

*****Gal 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Gal 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Gal 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

God leaves all those of true “Faith” here on earth after salvation, in order to show the love of Jesus Christ to this evil world!

God, through His Son Jesus, has made us free from the Law!

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

BUT, Christian liberty is not a license to sin!

Paul has shown us over and over again, that the believer is not saved by any law, by any work, not by any ritual or ceremony!

When each of us accept the work of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation, God takes our belief and counts it as righteousness.

This means we have become acceptable to God!

This freedom means we no longer have to struggle to be good to be saved!

This is freedom from ever having to wonder if we have done enough to please God!

This is not freedom to live as we want to after salvation!

This is not freedom to satisfy the demands of our flesh!

This not freedom to seek the things of this world!

This world is never going to change!

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

So we cannot believe in Christ Jesus and still live in worldliness!

Bible belief is not intellectual belief!

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a commitment to live with Jesus Christ as our example of righteousness everyday of our lives!

Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

When we continue in sin after we are saved, then we are showing that we have no knowledge of God’s love!

God has made us free to love one another like He loves us!

Love is never offending!

Love is always caring!

Love does not take advantage of other people in any way!

Love does not use people to fulfill our own purposes!

Love will not ever hurt!

Love endures all things without becoming weak!

And, Love is certainly not biting and devouring one another!

When we give in to the fleshy desires of our evil heart we will fail in our godly love!

Jas 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Jas 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

When we give in to the desires of our heart we can not even get our prayers answered!

Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

It is only true love that can cover all sins!

Pro 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

It is this war, that we have within our own selves, that causes most all our own problems and if we are not truly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, we will cause our own failures!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

A Contrast Of The Law And Grace

April 26, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Contrast Of The Law And Grace

Galatians 4:15-31

That word contrast means to show the difference between two separate things of a like kind and like claims.

The Word of God teaches us that Laws bring bondage but that “Grace” brings freedom!

What we will see is the difference between God’s Grace and God’s curse.

Legalism mixed with Grace, teaches us that it is by the Grace of God that we can obey the Laws of God and by keeping the law we will be saved.

Legalism alone teaches that if we cannot keep all the Law and obey all the rules, then we will lose our salvation and be in need of salvation again.

These are only attempts to mix the Grace of God with man made laws, but keeping rules and regulations will never solve the problem of “SIN”!

Laws offer no forgiveness of sin!

It is only by the “Grace of God” that we can be saved!

Legalist see all people as only law keepers or law breakers!

Jesus Christ only sees every person as a sinner in need of a Savior!

Let’s pick up where we left off last week.

*****Gal 4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

When these Galatians had first heard the “Gospel” and believed and were saved, they had had great joy in their salvation and this is the way it should be.

God says this:

Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

The most important witnessing tool we have is living a life free from the bondage of sin and that new life should be a life filled with joy in our salvation.

That lost person has no interest in preaching.

That lost person has no interest in “Gospel music”.

That lost person can see a changed life that is now full of the joy of salvation!

Jesus also says this:

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, “that they may see your good works”, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

SO, what had legalism brought to these churches in Galatia? It was not joy!

This loss of joy was so noticeable to the Apostle Paul that he asked them, “where is the blessedness ye spake of when you first got saved”?

**Legalism destroys joy because it makes people feel guilty rather than feel loved!

How had Jesus Christ fulfilled all the Law?

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And Jesus added these words:

Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

James the half-brother of Jesus Christ has these words for us all:

Jas 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

The “royal law”, which are the Words of Jesus Christ, are fulfilled when we truly love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves!

When the love of Jesus rules in our heart then we are free from the bondage of legalism and of all man-made laws because they become unnecessary!

**Legalism produces hatred rather than humility!

Humility is the act of submission. Salvation means we have submitted ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Submitting means much more than just dedication.

Submitting means much more that a soul revival.

Submitting is a total yielding to the truth of the “Gospel of Grace”!

BUT, Hatred is an aversion to do evil and discounts the love of God!

God says this:

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

**Legalism stresses performing to please God rather than a personal relationship with God!

God is not impressed with our works!

God is impressed with our effort but that effort can only begin when we have that close and personal relationship with our Savior and that begins with “Faith” and then “Love”!

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; “but the greatest of these is charity”.

Charity(kind, tender, affectionate love) is the greatest of the three Christian Graces!

**Legalism can only show us how far short we have fallen in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ rather than how far we have grown in the Lord.

2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

When we feel inadequate and guilty then we are not living by “Faith”!

These Galatians were feeling inadequate and guilty and had not received the Apostle Paul as they had first received him!

It is this scripture that says that Paul may have had a problem with his eyes. I can attest myself to the fact that as I have grown older my eyesight has to be enhanced with strong glasses. Paul had no such access to such things as reading glasses.

When they first received the Apostle Paul they truly cared for God’s missionary and they would have plucked out their own eyes and given them to him but they had changed and their love for Paul had dwindled as also their love for the truth of God!

**Legalism will cause a hatred for the truth!

*****Gal 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

The God sent, minister of God must proclaim all the Word of God and most all of us have a subject we would rather not hear our Pastor preach on, but we must not become enemies of the truth!

What does God say?

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Those legalistic Jews from Jerusalem had made Paul out to be their enemy and Paul asked these Galatians if he was also their enemy now.

We must not forget why God chose certain men by the Holy Spirit, to preach the “Gospel of Grace”.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 “For the perfecting of the saints”, “for the work of the ministry”, “for the edifying of the body of Christ”:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

It is only God’s truth that can make us free from the bondage of sin and sometimes the truth hurts our feelings!

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Legalism cannot bring freedom!

*****Gal 4:17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

What do false preachers do to congregations?

**They are extremely zealous of their teaching at the expense of the truth!

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

**They seek as great a following as possible! It’s all about the numbers but it is all for the wrong reasons.

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

**They were seeking support where the Apostle Paul worked to support himself.

1Th 2:9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

**They sought to tear down and destroy the God called ministers of the truth. (Many attempts were made on Paul’s life but even more attempts to destroy his ministry)

The Apostles of Jesus Christ were always seeking to benefit God’s children.

**False Preachers only seek to benefit themselves!

What is the difference between a God called Preacher and a preacher of false doctrine?

False preachers seek to focus people on laws, works, efforts, rituals, ceremonies, observances, sacrifices, rules, and regulations, while insisting on all people to do good and to be good in order to become acceptable to God.

The true God called Preacher of the Gospel will focus on God, God’s love, God’s honor, and God’s praise because God Himself provided the only means to become acceptable to Him, by Jesus Christ!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

To know Jesus Christ is to know the Living God!

It is not hard to distinguish the true God called Preacher from the false ones.

All we need do is compare what they says to God’s Written Word!

*****Gal 4:18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

Paul said that the church should always welcome those who seek to minister for the welfare of the church and reject all those that seek their own welfare and those that reject the everlasting “Gospel” of Jesus Christ!

Every church is to grow in Christ!

Every church is to make disciples for Christ!

Every child of God is to have the appearance of Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Gal 4:20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

Paul had personally led many of these Galatians to the Lord.

Paul had helped them all mature spiritually.

Paul had a deep concern for his spiritual children.

This was a special trait of the Apostle Paul because this was a trait of the Lord Jesus Christ and an example for every man of God.

1Th 2:7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:
1Th 2:8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Paul travailed for his spiritual children as a mother about to give birth in his effort to return them to Christ Jesus.

**A false minister has no true concern for the child of God!

A true shepherd loves his flock dearly!

A true shepherd agonizes over the growth of his flock!

A true shepherd is more like a mother hen than a strutting rooster!

And again the Lord Christ Jesus is our example!

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

The true minister will guard the church against the error of leaving the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ, as did the Apostle Paul and will warn the church rather than become a part of that error!

The true minister will explain the difference between the Law and Grace in as easy terms as possible!

Paul chose a historical moment in time that was verified in the Word of God.

*****Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

Paul says listen to what the Law really says.

Paul said open up your clogged up ears and listen to what these false preachers are saying.

Paul said get out of the fog and get in the Light of Jesus Christ!

Paul said let’s just look at the Word of God and get our example of the truth!

The Gospel says we are “Justified by Grace” and that we enter into God’s New Heaven not by law, not by works, not by goodness “but by promise”!

So the Apostle Paul goes back to the beginning of the promise to Abraham.

It is only in the Word of God where we can find the truth of God!

We know that Abraham had only two sons while his wife Sarah was still alive.

One son Isaac had been promised by God to Abraham through his wife Sarah but many years had passed and Sarah had gotten very old and Sarah decided that God might need a little help to fulfill His promise to Abraham.

Sarah was wrong, God does not need our help for Him to fulfill His own promises!

Sarah trusted God but she became discouraged with her aged body and she sent her slave girl, Hagar into Abraham and Hagar had a son named Ishmael.

Some 13 years after Ishmael was born, God kept His promise to Abraham and Sarah bore Isaac.

Sarah had laughed at the promise God had made in her old age but God had proven to her that nothing is to hard for God and that He would always keep His promises!

Gen 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Gen 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

And the truth is:

Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

So what can we see about Ishmael?

Ishmael was born through the natural process.

Ishmael was born into slavery being born of a slave girl.

Ishmael was born because of the work, the effort, and the will of Sarah.

Ishmael was born because of the fleshly impulses of Abraham.

We men must beware of our fleshly impulses when we are up in our years!

So what do we know about Isaac?

Isaac was born a free man by a free woman.

Isaac was born because of the promise of God alone.

What are the facts?

Abraham and Sarah were both well beyond the years of childbearing.

Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old.

Isaac was then a miracle child who was born because God had done all the works to perform that miracle and because God always keeps His promises!

Isaac was a promised child!

So what is the point?

Ishmael was born by human ingenuity, human energy, human effort and was born into slavery.

Isaac was born a miracle child, by the promise of God.

Isaac was born because of God’s love and because of God’s power and because of God’s promise.

Isaac was born by the “Grace of God” into freedom!

Paul says now we can see the allegory.

An allegory in the Old Testament is the same as a parable in the New Testament.

In this case an allegory is an actual historical event that has a much deeper spiritual meaning.

And let’s allow Paul to explain this allegory.

*****Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

We will see an illustration of the truth between the Grace of God and the Law if we just listen to the teaching of the Apostle Paul.

First it is best to understand that unless God indicates other wise, the safe and proper way to interpret the Bible is to not interpret it at all.

We must always remember that God means what He says and God says what He means!

2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

This goes for the individual and also for any Elder and includes the Pope and any other so-called spiritual leader of any and all denominations.

Now saying that, many times the Bible will indicate when God’s Word is meant to be interpreted allegorically.

But we will also see that even these allegories are built upon the historical truth that is written in the Word of God!

The Biblical story of Sarah and Hagar are historical facts!

We are wrong when we do not accept the Word of God as historical fact!

We are also wrong when we fail to understand why God would use allegories.

We already know the Lord Jesus Christ used the parable in many instances to aid in teaching the disciples.

We haven’t mentioned the different “types” in the Bible for awhile but these two mothers, Hagar and Sarah, represent the two covenants in the Bible in typology.

1) Hagar was a “type” of the old covenant, (The Law) that was between God and man.

Hagar represents the Law which bears children into slavery.

The Law makes demands.

The Law insists on total obedience.

The Law enslaves people to do exactly what it says or suffer dire consequences.

When people try to approach God with their own goodness, by their own works, by their own righteousness, they are in bondage to the Law!

It takes total obedience to the Laws given to Moses and the ever changing laws of man to ever become righteous enough on your own which is impossible!

It is a fact that we are to try our very best to live righteously and morally but by God’s standards and not by man’s standards.

But God says we are not justified because of our goodness or by any self efforts!

We cannot save ourselves!

We are not to praise ourselves for our feeble attempts at good works!

All praise belongs to God!

Hagar is in fact a “type” of all religions that go about seeking their own righteousness while rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation!

Hagar stands for Mount Sinai, the Mount in Arabia where the Law was given to Moses.

Mount Sinai is also a “type” of the Law.

God has always intended for Jerusalem to be habited by His own children which are children of freedom!

*****Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Sarah was a “type” of the new covenant between God and man, which is the covenant of Grace.

The covenant of “Grace” is the covenant of “Promise”!

Sarah or “Grace” is seen in Jerusalem that is from above or we say the New Jerusalem.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

It is life in the New Jerusalem that is promised to all those of true “Faith”!

Sarah was free. Grace is free. The Promise of the New Jerusalem is built for those that are free!

It is only by our “Faith” that we can receive the “Grace of God” and be a part of the Promises of God!

Anyone who thinks these things can be bought at any price is living in a dream world!

So what are the facts?

According to the Word of God their will be many more children of Hagar than there are children of Sarah!

BUT, that will be because they chose the wrong path of works and the Law and rejected the “Grace of God”!

God says why in the world would anyone choose bondage over freedom!

Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Isa 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

The children of “Faith”, that receive God’s “Grace” are in fact just as Isaac the “children of Promise”!

*****Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

How does Paul describe the believer to these Galatians?

We, brothers and sisters, just as Isaac, are the children of “Promise” because of our “Faith”!

All those that accept the work of the Lord Jesus Christ are birthed into the family of God, which is a Spiritual Birth!

We receive the “Promise” of God because God takes our “Faith” and counts it to us for righteousness just as He did for Abraham!

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

So, what can we expect from all those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ and adhere to a works doctrine?

*****Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

The child of “Faith” will be persecuted by all those that seek another way to be righteous in the eyes of God.

Just as Ishmael mocked and persecuted Isaac, so it will be for the Christian!

Gen 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.

Those that work so hard to try to find a way to please God, will always ridicule those that tell them they are wasting their time and just need to believe.

Understanding these things will also better prepare as we witness for Jesus Christ.

The world sees Christians as weak but God says for us to be bold!

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

A person sold out to works, or rituals, or ceremony will have to admit that they are also weak and most of them will refuse to admit any weakness!

They will refuse to admit weakness and accept the fact that by their own energy, their own effort, their own works, they will never be able to impress God!

And God says we all know this to be true!

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Jesus says for us to be prepared for all these things.

All those that seek to please God by their own works will be cast out just as Hagar and Ishmael.

*****Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

What actually happened?

Gen 21:10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

The Law cannot co-exist with the Grace of God!

The son of Hagar(the Law) shall not be an heir with the son of Sarah(Grace)!

Ishmael was cast out so that he could not share in Abraham’s riches which was the sure inheritance of Isaac.

This causes grief many people and it even caused grief to Abraham.

Gen 21:11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
Gen 21:12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

God is building His Church and God will never allow anyone who approaches Him by law or works to be a part of His Church!

This is God’s plan and we should never question God’s plan!

Why is this so important?

Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

All those that stand before God using the word “my” will be rejected!

God is perfect and the only One who is, so when you stand before God with your own works, your own goodness, your own righteousness, and a list of all the laws you have kept all the days of your life, you are only presenting your own human effort.

None of these things are important to God because you have not trusted in the truth of what He has written down for us in His Word!

Even the very best of people are disobedient to the Word of God and therefore left to the wages of death!

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

What is the will of our Father in Heaven?

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

And what has God said?

Hab 2:2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Hab 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Hab 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

When our own self-pride comes between us and God we will lose every time!

What is the only choice we have to make in this life?

We must decide if we are going to be the children of the bondwoman or the children of the free woman?

*****Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

To be free from the “Wages of Death” we must be a child of “Faith”!

If we believe the Word of God then we must believe the Apostle Paul and Paul has explained all these things as simply as they can be explained.

True salvation brings peace of mind and there is no peace of mind in the Law!

Once we have been adopted into the family of God, God then removes the death grip of this world and the works of this world and places us in His hands for safe keeping!

Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

If God is strong enough to save us, He is surely strong enough to keep us saved!

We should just ask ourselves are we going to trust in our own strength or are we going to trust in the Almighty Strength of God?

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Redeemed By Faith

April 19, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

Redeemed By Faith

Galatians 4:1-14

The word “redeemed” means to be delivered from bondage, to be ransomed, to be delivered from the possession of another by making an equivalent payment.

The word “redemption” comes from the Greek word “agorazo” and means making a trip to the market place for the purpose of purchasing. In most cases this phrase referred to the purchase of slaves!

The word “redemption” is used to describe the believer being purchased out of the slave market of sin!

That purchase price was the death of Jesus Christ!

1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Since by our own “Faith” we believe that we are the purchased objects of God’s love and at such a terrible cost, we have become God’s slaves, to do God’s will!

That word “redeemed” comes from the Greek word “exagorazo” which means that Jesus Christ has purchased each believer, by “Faith”, from that slave market and removed them from the slave market altogether and never to return!

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Whosoever by their “Faith” believe that Christ has done this wonderful thing, just because He wanted to, are released from the bondage of sin and slavery to sin!

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

And we now belong to God as a possession!

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

This is the message that we must take to the world!

SO, Let’s begin where we left off last week:

Since the original text did not have chapter and verses let’s add the last verse of chapter 3 to get the full context.

*****Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

We need to remember that false teachers and preachers had come into the churches of Galatia and taught a false doctrine.

They had taught that all Gentiles must first obey the Laws of Moses before they could accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. In other words it was the Law that saved and not Faith!

No doubt we should always try our best to be the best we can, by all standards.

Even God says this:

Tit 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
Tit 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

Still the pure fact is that no one can be saved by just being good or being the best we can!

As we go through chapter 4 we will see God’s salvation plan!

In the previous chapters Paul has established that once we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ “by Faith” in the work He has done, we are then sealed with the Holy Spirit and subject to the promises first given to Abraham.

We already know that it is Jesus Christ who was the “Promised Seed” and we are heirs according to the bloodline of Jesus Christ!

S0 Paul continues saying that, even though we are heirs, until we receive our inheritance, we are no more than a child waiting on that inheritance!

Every child is to be obedient to his parents just as any slave or servant is to be obedient to their masters.

What is the point of these things? Paul is saying that until the “appointed time” by that parent, that inheritance was out of reach for that child.

And in comparison, Paul says that while we were lost, there was absolutely nothing that we could do of ourselves to inherit the promises of God, “justification” was out of our reach !

*****Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

What are these elements that Paul is speaking to? The elements of this world refer to all things that men will try to use to get right with God!

What are some of these things?

1) Men have used “laws” and many religions continue to try this method.

2) Men have used “good works” and many religions still try this method.

3) Men have used “rituals and ceremonies”, along with “ceremonial worship” and many religions still try this method.

4) Men have used “church membership and keeping of ordinances” and many still try this method.

5) Men have used “astrology or science” and many still try this method.

6) Men have used “philosophy” or we say “Religion” and many still try to use this method.

What does God say about all of these things?

**God says we need to quit acting like children and understand what He is saying!

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

**God says we need pay attention to Jesus Christ!

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

**God says if you trust in science and astrology, you are trusting in temporary things!

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

**God says to not become subject to the teachings of men!

Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Col 2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

**God says to not fall into the traps of legalism!

Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

**God says to quit being children being fooled by the things of this world and understand the truth of the Word of God!

1Co 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

**God says listen to the truth, God says “listen to My plan of salvation” and be a part of My plan!

God says listen to the only plan that can make you a part of the promises made to Abraham!

*****Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

We should realize that when Jesus Christ appeared on this world it was not by chance!

Christ’s coming was according to the Word of God.

Jesus Christ first came to this earth at the exact right time as prophesied by Daniel.

God and God alone had decided the fulness of time!

What do we know for sure?

1) Jesus Christ was born of a particular person, as prophesied.

2) Jesus Christ was born at a particular time, as prophesied.

3) Jesus Christ was born in a particular place, as prophesied.

4) Jesus Christ was born in a particular way, as prophesied. (The incarnate Son of God)

5) Jesus Christ was born under a particular system, as prophesied. (The Law)

6) Jesus Christ suffered from the curse of Adam’s sin and the curse of the Law, being subject to the same worldly system from which He had come to save all others, “but without sin”, as prophesied!

7) This world had been prepared for the first coming of Christ Jesus, as prophesied.

a) The Law had shown the Jewish people their transgressions and despite God’s blessings, they had refused to seek God! (Sounds a whole lot like America today)

b) The world was full of spiritually starved people! They worshipped themselves, they worshipped pleasure, they worshipped false gods, they worshipped philosophies, but the soul of men still hungered for the truth.

c) The world at the time of Jesus was more at peace than it had been for many years because of Roman domination, but people could still move around and it was possible for the “Gospel” to spread at this time.

d) Most of the world depended on one language, “Greek”, making communication possible around the known world at that time, again allowing the Gospel to spread.

e) The world had a system of roads in place which allowed for travel between all nations.

SO, What did Jesus preach just after He had been baptized by John the Baptist?

Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

The fulness of time had come and God had prepared the world to receive His Son!

The Almighty Living God had sent His own Son into this world to deliver all mankind!

God had sent His Son into this world to provide that means of adoption into the family of God and therefore be able to also receive the promises made to Abraham!

SO, What else did Jesus preach?

Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Jesus Came to fulfill the Father’s plan because it is only by the Father’s plan that we can be “Justified” and “Redeemed”!

Joh 7:28 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
Joh 7:29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

God just asks us all to be part of His plan because there is no other plan that will bring us such a salvation!

What is the truth of the Gospel?

God sent His Son made of a woman, which was “born out of a woman” because we would not have accepted the Messiah under any other conditions!

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

God spoke the Word by the Holy Spirit and this young virgin conceived a Son, who had to become a man so He could save all men!

Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

These are the things that we must base our “Faith” upon!

Jesus Christ was born under the Law because all mankind are under the laws of men!

Jesus Christ had to obey the Law in every single detail in order to become that “perfect” ideal man and the only “sacrifice” that could be accepted by our Father in Heaven.

Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

To believe all these things is to be redeemed and openly welcomed into the family of God!

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Law condemned us all to death, but by our own “Faith” we are welcomed into God’s family!

*****Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

The Spirit of Christ will be sent by our Father in Heaven to dwell within every believer upon a confession of their ‘Faith”!

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Adoption is a serious matter!

An adopted son is permanent. They cannot be adopted today and unadopted later!

An adopted son loses all rights to his previous family but now has full rights to his new family.

An adopted son is looked upon as a new person and has a new name and any debt connected to his old family is cancelled and forgotten as if they never existed!

An adopted son has a very special relationship with all the other family members, up close and personal!

An adopted son becomes an heir to the riches of His new Father!

None of these things are available to those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

The Apostle Paul says to remember where you came from!

We should ask ourselves, just why does God want us to read and understand all His written Word and God gives us that answer.

1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

God wants us all to know the truth!

When we have reached this point of knowing the plan of salvation by the “Grace of God” and by our own “Faith”, why in the world would we accept anything less than this truth!

When we had no knowledge of our Savior, we knew that we did serve the falseness that this is all this world has to offer!

Once we have realized the presence, and the fellowship, and the care, and the communion with the Lord, why would we want to give that up for anything that promises so much less?

It is a fact that if you are in the world, you are serving false gods!

These Galatians had not been Atheist, they had served many false gods.

These Galatians had not been Agnostic, they knew in their hearts that there had to be a real God!

These Galatians knew that they had been slaves to false worship of false gods, that only took their money and never promised salvation of any kind!

They served gods which by nature were no gods!

They served gods that were only gods of the mind!

Most people worship things that they themselves have exalted to some high priority!

Most people have a fixed picture in their minds of what they want their personal god to be like, to suit only themselves and their own way of life!

Most people worship their own thoughts, their own ideas, and their own way of life and they reject anything that goes against these things!

These people have it in their minds how they want their God to be and reject seeking the truth of who God says He is!

Most people will spend eternity in the Burning Lake of Fire, “because they reject the truth of God in Jesus Christ”!

It is only the sin of “unbelief” that cannot be overcome!

To know Jesus Christ, is to know the Living God and these Galatians knew this to be true!

*****Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

We must realize that it is a great privilege to know the truth of God but it is even a greater blessing to know that God knows your name and that God knows more about you than you can ever know about yourself!

God offers us all an opportunity to have a close and personal relationship with Him but we must first accept who He is!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God says that while we are still living in this life, we must leave the things of this world behind and focus on the things of God!

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

God says we may live in this world but we are not to be a part of this world!

To be “redeemed” is to belong to God!

Isa 43:1 ***** for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

We cannot come to know God by works, or rituals or anything that we can do ourselves!

We can only be “Justified” by our “Faith” and that is “Faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

These are God’s rules and this is God’s plan and too many today just want to ignore God’s plan for their own plan which will always fail!

These Galatians were about to turn back to the weak and beggarly elements that lead to destruction and lead to failure in the service of God.

Were they turning back to pagan worship? No!

They were considering that all men can only become acceptable to God by their own efforts and by good works which God says will have absolutely no effect on your “justification”!

Look at what is happening in our world today. In radical Islam, these people are going to extremes in an effort to appease a false god and they are not the only ones as some so-called Christians do the same thing along with so many others of false religion.

God knew all these things would happen therefore His plan is the greater of all plans!

When Christians return to this line of thought, they are returning to the bondage and slavery of man’s laws!

These elements of false religion are weak and beggarly according to the Apostle Paul and useless in the eyes of God!

Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

What did Paul see happening to these Galatians?

*****Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

These Galatians began “again” to trust in rituals.

They again, returned to ceremonial worship.

They again, returned to special religious days or special worship days in an attempt to please God.

They returned back to worldly attempts to please God!

BUT, none of these things can bring “Justification” in the eyes of God!

This does not mean we are ignore the Lord’s Day as a day of worship.

Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We must gather together in worship and we must gather together to strengthen each other in “Faith”!

BUT, we can never make our own selves righteous!

And Paul said to these Galatians that they would be useless in their service to God!

When we do not follow God’s plan, then we become useless in God’s plan to redeem other sinners!

*****Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

We live wasted lives when we seek to find ways to become righteous in the eyes of God!

Every approach to God will fail except “Faith” in Jesus Christ!

The world rejects this truth and the world is doomed to failure!

Any other approach to appeasing God, leads to death and destruction the same as not knowing God at all!

And Jesus said:

Luk 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

And God says this:

Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

We are just as foolish as these Galatians, if we have accepted the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have been “redeemed” and then turn back to religious self-righteousness and ignore the Word of God!

The Apostle Paul said, “I was also raised as a Jew under all those laws, under all those rituals, under all those ceremonies and under all those observances and none of those things got me one step closer to a relationship with God”!

*****Gal 4:12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

We should not forget the Apostle Paul had come under vicious attack not only by those Judaizers but many of these of the church who had gotten confused about the truth of the “Gospel” and the “Grace of God”!

Paul called them brothers because they were still his brothers in Christ.

Paul did not treat them as enemies.

Paul did not treat them as those who opposed Jesus Christ!

Paul did not talk about them, Paul talked to them!

Paul did not gripe over his frustrations, nor complain about their actions, Paul expressed deep brotherly love for each of them.

After all they were still God’s children by adoption!

Paul showed to these Galatians the heart of true Pastor!

Paul begged and pleaded with them from the heart as a true minister of God!

Paul simply said “be like I am, for I am one of you”.

Paul had totally given up Judaism as a means to please God and had accepted Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior.

Paul was saying to these Galatians, “you do not have to become a Jew to be saved, you must only have “Faith” in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul said “I will never hold any bitterness or malice against you”!

What is a Pastor?

A Pastor feeds God’s sheep!

A Pastor is God’s appointed man over a congregation of believers!

A Pastor ministers the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

A Pastor should be a picture of God’s “Grace” to each believer!

God had prepared these Galatians when they had first met Paul but God had also prepared Paul in a special way.

*****Gal 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
Gal 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

God will often use weak, despised, and poor instruments to accomplish His will!

When we are weak in the flesh because of illness, we certainly cannot display our own power.

BUT, the truth of the “Gospel” cannot be hidden even in our own weakness!

2Co 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
2Co 13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

Paul’s illness at this time was as much a trial to himself as it was a trial to all these Galatians.

This traveling evangelist had taken the opportunity in all of Galatia to preach the Gospel no matter how he felt, no matter his health, and no matter his physical condition.

Paul had not been rejected because of the way he looked.

Paul had not been rejected because he was not some great speaker.

Paul had been received because of the Message he had!

In fact Paul had been received as if he were an angel sent from God!

Paul had been received as if he had been Jesus Himself!

Jesus said:

Mat 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

When we hear the “Gospel of Grace”, we know that we have heard the truth!

1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Again Paul points out to these people how much they have changed from the truth!

We began this lesson by saying that we can only be redeemed by our “Faith”!

One day John the Baptist was preaching and baptising in the Jordan River and he looked up and saw Jesus Christ and he had these words:

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”.

If our “Faith” is not wrapped up in this statement by John the Baptist, then we are not saved. and we have placed our “Faith” in something other than Jesus Christ!

For behold, it is only the Lamb of God who can take away all our sin!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Superiority Of Faith

April 12, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Superiority Of Faith

Galatians 3:19-29

Superiority means the quality of being more advanced or higher. To be greater or more excellent.

The world we live in today ranks fortune and fame above the superiority of understanding the truth of God!

The world is wrong and God tells us to come out from among the world.

Until we come out from the world and live separately from the world we will never be received of God!

The purpose of laws are to expose sin.

The purpose of the law is to show us our need for a Savior.

Conviction, Repentance, and most of all Faith in Jesus Christ is what will bring us to Salvation!

The proof of laws is that they lack the power to change lives!

Laws may look to have power, laws may seem to be intimidating, but keeping and obeying laws cannot justify anyone in the eyes of God!

If the promise made to Abraham was not affected by laws, what then was the purpose of the Laws of Moses?

Let’s pick up where we left off last week.

*****Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

**What was the purpose of the Law? The purpose of the Law was to reveal to us, that we are all sinners.

How many of you when you are driving and come up to a stop sign really want to stop? I’ll tell you that not many of us really want to stop. We stop, not because the stop sign says stop, but because we know if we proceed without stopping we place ourselves in danger of injury or death.

This is what the law does! If we do not obey the Law and proceed then we place ourselves in danger of death.

The Law was not given to justify or make anyone acceptable in the eyes of God because the Law was given to make people aware of their sin!

Laws do not make us righteous, laws just make us aware of our unrighteousness!

1) Laws make us aware of our sin and the results of sin.
2) Laws make us aware of how short we come to reaching God’s glory.
3) Laws cause us to pay attention to the fact that we are sinners.
4) Laws show us how foolish we are to claim to be righteous.
5) Laws show us our need for a Savior!
6) Laws point us to a Righteous Lawgiver!
7) Laws bring us to point of conviction.

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

**The Law was temporary!

The Law was added to the promise God made to Abraham for a specific purpose but only temporarily!

“Till the “Promised Seed” should come!

Law extended from Moses until The Lord Jesus appeared to fulfill the Law and the Promise!

God never intended any Law to be a way to Salvation!

Before Jesus came, the Law was our standard of measurement to show us how far we fall short of the glory of God!

Since Jesus has now come, Jesus is now our standard of measurement.

Jesus fulfilled all the Law!

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Jesus came not just to fulfill the Laws of Moses but to fulfill all the Word of God!

Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Jesus Christ is the “Perfect” Picture, the “Living” Example, and the Pattern for all mankind, that God has set before us.

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Why? Because Jesus Christ is and was the visible representation of the invisible God!

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Why are the Laws not totally abandoned now since Jesus has come?

Laws are abandoned for all those that place their trust in Jesus Christ!

Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

But to all those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in their own righteousness the Law is still in full effect!

Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Jesus Christ is the end of the Law, but only for “believers”!

**How do we know that the Law cannot justify?

The Law was not given directly by God!

The Law came from God but it was given by angels to Moses.

Act 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Act 7:53 “Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it”.

The Bible says that God had brought many angels with Him when He came to Mount Sinai:

Deu 33:2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

Any Law that does not come directly from God is then inferior when God speaks Himself!

God spoke directly to Abraham!

Moses was indeed the mediator between God and Israel but now we have the true Mediator between God and all Mankind, His name is Christ Jesus!

*****Gal 3:20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

To have a relationship with God it must be truly personal!

Even Job clearly understood this!

Job 9:33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

And the Apostle Paul clearly understood this!

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

The Law was between two parties, sinful man and God.

Both man and God had responsibilities.

Man had to keep the Law and if he did God would reward him with righteousness.

We see then that righteousness was conditional under the Law!

In the “Promise” of righteousness by the “Grace of God” only God had to meet certain conditions!

God fulfills His “Promise” by Jesus Christ!

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

If you can get personal with God then you can see the truth in what He says!

**The truth is that no Law has the power to give life!

*****Gal 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

How do we know that the Law cannot “justify” anyone in the eyes of God? Because the Law has no power to give eternal life!

Laws are just rules!

Laws can only help us decide how we are going to behave!

Laws bring only demands!

Laws are cold and lifeless!

Laws demand obedience but leave us alone to struggle with how we will comply with those laws!

Laws bring a curse for failure and have no power to give life!

In order for the Law to bring life then it would have had to contain the means to pardon!

Since Jesus Christ was the only One who could have kept all the Laws, then He is the only One who had the power to instill behaviour into the mind of each believer.

It is the life of Christ Jesus that brings with it eternal life to the believer!

The Law only shows our weakness to obey it!

Faith shows our strength through Christ Jesus!

There is no Law that can be written that can open the gates of Heaven.

*****Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Verse 19 taught us that the Law was only added to the promise because of transgression.

The laws given to the Children of Israel made it clear to them what God considered to be sin!

A transgression is anything that goes against the will of God!

Laws only open the doors to Satan’s prison because sin holds all people in Death’s grip!

Laws conclude that we are all sinners and need rules to live by, and they bring serious consequences!

“Under sin” means to be shut up as a prisoner in the hopeless depths of solitary confinement!

Rom 3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that “they are all under sin”;
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

And the results of all those that remain under sin is eternal death;

Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

The entire purpose of the Law is to drive all mankind to seek the “Promises of God” through Jesus Christ!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

It is the Promises of God that bring life and not some Law!

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

So why is “Faith” so much superior to any Law?

*****Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Every person on this Earth was caught up in “Sin’s Prison” before “Faith came!

Until Jesus Christ died an actual death on Calvary’s Cross there was no escape from this bondage!

The Law itself is temptation!

We are tempted to touch that fresh painted bench just to see if it is still wet.

We are tempted to break the speed limit just to see if we will get caught.

We are tempted to run that red light just to see if anyone really cares.

Temptation brings only failure!

But Faith brings results!

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 “Whom resist stedfast in the faith”, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

The Law shows us our failures.

The Law accuses and condemns us.

The Law has no life because the Law has no power to give life.

So the only hope of mankind was for “someone” to have the power to set us free from this bondage!

That “someone” was Jesus Christ!

To be released from sin’s bondage we must accept His deliverance!

The most important choice we make in our life time is, “what are we going to do with Jesus Christ”!

We can believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ or we can reject Him!

The entire purpose of the Law was to bring us all to this point during our lifetime!

The Law is only our schoolmaster!

The Law teaches us the need for salvation.

God’s Grace is “the gift” of salvation.

It is “Faith” in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that brings God’s Gift!

In the days of Jesus, a “schoolmaster” was a person in charge of the moral development of a child.

It was this schoolmaster who would prepare the child and deliver him to the teacher and then return later that day to bring that child back home to safety.

The purpose of the Law is to lead every person to Christ Jesus who is the true Teacher!

Once the teaching of Christ, which is “Faith” has come, there is no longer a need for the “schoolmaster”!

Faith is superior to all Law!

*****Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God “by faith in Christ Jesus”.

How can this verse be so misinterpreted?

It is only Jesus Christ who can bring us face to face with God!

It is only Jesus Christ who answers the terms of adoption into the family of God!

The truth is, that “Faith” will cause us to concentrate on the Son of God, Jesus Christ!

Anyone who tries to focus on laws or rituals or works cannot stay focused on God’s Son!

And we see this happening in our world today!

It’s important to realize that God accepts each believer as a child!

And what else is important?

Luk 18:17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

**We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by working out some deep spiritual problem.

**We cannot enter into the kingdom of God by works at all!

Children are incapable of some mighty works to accomplish great goals.

Children cannot stay focused on one thing for very long.

Children rely on the gifts of good parents to survive in this evil world.

And as children we must rely on the gift of God to be part of God’s family.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

To reject God’s gift is to reject God’s family!

To become a part of God’s family we must put on Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have “put on” Christ.

The Apostle Paul is not saying we are saved by “Baptism”!

There are many millions who have been baptized that will never see God’s New Heaven!

There are also many millions who have some sort of faith that will never live in God’s house!

Paul is saying that if Jesus Christ is not our example and the object of our Faith, then we can never be a part of God’s Kingdom!

It is “Faith” that clothes us with the righteousness and the Son-ship of Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ is the pattern that we should all strive to be like!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

To be clothed with Jesus Christ means are also looked upon as God’s Son!

When God looks upon each believer, God sees His Son!

Faith must say the truth and truth says that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God!

If Jesus Christ is not our example of how to live in this life, then we have not put on Christ!

And what else is the truth of the Gospel of Faith?

*****Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Faith makes us all stand on level ground!

How do we solve all the divisions of mankind? We become “One” in Jesus Christ!

There is no other answer to race and ethnic problems in this world we live in!

Every believer stands on equal footing before the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ there is a “new bond” that overcomes, color, culture, and customs!

In Jesus Christ there is a “new bond” that overcomes all social distinctions!

**What is the truth?

If all the world could look upon each other as brothers in Christ there would be no barriers between any of them!

The Jews hated the thought of becoming someone’s slave!

They hated slaves as much as they hated Gentiles.

It was wrong for these Jews to insist that all believers first become Jews.

**What is the truth?

When masters treat their slaves as brothers in Christ, then there is no barrier between them.

The sad fact is, that Christianity has the power to remove all obstacles and for all people if we would all take our stand on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

**What is the truth?

When all males and all females can look upon each other as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, there would be no barriers between them!

We can all be “One” in Jesus Christ in “One” family of God!

The Church is to be the Body of Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ must be the Head of the Church!

Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Col 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands “having nourishment ministered”, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

It is only Jesus Christ who can nourish the Church!

**What is the truth?

When we put on Jesus Christ we become “heirs” to the same promises made to Abraham!

*****Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Only because Abraham was faithful did he receive the promises of God!

It is by our own “Faith” that we are also blessed in the line of Abraham, but by Jesus Christ.

Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

The greatest gift to Abraham was the fulfillment of the promises of God.

The greatest gift to the believer is to be an heir to those same promises!

Let’s revue:

1) Abraham was promised God’s blessing, not God’s wrath.

2) Abraham was promised that he would live in the presence of God and enjoy God’s leadership!

3) Abraham was promised that he would be given the privilege of living in the “Promised Land” forever and ever!

Since Jesus Christ is the legal heir to Abraham, Jesus Christ inherits all the promises given to Abraham.

Since we have been adopted into the family of God, by our own “Faith” then we will also receive the promises given to Abraham!

Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

It cannot get any better than this!

There is “no law” that can cause these things to happen.

There is “no ritual” that can be kept to get you into the family of God.

There is “no work” that can be done to pay for such a promise.

These promises of God can only be fulfilled according to our “Faith”!

Faith is so much the more superior to all the laws of man!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Gospel Promises

April 5, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Gospel Promises

Book of Galatians 3:10-18

What does God ask of us?

God simply ask us to believe!

This has always been what God has asked since the beginning of time!

If we will only believe what God says, God has made some special promises to us all.

2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises”: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

What is the truth?

It is by the promises of God that we can partake of God’s divine nature.

It is by the promises of God that we can escape the corruption that is in this world we live in.

These promises of God are unconditional except for the one thing, that we believe what God says.

God promised that He would be our God.

God promised that mankind, His creation, would be His people.

God promised that He would one day dwell amongst His people.

God promised that He had a plan to make all these things happen!

God has made available to us all, His plan in His Written Word, and God’s plan cannot fail!

God has asked us all to teach those we come in contact with, the Word of God, but God made a promise that one day even this would no longer be necessary.

Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: “for they shall all know me”, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

God’s promises are being fulfilled before our eyes and He will soon be with us and we with Him!

God’s plan requires us only to believe, “to have Faith” because there is no other means by which we can be a part of God’s plan!

There never was, there is not now, and there never will be another way to spend eternity with Our God!

All those that think they can work their way into God’s Heaven will remain under the “Curse of Sin”!

Let’s pickup where we left off last week.

*****Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

We must not be confused, to be “Cursed” is to be condemned and doomed to the wrath of God!

We must also not be confused about sin, Sin Has Consequences!

What God told Adam?

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

What were the results of Adam’s sin?

Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

1) All mankind was sentenced to earn a livelihood from a cursed ground. This would mean toil and sweat.

2) The women are sentenced to suffering in childbirth and we know that this is still true.

3) The women are sentenced to be subjects of their husbands.

4) Then at the end of life, all mankind would return to the dust that we are all made of.

It is not work that is the curse because God will always expect some sort work from us.

It is the fact that work will not be a pleasant thing. There will always be sorrow, toil, frustration, sweat, and weariness that are connected with work here on this Earth.

Even though this curse fell on Adam because he had allowed the words of his wife to take precedence over the Word of God.

On this Earth we live on, the dust, the elements from which all life has been made are included in this curse.

Under this curse, all God’s creation would begin to die and decay and return to that dust from which all life on this Earth came.

It should be obvious that any failure to obey the Word of God brings a curse!

Then if the Law carries a curse, then it could not then bring salvation for it is impossible to keep all the Word of God, all the time, because we can never eliminate, that desire, or that lust that is in us all.

A person either keeps all the Law or that person is cursed!

Cursed then means we will stand before our Righteous Creator and bear the punishment for our sin!

It is that same Word of God that presents that punishment for sin, which is “Death”!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But by God’s Grace, He has provided a means to escape this “Death”.

This death is not just the death of the body as we all will one day die.

This death is the eternal separation from the Living God!

For those that think they have lived free of sin and are still able to do so, are just deceiving themselves.

Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Rom 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

The same Word of God that contains the Law that some people brag that they can keep all their lives, also says that no one can be justified by that Law.

*****Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

All those that think they can approach God by keeping some laws or doing some works will fall under the curse because these are impossible things to do!

God has said from the beginning, if you want to depend on obedience of all the law for salvation then that’s fine, but you must live all your life by that law knowing there is no room for failure!

Lev 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: “which if a man do, he shall live in them”: I am the LORD.

The Word of God says that there is a righteousness that can come by the Law.

Rom 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

Note the Jews had 613 laws, not including the laws of government, and not one individual was able to keep all those laws all the days of their lives.

Every honest human being knows that they cannot keep even the Law of God in every single detail.

Every honest human being knows that they cannot even keep all the laws of man in every single detail.

Trying to obey some laws is seeking to be justified by works.

Hab 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

God says that it is only by “Faith” that we can be justified!

If we trust the Word of God then we would be fools to ignore God’s chosen way to approach Him!

No man can be justified by any law in the sight of God!

Only God is perfect!

Only God can be perfectly righteous!

There is no man that can achieve perfection on his own!

Therefore no man can become righteous on his own!

The Law carries with it a curse!

Faith carries with it life!

SO, why is this such a hard choice?

*****Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

It is a fact that the law requires no faith.

The law only requires total and absolute obedience!

This does not mean that a legalist cannot have faith but it does mean that the law requires no faith!

When you decide to trust in the law for your salvation, then God says you must be perfect in your obedience to the law.

There is no room for error!

God gives us the laws that are required to meet justification, in written form. We call it the Bible. Some people just say The Book!

God also says there is a curse attached to those laws.

God says those that trust in their own obedience to those laws must be perfect in that obedience!

This is the stumbling block of the law!

What is the greatest commandment in the Bible?

Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

The Law then had only one purpose!

The law was given to show all mankind their sin and to cause within them, a personal guilt for being disobedient to God and to God’s Law!

Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

The law then is inferior to the “Grace of God”!

When we study the Bible we will see that the law was given to Moses by angels and from Moses to mankind and Moses was the mediator of the law as long as he lived.

But is was God Himself who gave the promise of “Grace” and “Righteousness” to Abraham!

The Law comes with certain conditions that must be met.

The “Grace” of God is unconditional requiring only “Faith”.

That’s why Jesus said He did not come to destroy the law!

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

The Lord Jesus Christ, The Messiah, came to reveal the full depth of the law.

The Messiah came to this Earth to redeem us all from the terrible curse of the law!

*****Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

What are the facts of Scripture?

Christ Jesus has bought us all back and paid the ransom to free us all from the “Curse” of the law with His own blood!

Jesus Christ took our condemnation, our doom, our death, and our punishment upon His own self by becoming a curse for us and He took our place.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The Apostle Paul illustrates these things for us by quoting from the Old Testament:

Deu 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Deu 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

This “does not” mean that a man is cursed because he is executed on a tree or as we know a cross.

This “does” mean that any man who is executed upon a tree, a cross, is there because he fell under the curse of the law!

The cross portrays the death of the lawbreaker and not true life that can only be obtained by ‘Faith” and God’s law of Grace”!

It is “Grace” that fulfills the Law of God!

Jesus Christ bore the curse of the law in order to open the door of blessing to all mankind!

Jesus Christ bore the curse of the law in order to fulfill the promises made to Abraham and to be a blessing to “all nations”!

*****Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Every human being that believes upon Jesus Christ, that Christ Jesus bore our own curse, is accepted by God and are all given the blessings of the true “Promised Land”.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

1) There is the promise of a divine nature:

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: “that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature”, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2) There is the promise of a new birth:

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

3) There is the promise of becoming a new creation:

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

4) There is the promise of becoming a new man:

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

It is the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit that causes all these promises to be fulfilled.

It is the fulfillment of these promises that allow us into God’s New Heaven!

These promises cannot be broken!

*****Gal 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

We should not ever forget that the Bible teaches us that true life is a life in the presence of God. In this teaching the Bible teaches that though this body of flesh, ages with time and will one day die, true life can only begin at that time.

In the O.T.

Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

In the N.T.

Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Notice there is a place of everlasting shame but also a place of everlasting life.

It is during this life we now live that we can make a choice of our eternal destination!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Paul says, let’s look at this and just take God and eternal salvation out of the picture for a moment.

1Co 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, “if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die”.

This is living in the world of the Atheist!

It is estimated that less than 3% of the population of this world say they are Atheists and most of those will call on a god before their death.

This means that 97% of the world’s population believe in some sort of supernatural being.

97% of our world of over 7 billion people believe in an after life and this many people cannot be wrong, it is just that the Atheist make the most noise!

97% of the world believe that the basis for eternal security does not rest with man, but with God!

The Bible teaches us that the eternal security of each believer is based on the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

It is the Father who has the power to keep us secure in our salvation.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

And the Father will not lose any of those to eternal death, that trust Him!

Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Now knowing all these things, do we really believe that God will keep His promises or not?

As we have seen God took full responsibility for Abraham’s destiny, because Abraham believed God!

The Apostle Paul says that even when men make a covenant with themselves, that covenant is expected to stand!

In the old days, a covenant was sealed with a hand shake.

In our day covenants are seal by legal binding documents.

By law, the promises of a covenant are sealed and both parties are bound by the words of that covenant!

No one outside the existing parties of that covenant can add to or change the wording of that covenant!

And now Paul describes the covenant made with Abraham.

*****Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

First, we see that the covenant made to Abraham also included his “seed”.

Second, the important question is “Who” is meant by the seed of Abraham?

Since the word “Seed” is singular and not plural then we can expect this “Seed” to be only one person.

The same Bible that teaches us all the wonderful things of God says that this “Seed” was Jesus Christ.

The entire Old Testament leads us to this “Seed” of Abraham!

What this means is, that the promises made to Abraham have been passed down to Jesus Christ.

Now if we just think like a man, then this is what the Word of God teaches!

**It is Jesus Christ who will inherit all the promised land, which includes the land of Canaan, the entire world, and the new world that is to come!

**It is all those that “believe” that shall inherit the world of Jesus Christ and reign with Christ throughout all eternity.

Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

**It means that only by “Faith” can the believer become justified and acceptable to God!

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Abraham’s part in the covenant with God, was to believe!

Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

God’s part in this same covenant, was to keep and to fulfill all His promises!

The Apostle Paul says, that if you just think according to the way most men think of man-made laws you would still come to this same conclusion, when you look at the details of the covenant God made with Abraham.

And the pure fact is, that God made this covenant with Abraham some 430 years before the Laws of Moses were even written.

*****Gal 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

When the Law was given to Moses, the covenant given to Abraham had not yet been fulfilled!

Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

And Jesus said not only had He come to fulfill the covenant given to Abraham, but He had also come to fulfill the Laws of Moses which had a totally different purpose.

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Jesus was not just speaking of the Laws of Moses but all the Word of God.

When we come face to face with God, we will be judged by the Word of God!

The point of this sermon by the Apostle Paul remains that no man is justified by the law and neither can they be!

God’s covenant, God’s inheritance, and God’s eternal security come by “Promise” and “Not By Law”!

*****Gal 3:18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

What did Abraham inherit?

The most important thing that Abraham inherited was his own righteousness!

Gen 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

And Abraham’s righteousness came by “Faith” and not by any law!

It was only after being accepted before God that Abraham was given the privilege, by Grace, of living forever in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

What did Jesus promise to all those that have Faith?

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Thank God, He is more about His promise than He is about some Law.

God has never changed from the promises He has made and He never will!

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

What was the highest priority of the Apostles?

Luk 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

We should also pray to God to increase our “Faith”!

This should also be our priority as we grow in the Grace and Knowledge of the Lord!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Justified By Faith And Faith Alone

March 22, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Justification By Faith

Galatians 2:11-21

What is justification? First, justification is the opposite of condemnation!

In the Webster dictionary, justifying is an action that is conformable to law.

In law, justifying is showing in court why a defendant did what he or she was charged with doing.

In God’s Law, Justification is the judicial act of God, by which He pardons “all” sin of those that place their “Faith” in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What are the facts?

God declares every believer righteous, on the basis of the blood shed by Jesus Christ!

The most simple meaning of “justification” is “to be declared righteous”!

The justification of each believer is a gift of “God’s Grace”!

Rom 3:24 Being “justified freely by his grace” through the redemption “that is in Christ Jesus”:

Justification can come only by “Faith”!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being “justified by faith”, we have peace with God “through our Lord Jesus Christ”:

Justification is only possible through the blood Christ Jesus shed on the Cross!

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now “justified by his blood”, we shall be “saved from wrath through him”.

Justification has nothing to do with keeping man-made Laws!

Rom 3:20 Therefore “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The greatest thing we realize as Christians is the truth that we are justified by God and not by something we can do ourselves!

One of the biggest problems we have in any Church is that so many drift away from the truth.

In this lesson we will deal with some of the problems that are in every Church.

Let’s continue to see the truth of God’s Grace.

*****Gal 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

We will first see that every believer that becomes a backslider must be confronted.

Before Peter had come to the Church in Antioch we know that there had already been that first council in Jerusalem and the direction of the Church was already laid out by all the Apostles and James the half-brother of the Lord.

Act 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:

Act 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Act 15:30 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
Act 15:31 Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

It was after all these things that Peter came to the Church in Antioch of Syria.

Antioch of Syria was a great Church and was made up mostly of Gentiles but there were also many Jews.

It was from this great Church of Antioch of Syria where missionaries were first sent out into the uttermost part of this world in obedience to the Words of Jesus Christ.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

It was therefore extremely important that the message that would be going out to the world would be comprised of the entire truth of the “Gospel”.

This incident with Peter is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament.

This incident also indicates that Peter may have been trying to seek a compromise with those so-called Judaizers.

It is also important for us all to see that the Apostle Paul stood on equal ground with all the other Apostles.

Every new Church was to be established by the “Grace of God” and not by any authority handed down from Jerusalem.

Peter certainly did not intend to hinder the growth of Body of Christ but his actions would certainly do so and Paul confronted him face to face.

Paul did not go to the other leaders.

Paul did not write some new epistle about Peter.

Paul went straight to Peter and confronted him face to face.

Sometimes compromise is the right thing to do to bring peace and harmony but there can never be any compromise when it comes to salvation!

There can be no compromise with false teaching and our own actions must be according to the truth of God.

What had Peter done?

*****Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Now we may not know why the Apostle Peter came to Antioch but God has a purpose behind everything that happens.

When Peter had gotten to Antioch, he had had no problem eating and being in fellowship with those Gentile believers.

We already know that James believed the same as Paul but in Jerusalem many legalistic Jews clinged to the Laws of Moses as the basis of their own salvation and in their zeal wanted all believers to do the same as they.

These men had come from the Church in Jerusalem but they had not been sent by James nor any of the Church elders!

Salvation comes by the “Gospel of Jesus Christ”!

The “Gospel of Jesus Christ” stands alone as the only means of salvation and cannot be added to other religious beliefs!

The word religion means actually external service.

Godliness is about saving the Soul!

When those Judaizers saw Peter in fellowship with all those Gentiles they must have confronted Peter and he then yielded to them.

To the Jew it was sin to fellowship with Gentiles!

What does God say?

Pro 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Peter had just got caught in a snare of the Devil!

When Peter withdrew himself from the Gentiles, then the Church of Antioch was split between a gospel of works, versus the “Gospel of Grace”.

Every time a Pastor compromises with legalistic believers or with any false doctrine he then becomes a people-pleaser and the Church will begin to suffer and fail!

Paul did not blame those that held to false doctrine, Paul blamed the Apostle Peter.

Paul loved Peter enough to straighten him out on the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul loved the Church enough to not see it fail in his lifetime!

Paul had more zeal for the “Gospel of Grace” than he had ever been zealous for Judaism.

God had more than one purpose for the Apostle Paul!

Before Paul confronted Peter, this split of the Church in Antioch became so volatile that even Barnabas got caught up in it.

*****Gal 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

That word dissembled means: to be concealed under a false appearance or disguise.

Peter had become a hypocrite and all the Jews in the Church joined with him and also became hypocrites!

What we should realize is, that all those in a leadership position in the Church have a tremendous responsibility before the other Church members and any visitors.

We should also realize that when we say we are Christian, the world will judge us by our actions.

All the world truly hates the hypocrite!

A legalistic point of view was just about to shut the doors of the first Gentile Church!

Barnabas did not play an active part in this hypocrisy but he did get caught off guard and he began witnessing his Church fall apart.

Barnabas was reaching a point to where he was going to have to choose a side to save some part of his Church.

So what had Peter done that that had caused these things?

*****Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

1) Peter had become a hypocrite.

Peter had taught the truth but his life was teaching something else altogether.

2) Peter had become a people-pleaser.

Even though Peter knew better, he had followed the crowd simply because they had put much pressure on him to do so.

3) Peter had respect for some above some others.

We must live our lives according to the truth of the “Gospel of Grace”!

The “Gospel” declares that God loves all people the same:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Gospel declares that God is no respecter of persons and even Peter knew this:

Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

The “Gospel” declares that we are to please God and if that pleases mankind then great but if that does not please mankind then it is a problem that man has and not God!

1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

Paul said to Peter, “Peter, you do not even try to keep the Laws of Moses yourself, why in the world would you compel these Gentiles to do these things”.

You see Peter also knew about those dietary laws of Moses.

Act 10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
Act 10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
Act 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common”.

These things teach us that even Peter was not infallible and would not have made a good Pope as some in the Catholic Church believe he did.

In reality there has never been a man that was infallible.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ was the sinless Son of God!

The Apostle Peter was a sinner saved by the “Grace of God”, just like the Apostle Paul and just like we all are that know the Lord Jesus Christ on a personal level!

If you think you cannot be led astray by some false doctrine, then when you hear any such thing you must remember we are only saved by the “Grace of God”.

This is still God’s plan and God will never change His plan!

It is only the Living God who can justify any of us!

*****Gal 2:15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

**Paul reminded these Galatians that he was also a Jew. Paul was a Jew by birth and bloodline.

**Paul reminded these Galatians how the Jews felt about themselves. The Jews considered themselves righteous by the acts of their religion which was Judaism.

The Jews considered Jehovah to be the God of the Jews but not the God of the Gentiles.

**Paul reminded these Galatians that these same Jews considered all Gentiles to be “rank sinners” unworthy of salvation.

**Then Paul reminded these Galatians that salvation did not come by bloodline. Salvation comes to all, whosoever, the same way.

Salvation comes by “Faith” but that “Faith” must be in Jesus Christ!

Every Jew that had come to Jesus Christ had to admit that their religion, their rituals, their obedience to the Law, and their works could not save them!

In fact everyone of any and all religions must admit this same thing!

1) No one is justified and made acceptable to God by any works of their own or any law that they try to keep!

What is the question?

By what means can man, God’s creation, stand before our Righteous God?

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

What are the facts? Mankind can only be justified by faith!

Not just any faith but by the faith on the works of Jesus Christ!

If there were such a law or group of laws that man could live by to become justified, then we already know that there is no one who can keep even the Laws of Moses all their life without breaking one or more of those laws.

What is the result? We all come short of the Glory of God!

What did God say to Moses?

Exo 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Exo 33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
Exo 33:22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

The truth is that every thing that lives in God’s presence must be perfect and complete!

For man to justify themselves they must do at least one of these 3 things.

a) Man can only deny that he or she broke God’s Law.

b) Man can only say they had the right to break God’s Law.

c) Man can only deny knowledge of God’s Law.

What is the truth?

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

To serve a perfect God then we ourselves must be perfect and mankind simply does not have that ability to do this.

Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Is their some sort of work or some law to be kept to overcome these things? God says no!

An imperfect being can never obtain perfection it’s own!

No matter what we as humans do to learn perfection, we will always come up short and there will always the thought that we can do better so we can be better!

This is a false hope!

When we believe that our salvation is dependent on some work that we can do, or some law that we can keep, we will soon realize that we are hopelessly lost forever and we will know that we have need of a Savior!

Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

2) A person is justified by “Faith” of Jesus Christ and He alone.

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Notice that we can only be “Justified” by the Faith of Jesus Christ.

**It was Jesus Christ who did the impossible!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, “who knew no sin”; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

It was Jesus Christ who kept all the Laws, who did all the works and He was “faithful” to do all these things for our salvation!

Justification does not mean we have been made righteous!

Justification means we will be treated as righteous because Jesus Christ was faithful to do what none of us could do!

Justification is necessary because we all have sinned and come up short of the Glory of God!

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

**God can only justify the believer who accepts this truth of His Son Jesus Christ!

God loves each of us so much that He came to this Earth Himself, in the form of Jesus Christ, in order to “Justify” us all who would believe!

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God is willing to justify each of us because Jesus Christ was faithful to obey His Father!

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Jesus Christ came into this world to conquer death because He knew we did not have that ability!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the truth?

All those that truly believe in the work of Jesus Christ to obtain our salvation are counted as righteous enough to stand before our righteous God!

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

What are the facts?

The fact is that God the Father, loves God the Son so much that He will justify any human being who honors His only begotten Son!

We can only stand before God if we stand in the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ!

What are the facts?

Faith in Jesus Christ is God’s righteousness and the only righteousness that can make each believer acceptable to God!

Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

And no one will ever be misled by Jesus Christ!

*****Gal 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Gal 2:18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

We must first realize why we are sinners. We are not sinners because because we sin!

We sin because we are sinners!

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

The question stated in this verse is, Can Jesus Christ be making us to be even greater sinners by trusting in Him rather than trusting the Laws of Moses?

The answer is—God forbids this to happen!

Does trusting in Christ Jesus make it easy for us to break the law by knowing we will always be forgiven? We are foolish to think in this way!

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then shall we continue in sin knowing that God has more “Grace” than He does “Wrath”?

Again God forbids this also!

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

We must realize that “Justification” cannot come by keeping any law.

Those that make there own selves righteous by laws are sinners!

Laws can only show us how we fail!

At the same time we cannot reject the laws!

The Law still has it’s place in the plan of God just as much as “Faith”!

Every “Born Again” child of God brought to Him by the “Faith” of Jesus Christ, will then seek to please God.

We cannot please God by if we are always at odds with the laws of this world.

We must only remain at odds with all those things that go against the Word of God!

Rom 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

We must all them live according to the ways of Jesus Christ!

Living in the ways of Jesus is living in the ways of God!

*****Gal 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

How can we truly live for God? God must become the controlling principle of our lives!

**1) We must die to the law.

The purpose of the Law is to show us that we are sinners.

The purpose of the Law is to show us just how far short we are of becoming righteous and perfect.

The purpose of the Law is to show us that we stand no chance of ever being accepted by a Holy God!

The Law condemns us to death!

Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: “which is the second death”.

The only hope of Salvation is to die to the Law.

And there is no hope in self-righteousness!

**2) We must be crucified with Christ Jesus.

*****Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

This can only take place when we truly believe that Jesus Christ bore all our sin and actually died a sure death on Calvary’s Cross!

This is the “Faith” that we must have!

If we are not identified with Christ Jesus then we cannot be saved!

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

God can count us as already being punished only because He has accepted the death of His Son!

Our security lies in our “Faith”!

**3) We must live for God.

We must surrender ourselves to the work that God has placed before us!

We must allow Jesus Christ to live in our heart!

We cannot be in charge of our own life we must allow Christ Jesus full control of our life!

Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

We must allow Jesus Christ to live through our body!

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

**4) We must trust in the “Grace of God”!

*****Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

To “frustrate” the “Grace of God” means we can make the “Grace of God” useless.

Frustrate means to set aside, make void, or make ineffective.

When we frustrate the “Grace of God” we have done away with the Love of God!

When we frustrate the “Grace of God” we have made the death of Jesus Christ meaningless!

God’s Grace and God’s Love are one and the same!

Faith is the key to a loving relationship with our God!

Being found in Jesus Christ is being found in His righteousness which is our only means of pleasing God!

Most of us try to schedule Jesus into a small part of our lives and when we do this we have missed the purpose of the Cross!

The cross that Jesus bore was not made for carrying!

The cross that Jesus Christ bore for us was made for dying!

Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

There is no pride in the weight of our own cross and the burdens we try to carry.

The purpose of the cross was to teach us to die to our own selves!

This is why Jesus spoke these words:

Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus Christ carried all our burdens of sin to His death on the cross.

To be “Justified” we must die to ourselves and live a New Life through Jesus Christ!

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Stand For The Truth

March 15, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Stand For The Truth

Book of Galatians 2:1-10

What is taking a stand? To take a stand with the Lord is to continue in your “Faith” unchanged by what others say!

Taking a stand on the Word of God means taking the Word of God literal.

Literal means that that words and the sentences of the Scripture are understood in their normal meaning or as in a normal conversation.

For instance:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

It would be normal to understand that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, not just some young maiden.

Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

It would be normal to understand that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

It would be normal to understand that the Messiah would appear to be as any normal man of Jewish descent.

Psa 22:8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

It would be normal to understand that the Messiah would be the sacrifice that was to be offered for our sin.

We can take the Word of God literal because we know all these Scriptures have been fulfilled along with so many others.

The Apostle Paul’s problems would have ended if he had just admitted that Christianity was just a sect of Judaism, but the Apostle Paul took the Word of God literal!

Paul could have taken his skills to a new level and been a highly paid preacher truly prospering in his ministry if he would have just allowed the traditions and rituals of Judaism into the church.

What is the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Every sinner has the right to go directly to Jesus Christ for salvation without going through any type of law or ritual or any other man-made process.

The world has an attitude that God has to prove Himself worthy when the fact is, man must be made right with an already righteous God!

What is the truth? God hates sin!

Psa 5:4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
Psa 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

1) God’s justice requires some punishment for sin.

2) Man is God’s creation and God’s mercy would not allow God to leave man to his own fate.

3) God’s love meant God had to provide a means to justify every sinner to His own standard.

4) The answer to all these things is “Faith” in the work of Jesus Christ!

Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

As we know, the Apostle Paul had come under attack by the churches of Galatia because some men who preached the false gospel of works.

Paul was forced to defend not only himself but also the “Gospel of Grace”!

Paul took his stand on the truth and the truth is, that salvation to every sinner can come only by the freely given “Grace of God” through the Lord Jesus Christ.

What we will see in this lesson is:

1) Paul will defend the work of the “Gospel”.
2) Paul will defend the “Gospel” before false believers.
3) Paul will defend the “Gospel” before any and all persons.
4) Paul will defend all those that are called to proclaim the “Gospel of Grace”!

So let’s continue:

Gal 2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

In the last chapter we learned that Paul had only spent 15 days with the Apostle Peter who was held in high regard by all the churches.

Fifteen days was not a long enough time for Peter to train Paul to be a missionary.

Now Paul says it was 14 years before he went again to Jerusalem.

This means that Paul’s Gospel could not have come from the Apostle Peter nor from what many considered to be the home church of Jerusalem.

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not some offshoot of Judaism!

There is no such thing as a home church!

Every church is to be an independent church though help may come from other churches to get started and then they all should help each other as the need arises!

This is true because the church is the individual:

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

And just as we are to help one another, then every group of believers is to help every other group of believers as the need arises.

We are all in this thing together!

Psa 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

The Apostle Paul mentions Barnabas because Barnabas had traveled with him when these churches of Galatia had been first established.

It seems the message of Barnabas was not brought into question because Barnabas had spent much time in Jerusalem and with the other Apostles.

But Barnabas had agreed entirely with the “Gospel” as preached by the Apostle Paul.

Paul was being very careful to show that his call came from Jesus Christ and not from any man.

Notice Paul says that he took Barnabas and Titus with him and not that Barnabas and Titus had taken him to Jerusalem.

Act 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Act 15:2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

What were the results of this gathering in Jerusalem with all the Apostles and James the head Pastor in Jerusalem?

Act 15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Peter said:

Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

The Apostle Peter said, it is not that the Gentiles are to be saved like the Jews, we should clearly understand that it is us Jews who are to be saved the same way as the Gentiles, by “Faith” through “Grace”!

The Apostles in Jerusalem had only asked that these new Gentile churches not mock the Jewish converts to Christianity.

The Apostle Paul had preached this message now for more than 14 years!

1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

Paul said we are never to mock those we are trying to lead to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul said we are all to have the same “Gospel of Grace”!

And the Apostle Paul was not even sure if those in Jerusalem and the other Apostles preached the same “Gospel of Grace” until he met with them!

*****Gal 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

We see that Paul had been led to go to Jerusalem by the Holy Spirit.

It was God that had revealed to Paul the need for this journey and not man.

Paul had not been sent to Jerusalem to get permission to preach the “Gospel of Grace”!

God was about to begin world-wide evangelism and it was very important that all the Apostles have the same message and that they all were certain of that.

The Apostle Paul did not try to undermine that message of Peter and James and John and the Church elders by going to the congregation first but he first met them in private.

The Apostles had to trust each other and each had to have the same message.

When Paul used that phrase “I should run”, it did not mean that he might have to make a hasty escape.

Paul meant that the “Gospel of Grace” must have “free course” above any message of the Church!

The message of “Grace” and the progress of the early church would have been greatly hindered if there had been any disagreement among God’s hand picked Apostles!

Today, many missionaries seek support of the Church and it is very important for us all who support them, to know that they preach the same “Gospel of Grace” as did the Apostle Paul.

Paul knew that if men were allowed to add rituals, or to add rules to God’s freely given Grace, then his ministry would mean nothing.

Paul knew that if believers focused their salvation on a bunch of laws that could not get anyone saved then they would never focus on the truth of Jesus Christ!

As we are all taught in Bible College, it is not so important the message we begin with but at some point in that message we need to run to the Cross of Jesus Christ, the true picture of God’s Grace!

1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

We sometimes allow our human reasoning to get in the way of God’s truth, that the “Gospel” is the “good news” that Jesus Christ was crucified, the sinners only remedy for forgiveness, and was then raised from that death in the power of God, in order to prepare us a place in God’s Heaven!

Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian Church:

1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, “lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect”.

There is no other message of the Church more important than the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ” which is the “Gospel of Grace”.

Rom 9:24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Rom 9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
Rom 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

It is only the true “Gospel” that can change people’s lives!

And it is the true “Gospel” that is to be offered to all people, regardless of race, regardless of sex, regardless of nationality, or regardless of anything else.

Paul brought a Gentile with him to prove his point.

*****Gal 2:3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

In order to better understand these things we must remember a few things.

In Jerusalem most every believer was a converted Jew, and some at one time had even been Pharisees.

They had all been circumcised when they were 8 days old.

They had all been taught the laws of Moses all the days of their childhood.

They had all observed the rituals and the feasts of Judaism all their lives.

AND, Many of those that had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as the true Savior, had still refused to give up their Jewish religion.

They saw Christianity only as an extension of Judaism.

In their minds, before a person accepted Christ and was saved, they had to first become a Jew.

The Apostle Paul had rejected all these things.

The other Apostles had taught that Judaism could not bring the sure salvation that could come only by accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah and the true Savior and the only means of Salvation.

Paul preached salvation by the “Grace of God” and that salvation came by “Faith” and “Faith Alone”!

Paul preached that they all had to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ instead of the Laws of Moses.

Even though Paul had at one time been even more zealous of Judaism than they, they still opposed the teaching of the Apostle Paul and they set out to discredit and destroy the Apostle Paul.

These are those that are called Judaizers in the New Testament.

These Judaizers never accepted the teaching of the Apostle Paul.

Paul’s physical proof of Salvation by Grace through Faith, was the Gentile Titus.

Barnabas was a Jew and had been converted to Christianity even before Paul but he believed the same as Paul.

Titus was a Gentile who was also of Greek descent and had never known Judaism!

Paul refused to allow Titus to be circumcised because the truth of “Gospel liberty was at stake”.

2Co 8:6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.
2Co 8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

Later Titus was sent to establish a church on the Island of Crete.

Tit 1:4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Tit 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

And Titus later joined Paul in Rome while he was in prison from where he was sent again to Dalmatia to help another church that Paul had established.

2Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

Rom 15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Dalmatia was a main city of Illyricum.

Titus was the perfect example of salvation by “Grace” alone!

Paul may have led Titus to the Lord, but it was the same God of Creation who had called Titus to be a Preacher of the Lord Jesus Christ!

These Judaizers even made demands of Titus.

*****Gal 2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
Gal 2:5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

We should not be confused here. “False brethren” are non-believers!

It had been non-believers who had stirred up the Church and had brought all these things into question.

This can be a problem in any church. Many a church has split because some pretenders to Christ Jesus have come into the church in an attempt to change the perfect “Doctrine of Grace by Faith”!

We must always remember people are not lost because they are destined to be sinners because of Adam’s sin.

People are lost because they have refused to believe the “Gospel” the truth of Salvation!

We have already heard of the zeal of the Apostle Paul and we can just imagine how fired up Paul became with these false brethren.

The Apostle Paul refused to be drawn into a false doctrine.

And, Paul always remembered to warn the new churches of all these things.

Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

What is the greatest assault on the church today?

“False brethren”, who are non-believers, who are trying to modernize the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

Most of them say the “Gospel” is old fashioned and does not suit today’s problems.

Some, want to repackage the “Gospel” to bring it in tune to the modern world.

Most, just want to replace the “Gospel” with some false thing altogether.

The fact is that there will always be just one “Gospel” message that can bring with it eternal salvation!

As we can see from the time of it’s beginning and throughout history, the Church as had to deal with these same battles over and over again.

Satan has never had to change his tactics because his same tactics have worked on far to many places of worship throughout time.

When the truth of the Word of God is brought into question, we must stand on the Word of God!

We must contend for the “Faith” that comes by Jesus Christ.

Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Just as the Apostle Paul refused to budge from the “Gospel of Grace by Faith” alone, we are also to refuse to budge on the “Gospel”.

Paul also realized if the Body of Christ yields to even one single change in the “Doctrine of Jesus Christ” then these “False Brethren”, these make believe so-called Christians, will continue to want to change the “Gospel” until it has disappeared altogether.

Paul said not even for one hour would he listen to this nonsense!

*****Gal 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

We must keep in mind that all the Apostles were very clear on one main thing:

Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Paul had never spent time with the other Apostles.

Paul had not been taught by them in any way.

But the fact remained that they all preached the same “Gospel of Grace” by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was not trying to belittle the other Apostles in any way, Paul was just saying that even though they had been companions of the Lord Jesus Christ while He had lived, did not give them any superior authority over the “Gospel”.

We must remember these words of Jesus Christ to Thomas.

Joh 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Why can no one add to or take away from the “Gospel” as preached by the Apostle Paul.

Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; “immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood”:

Paul had received the “Gospel” by the Holy Ghost.

Again what had the Lord Jesus told Peter?

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: “for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”.

And Jesus then said, “This is how I will build my Church”:

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Peter was not the “Rock”, The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the “Solid Rock” foundation of the Church of the Living God!

It is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, taught by the “Gospel of Grace” that is the only means to build the Church that the gates of Hell cannot prevail against!

It is God who created the “Gospel”.

It is God who calls all those who Preach the “Gospel”.

It is God who calls the sinner, by the “Gospel”

It is God who saves each sinner by the “Gospel”

It is the “Gospel” that is God’s plan of salvation!

No one can add to or take away from God’s plan and still say it is God’s plan!

We are never to seek the approval of Church leaders over the approval of the Word of God!

Our God does not show personal favoritism, we are all to teach the same message as Paul which was also the same message as Peter and also the same message as the other Apostles along with James the half-brother of Jesus Christ.

*****Gal 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
Gal 2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

All the Apostles stood with one voice in agreement with the “Gospel of Grace” as preached by the Apostle Paul.

All the Church elders and James, the Lord’s half-brother and head Pastor of the Church in Jerusalem all stood with one voice in agreement with the “Gospel” as preached by the Apostle Paul.

Those Judaizers were wrong in their belief and in their doctrine and all those who are legalistic in their views and anyone else that adds to or takes away from the “Gospel” as preached by the Apostle Paul are wrong even today!

All the Apostles also agreed that each should go wherever the Holy Spirit led them!

Paul was called primarily to the Gentiles but also to all who would hear the Gospel.

Peter was called primarily to the Jews but also to all who would hear the Gospel.

We are all justified by the same means!

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

And then they all wanted to hear the wonderful things that God was doing throughout the world.

Act 15:12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.

It is always good to hear from the Missionaries that we support but it is also good to hear from those that God has called to go to the mission field who are seeking support.

*****Gal 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

We should first notice that it is James, the Lord’s half-brother who is presiding over this council. The duty of the Apostles had not changed.

Act 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Even though at least Peter and John were active on this council it was James who was in charge as the head elder of the Church in Jerusalem.

We know Peter(Cephas) had reminded them of the time that Cornelius and many Gentiles had been saved in Joppa.

Act 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

**James knew that no one could be saved by the Laws of Moses!

James knew that we are all justified by “Faith” but James also knew all those saved need to use the Laws of Moses as their schoolmaster of living the Christian Life.

This was a necessary thing for the Christian Jews!

**Peter(Cephas) had opened the door to the Gentiles but he knew his calling was aimed at the Jews who had been scattered because of persecution.

**John remained in Jerusalem until God called him into the care of the churches of Asia.

Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

It is John that wrote this book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

**Paul, the Jew who had persecuted the church before his salvation, and was fluent in all the Scriptures, and fluent in more than 5 languages, and hand selected by the Lord Jesus Christ, was now persecuted by the Jews, but whose calling was aimed at the Gentiles.

The Gentiles are all those who are not Jews and were considered to be heathen at the time of the Apostle Paul by unbelieving Jews.

At this time there can be no doubt that all the Apostles and James represented the direction in which the New Testament Church was to be established by the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Church!

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

If the pillars of the Church, put in place by the Lord Jesus Christ cannot establish the direction of the Church then the Church will fail, which is impossible!

The Apostle Peter later wrote these words:

2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

If we are seriously looking for the New Heaven and the New Earth promised by the Lord Jesus Christ, then we need to listen to the Apostle Paul and all the Word of God!

All the Apostles, which included the Apostle Paul and James the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, were all in one accord with all the Word of God and we need to be also!

God will never change the manner of establishing the Church and the Word of God does not ever change!

There was no dispute over the “Gospel of Grace”, which is justification by “Faith” and ‘Faith Alone”!

What one other rule should we all keep that the secular world ignores?

*****Gal 2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

In our world the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer no matter who is in charge.

What are the signs of the last Church Age?

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

In our day the gathering places of the poor are closing the doors because they cannot afford to keep the doors open.

The Mega Church mentality is to reach out to the rich and the middle class and the poor are forgotten.

The Lord Jesus said there will always be the poor who live among us:

Mat 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

There could be many reasons that people remain poor but at least one of those reasons is that those that say they love the Lord will always have the opportunity to help the poor and in doing so can be laying up treasures in store in Heaven.

What did Jesus teach us of these things?

Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

When we share the “Gospel of Grace” we must not forget that God loves us all and no one is to be left out!

When we defend the “Gospel of Grace” and salvation by “Faith” we are defending the Lord Jesus Christ our only means getting to Heaven!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

Book of Galatians

Glory In The Cross

Living In Christian Fellowship

Our Walk With God

Standing In The Liberty of Jesus Christ

A Contrast Of The Law And Grace

Redeemed By Faith

The Superiority Of Faith

The Gospel Promises

Justified By Faith And Faith Alone

Stand For The Truth

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