Such glorious truths that we get to sing about and we get to rejoice in the goodness of God and His great glory. I trust that's why you're here. Take your Bible with me. Turn to the book of Galatians. If you don't have a copy of the scriptures, you're more than welcome to look in the pew in front of you and take one of those copies of scriptures, one of those there, and you can take that home with you. We want you to have a copy of the Scriptures. We are about what God says. That's why we are a Calvary Bible Church. We don't want to entangle ourselves with what denominations have said throughout the years, although there are very, very good denominations that we could connect ourselves to. We choose, on the other hand, to follow what God's Word says. And we try not to merely make it something that we read, Something that we kind of just give a little bit of a nod to but actually we arrange our lives accordingly And we trust that's why you're here this morning Look with me in Galatians chapter 5 or excuse me Galatians chapter 3 verse 25. That's on page 974 right at the top up on the left there. You'll see verse 25 We're gonna read through to the end of the chapter. We'll make it through Lord willing the end of chapter 3 today But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs, according to the promise. This is God's Word. May you listen to it and submit your heart and life to the truth found in it. Paul has given us much to think over about our salvation. As we have woven our way through the Gospel and this particular passage of Scripture, this epistle in Galatians, the idea that justification is God's designed way of bringing a sin-filled people to himself for his glory is absolutely stunning. Justification is God, the righteous and holy judge, declaring sinful, guilty people righteous. It's something that we are declared righteous. God declares it. And we do not understand this kind of graciousness when it comes to wrongs done. You see, when people do us wrong, we don't typically give up the life of our son in order that that relationship would be restored. That's not how we typically live life. But this is in fact what God did. In fact, by God's great design, this is God's gracious plan from the very beginning. And Paul is correcting a group of teachers who were infiltrating the young church plants in the area around Galatia, and the teaching that salvation is in Christ. For sure it is, they would say. But instead of the word alone, in Christ alone, what they add is the word and. In Christ and keeping of the law. And by this they were pointing to very important events in their history. when God revealed himself. And this is where some of the confusion comes into play. This is why Paul is unpacking this. The first thing that took place in the long line of time that had taken place in these Judaizers is the original promise or the covenant that God made with Abraham that we read about several weeks ago clear back in Genesis chapter 12. And it was a promise that God made to Abraham, and it was a promise that God ratified Himself, all by Himself, God alone. And then in verse 17 of this chapter, in Galatians chapter 3, verse 17, we see that God made another covenant. And that was some 430 years later, and He made this covenant, not with Abraham, but with Moses this time, in that God gave the law. Two very important events. So the Judaizers want to combine these two as their recipe, as it were, for man's redemption. This is how you were saved. Both the promise and the law for man's justification came with the idea of fulfilling of the law. And so this was their recipe. So they taught, you believe in Christ, but make sure you work very hard and you keep the law. You keep the dietary commandments, you circumcise, you follow the washings and the feasts, and you will be justified if you do this. Now, what is tricky about this teaching is that it is partly correct. You say, what are you talking about? Well, it is correct in that both covenants were very important, and neither one is more important than the other. And so what Paul is getting at here is where does it all go to? What's the bottom line here? And the bottom line goes back to this one thing. Who gets to decide what is right and wrong in life? Who gets to decide that? I don't know if you've ever thought of this. Who gets to decide What is right and what is wrong in life? Do you remember when you were a kid playing with your friends in your yard? And then one kid would say, hey, let's go down to the park and play on the monkey bars. I don't know if you ever remember anything like that. And the scenario would go something like this. One of the kids would go, oh, wait a minute, I can't do that. I can't go to the park." Well, why can't you go to the park? Well, I can't go to the park because people are bad at the park and my dad doesn't want me to go to the park. And the next question invariably was, well, who said? Right? Who has the right to say? Says who? And it was a natural reflexive thought process, and it was certainly that one's action would not be told to change unless it was deemed that only a legitimate authority could tell us what to do. That was the whole idea. If dad said it, okay, but if big brother said it, oh, don't worry about it. Go for it. And so in our eyes, those that were deemed worthy we would follow, and even that is tenuous at best, because if that authority is no longer deemed worthy, then the authority is rejected. This is why Paul spends time underlining his authority about what he's saying. We often live life this way. We live life, we will listen to authority if we deem it good. But in God's Word, which is the one true word, and in God's world, which is the one true world, the system of God is not subjective like that. God's rule of humanity is not based on man's decision, it's not based on man's choice, it's not based on man's likes or dislikes, but it's based on the very character of God. So, here's the rub. When humanity rejects God as God, when you and your own soul pretends as if God is not God, and I do what I please, and I do what I like, we come into the playground of life, and when someone says, hey, let's go do this, and when someone says, we shouldn't do that, and the next question is obviously, says who? We don't have an answer for it. Because God is not God. This is where lots of arguments come into play. Typically, when marriages go sour, one person says, hey, that's wrong, and the other one says, oh, says who? And if there's not good humility and good brokenness between the two, you come to hear the word of God and say, well, God does. But many of us don't have answers because we reject God. For instance, in our world, we would have people stand up and say slavery is wrong. We shouldn't be buying and selling people. Then there comes the question, says who? If you reject God, you have no moral ground to make any other kind of decision on what is right or wrong. So Paul brings into view both the promise of God to Abraham and, alongside, Paul points to these teachers and us today that the reason God also gave the Mosaic Covenant essentially is because God is the one who says what should take place. Essentially, what God does is the impossible. You say, what are you talking about? You see, through the mosaic law, he gives to all of us a very precise way of knowing right and wrong by giving to us his moral perfections. And what God essentially does says, if you're going to come to me, here's where I draw the line. It is my line, not yours, and you must meet my holy perfections. This is what God does. But God knows something that man doesn't. And that is this, humanity can in no way meet the holy perfections of God. Can't do it. Humanity then in fact is hopeless. Humanity is helpless. He's eternally lost. He's doomed and damned to an eternal separation from the holy God himself. God comes and says, this is holiness. This is what it looks like. And you must meet my holiness. Time out. Keep that thought in mind, but listen to this. In Exodus chapter 24, verses six and seven, God says something startling. He's given the law, and he says this, the Lord, the Lord, he says the Lord twice, a God merciful and gracious. All of us are like, yeah, I like that. God merciful and gracious, keeping steadfast love for thousands. So far, so good, right? forgiving iniquity of thousands. We like that. But then he goes on to say, but who will by no means clear the guilty? And if you've ever read that, you go, wait a minute, what? What? What God is saying is, I am a merciful God. I'm a loving God. but I'm also just. My character says, I cannot clear the guilty. In other words, God says, I'm forgiving, but will not forgive. That kind of throws us into a bind, doesn't it? It kind of tosses the salad, so to speak. We can't put it together. It seems contradictory. What God does is what no other religion will do or can do. He draws the line, and it is a rightful and deserving line, and the line delineates His holiness and His justice. Every religion has the idea of holiness attached to it, but all other religions says this, it is left up to man to wiggle out his righteousness. It is up to man to come up with his own idea of righteousness. Not so with the gospel. Gospel provides to humanity a redeemer. a rescuer called Jesus, God's only son, and he alone shows grace, mercy, and love. But in doing so, he then meets out the demands of his own holiness through Jesus. No other religion does that. In the gospel, it all comes together, and we must have both of these covenants, and they in turn paint for us a glorious salvation in Christ. And it is all of grace that God demands holiness and that God supplies holiness in Christ. It's all of grace. None of us deserve it. But that's what makes Christ so absolutely precious to us. Galatians 3.21 when he says this, are these two covenants contrary? By no means are they contrary. They are both unique and both play a very, very important part and they're vital. But when God works like this, it means there is only one access. And that access is seen five times in verses 23 through 26. It is all by faith. Belief in Christ, His person and His work is how it all comes together. You see, on every level of life, God calls us to believe Him alone. God calls us to trust Him alone. God calls us to rest in the finished work of Christ alone. This declaration of justification by faith then is a work of God and it is glorious. And so the question that all of us sitting here today would ask ourselves is, says who? This is the question that religion asks. Justification is by faith alone in Christ alone, says who? Says God. It is far glorious than anyone could ever imagine. And the result of God's gracious work through faith in Christ is a full and rich salvation. And today we get to study and know exactly what God says this full and rich salvation is. This passage ought to just bring such hope and such joy to our lives. So let's look at it carefully this morning. First of all, look at verse 25 and see that God's work of grace frees us from the law. Look what he says in verse 25. But now that faith has come, now that you've placed your trust in Jesus, We are no longer under a guardian. Now, what does Paul mean by words, we are no longer under a guardian? Well, remember last week, the guardian was a very important tool that was used by the parent to help discipline and form the heart and the mind of the child under his tutelage. And when the child could demonstrate self-discipline and self-restraint, the use of the guardian was no longer necessary. The mantle of childhood was granted and the child became an adult. So it was a temporary usage of a wonderful tool. This is what the law is. You see, when Christ came, Christ with 100% accuracy lived every aspect of the law perfectly. He did it for us. That's what substitutionary atonement means. Christ stood in our place. And let me just remind you this morning that His victorious, perfect life is just as important as His death was. Because none of us, none of us could do this, live this life perfectly if Christ hadn't done it. And so, verse 19, look at there carefully, verse 19, just up a few verses, tells us that the law, the ceremonies, the washings, the feasts, the circumcisions, all of this was in place pointing to Jesus. But when Jesus came, it was no longer needed. And right away, what many often do is they look at this and they go, right, that's right. The law is no longer in effect. Now I can go live and do as I please. Is that what you're suggesting, Pastor? I can just go out and I can do whatever I please. Well, yes and no. You say, what are you talking about? It can't be both ways. Well, hang with me. Let's deal with the no first. Paul is not promoting lawlessness. We know that because there are so many other passages of scripture where Paul comes alongside and demands that we follow and that we obey him. So what is he saying here? He's not promoting this lawlessness in kind of an antinomian way of living. No. Instead, because of Christ's perfect work, here's the key. We are no longer under the demands of the law with no way of fulfilling those demands. Think about that. God shows us the law, and His law is according to His character. His character is never diminished. His character never goes away. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He shows us the law, but here's the deal. Now, because of what Christ has done, here is our way of living perfectly in Christ. You say, are you talking sinless perfection? No. What I'm talking about here is that Christ lives His glory and His righteousness through us. You see, it's not that God's holiness is no longer in place. It simply means that Christ met the judicial claims of the law as well as the punitive claims of the law. But Christ then also met the love and grace side of God's character that the law could never do. In His death, He took our sin and He became our substitute and took upon Himself the wrath of God, the penalty of sin, and the separation from the Father so that we would have life and that we would have fellowship with the Father. And so all parts of the law that are punitive and representative of Christ are vanished because of Christ's perfect work. Now that's the no part. Here's the yes part. Yes, we now have the privilege to do as we should do. We are freed to live out the righteousness of Christ. And we now, by sweet grace, get to live out his fulfillment of the law. This is what makes it so secure. I talk to people all the time who continue to be bound by the law. A lot of times it's a law that they've created. It's a law that they've added. And they're bound by it. And they won't run away from it. They won't live in the freedom of being willing to go ahead and own their sin. I own my sin. I can do it freely. Why? Because my performance isn't what gets me into heaven. It's Christ's perfect righteousness. So when someone comes along and says, hey, I'm concerned in your life about this area of sin, I don't have to defend myself. In fact, my screaming of a defense of myself may indicate that I'm actually not trusting Christ. If I live in a self-demanding way, it's screaming loudly, my confidence is not in Christ, my confidence is in me. And so don't turn the light on me. And it's a very bitter way of living. It's a very argumentative way of living because what it suggests is my way is right. My way of dealing with things is the only way. And it suggests and greatly implies that God's way is not sufficient. He needs my help. God doesn't need our help. It's a very arrogant way. So when we start loving one another in the love that Jesus is producing within us, and when all of a sudden we lay down our self-serving, self-determined agendas, and God begins to love through us, then we show that the law is now being fulfilled by the one who gave the law and by the one who enables it to be fulfilled as he produces his character in and through our lives. This is why Paul later goes on to say that our spirit begins to witness with your spirit to demonstrate that we are of Christ. And people who live in self-defense people who live their own self-agendas, what happens is the spirit, if there is a true genuine Christ-like spirit, no longer witnesses because it's not witnessing of Christ, it's witnessing of their own agenda. And this is where all of a sudden relational difficulties begin to break and tear. Because it's no longer Jesus who's bringing the people together. I tell young married couples this all the time, and especially premarital counseling, that here's Jesus, here's one sinner, and here's another sinner, and as they both grow closer to Christ, guess what happens? They grow closer to each other. It's not a man-made button that someone wears that says, oh, I'm happily married and I love Jesus. Everyone goes, oh, well, certainly you are. You're happily married and you love Jesus. I can tell. You've got the button. No. Usually, happily married Christ-centered people, they don't even know that they're showing this happiness. Because it's not an external thing. I can remember as a young person watching a couple grow up right in front of me that I knew well. And you know, as a young kid, you're looking at them and they're holding hands and they're kissing and smooching on each other and all this kind of stuff and you just go, oh gross, that is so gross. And then all of a sudden you grow and you're thinking, okay, well that's not so bad after all. It was a tragic thing to know that just a few years later, they got a divorce. And as a kid, I was sitting there thinking, wait a minute, how does that happen? They're kissing and smooching all the time, what in the world? And what happens is, is people often do that to demonstrate to others that everything is okay while there's a raging fire going on underneath. It's one way of living life in total control with looking like everything's good on the outside. Facebook is very good for this. You can watch on Facebook as families try to look happy all the time. And behind, there's this raging fire of sin and self-determination and living for self, and there's constant conflict. But on Facebook, everyone's smiling. Looks good. This was fun. But inwardly, there's nothing there but crumbling rust because of sin. and decay because of sin. Because someone will not trust and love Jesus more than themselves. And the Spirit is not bearing witness. And this is what it says. This is the thing that the law is no longer at work. Why? Because it's real. Christ is living in us. And Christ is the essence and the object of our faith. He is the seed promised to Abraham. He's the one to whom the promises have been given. So yes, we do get to do what we want. And our wants are His wants. Unity in the world comes when God's people want what Jesus wants. So we can all come in all ways of life and we begin to demonstrate Jesus and His glorious scene. Look at secondly, this God's work of grace. God's work of grace then makes us sons of God. Look at verse 26. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God. Now in theology, there are two doctrinal truths about conversion. The first one is that we are given life as newborn babes. This is called regeneration. And we see, we read about this in 1 Peter 2, verse 2. He says, we are newborn babes that we desire the sincere miracle of the world. World, word, the milk of the word. Say that five times real fast. No, don't do that, no, no, no. That's regeneration. The second one is what we're talking about here, where we are brought into God's family. That's not regeneration, that's adoption. And this is the point here, the word you, see this in verse 26, for in Christ you are all sons, who's he talking to? It refers back to verses 24 and verse 25, who are shown the law They know they cannot keep the law and by faith they trust Christ for righteousness. So these are people who have been given the righteousness of Christ. Alright? These are people who see the law and they go, ooh, I can't keep it. Yes, I know. Jesus has done it for you. I place my faith in Jesus. That's who the you is. These are all those who are by faith brought then into God's family by adoption. This adoption is a one-time legal act that happens at the moment of regeneration or conversion. It is an act of God's grace. It's based on the merit of Christ. It is a forensic act with legal rights, a legal status that is official and legal in every way, and it makes you a part of that family. God receives sinners into his family and gives him, that sinner, right and privileges of a child of God. It means that God is our genuine Father, and it means that we are networked and connected to one another with all who've come to Christ. We are under the loving care of God, even to the point of discipline, the discipline of the Father. This is an amazing picture, because adoption and regeneration are the heads and tails of the same coin, and it speaks of not only an inward transformation, but it also speaks of an outward reality as well. But either way, it is a new status in Christ. Cindy and I got this wonderful privilege recently to view this with our two grandchildren. Our two grandsons, Carissa and Todd, went into Uganda, into a children's orphanage, and by God's providence, chose two little boys to become their own boys. And now they, with two other boys and one darling little girl, I can't say favorite, but she's just very precious to me. All right? I wouldn't dare say favorite, but she's precious. I think you get that, right? You understand that. But what is interesting is that these two other little boys, all of them, are part of the Davis family. When I say my grandchildren, it's two boys from Uganda. And you know what? They're just as much my grandchildren as the others are. This is what this is talking about. The paperwork is submitted, it's signed, it's sealed and delivered. The transaction is done. They're sons. And one commentator, I love this, points out something really neat when he says this, quote, God has no grandchildren. I don't know if you've ever thought of this. I'm a grandfather now, and by the way, they don't call me Grandpa, I'm Pops. And they don't call her Grandma, she's Bella. It's the Italian word for beautiful. So all your grandchildren grow up calling you beautiful. It's pretty cool, all right? So it's Pops and Bella. But with God, there's no grandchildren. No one comes into God's family because their parents were in the family. We must personally and individually be born again and adopted by God into his family via faith, through faith. This is glorious. So Paul then takes us to the next level. It's just like Paul is grabbing us and taking us to the next picture. The third picture here that he gives to us is that God's work of grace makes us one in Christ. Look at verse 27. One, in Christ. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Now, there are two ideas given here to describe this marvelous oneness, this unity. First is baptism, second is put on, or literally closed in Christ. Let's look at one at a time. First of all, baptized into Christ. This verse speaks to the vital union with the supernatural life with Christ. This is breathtaking. We need to understand that salvation is far more than a change in legal status. It's much more than mere paperwork assigning us to a new home. It is far more than a declarative act of the judge with a gavel thrown to seal the deal. No, my friend, it is not an impersonal thing that God does by adopting us. Now it certainly is all of this, but justification brings us into a living, vital, supernatural union whereby the life of Christ is pouring Himself out into our lives because we are baptized. That word baptized literally means immersed or placed into Christ. And here's where Paul is giving clarity to chapter 2 verse 20 when he says, I'm crucified. Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ baptized in me. And I baptized in him. I love the picture. There's there's when you study this people kind of go back and forth. Is this water baptism or is this not and I go it's both It's spirit baptism and water baptism in a few weeks. We will have a baptismal service up here and one of the things that we will do is We will take people who've placed their faith and trust in Christ and we'll submerge them underwater that water will completely engulf them That's the picture That Christ is all over us. Christ is all in us. And my life begins to demonstrate Christ because I'm baptized into Him. That's the first word. Notice the second word. Literally put on Christ. This is another clear picture. The insides here of us have changed. Because of this inside, we're now living out what is true. And in every sphere of life, we put on Christ. It's just like here. When a person is baptized, The outward baptism is a picture of an inward reality. We are at one with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection. And when these people come out of the water, guess what? They're soaking wet. Their life has been changed. And it's humbling. I always say this, and it's very interesting, but when, and particularly guys don't have a problem with it, but particularly women do, their hair's a mess, you know? It's just like bleh, and there's water everywhere. Makeup runs all over the place. And basically what it's saying is, I'm nothing. I don't have room to say, I don't have anything to bring to God. I'm nothing. I'm all wet. And that's the beauty of it. Now, this is the outward side, putting on Jesus. Paul gets it right when he says in Romans 13, 14, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Now, the sequence is huge here. And it should indicate our priorities based on the gospel. Many of us grew up in a world where the law was tweaked by well-intended people and emphasized in such a way that would help us to not live according to the flesh. And so I grew up with the idea is make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. That was the command. That was the emphasis. The first part was missing. Meanwhile, put on Christ, learning all that Christ has done and is doing for us wasn't the emphasis, but getting our flesh in check was the point. And what it made then doubly bad was if one didn't draw the line on where the flesh was, where the leadership of the church had drawn the line, then there was both individual separation from that person, and then even in some case there was ecclesiastical separation in practice against that particular sin. And this is where the problem became very serious because it soon equated some man-made standards with God-commanded holiness. And it was confusing. A lot of kids grew up being very confused by that. Instead of looking what Paul says, and he says this, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. and make no provision for the flesh. The emphasis is on Christ. And when you see all that Christ has done, it is very easy. It's so much easier than to turn around and go, no, I don't want the flesh. I don't want my own way. I don't want to be self-determined in life. Todd and Carissa's boys had to learn what it meant to live in the USA. And to live, in particular, in the Davis family. The rules were the same, but their understanding was so very different. Let me see if I can give you an illustration of this. Because these kids grew up in an orphanage, these two boys never had their own personal toys. So everything was theirs. And so for Christmas, Todd and Carissa gave them toys and gave the other three toys, just like they would as a member of the family. But when one went to pick up Brody's toy, Brody was like, oh, wait a minute, this is my toy. And then it didn't compute with the one child that that actually was his toy. He just thought every toy was mine, because that's the way he was brought up. And so what it did is it provided an opportunity for discipleship on two different levels. The one level was, hey, not every toy is yours. to the child who grew up not understanding that actually I could have a toy. And you've been given toys, play with your toys. But it also was an opportunity to come alongside Brody and go, Brody, you understand, there are some ways of living that they don't understand what it means to have their own toy. And so you wanna give them space. Don't be so harsh, don't be so demanding on him that he doesn't understand what he's doing. And I find that often in the Christian life, people are very hard on each other, not giving them space because people have different backgrounds. We, in our world here, in Columbus, Ohio, have people who come from so many different backgrounds. And we come in and we go, hey, you've got to meet up to my standards. And we don't understand the dynamic that our oneness is in Christ, but all of us come from different ways of living, different ways of thinking. And so we have to care. Hey, tell me what it was like in Uganda. What was it like living in an orphanage where you weren't on a normal basis hugged by a mother? What was it like? We just go, wait a minute, don't play with my toy. That's what we do. And we're just like, why do we do this to people? And we have these expectations of people rather than really caring and loving for them. Paul says we're one in Christ. But he doesn't stop there. He says, look, you put on Christ. So I told these two neat little boys, I said, Basil Riggs, you gotta put on the Davis family. You gotta put it on. You gotta learn what it means and walk through that. But then fourthly, we see God, he's moving, continues to move, that God's work of grace then grants spiritual identity. Look at verse 28. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free. There's no male or female for all or one in Jesus. And there's so much to be said about this. In actuality, in chapter four, we're gonna come back to it. So I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this. But so much in our world today seeks to identify us with something other than what we really are. There are a number of reasons for this. But the main one reason is that there's so much tied to our identities. Now as Americans, that's an identity. We're Americans. But you get into the Midwest, we're from the Midwest. And you can all of a sudden hear this when someone comes from out of the Midwest, in particular they come from the South or they come from the northern eastern part of our country, and all of a sudden they don't even have the same accent. Yeah, people do that. But what happens here is we have so much tied up with our identity. It was true in Paul's days as well. Being a Jew meant something. Positively to the Jewish nation, it meant a lot. You had status, automatic status. To be a Roman was something. You had all kinds of privileges, but not so positively as a Gentile. If you were a Gentile, you were kind of low on the totem pole. You were kind of scum of the earth. You see, our identity gives us something for which we can boast. We're not primarily Americans as God's people, nor are we primarily Chinese or African or Japanese. We are first and foremost people who are in Christ. And this is what makes the church body so astoundingly beautiful. Because nothing in our world unmasks us more than the gospel does. But nothing more places us in Christ more than the gospel. And this is why, let me just tell you something. You come in here with a large Americanistic way of thinking, I'm gonna say to you, stop it. Stop it. We're not Americans first. And this strong nationalistic way of thinking can really drive people away from the gospel, can drive people away from Christ. I am proud to be an American. Love it. But we aren't the chosen people. There's nothing special about being an American. And so we don't want that kind of propaganda being spread around. We want to be Christ-centered. And we want to be cared for as God's people. And that is what identifies us. Our identity is in Christ. And look finally at the end. God's work of grace grants us all that God has promised. This is so beautiful. Look at verse 29. And if you are Christ's, then you're Abraham's offspring. You're Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. This perhaps is where Paul is going from the very beginning of chapter 3. I think it is very important that we are not bewitched or fooled into thinking that our own law-oriented, sin-filled heart will grant us God's perfection. Instead, only through faith in Christ, we have everything that God has ever promised. And this is what's so tricky, because if we can somehow live in such a way that our goodness offers something to God worthwhile, then we feel better about this. But the reality is, It always leaves us hanging because we will never do it perfectly. And the implication behind if we don't do it perfectly is we won't get it all then. But when we understand it's all of grace, then we can live with the fact that we so often don't feel like any good is coming our way. We often don't feel like God is being kind to us. We often don't feel like that God is good to us. And it is far easier to make up some rule and to do that rule and thus we feel like we get somewhere spiritually. And this is where our feelings want so bad for life to be about us. We want the entire Christian life to be about us. But if you by faith trust Christ, then you have Him. And not only do you have Him, you have Him from within. And you have Him from without. You are clothed with Him. His thoughts are your thoughts. His ways are your ways. His feelings are your feelings. And all of this is done imperfectly. Which is why God grants us the body of believers. And within that body, He gives us a head. It's Christ. And then He gives us under-shepherds, elders. And then He gives us people who have been different gifts. And we work together at this in order that all of the things that God gives to us will be used for His glory. And so He says, Obey them that have the rule over you. Submit yourself to them. You go, but they're imperfect. Right, I know. But Christ has perfected their work. And Christ continues to work in and through them. Look to your own imperfections. You look to your own trust in God. And you place your confidence in Him. And He's talking to a group of people who were seeking to find confidence in themselves. And when you do so, You let go of the promises of God, because it's back on you. You see, you're closed with Christ. And so it is His grace that allows any of this. From time to time, people will say, you speak too much of grace. I'm going, how could we not? None of us deserve any of this, but for those who trust in Christ, there's an eternal inheritance that begins with God's declaration of your perfection and holiness in Christ. And if you're looking to any other method, if you're looking to any other excuse or any other way of living your life, you will give yourself then to hopelessness. So what are some of the lessons we can learn from this? Well, if you haven't picked up on some of it, I have four for you very quickly. First of all, live by faith. Trust God. No, I mean it. When you live in self-defense, and when around you there's this decay of relationships, it is a sign It's God's gracious gift that says you're not trusting God. And if you live in distrust of humanity around you, it demonstrates you're not trusting God. You say, well, man has let me down. Yeah, it will. Every man will. Every woman will. That's what it's there for, okay? To release our grip on our own self-determined way and trust God. Do you understand that God can work through imperfect people? In fact, God has designed life that way. Your boss, he's designed to be imperfect for your glory and for his, and your good and for his glory. So don't kick against that. Trust God. You see, your adoption is irrevocable. It will never change. But it's in Christ. Trust. Second thing, grow in grace. Grow in the grace of God. This means, humbly, you have nothing you bring to the table. Stop looking to yourselves. Stop looking to your own understanding. Stop looking to your own devices, your own righteousness. We come humbly. And when there's that friction, it's an indication there's not humility. You see, we come to Christ as law abusers, law violators. But we've been given Christ's perfect righteousness. And so we serve one another out of His gracious heart. And where you get it right in one area, you miss it in other areas. And when another person gets it right in one area, they miss it in another area. So you give each other space. Thirdly, treat other believers as family. They're not the enemy. You say, well they don't believe like I do. Okay. They're coming from Uganda. They don't know what it means to put on the Davis family. I can use that analogy. Give them space. Come alongside them. Disciple their hearts. Trust God. But treat other believers as family. They're not the enemy. Live out your identity that is in Christ alone. May I beg you this morning, unmask yourself from your personally created identities? You see, the word of God in the gospel exposes, puts light on. And you get nervous around light, because we love darkness because our deeds are evil, our hearts are wicked. But that's the beauty of the gospel. It puts light on it and you don't care. Because your standing is in Christ alone. And so as a husband, I can come and go, man, I don't love Cindy as I ought to. God, I need your help. Fellow elders, I need your help. I need input into my life. Cindy, I need your help. I don't know how to love you as I should. And she can do the same thing. She can come and say, hey, I don't love you as I ought to. It's okay. Because I have a Redeemer and a Savior and I have friends. I have the body of believers that comes around me and by grace all of us, all of us have redemption in Christ. There's not one of us who doesn't have that same grace. So we can come and I can look at my sin and I can see it and I go, this is my problem. This is my fault. My problem for not loving Cindy is not Cindy's fault. It's my problem. I don't care what she does. She can be ugly, she can be hard as nails, it doesn't matter. I can love her, why? Because I have the love of Jesus in and through me. And God has uniquely designed her to help me become better at loving Him. And in doing so, I can love her. And if she says to me, man, you are really ugly to me sometimes, I can go, I'm so sorry. What can I do? I can repent. And I can get help, become a better husband. I can put on Jesus. Some of you live in such defensiveness. If anyone just breathes, you don't do this well. The defense posture goes up and you shove people out of your life. and you live in that world and you become so comfortable in that world, you don't even realize that when someone comes alongside you to love you and to care for you, you're shoving them away and you don't even realize it. And you won't look at it because you're comfortable in your discomfort and you're not living in trust of Jesus. My friend, every one of us needs Christ. The good news is that He's right there for us, living Himself in and through us if we trust Him. Well, I can trust Him, but I'm not trusting you. Then you're not trusting Him. Because God uses imperfect people all the time for His glory. live for His glory. Trust Him. God used the Judaizers here to help these people understand the gospel. Now we don't need wrong doctrine to help us understand the gospel. I'm not saying that. But when wrong happens, we don't have to run from it. We can run to it and trust God through it.