Please turn with me if you would to Galatians chapter 2. And we'll be reading verses actually 15 through 21 and dealing with the last three verses and what that means for us, or last, yeah, three verses. Before we read the text, let us seek God in prayer. Our gracious Father, thank you for your holy word, and we ask that you would use it to instruct us. In ages past and in the present, you have always used your word that is read and preached to affect the hearts of your people. You use it to draw sinners to yourself and give life, and you use it to nourish and instruct and give light. Oh Lord, do it for your namesake today. And not for this church's sake, this preacher or anybody, but for the sake of Christ that he might be adored, loved, and believed in. That all of us would be drawn to him and found faithful in him because of all that he has done for us. In his name we pray, amen, amen. Chapter 2, verses 15 through 21, if you remember, verses 11 to 14 deal with how Peter, living with the Gentiles, eating with them, all of a sudden some Jews came, Judaizers they're called, and they came and he began to withdraw and start applying the Old Testament ceremonial laws, once again separating from the Gentiles and being careful about what they eat. And at that point, Paul confronted Peter, because what Peter doing was wrong, because Christ changes everything. And that's what this text is teaching. And we'll start with verse 15. We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ, excuse me, and not by works of the law. Because by works of the law, no one will be justified. Notice the word justified used several times here, meaning a right standing before God. But if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too are found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live, in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Thus ends the reading of God's Word. May the Lord bless it for his glory and our benefit as we give attention to this passage. I want to kind of reiterate some of the points we've already covered. Last week in our Sunday school, we dealt with a very important topic on the Christian and the law, and for some, very complicated, and for others, very controversial. I'm not going to rehearse that. That's why I did that last week, so it would serve as a foundation, but I'll kind of reiterate some of the points we covered back then to better understand this passage. Today, I want to build on what I did last week, but make it simple and practical. Because one of the more important things we need to understand is who we are in Christ. If Christ has done all these things and what this passage teaches, it should impact the way we live and how we live in this world. In the last two sermons on this passage, I dealt with how we are dead to the law. And that's what Paul brings out in verse 19. Notice what he says, for through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. And he has similar ideas in different epistles, the same thought of dying to the law. And later on in Galatians, we're not under the law. What does that mean? We spend some time saying how our relationship to the law has forever changed because of Christ. In the sermon after that, we talked about verse 20, how we have been made alive in Christ and we live for him because we have died with him, have been raised with him, and now we live for Christ. And that's been the fundamental focus at the last sermon. Those two truths, we've died to the law and yet we're alive in Christ. Now, one of the common problems after that is where a lot of Christians are mistaken in this. If we die to the laws, it says in verse 19, and are alive in Christ, how do we live our lives now without the law? Or are we without the law? What guides us? Are we completely free from the law? And there are some who say we are, in such a way that it really doesn't matter. Now, most Christians will stay away from that extreme position. It really doesn't matter what you do, because we recognize how poor and foolish that is. But we don't have a definition as to what it looks like to live in Christ. So many are using this phrase, well, following what Jesus said and what Paul says in other places, basically what we do is we have to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. That's how we live. We're not under law, we're under love, they say. We talked about that last week. Love is the fulfillment of the law, but it does not replace the law. But what is the relationship to the law? If we die to it, do we have any obligations to it? That's an important question and we're going to look at various passages and in some sense this sermon is going to be very different from others because we use this as a base dealing with some of the issues that have been raised and we're going to look at various other passages. In the previous sermon, and you don't have to remember this, I'm just gonna reiterate the three points I covered. We died in Christ, we are alive in Christ, we live for Christ. And this is the fourth point I didn't deal with, which I'm gonna deal with today. And it is this, we live within Christ's law. We live within Christ's law. And I'm gonna use various other verses to establish that very point. In the 1960s, It's fascinating reading liberal scholarship. There was a movement, this ethical norm movement, where there was this love ethic that you basically love is the answer. These theologians encouraged that in the 60s. Namely, we're not under law and we're not under any regulations. It's just love, love, love. And that just turned out crazy at that time. It gave no foundation or direction, but it seemed so free. But there's one problem they had, the human heart. We're gonna talk about what does that mean to live in love? And it ended up being a disaster, that ethical norm that was kind of taught in the 60s. But if we're not under the law, if we've died to the law, how do we relate to the law? Let me read to you several verses from the New Testament. One of the first ones is from Romans 7, 12. You don't have to go there. I'm just gonna read a part of that verse, where Paul, who says we've died to the law, actually says the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. The very one who says we're not under the law said the law is good. Then he says in 1 Corinthians 7, 19, for neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. What I thought we weren't under the law. Why is Paul saying this? Now, I was reading a great theologian, Robert Raymond, last night. I just happened to look into this book and he actually made a very important point on this verse. He actually said, and I think it's an accurate interpretation, he basically says, here's a verse that says circumcision, the ceremonial laws, they no longer apply. That's what the Old Testament saints did. But notice what applies. Circumcision no longer matters, but he says, but keeping the commandment of God, but the moral law, the laws, of not committing murder, adultery, stealing, and stuff like that. Those still apply, and we recognize that's what the Bible teaches, because Christians can sin. How do you sin? You sin against God's commandments. So 1 Corinthians 7, 19, for neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. That's what matters. We have an obligation. Keeping God's commandments is important. But we're not under law, how does that work? Now listen to also now Romans 8, three to four. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Notice this phrase, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us. We walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. There's a lot to unpack there, but I just want to highlight a few things that we need to understand as we go through this. God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. What could the law do? It can't help you to be righteous. We talked about this last Sunday. The law only serves as a mere, this is what you do, but it can't give you the spirit or the power to do it. You know, do you have like goals, like New Year's resolutions? You have that there. Does that like give you energy to do it just cause you got it right there? Run 10 miles a day. Great, cause it says that I can do it. No, it just tells you to do something. That's what the law, law could not do anything because it ran across one thing that is our major problem. Your sin and my sin. The law says don't do this and our sin says I will do it, I will disobey. And the law was actually incapable of helping us. The Jews began to recognize that. But they still thought they can establish their own righteousness. But Paul's saying God did through Christ what the law could not do, basically save us. That's the point. in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. That is, the concern in the New Testament is that you and I would live holy lives and the fulfillment of the law would be found in us. Then when you read Jeremiah 31, the prophecy of the new covenant, there's this great prophecy that there's an understanding that God would write his laws on our hearts. And then Ezekiel, he'll talk about other passages in which he will cause us to walk according to his law. Amazing! That's been the concern of both testaments, but the law could not do it. But we're still not under law, and yet Paul keeps on saying, it's good, and the Spirit enables us, and we'll look at other verses. But I wanna look at, if you could bear with me on this one verse, 1 Corinthians 9.21. I dealt with this at Sunday school, but it's a critical verse. And if you wanna turn in your Bibles to that, that's fine. This is where Paul wants to be all things to all people, and there's some interesting play of words in that. But 9.21, let me just read to you what Paul says there. To those outside the law, that's anomos, which simply means almost like without law. They don't have the law of Moses they're following, okay? So that's what he's talking to. Gentiles, to those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, meaning I acted like those laws don't apply. But then notice this parenthetical comment in verse 21. Not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ. Paul could not imagine that a person has no reference to God's law. It's just simply, how could you live a life, because you see, God's law is forever. How could you be separated? Well, I'm still bound to the law through Christ, and that's a critical understanding. And the phrase here is not translated well, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible actually, I think, gets it right in their translation, because some of the words in there are a little bit different from what we have in the English translation. This is what the Holman Christian Standard Bible says. Nothing without God's law, but within Christ's law. And that's an important thing. We are within Christ's law. It's through Christ. His law and everything that God has taught him, that becomes our law. We are within or in the law of Christ. Now someone would say, okay, so we're back to the law. I thought we're not in the law. Somehow through Christ we snuck the law back in. Now you're asking me, And some of you may be thinking, okay, this is theological maneuvering and discussion. How's that helpful? You're going to find it to be helpful because your misunderstanding of this affects your sense of guilt, affects your sense of purpose, affects your sense of prayer, all kinds of things in our understanding of this. We are not being without God's law, but within Christ's law. What is Paul saying? We're attached to the law somehow through Christ, but in a different way. I spent some time this week trying to use the illustration a while back about a daughter getting married and her relationship to the father. She's no longer under the father. We talked about that analogy. I wanna give you another analogy to help us understand the significance of what happened. When I was in college, our freshman year, we had a very large group of young men trying out for the soccer team. It was just an unusually large group. Many freshmen were going for the varsity team. And during the preseason, all of us were out there sweating, running, trying to show our diligence and skills and everything. We went through this for about a week and a half. And after a week and a half or so, the coach was going to choose the varsity team. And so there were many of us trying for this. And those who didn't make it, they would be in the JV, junior varsity, and the others would make the varsity team, and then they would travel around, play other teams. There were drills. There was a lot of conditioning and everything. And there was a lot of, after about a week and a half, your body is thoroughly aching from all the running, and you've never played soccer so much in a day. But after about a week and a half, The coach and the assistants would go around and says, you made the varsity team. You made the varsity team. And various young men were chosen to make the varsity team, because the team had gotten smaller, many had graduated. So many of the freshmen became part of the varsity team. After you were chosen, did we stop practicing and trying hard? No. We actually did the same drills, same conditioning, in fact, more. But my relationship to the team had changed entirely. I was no longer trying to, as it were, get on the team. I'm on the team. Now the same drill means different. I'm playing for the team. I'm on it. That's what's happened to the Christian. In the old covenant, everything was looking forward to something to come. They never got it. But in Christ, we have it. He put us on the team, as it were. He put us on the varsity team. He fulfilled all the requirements of the law. He paid the penalty for all the infractions of the law. He did it all, and in faith in Him, without us doing anything but simply clinging to Him, we're on the team. But the way we look at the law differs now. We're actually saved. There's no condemnation for you and me. We look at the law differently. In Christ, everything's fulfilled. That's the way we have to look at the law as believers. Not to earn. There are still people, no doubt in this room, who believe that if they just try harder, be more religious, and be more disciplined, they'll be saved. God's gonna like you much better if you just try harder. Jews did that. Paul, Peter, and Barnabas and others, they did that and they realized they couldn't do it and they realized it was a gift. That Jesus Christ has died and paid the penalty for their sins and obeyed the law perfectly. If they believed in him, his righteousness would be credited to them simply as a gift by believing. That's what he says in verse 16. Yet we, verse 16, we know that a person is not justified, have a right standing with God, declare righteous in God's sight by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith. Paul realized, he as a Jew tried, it didn't do it. Now there's only one way, through faith in Christ. There's no turning back. Excuse me, there's no turning back. Through Christ, he obeyed everything. We're on, as it were, if we can use the illustration, I'm sorry if it's kind of superficial, but it is, we're on the varsity team through him. He did it all. And as a result, we look at the law differently, as Christ having fulfilled it, not to earn, we're no longer under its condemning power, but as a light, as a guide to life, as one who is already saved, already blessed, already justified, already adopted. And we are empowered by the spirit. I'm gonna draw out some applications in a moment, but that's the way we look at the law as believers. We're not under the law, theologically they would say, as an administration, as a way of living our life. Christ has fulfilled it all, but in him, we look at the law differently. Now we have life. Now we have the spirit. Now we have forgiveness. Now we have justification. Now there's no condemnation. We look at the law differently. That needs to be understood. And as a result, we live within Christ's law. We are free to obey. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We have the spirit dwelling in us, enabling us to walk in obedience, to be led by him. We don't try to measure up because we can't. That measuring up comes through simple faith in Christ. He did it all. A simple truth greatly misunderstood by many. The law is not like a new law placed upon us. It's the same thing. God's standard has not changed. But no longer can condemn us. It can't reach out and hurt us. But now we're free. We have a new life. Our sins are forgiven. Now we can obey in that freedom. That changes everything. And that is something we need to recognize. So I wanna bring out four simple points as a general observation and application. So if we're within Christ's law, what does that mean from 1 Corinthians 9.21? First of all, I wanna say obey God's word because you have been completely justified by faith in Christ and graciously saved by him. Obey God's word because you have been completely justified by faith in Christ and graciously saved by him. You obey not in order to be saved, in order to be justified, because you have been completely saved and declared righteous in God's sight. You are restored, redeemed, and forgiven. And as a result, you are entirely free, and he's calling you to obey. A young man or a woman, when they're not married, they look at each other differently. There's a goal they have in mind. They're trying to do whatever they can to make sure the other person stays with them and so eventually they can get married. But after they get married, it's done. Their relationship to each other changes. They don't seek to now make sure they have the relationship. They have the relationship, and there, from there, they try to grow. That's the same with believers. We are forgiven. We're declared righteous. Everything the law can do for us, Christ did it all. I use this, I think I use this illustration. We heard it at camp, church camp once. One guy was telling this story. He was into flying airplanes. And there was this final test given to him that you had to go through this final test with someone who's going to license you if you pass the test or not, and you fly out. And the guy was so nervous and everything, because he had trained him and everything. He didn't know exactly how to get going on there. You could see it. He was nervous. And the guy examined him and said, how about this? You pass the test. It's done. Just fly. That's it? Yeah, you're done. Just fly. You don't have to. I'm gonna pass you, okay? Well, that freed that man up, and he flew well. That's a situation we find ourselves in. The test is passed. He calls us to obey because it's done. That's how we obey. Two, so first is obey God's word because you have been completely justified by faith in Christ and graciously saved by him. Secondly, you are alive in Christ Jesus and in the power of the spirit, obey God's commandments. It's related to the first point, I wanna unpack it here. Believers, what makes us utterly different in terms of progressive revelation and covenantal development and everything. What makes us different is the Spirit has come through the person of Christ and given to his church. The Spirit is in us, sanctifying us, leading us, and that's what the leading means, to enable us to grow in holiness. He is given to enable us to obey God's commandments. The new covenant believer have the Spirit enabling them to obey him, not perfectly, But there's a desire implanted in him. The Spirit is the one who groans in him. The Spirit is the one who leads him. The Spirit is the one who is grieved when we sin. We were not just cleaned up by Christ and our sins forgiven and just left to ourself. No, the Spirit is given to ensure that we're gonna change and become like the Lord Jesus Christ. But what does that look like when the Spirit is working in us? Do we just simply try harder? and just kind of out of love trying to do what we can. Listen to what this one writer wrote on the website. I'm not gonna name him. I'm just gonna read to you a sentence, two sentences from this website. He's explaining how we're not under the law. He says, we do what is right, not because of a law written on stone tablets, but because we truly want to please our Heavenly Father. Our hearts and minds have been converted by God's grace. Then he goes on to talk, we just do it out of love. Okay, let me ask you this. Out of love for God, I want to plant 400 tulips in this neighborhood. Would that please God? Well, why would you want to plant 400? I don't like tulips or I don't like flowers. But what if, can I demonstrate my love that way? Well, why would you want to demonstrate your love that way? Well, I love God. I want to, I want to please him. And I could see people liking tulips. I'm going to plant 400. Would that please God? You would say, of course not. Why not? I love him. I want to obey him. I want to do something to please him. Why not? OK, I'm going to do something better. I'm going to have 10,000 lollipops. I'm going to give to 10,000 kids. That'll please God, right? Because I really want to honor God. So I'm going to invest my money. I don't know how much it's going to cost to get 10,000 lollipops. I'll get 10,000 lollipops. I'm going to give it to 10,000 kids. I'm going to try to do it in one day. Will that please God? Well, you say, these are stupid examples, Mark. That's not what you do. Why not? I really love God. Well, because that's not what God requires in his word. The spirit is given to us to follow God's word. We don't get to determine how that love is expressed. He defines how that love is expressed in terms of his word, to keep his commandments. The desire is correct. But the desire has to conform to God's will. I don't get to pick and choose. Now, we would say this is an awful husband. I love my wife. I so much want to please her. So I'm going to take her into my workshop, and we're going to cut wood. Now, I love doing that. My wife would think that is drudgery, and he hates me. But you see, I don't get to choose, because I want to know what pleases her. And God has revealed what pleases Him. When the Spirit is given, He leads us into truth. He leads us in conformity to God's will. So listen to this first verse from 1 John. John says, God will give us what we ask of Him, quote, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. That's pleasing God, keeping His commandments. The Spirit is given to help us to do that. So we're alive in Christ, not to pick and choose. You see, that's what we did before we became believers. We were left to ourselves, and we made a mess of it. The Spirit is given, and the Word is given, so we can follow what God wants us to do. Number three. So number two is you are alive in Christ Jesus, and in the power of the Spirit, obey God's commandments. Number three, when you sin, repent. And know you have forgiveness in Christ because Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins. I know this is a simple truth, but hear me, it's important. When you sin, repent and know you have forgiveness in Christ because Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins. We are not perfect and we all know that and we will fall and we will sin. And it is here we need to understand our right relationship with the law and with Christ here, and what Christ has done. It is here that many fall and actually struggle in their spiritual lives. All the provisions for your justification and salvation have been secured for you by Jesus Christ. It is important. If you have a judge, who looks at a criminal who broke these laws and was very odious in some of the offenses that he committed. He is gonna judge that man according to the law. It's this criminal. But that same judge goes home and he has a son who's disobedient. He's not gonna look at him as a judge. All right, the court is in session, my son. Let's see what you have done. It's his son. who disobeyed him. He looks at it differently. That's where the believer finds himself, in this relationship. And so when you sin, you need to have confidence there's forgiveness. Let me read to you a verse from 1 John in a moment. See, you need to have confidence there is forgiveness for you. If not, you will falter. Follow the logic of this verse, a well-known verse in 1 John 2, 1 and 2. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. Those phrases are loaded. It's God's way of saying, you sinned. It's his way of saying, if I can say it reverently, I got this. The flow, the logical flow of this, you sinned, there's a backdrop, God's got this in his son. You sinned. There's an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He's no willy-nilly person. He is the righteous one. It's God's Son who stands as your advocate, who will defend you. He will plead his righteousness on your behalf. You have someone standing before the court. You sinned. He's got this. But he doesn't make a travesty of God's law. He is the propitiation for your sins. And what that means is he bore in himself God's wrath. The very penalty you deserved, he took upon himself. God's holy infinite wrath has been vented on the son. He's the propitiation for your sins. God's wrath is deserving on every sin and sinner. Jesus took it. He's got this. You have sinned. But Jesus Christ has got this for you. You go with confidence. If you don't have that confidence, you will despair because you're going to fall. It changes your relationship to the law. I look at the law, it shows I've sinned, but behold Jesus Christ. He has died for me. He's my advocate. He is the propitiation for my sins. That's the rhythm of the Christian life. We sin, we confess, and we believe by faith what God has revealed. There's an advocate. There's one who suffered the Father's wrath in our behalf. We'll be celebrating the Lord's Supper today. The Lord's Supper represents what Christ has done, and what has he done? He took upon himself the curse of the Father for our sins. Jesus wants to always remember that so we'll never forget. And fourthly, always ponder and meditate on what Christ has done for you so you can say what Paul says in verse 20. Always ponder and meditate on what Christ has done for you so that you can say What Paul says in verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Why I say ponder and meditate is as we begin to understand all that Christ has done for you and me, this motivation that Paul writes about in verse 20 becomes ours. We recognize he did it all. It's an amazing thing. How often have you said, I'm gonna obey because he loved me and gave himself up for me? That's the motivation for Paul. He had more righteousness than you and I from a human standpoint. He was more zealous than you and I. But then he doesn't care. He clings to Christ and he says Christ has done it all. He loved me, gave himself up for me. That's language speaking about the atonement and everything on the cross. He did it all for me. I can't give righteousness any other way through Christ. If he loved me and did that, then I'm gonna live for him. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. What does that look like? That means the ABCs of the gospel you never forget. You never let it roll off your tongue as if, yeah, yeah, I understand. You see, the moment you can say that is the moment it's already leaving you. You have to be able to say at the end, he loved me and gave himself up for me. I live by faith in him. That's the way we respond in view of all that he has done. Then you look at what he's calling you to do. Yes, Lord, I will do it because this is what you've done for me. If not, it becomes drudgery. It's a motivation that electrifies believers, encourages them, empowers them. It's not mental gymnastics, it's a knowledge by faith in what God has given us and what Christ has done for us. Let me end with this. All this assumes a person has believed in Christ and Christ is his Lord. He's placed his faith in him. He recognizes he's a sinner. He's looked to Christ. He can't measure up because he fails so often. He simply by faith looks to Christ. Christ, I have sinned. I've made a mess of it all. If you've done that, you're free. If not, you have one thing to do. Go to Christ. No matter how hard you try, how many resolutions you make, you will never measure up. The Jew, Paul, the Jew, Peter, and Barnabas, he says, we know that a person is not justified or have a right standing with God by works of the law, but through faith in Christ. They tried. And they had said, we have to give it all up. It's only through faith in Christ. That's the same for you and me. Believe and your sins will be forgiven and you'll be declared righteous with his righteousness. That's the promise. Let us pray. Our Father, thank you for sending our wonderful Lord and what he has achieved on the cross and given freely to us and received by faith. It's a simple old truth, Lord, that has been proclaimed every year throughout the nations, giving hope to millions upon millions upon millions. And that is our hope. And we pray that you would work in the hearts of some in this room who still have heard these words, but they mean nothing. May it resonate in their hearts. May you give them life. May you enable them to cling to Christ. And they might say, Lord, you have loved me and gave yourself up for me. And they would give their lives to you because you have given your life for sinners. Oh, here's we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please turn in your hymnals to 403, not what my