Our sermon text for this morning is from the book of Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. Galatians 3, starting in verse 1. Oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. On October 12, 2019, Kenyan long-distance runner Eliwood Kipchoge, that's the last time I'm going to try to pronounce that last name, finished a marathon in one hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds. He became the first man to ever complete a marathon in under two hours. That's 26.2 miles. in one hour, 59 minutes, and 40 seconds. What does it take for someone to run such a race? How can a human being run such a long distance in such a short period of time? It takes a perfect race, no mistakes, No lazy miles, no bad technique. Eliud's average mile in this race was four minutes and 33 seconds. If you know anything about running miles, most of us here, perhaps all of us here, couldn't keep up with him even for one mile. His race wasn't considered an official record simply because it was designed to be the perfect race. Eliwood had pacers that created V formations in front of him to reduce wind resistance. There was a car that followed him with a laser beam indicating to him where the ideal pace for every section of the race would be. The track was flat and the weather was perfect in Vienna, Austria. Sounds like a good race, doesn't it? His record for a perfect marathon still stands today. And it will stand for a long time. But you know what? Give it a few years, and even that record will be broken. So, is this really a perfect race? This perfect race isn't so perfect, is it? I mean, it's remarkable, but it's limited. We throw this word around often, perfect. But we really don't mean perfect often. I mean, we say that practice makes perfect, but it doesn't. Practice makes better. Perfection is not within the realm of possible human achievements. And there lies the tension that runs through the Bible. We can be pretty good, but we can't be perfect. But God is perfect. Heaven is perfect. But we're not. Often we can believe the lie that if we just run the race a little bit better, if we're just more diligent than those around us, we can look around and think we're doing pretty good because we're ahead of the pack. If we just strive for good, God will be satisfied with our Good and yet imperfect efforts. But that's not what the Bible tells us. That's not the reality of the Christian faith. In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus says to his disciples, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds, surpasses, that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So in a marathon of works, scribes and Pharisees would be the record breakers. But Jesus says, not enough. But the Bible doesn't leave us without hope. We can have a relationship with God. We will inherit heaven. We will participate in the kingdom of God. But how? How is it possible that we imperfect people, sinful people, will have a relationship and dwell in the kingdom of God? How can imperfect humans or human beings relate to a perfectly holy God? And the answer is, by faith alone. In God's economy, only faith makes perfect. We're remembering the Protestant Reformation in the month of October. The Reformation was a movement that took place in the 16th century in Western Europe. where men and women stood decisively against a Roman Catholic Church that had become corrupted by false teaching. While the Roman Catholic Church taught a system of faith plus works, of grace and sacraments, of scripture and tradition, Christ and saints, God and man. The Reformers stood on the affirmation that Scripture alone is our rule and authority for faith and practice. The faith alone in Christ alone and grace alone saves for the glory of God alone. We have come to know these pillars as the five solas of the Reformation. The word sola means Today, we'll focus on the third of these solas, sola fide, or faith alone. Now, before we do that, let's consider just the context, the background of the Book of Galatians. The Book of Galatians was crucial for the Reformation because the message of salvation and sanctification by faith alone is so clear in it. Paul wrote relations to a group of churches he planted in his first missionary journey. The churches received the gospel gladly. They believed Jesus and they were justified by faith. There was no problem there. But soon after, they became influenced by Judaizers, false teachers who came from the church in Jerusalem saying, Jesus is great. But he's not enough. They insisted that obedience to Moses's law was necessary in addition to Jesus. It's a Jesus plus religion. By the way, that's the essence of every false Christian sect. Jesus plus. So Galatians is a great book. for people who have been Christians for a while. It's common in our Christian walk to forget the humility that first brought us to Christ. Because of the work of the Spirit in our lives, we may see some victory over sin. We may see some discipline in our lives. And we can become prideful. We can think we've accomplished it. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?" When we stop considering the doctrine of faith alone, there's only one thing that replaces it, works. And though we would never say we are adding anything to Christ, we, Those of us who have been Christians for a long time, it is possible even for those who have not been Christians for a long time. Very often in our practice, begin adding to Christ those things that we do. So if you're a Christian here today, this message is a call for you to return to the faith that once was born in your heart. It's a call to overcome a Christian attitude of pride and superiority, which is a temptation for all of us. It is a call to remember that the Christian life is primarily lived outside of us through faith in Christ. And there is therefore no room for boasting, no category for great Christians, only weak, independent men and women who have found in Christ a great Savior. Galatians is also a book, a great book, if you're wondering about Christ. Maybe you walked into our building today and you're not a Christian, you know it. And we're thankful you're here with us. You may be wondering, What does it mean to be a Christian? That's a great question to ask. And in a summary, here's what it means to be a Christian. Christians are those who consider themselves too weak, too frail, and spiritually bankrupt. Too spiritually bankrupt to claim anything good. in and of themselves. Christians are those who believe that only Jesus is good. And that in His goodness, He makes us good. Christians are those who begin by faith, who persevere through faith, and who keep their faith to the end. So my prayer for you, whether you're a Christian or not, is that you will walk by faith alone in Christ alone today, wherever you may be in your understanding of Christ. So as we look at our text today, three headers will help us. First, we'll consider salvation accomplished. Second, we'll consider salvation applied. And then finally, we'll consider salvation available. So consider my first point, salvation accomplished. We're halfway through the book of Galatians here, and Paul uses here some of the strongest languages we hear in the Bible. Look at verse 1. He says, "'O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?' I mean, he's putting them in a biblical category. He's putting the church in Galatia in a biblical category. Foolish Galatians. A fool in the Bible is not a person of low intelligence. A fool in the Bible is a biblical category for those who reject God. So, folly is not a minor issue in the Bible. Folly is a path that ultimately leads to condemnation. So, he's saying to the Galatians, you are going down a path of condemnation. You're going down a path where you find no salvation in Christ. Notice how Proverbs 8 ends, which is a proverb about wisdom, finding wisdom and rejecting folly. Proverbs 8.35, "...for whoever founds Me," that's wisdom, "...finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who fails to find Me," in other words, those who find folly instead, "...injure himself. All who hate Me love death." Paul is looking at the Galatians and he is concerned that they believed that salvation was by faith, but that faith wasn't sufficient. Paul says, somebody must have bewitched you. I mean, literally he's saying, somebody cast a spell on you, or somebody has put the evil eye on you. No one in his right mind can receive Jesus and then reject Jesus. For Paul, that has to be a deception from the devil alone. Paul continues in verse 1, he says, "...it was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified." Now, the Galatians weren't present at the crucifixion of Jesus. So, in what way was Jesus portrayed as crucified to the Galatians? And the answer is, through the preaching of the Word. Through the preaching of the Word, the Galatians beheld, saw, experienced Jesus Christ crucified. Paul says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1.23, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles. 2 Corinthians 2, he goes on to say, for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If Paul was to tell us his philosophy of Christian preaching, he would say, all faithful preaching must be about Christ crucified. Why? Because at the cross we see Jesus' final and ultimate cry. At the cross Jesus says, it is finished. And this is exactly what the Galatians were failing to see. Jesus Christ had accomplished everything and there was nothing left for them to accomplish. They had received this message by faith and they were saved by it. Jesus' perfect life and propitiatory sacrifice is everything a Christian needs for all of life. Paul is saying, Galatians, you must say these things, give me Jesus and nothing else. Give me Jesus or I die. I mean, we believe this, don't we? We believe Jesus is all. We believe we need nothing beyond Jesus, don't we? But do we live in light of this? Do we live out this faith in Christ? Do we live like Christ has accomplished it all for us? Do we live as though if we have Christ, we need nothing beyond Him? How often do we think too highly of our ability to do good or to be good? How often do we look at others and think of ourselves as better? How often do we believe that God answers our prayers or gives us favor in life based on how little we sin or how often we go to church? But friends, these things rob God of His glory. False religion says do, do, do, and do. True religion rests on faith alone, looks to Christ upon His cross, and says along with Him, done. True religion is humble. It does not cause us to think highly of ourselves because it recognizes that Christ didn't just save us by faith, but He is also sanctifying us by faith. True faith is demonstrated when one rightly views himself as nothing and Jesus as everything. At this point, consider with me my second point. The salvation that was accomplished by Christ is now applied to us. Starting in verse two, Paul does something extremely pastoral. He starts asking, diagnostic questions in literature. This is called a diatribe. These are questions that he's asking to draw out inconsistencies in the theology of the Galatians. And here's the central point that Paul is making. Salvation is a complete work in the past accomplished by Christ. The great dichotomy that he constructs here is one of faith and works. If we're going to believe that Jesus accomplished salvation completely for us in the past, we're going to live by faith and not by works. Look at verse two. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive those spirits by works of the law or by hearing with faith? In parallel, he mirrors the same dichotomy of works and faith in verse 5. And the answer is clear, isn't it? No one works for their salvation. We know that. We were saved by faith. We received salvation by faith. Faith unites us to Christ and applies His finished work to us. So, if the work of Christ is finished and credited to us or accredited to us by faith, what else is left for us to do? The answer is Nothing. There is nothing left for us to do. We're saved, we're sealed, and we're secured for eternal life. But sometimes we think that God saved us by grace. But now we need to be sanctified by works. We think that God made us sons and daughters in salvation, and abandoned us as orphans in sanctification. This is what the Galatians struggled with. Look at Paul's second question in verse 3. Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh? I mean, suppose I come home one day and my wife surprises me with the most wonderful dinner, my favorite meal. I walk into the house. I look at the food. The kids are well behaved. That's also a gift, right? Instead of sitting down and feasting on the food, I say to her, thank you. And then I proceed to make another meal for myself. Would you call that foolish? It's foolish, isn't it? It's not just foolish. It's ungrateful. It's insulting. It's a rejection of grace. This is what we present to God when we seek to be perfected by works. When we say, God, thank you for saving me, but I got it from here. My discipline will get me there. You know, God, I was brought up in a pretty good home. Christians growing up, I'm pretty good. Thank you for salvation, but I know what to do here. When we do these things, we're walking into this feast that God has made for us and we're saying, thanks, but no thanks, I'll make my own food. It is foolish. Paul is concerned with the Galatians here to the point that in verse 4, he questions whether the Galatians have even run this race in vain. Brothers and sisters, God doesn't work only in the beginning of our salvation. He is actively involved with our salvation today. And this is the reason why we can have assurance that we will persevere. It is because God is saving us. If any aspect of salvation was left to us, we would mess it up. But God saved us and He will save us as He is saving us today. One of the most important aspects or steps towards Christian maturity is when a Christian understands that the gospel is not just for salvation, but for the whole of the Christian life. If we grasp this, we will grow spiritually in such significant ways because our growth will be based on faith and not works. You know, when we reject this, We live the exhausted Christian life. You know, I'm always, I'm always just impressed with how Jesus was able to sleep in that boat after a full day of activities. And no one else is able to sleep because of the tempest outside. Why is that? It's because Jesus always did everything by faith. The disciples didn't understand that, but Jesus in faith worked hard and through faith rested hard. The Christian life can be so exhausting if we don't understand how the gospel applies to the life of the believer, how the gospel applies today to sanctification. Listen to just a few verses of the Bible that help us see how God is actively involved today with our salvation and with our sanctification. Philippians 2, 12 and 13. Work out your salvation. Here Paul is using the word salvation to refer to sanctification. It's an aspect of salvation. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Who works out my sanctification in Christ? It's God who does it. Therefore, I work. Colossians 129, For I toil, struggling with all His energy, that He powerfully works within me. Who works? God works. Titus 2, 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. We know that. But the grace of God has appeared also training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled and upright godly lives in this present age. So what works out this victory over ungodliness and worldly passions and all of these things? It's the grace of God that works it in us. Hebrews 2 verse 1, Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. In other words, let us have victory over sin. And let us run with endurance that race that is set before you. That's the marathon, right? That has to be run with perfection. So how do we do this? Looking to Jesus. And who is Jesus? The author. He's the one who initiated faith in your hearts. Do you know that? Do you know that even the faith that saved you was not your accomplishments? It was the accomplishment of the author of faith. Look into Jesus, the author, but not just author, the perfecter. What does that mean? That means that Jesus started the faith that saved you, and Jesus is perfecting the faith that is in you. And how does He do that? As we run this race, instead of looking at ourselves, instead of thinking, look at how great I am, how strong I am, how disciplined I am, look at how often I read my Bible, look at how often I go to church, look at how much I give, we're saying, no, no, no, no. None of these things will perfect me. I look to Jesus. He is great. He lived the perfect life. He accomplished it all. And it is His accomplishments that is accredited to me. So if there is anything good in me, it is Christ in me. All of these other things He has enabled me to do. So if I do nothing, it's glory to God. If I do all things, it's glory to God. because it is Him working in me. These verses are saying that we were saved by God and we're being sanctified by God. So if salvation was by faith, then sanctification must be by faith as well. But we often forget faith when it comes to spiritual growth. We forget faith when it comes to fighting sin. So we find ourselves fighting the great battles apart from Christ, exhausted in our Christian walk. Okay, let me try to land the plane here in application. If sanctification is primarily not an action, but a faith or believing, How do we pursue sanctification by faith? I think the key to understanding sanctification by faith is a repeated phrase we have in verses 2 and 5. In verse 2, Paul says, did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Now look at verse 5. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Do you see that? I really think this is what Paul wants the Galatians to get. This is what I want you to understand today. We pursue sanctification by faith, by constantly hearing the proclamation of the gospel and responding to it with constant faith. This is my practical application. I'm going to unpack it, but this is my practical application. We grow in our sanctification by hearing, by doing what you're doing right now, by hearing the gospel proclaimed and then receiving it by faith. But Pastor Lucas, we need to do things. Of course, faith leads to obedience, but the order matters. Our doing flows from believing, not the other way around. So we respond with faith. Now, this issue, sanctification by faith, is an issue that has been waiting in my heart and in Pastor Jeff's heart. We have been praying for you, for you to grasp that the gospel is for you. Right now, we are intentionally coming together on Tuesdays and praying for you so that you will see how the gospel intersects with sanctification. But why is it hard for Christians to see the intersection of gospel and sanctification? I think it's because we often think of sin and righteousness as those things that we do. And there's truth to that, right? We do do sin and we do practice righteousness. But ultimately, sin and righteousness are born in the heart. Sin are not mere actions. They are desires, inclinations, and intent. Jesus says, if you look at a woman with lustful intent, you've committed adultery in your heart. James says that the reason why we murder, so he's really using murder here figuratively, We act with anger towards others. The reason why we murder is because our desires, heart, our desires, inner person, are at war within us. It's all in the heart, isn't it? But if sins were mere actions, then the solution would be to do different things. You see? You see how viewing sin as actions ends up leading us to have a theology of works. If it's just actions, then I got to stop doing these things, and I got to start doing these things. Right? And that's how we fall into the trap of, we're saved by faith, but sanctified by works. If sins were mere actions, the solution would be to do different things. But what we do when we sin really starts in the heart. You know, I've started telling my children, your desire to disobey is worse than your disobedience. Because one is the fruits while the other is the roots. So what do I get to do here? Instead of simply saying, stop disobeying, I can say, stop desiring to disobey. Now, stop disobeying, is a mere change of action. Stop desiring to disobey requires the gospel. And so I'm able to tell my children the reason why you desire to disobey your mom and your dad is because you need Jesus to come into your hearts. You need him to change your desires. You need Him to transform who you are. Every night I pray for my children, Lord, regenerate their hearts. I say it so they can hear it. And now I've started explaining to them the reason why I pray for this is because I want you to desire to obey. But you can only do that if your heart is changed. You can only do that if you have the Holy Spirit within you that will give you the gift of self-control. And now your desires will change. We can forget that the most essential element of sanctification is not action, but faith. This is why we proclaim the gospel for the hope of the lost, but also for the edification of the church. Friends, when we fail to think of sin as this internal corruption that remains with us, we start thinking we are not that bad. We're okay. Because all we see are the actions that occasionally escape the heart. You know, when you wake up Sunday morning and we come to church, our neighbors don't do that. Action works. We fall into this trap of thinking we're okay because other people murder. Other people commit fornication. They lie. They cheat. They steal. But we don't, or at least we don't often. But we fail to see that our heart level, we're not very different from those we think need the gospel more than us. Can I ask you this? When you come into the church, on Sunday morning to hear the preaching of the gospel. Do you think no one needs it more than me today? The one who needs Christ the most is the most mature among us. Hear this, brothers and sisters. Jesus died on the cross for you, and this is enough. Now consider with me briefly my last point, salvation available. Paul ends this passage with this incredible connection with the Old Testament. He reminds us of Abraham. And if you look at verse 6, he quotes Genesis 15 that we read earlier, right? It says, just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham believed the promises of God. And God accepted his faith. He didn't need to walk through the animals. Actually, God makes it a point to tell us that Abraham fell asleep. What did Abraham do? Nothing! God took upon himself all of the terms of the covenant. You know what those cut animals meant? Those cut animals meant that if someone broke the covenant, they would take the punishment for it. But God doesn't let Abraham walk through the animals. God does it Himself, saying, I will keep the covenants and I'll take the punishment for covenant breaking upon myself. All Abraham needed to do was believe. This is important because Abraham came before the law, and yet he was righteous by faith. Abraham came before it. Israel was even given the requirements to obey. The law has its beginning in Moses, and it has its end in Christ. Romans 10, 4. For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes. As Martin Luther reflected on his own past, he remembered a time when he believed he would be made right with God by keeping a series of sacraments designed to grant him grace gradually. He worked harder than anyone else. He pursued righteousness with all his might. Luther would feel the weight of his failure and sin so deeply that he would at times confess his sin to a priest for eight and nine hours. He wore priests out. And yet, he never felt peace. He feared that the righteousness of God was the standard by which God would judge and punish him. So Luther said, for I hated that word righteousness of God, which according to the use and costume of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand as that by which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely. So he's thinking of Romans 1 16 here. In it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live. There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous live by gift of God, namely by faith. And this, friends, is why the Reformation was necessary. We're running in this race that demands what we cannot give. The holiness of God is so beyond what we can achieve. We need a righteousness that is alien to us. We need to be made righteous with the righteousness of Christ. Why do Christians make such a big deal about the fact that Jesus died? It is because in His death He gave His life for us. His death is a gift to the sinner who is too weak to even begin the race, but through Christ runs the race with perfection. How would you feel If you were told today that in order to enter eternal life, you had to run a sub two hour marathon. That's your only hope. You got to get there. You got to practice. And you got to run that perfect race. And when you get there, if you ever get there, then you'll be saved. Would you feel discouraged, defeated, disappointed? Would you give up? I mean, you and I are not going to accomplish this. But how would you feel if Jesus looked at you at the depth of your discouragement and said, I'll run the race for you. I can do it. Do you believe me? I have. Have you? Let's pray. Father, You are so holy. You're so perfect. You are good in all of Your ways. You're righteous. Father, in You, there's no hint of sin, deception, no hint of immorality. No hint of rebellion. And we're so filled with these things, Lord. We're unholy. Lord, we are unable to work out our salvation in our own strength. We're unable to even believe lest you give us faith, unless you give us faith. But Father, we are so thankful because out of all these wonderful attributes that you have, you lack no grace. You're a merciful God who fills us with good. And you condescend to our state. And Lord, you send us Christ to run the race for us. We're thankful. If salvation was left for us to accomplish, we would all fail. But your desire is to see a heaven that is filled with those who ran vicariously through Christ, who trusted in Him. Thank you, Lord, for the life of Christ. Thank you that He never sinned inwardly or outwardly. Thank you, Lord, that He offered His life as a sacrifice for us. Thank you, Lord, that He called us not to work towards the sacrifice, but to believe. And thank you, Lord, that today through Him, through faith in Him, we're righteous. Help us then, Lord, live our lives in light of this. Help us be humble and thankful because Christ is all and in all and in Him we have received all things, including the eternal security of our souls. We praise you and we pray in the name of Jesus.