Tag Archives: the Law

The Struggle Within

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Galatians 5:16-18

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Romans 7:14-24 – For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.  For what I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

While that verse seems to imply that we are not able to win the struggle within, Paul continues.

Romans 7:25 – I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

As we continually seek to surrender our self to Jesus Christ through prayer, study of His Word and fellowship with other believers, we find the strength needed to overcome the carnal/fleshly man. 

Ways that will help us win this struggle.

Psalms 27:4 – One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.  

Psalms 51:10-12 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Acts 17:11 – These were more fair-minded that those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Philippians 3:13-14 – Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prized of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  

Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 

Things to avoid to help win this struggle.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 – Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.  I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoice in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor.  Then I looked on all the works and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun. 

Genesis 3:6 – So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.    

James 4:1-4 – Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  You lust and do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and war.  Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  Adulterers and adulteresses!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

A man once had two dogs that he trained for fighting.  Just before a scheduled fight a friend of his asked him which dog he thought would win the fight, which one should he place his bets on.  As the man quickly pointed out which dog would win, his friend asked him “How do you know that one will win?”  The man replied “Because that is the one I will feed.”

Which one are you feeding – the flesh or the spirit?

Christian Liberty – What Price Freedom?

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Galatians 5:1-6

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

FREEDOM AND LIBERTY

  • Christ has made us free

GRACE – UNMERITED FAVOR

GOD’S RICHES AT CHRIST’S EXPENSE

GOD’S REDEEMING ACT CONCERNING EVERYONE

In the Old Testament, Moses continually offered sacrifices.  In the New Testament, Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice once and for all time.

  • Free through His shed Blood – Freedom in Christ

Romans 10:13 – For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

Galatians 5:1 – Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Freely given, freely bestowed, yet if we do not believe, we cannot receive!

John 8:32 – And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

  • Free through believing on His name

Romans 10:9 – …if you confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus…

Romans 6:18 – And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 

Acts 4:12 – Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

  • The verse above does not mention, nor does any other verse in God’s Word indicate, that there is another name whereby we can be saved.  In fact, it states emphatically there is no other name.  To whom do we confess?  God and God alone.  Since He provided the “Way” (through His selfless sacrifice), He paid the cost (His own blood) and completed the work (IT IS FINISHED), then it seems very apparent that it is to Him and only Him that we confess our sins.
  • Free through confession of sins

Romans 10:9 –  if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

  • Free through walking by faith

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith, not by sight.

  • Do not become Entangled Again in Bondage

Romans 8:2-3 – For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:  He condemned sin in the flesh

2 Corinthians 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I Corinthians 7:22 – For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman.  Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.  You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.  

Galatians 3:13 – Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)…

I Peter 2:24-25 – who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes we were healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

I Peter 3:18 – For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…

  • Sin is bondage

Romans 6:7 – For he who has died has been freed from sin.

  • Bad habits are bondage

We often start our list with drinking, smoking, etc., but what about envy, greed, self-righteousness, lying, gossiping…    Should I stop now?

  • Deliberate failures are bondage
  • Deliberate omission of right doing is bondage

Galatians 5:1 – Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1 – Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.  The Message

THE LAW FAILS

  • Keeping a list of rules fails

Matthew 23:4 – For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Galatians 3:26-27 –“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Galatians 2:16 – …knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Acts 15:10 – Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither your fathers nor we were able to bear? 

Galatians 13:38-39  – Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified form all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 

  • Walking away from Christ fails

Romans 6:5-8 – For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.

Hebrews 10:26 – For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

FAITH IS THE ANSWER

FAITH – FORSAKING ALL, I TRUST HIM

Romans 5:1 –  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

I Corinthians 3:11 – For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

I Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 

Hebrews 11:1 –“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

All through the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we find the beginning of verse after verse with the phrase “by faith”, “by faith”, “by faith.”   Whether individuals or circumstances…it was “by faith.” 

  • Faith in the shed blood of Jesus
  • Faith in walking in love
  • Faith in the name of Jesus
  • Faith in the Word of God
  • Faith through the power of the Holy Spirit

THANK GOD FOR THE FAITH WE HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.                  

Two Covenants

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Galatians 4:21-31

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

(To fully understand this passage – read Genesis 16:1-16; 17:15-21; 18:1-15; 21:1-21)

Genesis 16:1-16 – Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”

So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.

Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Genesis 17:15-21 – Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

Genesis 18:1-15 – Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Do as you have said.”

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

So he said, “Here, in the tent.”

And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Genesis 21:1-21 – And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

TWO SONS

  • Ishmael

born a slave son – of the servant of Abraham

born after the natural order

born – Sarah suggested that Abraham take Hagar for his wife

  • Isaac

born a free son – of the wife of Abraham

born by miracle of God

born  because of God’s plans – God had promised that Abraham would have a son by his wife, Sarah

The one who trusts in human plans and efforts is born to be a slave.  But the one who trusts in God’s plans and miraculous intervention is born to be God’s child. 

TWO MOTHERS

  • Hagar – a type of the Law

her children are slaves

represents the religious system that teaches people to be saved by what they do or don’t do, by their own good works or good personalities 

  • Sara – a type of God’s Grace

her children will enjoy their father’s blessings

represents the truth that people are saved by accepting the sacrifice Jesus made at Calvary and not by trusting in themselves for salvation

Those who trust in following the Law are doomed to live in bondage.  Those who trust in the gift of God’s Son are given spiritual birth and freedom.

Those who trust in the Law often persecute those who believe in God’s grace alone.

  • The self-righteous are trying to secure favor with God by their own works.  The believer who says self-effort will never make you acceptable to God presents a threat to them.
  • The self-righteous cannot accept the fact that they are too sinful, too helpless, and too unrighteous to receive God’s favor.  The believer threatens their sense of their own goodness.

If we trust in God for our justification, we must not be surprised if other “religious” people do not agree with us, and even slander our name, reject us or do other hurtful things to us

LEGALISM IS TO BE REJECTED BY THE CHURCH

  • The Law cannot Co-exist with God’s Grace.
  • The Law has no claim on God’s Children.

It is not enough to accept God’s righteousness for ourselves, but we must always proclaim freedom and always reject legalism in our church.

Sons and Heirs

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Galatians 3:26-29, 4:1-7

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 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 neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

SONS OF GOD

John 1:12 – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (authority) to become children of God, to those who believe on His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Romans 8:15-17 – For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

Galatians 4:7 – Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

  • Sons through Faith

You are a prized possession of God through your faith in Christ.  You are SPECIAL – SOMEBODY IMPORTANT – BLESSED.   WHY?   You were purchased though His blood.  You as His child are “BORN FREE”.

  • Belief in Christ Jesus

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

  • Belief on His Name

Romans 10:13 – For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. 

  • Belief in the Power of His shed Blood

Romans 10:9 – that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Ephesians 1:7-8 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. 

  • No one is treated differently

Romans 10:12 – For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

Acts 10:36 – …The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all.

Ephesians 6:9 – …And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

  • Race – Jew or Greek
  • Status – Slave or Free
  • Gender – Male or Female
  • You are one in Christ Jesus

Romans 12:4-5 – For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Colossians 3:11 – …there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

  • One in Belief

Ephesians 4:4-6  – There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one  God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.   

We are all equal at the foot of the cross.  We have all received forgiveness in the same way.  We are all part of the same family.                        

  • One in Acceptance

Romans 5:2 – through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

  • One in Adoption

Romans 8:15 – For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’.

HEIRS OF PROMISE

Romans 8:17 – and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…

  • Christ’s through Faith. 

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

  • Abraham’s Seed.

Galatians 3:17 – Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.

The Law and Faith

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Galatians 2:11-21

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which 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 set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

CONFRONTATION BETWEEN PAUL AND PETER

  • Peter was hypocritical
  • Followed pressure of the crowd
  • Showed prejudice

JUSTIFICATION – FAITH VS. WORKS

  • Not by the Law

Romans 3:23 –   For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

James 2:10 – For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

  • By faith in Jesus Christ

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

RIGHTEOUSNESS – FAITH VS. WORKS

Question:  By teaching us to trust in faith alone for our salvation, is Christ making us sinners, encouraging us to disregard sin in our lives?

  • A man who tries to keep the Law makes himself a sinner when he breaks it.
  • A man who trusts in God for his salvation will then follow Christ – because of love and gratitude.  Love is a greater force than fear or duty.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 –  For the love of Christ compels us,  because we judge thus:  that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.   

I John 3:16 – Hereby we see the love of God, because he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

HOW ARE WE JUSTIFIED?

  • By dying to the Law – to any effort on our part or any dependence on our own goodness.
  • By being crucified with Christ – by identifying with Christ in death to our own self – our good and our bad.
  • By allowing Christ’s divine nature to live in us. 

John 15:4-5 – Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.    

Ephesians 3:17-19   that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height–to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

Christ Has Set Us Free

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Colossians 2:13-15

And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross. [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross]. Amplified Bible

THE CONDITION OF MAN – SIN AND DEATH

  • Man’s concept of sin is different than God’s as stated in the Bible.  Man does not see sin as a violation of God’s will.  This simply shows how weak man and his ideas and thinking are in comparison to God.  Man looks at sin and calls it
  • Human error
  • Personal slip
  • Moral flaw
  • Physical failure
  • Character defect
  • Shortcoming
  • Immaturity
  • Unpreventable
  • Misunderstanding
  • Mistake
  • Irresponsibility
  • Semantics
  • Labeling sin something other than it is – sin – does not change it in God’s eyes, nor does it change the penalty for sin.  We may blame sin or whatever we choose to call it – the result of our environment, training, heritage, and/or belief or a combination of these.  Whatever we call sin or what ever we blame it on does not really matter.  In God’s eyes sin is sin.  Sin is a violation of God’s law or will.  Sin is also rebellion and insurrection against Him and the way He has told mankind to live. 

SAY NO TO SIN AND YES TO GOD!!

  • Man’s view of death, the penalty for sin, also varies according to a person’s background and beliefs.  Some of the views of death that man has come up with are
  • Ceasing to exist
  • Passing into oblivion
  • A semi-conscious state
  • A deep sleep
  • Reincarnation into another form of life
  • Moving into another dimension
  • Most of men’s ideas about death involve either denial of a life hereafter or else another chance to work oneself into the favor of God.  All of man’s ideas and concepts of sin and death are based on man’s knowledge, man’s ability, man’s energy, and man’s power to somehow make himself acceptable to God.  If mankind could make himself acceptable to God, then Christ died in vain.  But He did die and we cannot make ourselves acceptable.
  • If there was something I could do on my own, there was no reason for Christ to go to the cross.  But He did go to the cross and we cannot atone for our sins.
  • There would have been no need for the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ to give of Himself on the cross for our sins.  But He did!
  • There would have been no need for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to give of His blood for the redemption of fallen man.  But He did!
  • There would have been no need for our precious Lord, our Healer to take upon Himself stripes on His back for our healing.  But He did!
  • There would have been no need for our provider, Jesus Christ the Righteous, to cry out to the Father in heaven asking pardon for you and I.  But He did!
  • There would have been no need for our Savior, Jesus Christ, to suffer pain and torment at the hands of wicked men so that we might have everlasting freedom.  But He did!
  • We cannot help ourselves so Christ gave Himself on the cross.

THE CONDITION OF MAN BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS

  • Man has a chance for new life because of the cross.
  • Man has a chance for new life because of Christ’s sacrifice.
  • Man has a chance if he will repent of his sins and change his way of living.
  • Man has a chance if he will surrender to God.
  • Man has a chance if he will throw himself on the mercy of God.
  • Man has a chance if he will submit to God.
  • Because of the cross I
  • Have new life
  • Hope eternal
  • Forgiveness
  • I am free

John 5:24 – Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 

Ephesians 2:1-8 – And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once con-ducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Isaiah 53:6 – All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Romans 6:23 – The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.

Romans 8:6 – To be carnally (fleshly) (worldly) minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

CHRIST IS OUR HOPE

  • All requirements of the Law were fulfilled in Jesus Christ
  • 613 laws of Moses
  • 248 prohibitions – “Thou shall not”
  • 365 affirmations – “Thou shall”
  • There is no need for us to go back to the Law of Moses and try to follow all those requirements, holidays, holy days, dietary laws, purification laws, sacrificing laws.  The Pharisees tried to keep the Law.  They could not!  The Law pointed toward Jesus Christ and since He has appeared these laws are no longer needed.  It is just like you receive a gift at Christmas or a birthday or for some other day or occasion.   After the gift is opened and you have taken it for yourself and begin to enjoy it, you no longer keep the package or the wrapping paper that it came in.  That is not the important part of the gift.  The gift came in the package.  The gift was not the package.  Christ is now here.  He was and is God’s gift to fallen man.  He is our Hope; our only Hope. 
  • All the guilt charges, all the condemnation, all the crimes heaped against you and I, and all mankind from the beginning of creation were nailed to the cross.  He was saying my blood is enough to do away with them all.  The sacrificial lambs all pointed toward this day but they could only cover the sin.  I’m cleansing it; I’m washing it away for all time.  Just receive it.  It is finished.  He conquered it all…He made a public display of the fact that your sins and mine were nailed to the cross, triumphing over all principalities, powers, evil forces, demonic foes that might come against you.  Christ conquered all that.  So why do we feel defeated?   There is no need.  You are set free in Jesus Christ.  Just receive it.  Just believe it. 

Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:37 – I am more than a conqueror through Him (Christ Jesus) who loved us (me). 

John 12:31-32 – Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

Hebrews 3:14-15 – “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” 

1 John 3:8b – For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world (me, you, all mankind), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (me, you, all mankind that will receive) believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.