Galatians 3 v1-14

The church in Galatia have got a particular problem.

! They'd become Christians through the Apostle Paul.

! They'd heard the message.

They'd received it by faith.

They believed with great joy.

Persecution came.

There was pressures.

There were struggles.

There was persecution.

But the church in Galatia stood.

They were brave in the face of conflict.

The question for them was now what?

They didn't instantly become perfect.

They still, as a church, had difficulties.

Like you and I have difficulties.

They struggled with envy.

And with anger.

And with idolatry.

They struggled with lust.

They struggled with immorality and arrogance.

And greed.

And their very practical question was this.

How do I go on in the Christian life?

How do I get more love?

How do I get more forgiveness?

How do I grow in self-control?

How do I go ahead in the Christian life?

And for those of us who've trusted in the Lord Jesus, it's a question for all of us, isn't it?

It's a question which we all struggle with.

And of course, for the Galatians, it was even more difficult because a group of Christian teachers, or so-called Christian teachers, had come from headquarters in Jerusalem.

And they were bringing the latest cutting-edge growth tool.

They were very impressive.

And they were very sincere.

And they were very nice.

And their simple answer was this.

That the way to go forward as a Christian is you go back to the law.

That was their message.

And the way to go forward was to go back.

The way to go forward as a Christian was to go back to the law.

And so what God said to Moses, they said to the church in Galatia, what God said to Moses is a beautiful religious frame for your life.

And it will help you if you go back to the law of Moses.

It will control what you eat.

And what you wear.

And what day you do things.

And it will give you all sorts of religious observance.

That's the way to go forward, to go back.

And to the Galatians, as well as to us Presbyterians, that is very attractive.

To be told what to do and when to do it and how to do it.

To be told exactly what you need.

And this is what you need.

Let me give it to you.

And it's very, very attractive.

We've called it before, haven't we?

Bop it, Christianity.

You know that game, Bop it?

You've seen the game, Bop it?

And so you press the game on it and it shouts at you, doesn't it?

It says pull it, twist it, push it.

And we love that.

Churches love that.

You love it on a Sunday morning when I get up and give you a bit of a kick in and tell you what to do.

That's what churches love.

But it's a massive problem in the Christian faith.

Because it's the opposite of the way that we ought to think.

The way we advance in the Christian life, according to the Apostle, is exactly the same way that we entered the Christian life at the beginning.

The way that we advance in the Christian life is exactly the same way as we entered into the Christian life.

They're not two different things.

We enter the same way that we grow.

And so we begin the Christian life by faith.

By forsaking all, I take him.

By resting and relying on Jesus Christ alone.

That's how we begin the Christian life, by faith.

We live the Christian life by faith.

And we end the Christian life by faith.

Let me remind you of what Paul said in the passage we looked at last time.

Look at chapter 3 and verse 1.

O foolish Galatians, who's bewitched you?

Who's cast a spell on you?

Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

And so let me ask you only this.

Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law?

Or by hearing with faith?

Verse 5.

Does he now...

Verse 5.

Does he...

We're in the present tense right now.

We're in the present tense.

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or hearing with faith?

You see, it is infuriatingly humbling to our pride.

And I think it only gets worse as I get older as a Christian.

It feels like, doesn't it, there must be something that I have to do.

There must be something that I have to do.

If I know God utterly accepts me in the death of Jesus Christ.

But surely, surely I must make some contribution.

Surely I don't just grow by mere faith.

And I think most of us think that we become Christians by faith.

And that we grow by hard work and effort.

And in these verses 6 to 14, the Apostle wants us to see this amazing, remarkable thing.

That at the heart of the daily, hourly, minute by minute, practical life of the Christian is living by faith.

And what he does is he opens up a chasm in this chapter.

And he says there are two ways to live.

And both of them look very religious from the outside.

In fact, sometimes when you look at them from the outside, they look very similar.

One is living by faith.

And the other is living by law or works of the law.

So let me just show you the two contrasts quickly.

In verse 7, it literally says, so you see that it is those who are of faith.

It is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

And then verse 9.

It is those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham.

And then verse 10.

The contrast is there for the second half of the passage.

All who rely on works of the law.

Well, literally, all who are works of the law are under a curse.

So that's what I want to do this morning.

It's very simple.

Two ways to live.

What does it mean to live the life of faith, firstly?

To live in faith.

To live a life based on faith.

To live a life out of faith.

And in verse 6 to 9, the apostle uses the illustration of Abraham.

It's a brilliant illustration.

Because you remember the teachers from Galatia were saying,

listen, you've got to go backwards to go forwards.

You've got to go back to Judaism.

You've got to go back to the law.

And Paul says, okay, let's go back and see how they lived out the Christian life.

Let's go back to Abraham, the father of the faith.

Because right from the beginning to the end of Abraham's life,

the big issue is not whether Abraham was a decent bloke,

but the promise of God.

It was whether Abraham believed.

Verse 6.

Thus, just as Abraham believed God.

Abraham believed God.

And it was counted to him as righteousness.

Notice, it doesn't say there that Abraham believed in God.

He doesn't believe in God.

It's not just I'm ticking a box on a census.

They're ticking a box on the creed.

It says, Abraham believed God.

That means he believed the words that God said to him.

And the promise of God came to him.

And it came to Abraham and said,

salvation is not going to come from you, Abraham.

It is going to come from my intervention in your life.

And Abraham believed God's word.

And it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

And it's an accounting word.

It's a money word.

God takes the funds from one account.

And he reckons them into another's account.

So that what was not Abraham's is now Abraham's.

And he reckons it to him as righteousness.

Abraham did not become righteousness in himself.

But through faith in the promise of God,

it was reckoned to him.

It was credited to him.

It was put to his account.

It was transferred to him.

God treats him as righteous.

It's exactly the same for us.

We are not righteous in our souls.

In our heart of hearts,

righteousness is not a quality that lives in us.

It is a gift from God.

It is external to us.

But we enjoy it by faith.

It's the mark of the true Christian.

The real Christian this morning,

who's living in faith,

looks into his own heart.

And what does the true Christian see

when they look into their heart?

They see poverty.

They see a mess.

They see their sinfulness.

And they cry out in mercy.

And they look out to the Lord Jesus

and his death for righteousness.

They don't look into their own life.

And I know that is absolutely contradictory

to all the self-help books

published in the last 30 years

and nearly every Instagrammer

who's influencing people.

The self-help gurus.

But I want you to see something

of the power of this.

Paul quotes the Old Testament

a number of times in this passage.

And I want to just look at one of them with you.

That quote in verse 6

comes from Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

So put your hand in Galatians 3

and come back with me to Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

Come back with me.

Write to the first book of the Bible

and Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

And look at this promise.

Chapter 15 and verse 1.

After these things,

the word of the Lord came to Abraham

in a vision

saying,

Fear not.

Fear not, Abraham.

I am your shield

and your very great reward.

Your shield

and your reward

shall be very great.

It's a beautiful promise, isn't it?

And then look at verse 6.

It says,

Abraham believed the Lord

and he counted it to him.

He reckoned it to him

as righteousness.

Now here's the question.

When did the story of Abraham begin?

Well,

for you Bible nerds,

Bible scholars,

it began in chapter 12,

didn't it?

And by chapter 15,

a lot of water has gone under the bridge

and a lot of murky water.

At the end of chapter 12,

Abraham goes down to Egypt

and his wife is so beautiful.

His wife is so stunning

that Abraham is frightened

that the king will kill him

to get his wife.

And so he concocts a plan

with his wife Sarah

and he says,

I'm going to call you my sister.

It's a strange, strange episode.

The king marries Abraham's wife.

It's an interesting story.

I'm not going to preach it to you today.

But it is a wrong thing.

It is a very wobbly thing

for Abraham to do.

Read through the Abraham narrative

and again and again,

you see how Abraham is a letdown.

How he wobbles.

But here we are in chapter 15

and here's the point.

Chapter 15 is in the middle

of Abraham's life of faith.

He's been a believer for a long time.

He's not beginning.

He's been beginning his life of faith.

That's the point.

That's why the apostle uses this verse.

Paul goes back to Genesis chapter 15

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

not to show how Abraham started off in faith

but to show, chapter 15,

how Abraham continued in faith.

So go back to Galatians chapter 3 and verse 9

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

and Paul says this.

So then, those who are of faith

are blessed along with Abraham,

the man of faith,

those who are of faith

are blessed along with Abraham

who had faith.

It is continuous.

It is ongoing.

And so again and again,

I want to say to you

that the way we come into the kingdom

is by simple faith.

Most of us think that the way

that we go on in the kingdom

is by trying harder.

So test yourself with me.

Have you ever said to yourself,

I've been a Christian for such and such a time,

10 years, say?

I've been a Christian for 10 years

and I really ought to not be so angry.

I ought to be more forgiving.

I ought to try harder.

I ought to not think those things.

I ought to get my act together.

What the apostle is saying here

is that if you're having trouble

with self-control

and that if this morning

you can't control your sexual appetites

or if this morning

you find it impossible

to forgive yourself

or to forgive others,

the only way to advance

through that issue

is exactly the same way

that you came to Christ

in the first place.

And that is by having

Jesus Christ

and him crucified

publicly portrayed

before your eyes.

And it is to see him

and as we see him

that the Holy Spirit

works in our hearts

and gives us faith.

The way that we receive

the Holy Spirit,

do you remember,

is by hearing,

the hearing of faith.

We've already seen that

in chapter 3

and so what we do

is we go back

and we go back

and we go back

and we go back

again and again and again

to the death of Jesus Christ

on the cross.

And that is how we advance

and that is how we grow.

It is through believing the gospel.

And I want to just point out

one stunning verse

in verse 8.

I want to leave it with you

as a little bit of homework.

Can you see verse 8?

It's a puzzling verse.

It says this,

the scriptures,

the scripture foreseeing

that God would justify

the Gentiles by faith

preached the gospel

beforehand to Abraham

saying,

in you

shall all the nations

be blessed.

So here's my homework

for you.

How on earth

can Paul say

that scripture

preached the gospel

to Abraham

when scripture

wasn't written

at that point?

And I'm not sure.

So you can bring me

your answers

in the next week.

But I think it means this.

It means that

whenever we sit down

and we open

the word of God,

there is as much

revealing power

as when God spoke

to Abraham from heaven.

because every time

we open God's word,

God preaches

the gospel.

Every time

we read

the Bible,

if we're reading

Nehemiah

or we're reading

the book of Judges

or we're reading

the Psalms,

God is preaching

Jesus Christ

to us

and him crucified.

That is the life

of faith.

Let's turn secondly,

let's look briefly

at the opposite.

What does the life

of law look like?

Look at verse 10.

For all who rely

on works

of the law

are under a curse.

For it is written,

cursed be everyone

who does not abide

by all things

written in the book

of the law

and do them.

And the problem

for many of us

who grew up

in the West

is when we hear

the word curse,

if you're of a certain age,

you think of Harry Potter.

And for those of us

who are a little bit older,

when we hear the word curse,

we think of kind of mummies,

the curse of the mummies

or something from Scooby-Doo.

But when the Bible

uses the word curse,

it is using the word

to speak about

a spiritual condition.

And the life

of blessing

is the life

promised by God.

But when we live

out of the works

of the law,

not out of faith,

we turn from blessing

to curse.

Now,

some understand me here,

there is nothing wrong

with the law of God.

And the law of God

is good

and it is upright

and it is wholesome.

We should take delight

in the law of the Lord.

The law of the Lord

was given to shape

the people of God.

Do you remember?

I am the Lord,

your God,

who brought you

out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

It is given to the people

of God

to shape them.

It is given

to them

to give them boundaries

on to know

how to love God.

the law

is not opposed

to faith.

And if you have

true Christian faith,

it will show itself

in the works

of the law.

And so the issue,

don't misunderstand the issue,

the issue is not

whether we're trying

to keep the law.

The issue is this,

whether we're relying

on the works

of the law.

You see,

the law

will justify

every person,

verse 10 says,

who keeps

every single part

of it.

The problem is,

we don't

and we can't.

Unless we keep

all of it

with all our hearts

all the time,

we are under

the curse of God.

And that is why

you see,

to rely on the law

is completely

frustrating

and futile.

It is futile

to live one's life

based on one's

works of the law.

Of course,

we seek to obey it

and we seek

to keep it.

Again,

that's not the issue.

The issue

is whether I live

on the works

of the law,

resting on it,

relying on it.

The issue

is not law-breaking

or law-keeping

but law-relying.

It's one thing

to live a good life,

I hope we all are,

but it's another thing

to put our hope

in that life

or to imagine

that you stand

before God

on the basis

of that life

or imagine

that you stand

and look at the world

in kind of

a way that you're

above them

because of that life.

And I think

every single one of us

is tempted

to do that

even when we know

the love of the Lord Jesus.

We're always tempted,

we are constantly tempted

to rely on the works

of the law.

And the Apostle Paul

says it's a contradiction.

You cannot do it.

And our life

is either relying

on faith

or relying

on works

of the law.

And if we trust

our works

and if we trust

our growth

and if we trust

in anything

we do

for our salvation,

we are under

God's curse.

And that is again,

isn't it,

why we have to go back

again and again

and again

to Jesus Christ

and him crucified.

And I just want to show you

as we finish

in verses 13 and 14

that is exactly

what the Apostle Paul does.

It's a beautiful illustration

of verse 1,

verse 13 and 14.

He holds up Jesus Christ

and him crucified

before us

so that our hearts

would be ravished,

so that our faith

would be attracted

and attached to him

and not to ourselves.

Verse 13.

It says,

Christ redeemed us

from the curse

of the law

having become

a curse

for us.

For it is written,

cursed be

everyone

who hangs

in a tree

that in Christ Jesus

the blessing

of Abraham

might come

upon the Gentiles

that we might receive

the promise

of the Holy Spirit

through faith.

Verse 13,

he quotes Deuteronomy,

doesn't he?

He says,

cursed is everyone

who hangs on a tree.

It's speaking of somebody

who's been executed

for blasphemy

and then their bodies

hang on a tree

as a sign

that the person

who died

is under the curse

of God.

And when God

said those words

in Deuteronomy 21,

he had one person

in mind.

It was his only

begotten son.

And what Paul says here

is,

it's not merely

that Jesus was punished

for us.

It's not that Jesus

was treated

as sinful

instead of us.

No,

Paul says

he became

a curse

for us

so that we

might become

a blessing.

And that is so

important for our

day-to-day living

this week.

It's not just

that when we

come to Christ,

he wipes

our slate clean

and we're forgiven.

Wonderful though

that is.

But the gospel

is much,

much bigger

than that.

It is that

God transfers

the righteousness

of Jesus Christ

to us.

And so

we are regarded

by God

this morning

as those

who are in

Christ

as beautiful,

delightful,

righteous.

It is not

just that

God takes

away

our sin

and puts it

onto the Lord

Jesus

and then says,

you've got another

second chance

this week,

go for it again,

try your best.

get a better

record

and we come

back,

failure,

failure

and we have

to get the

slate clean

and again

and again

and again

we go through

this process.

That's not

what the Christian

life is like.

Living that way,

what does it do?

It puts enormous

pressure on us

to live lives

based on the

works of the Lord.

No,

no,

no.

The Apostle Paul

in 2 Corinthians 5

said,

didn't he,

that he,

the Lord Jesus,

became sin

for us

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness

of God

and our righteousness

does not come

from our works.

It comes,

doesn't it,

from this glorious

swap,

this glorious

exchange

in the death

of Jesus Christ

and that is why

the death

of the Lord Jesus

is so,

so important

for us

because it is

in the death

of the Lord Jesus

that God

makes him

accursed,

that God

makes him

sin

and that God

makes us

righteous,

all the righteousness

of God.

And that's why

it's so important.

So in this word,

in this passage,

Paul gives us

three finance words.

Three finance words.

This week was the budget,

isn't it?

I can never understand

the budget,

but I complain about it.

And one of the worst

moments in church life

is when

the treasurer

or the finance people

in church

bring the

spreadsheet.

I couldn't even

remember the word.

They bring the spreadsheet

and I sit with the elders

and I chair the discussion

on finance

and I can't understand

the spreadsheet.

And so I gauge

what the room is doing

and nod along

with the majority.

Income and outcome,

but here

there's a spreadsheet

that you can understand.

So three spreadsheet words.

The first word

is the word

counted.

It's pretty easy

to understand,

isn't it?

Counting something.

So verse 6,

reckoned.

He reckons,

he counts us

as righteous.

It's really easy,

the transferring

of funds

from one account

to the other.

And so he transfers

into our account

the righteousness

of Jesus Christ.

That's the first

finance word.

Counted.

Second finance word

is in verse 8

and verse 11.

It's the word

justify.

So the accountants

know what that word

means.

To justify the accounts.

The word means

it's all placed

to our credit.

The righteousness

of Christ

is placed

to our credit.

the account.

The account

now has

our name on it.

And then even

more wonderfully,

verse 13,

Christ

redeemed us

from the curse

of the law.

That's the third word.

It's an ordinary

common garden word

for going out

of the house,

taking your money

with you to shop,

and buying something

and bringing it home.

And Paul is saying

that God

paid this price

for us.

Christ

redeemed us

by giving,

by making

himself

a curse

and freely

offering us

his righteousness.

And that's why

to be of

the works

of the law

is a total

contradiction

to being of faith.

We receive

the righteousness

and the blessing

of God

not by works

but by faith.

Not just once

but every day

and every hour

of every day.

And this is the heart

of the Christian faith,

brothers and sisters.

It is substitution.

And we try

to substitute

ourselves

for God

and God's response

in his mercy

and in his love

is to substitute

himself for us

and to take

our curse.

And that is why

in the death

of Jesus Christ

we have resources

we've never

begun to realise yet.

It is not just

an entry

into eternal life.

It is not just

a slate

wipe clean.

It means that

God gives us

all the righteousness

of Jesus

and he regards us

as beautiful.

And it's not about

beginning the Christian life.

This life of faith,

faith in what God

has done

begins the life,

continues the life

and it is faith

that will bring us

to the point of completion

in the Christian life.

And so our exercise

today

and every day

is to place

our faith

in Jesus Christ.

In the Son of God

who loved me

and gave himself

for me.

To hear the words

of the gospel

which God is preaching

to us even now

and to accept them

by faith

that Jesus Christ

was made

and he became

a curse for us

that we might become

his righteousness.

Amen,

Amen,

and Amen.

Let's pray.