Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Galatians chapter 3 as we look at what belonging to Jesus does in our life – how it has set us free from the bondage that the Law places on us. As you are turning there, listen to what John Stott has to say regarding these verses we will be looking at this morning in Galatians. We are told:
“We are neither prisoners, awaiting the final execution of our sentence, nor children, minors, under the restraint of a tutor, but sons of God and heirs of His glorious kingdom, enjoying the status and privileges of grown-up sons.”
If we are Christ’s, then . . .
John Stott goes on to say, “This is a three-dimensional attachment which we gain when we are in Christ – in height, breadth and length.”
Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia is a hard-hitting letter rebuking them and the Judaizers who would come in after Paul taught a salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ and they would add the Law to it. You had to keep the Law of Moses; you had to be circumcised to be saved along with believing in Jesus. By Galatians chapter 3 Paul is on a roll and he lets them have it by saying, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Galatians 3:1-3.
Because of laziness, because of carelessness they did not use the spiritual discernment that God had given to them and these Judaizers deceived them! They listened to these smooth-talkers with their fancy words and they let their feelings guide them instead of the facts, they let their emotions drive them instead of the truth of God’s Word. But Law and Grace don’t mix, that is the problem and yet that is what they were trying to do. William Hendriksen put it this way, “A supplemented Christ is a supplanted Christ.” Right on!
Thus, Paul opens up this chapter and shows them that their salvation was a free gift of God, not of works. Abraham was justified by faith and not by works. How the Law has us under a curse but Christ has set us free from that curse. That even though the promise given to Abraham came long before the Law was given, the Law does not void or negate the Abrahamic covenant for God cannot go back on His Word, His promise! In fact, Paul tells us the Law was given to us to drive us to Christ, it can’t save us but it just shows us that we are sinners separated from God and thus, we are driven to Jesus for our salvation by Grace through Faith!
John Stott summarizes Galatians chapter 3 for us like this, “We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledge our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.”
Now, starting in verse 26 of Galatians chapter 3, Paul is going to show us what belonging to Jesus does in our life – how it has set us free from the bondage that the Law had us in and in that freedom, we have many blessings. So with that said, lets begin reading in Galatians chapter 3, starting in verse 26, and see what the Lord has for us this morning.
What we are going to do this morning is build upon those three statements that we opened up with this morning because we are going to see; the issue is not “Are we under the Law?” The issue is not “Are you a Jew or Gentile?” The issue is not “Are you a slave or free man?” The issue is not “Are you a man or a woman?” The issue is only, “If you are Christ’s!” Because, if we are, then:
So with that said, let’s look at these three areas and see what we can learn that will help us with our walk with the Lord.
1.
WE FIND OUR PLACE IN ETERNITY – GALATIANS 3:26-27
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IN ITS HEIGHT, IT CONNECTS US WITH GOD
Please understand that not every person born is a child of God. In fact, when we are born none of us are children of God. Paul tells in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And in Ephesians 2:2-3, Paul tells us, “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 conducted 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.” And Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees, the religious people, tells them in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” You see, outside of Christ we are sinners, we are children of wrath, we are sons of the Devil and not of God!
After World War I, because many Arab tribes trusted him, the famous British scholar and soldier, Lawrence of Arabia participated in the Paris peace talks. Several Arab leaders came with him to Paris and stayed in the same hotel.
When these Arab leaders went into their bathrooms they were amazed that when they turned on the faucets to the bathtub and the sink that a seemingly unlimited amount of water would come out! As the talks finished and they prepared to leave Paris, they removed the faucets and packed them in their suitcases thinking that the faucets themselves magically created the vast amounts of water.
As they explained to Lawrence what they had done, he then explained to them that the faucets were useless unless they were connected to the pipes and the pipes were connected to a source of water!
How true that is in our relationship with God. If you are not connected to the Son – to Jesus, then you are not connected to the Father! Jesus said in John 14:6, “ . . . ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” You are not a son of God if you have rejected Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you are still lost in your trespasses and sins, a child of wrath, a son of the Devil! Jesus put it this way in John 8:24, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am [He,] you will die in your sins.” If you do not believe that Jesus is God, then you will die in your sins, you will not see the Father!
Folks, it is as simple as this, faith in Jesus Christ, not works, brings a believer into son-ship with God the Father, there is no other way nor has there ever been another way for man to enter in. John tells us in his Gospel, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12-13.
As soon as you come to God, through Jesus Christ, God sends us His Spirit to assure our hearts that we are children of God! Paul said in Galatians 4:6, “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” In Romans 8:16 Paul tells us, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Thus, Grace through Faith in Jesus saves us and because of that we can have an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father, crying out “Daddy!” or “Papa!” because the Holy Spirit shows us we have that kind of relationship with God and we can boldly come before Him and bring our requests to Him for He loves us, He cares for us, we are His children!
We also are clothed in Christ, have put on Christ, it is His nature that the Holy Spirit is molding and shaping our lives into. Paul, in Galatians 2:20 told us, “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.” We are clothed in Christ!
And here is the thing as I sum up this section on our place in eternity in Christ. We identify with Jesus by faith. Thus, if He is a Son of God, so are we. We are not God, like Jesus, but we are sons of God, joint heirs with Christ. If He stands righteous before God the Father, so do we because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed into our lives, it is not our righteousness, which is like filthy rags. If He has free access to the things of God, so do we through the power of the Holy Spirit. If He has victory over spiritual powers of darkness, so do we. We are not associated with Jesus, we are in Jesus and thus, in its height it connects us to God in Christ – we have a place in eternity!
2.
WE FIND OUR PLACE IN SOCIETY – GALATIANS 3:28
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IN ITS BREADTH, IT CONNECTS US WITH EACH OTHER IN JESUS
Back then, like today, walls of separation between people, races, social statues, genders, existed and Paul is saying that in Christ there is no such thing because we are all one in Christ! It is as Morris tells us, “He is not writing about a unity that comes about as a result of human achievement. He is saying that when people are saved by Jesus Christ they are brought into a marvelous unity, a unity between the saved and the Saviour and a unity that binds together all the saved.”
Several years ago I had a couple that were very upset with me because of a worship song we sang and played here at the church. The name of the song was, “Let The Walls Fall Down” and we still sing it from time-to-time today. They reason they were so upset with it was because they saw it as an ecumenical song that was uniting Christians with religious people, from all walks of life! Folks, be careful you don’t start putting up those walls of division, a brick at a time, because Christ tore them down! That song has nothing to do with the ecumenical movement but everything to do with Scripture and what God has said. Do you see how easy it is to be so religious that you go against God’s Word? The Scribes and the Pharisees were masters of that!
You see, Paul said in Ephesians 2:13-22, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
Folks, this is an important issue, unity in the body of Christ, so much so that the night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to the Father, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:20-23.
Jesus prayed for unity within the body of Christ, not division, not quarrels, not fighting, but unity. Think about it, the church is under attack and instead of fighting against the enemy we are fighting against each other and have negated the prayer of Jesus for us! If you struggle with this issue, then apply this to your life and the walls of division will come down, let those walls come down! Here it is: In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity!
I like the way the Charles Swindoll put it. He said in his book, Hope Again: “Union has an affiliation with others but no common bond that makes them one in heart. Uniformity has everyone looking and thinking alike. Unanimity is complete agreement across the board. Unity, however, refers to the oneness of heart, a similarity in purpose, and an agreement on major points of doctrine.” How true that is and may we apply it to our life, in all that we do!
The Psalmist said it this way in Psalm 133, and this is from The Amplified Bible, “BEHOLD, HOW good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment poured on the head, that ran down on the beard, even the beard of Aaron [the first high priest], that came down upon the collar and skirts of his garments [consecrating the whole body]. [Ex 30:25,30.] It is like the dew of [lofty] Mount Hermon and the dew that comes on the hills of Zion; for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life forevermore [upon the high and the lowly].” Psalm 133:1-3. Thus, in its breadth, it connects us with each other in Jesus – we find our place in society because we are brothers and sisters in the family of God!
3.
WE FIND OUR PLACE IN HISTORY – GALATIANS 3:29
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IN ITS LENGTH IT CONNECTS US WITH THE LONG LINE OF GOD’S
PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE AGES
Some today feel that people in the Old Testament were saved by their sacrifices they made, the work that they did and as we move into the New Testament we are saved by Grace through faith. Two different systems of salvation for two different time periods!
I totally disagree with that, which means nothing except that God’s Word disagrees with that, which is what really counts. Listen carefully to what Paul has to say in Romans chapter 4, starting in verse 1, and we need to read through this all to get the idea of what Paul is saying here. We are told, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.’ . . .
. . . Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb . . .
. . . He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:1-25.
Folks, Abraham was saved by Grace through Faith as he looked forward to the coming Messiah and we are saved by Grace through Faith as we look back on the finished work of the Messiah, Jesus! Thus, we are adopted into the family of God; we are seeds of Abraham by faith! You see, if we are of Christ then we are not of Moses or the Law but of Abraham and the promise of faith!
Some of you may be interested in finding out your family history, looking up your family tree; others of you have no desire. Today it is much easier with the Internet; there are places you can go to help assist you in this endeavor to find your roots! Now in saying that, have you ever looked up your spiritual family tree? What do I mean by that? Simply, look at the men and women of faith that are in the Bible and learn from them because we are related to them by faith. Read the Word of God and learn from them lessons of faith.
In Hebrews chapter 12, after Paul spoke of the great men and women of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, tells us, and this is from The Amplified Bible, “THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. [Ps 110:1.] Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.” Hebrews 12:1-3. Look at the example they left for us, know your history, your family tree you might say!
Also, look at the men and women of faith since the Bible was completed up to today and learn from them. Read some biographies of the great men and women of faith. Folks, they have left us a great witness, a great example for us to follow, what are we leaving behind for the next generation to read about, to learn from, what kind of witness are we to them? Thus, in its length, it connects us with the long line of God’s people throughout the ages!
And so in Christ we have seen that it is a three-dimensional attachment. We have seen that in its height it connects us with God. We have seen that in its breadth, it connects us with each other. And in its length it connects us with the long line of God’s people throughout the ages!
As I close this morning, let me leave you with these thoughts to think about from John Stott regarding what being in Christ enables us to do. He said:
“It enables me to answer the most basic of all human questions, ‘Who am I?’ and to say, ‘In Christ I am a son of God. In Christ I am united to all the redeemed people of God, past, present and future. In Christ I discover my identity. In Christ I find my feet. In Christ I come home.”
What a glorious thing we have in Christ, our place in eternity as we are connected to God. In Christ we have our place in society as we are connected to others, our brothers and sisters in the Lord, through Jesus. And in Christ we have our place in history as we have a long line of men and women of faith for our examples, our witnesses to encourage us on by! It is as Paul said in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Amen to that!