Sermon notes: Galatians Series, Number 16...

Now at this point many are tempted to think that the Apostle Paul is here talking about a sort of Eastern mysticism whereby we decrease and God increases; that as we lay down our lives, our wills, our personalities, our actions, God is pleased to fill us with Himself and to live through us His life, His will, His personality, and His actions. And to some degree this is true. As believers, we do die to ourselves and are made alive to Jesus Christ.

But that aliveness is not one that leads us away from our will, personality, and actions; instead it changes our will, personality, and actions so that, instead of sin being our master, God is the One who controls us. Yet His control is not away from life into the mist and ozone of self-negation, but towards life, true life, in which everything is clear; we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, and He makes all things new; we are zealous for good works knowing that it is those good works to which we have been saved.

NOTE: This is number 16 in a series on Galatians. If this is your first time reading sermon notes here, please take time to read a helpful explanation at the bottom of this post...

From the Pulpit of Church of the Good Shepherd
April 25, 2004; AM
Galatians Series No. 16

By Faith in the Son of God
Sermon Text: Galatians 2:20, 21

This Lord’s Day, we turn to our sixteenth in a series of sermons on the New Testament book of Galatians...

*Galatians 2:19-21 This is the Word of God, eternally true.

For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.

The Apostle Paul is still speaking somewhat autobiographically, saying “I this” and “I that,” because he is at the heart of this conflict. The Apostle Paul was the one who confronted Peter over his hypocritical behavior toward the Gentiles, shunning them after the Jews from Jerusalem showed up. And although he has such impeccable Jewish credentials that, more than anyone, he ought to be able to lean on his circumcision and law-keeping for eternal life, he is the one writing this letter denying that any man or woman can be saved by the Law.

The Apostle Paul begins this section by writing, verse 19, that “through the law (he) died to the law.”

What does he mean here—it sounds like a riddle.

Well, if it’s a riddle, it’s a riddle that is easily understood by every person who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

When the Apostle Paul did his utmost to be saved through the law, through his own righteousness as he strove to keep the law, he was led to despair of his own efforts and ability. He came to see that, like every other man and woman who had ever lived, he fell short of the glory of God and therefore was under God’s righteous condemnation.

It was the ministry of the law in his life to lead him to death—the death of hopelessness and abject failure. Even when he, Paul, believed he was most righteous, carrying out the persecution of the new Chrstian church, at that exact time he found out, on the road to Damascus, that he was then not fulfilling all righteousness, but persecuting the Lord Jesus Christ.

Wasn’t this what Jesus said to him when he appeard to him on the road to Damascus?

Acts 9:3-5 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,”

Like every Jew and God-fearer of his own time, as well as those who had lived in all the generations past, Paul saw the hopelessness of living in perfect conformity to the law, so he was led by that law to despair of his own goodness and to look forward to the One Who would come and fulfill all righteousness so that all those who believed in Him might be saved—but not based on their own works and righteousness, but based on the works and righteousness of Jesus Christ.

This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, in the first half of verse 19:

19 For through the Law I died to the Law…

My efforts to keep the law lead to my despairing of ever being able to earn salvation in this way. And so, having worked to keep the law, I died to the law.

But he wasn’t left dead; rather, he “died to the Law, so that (he) might live to God.”

Then, opening up this statement of verse 19, “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God,” the Apostle Paul puts it another way:

Verse 20: I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

Both verses 19 and 20 say something very similar, but in a slightly different way:

v. 19: “Through the law I died to the law” = v. 20: “I have been crucified with Christ.”

v. 19: “…so that I might live to God” = v. 20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

Looking back at verse 17, we see that the whole context for this part of the Apostle Paul’s argument is that he has been accused of encouraging sin by his teaching that we are saved by the work of Jesus alone, and nothing good we ourselves do.

To which the Judaizers respond, “You’re teaching cheap grace. If you keep that up, you’re going to lead many people into sin; they’ll think that there’s no sense being good since being good doesn’t save them. So they’ll just be bad, and your teaching about Jesus will lead people into sin. In fact, you will make Jesus into a worker of iniquity, or a “minister of sin.”

Galatians 2:17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!”

And this is not the only time Paul is accused of this, nor is it the only time he argues against it. For instance, listen to these first six verses in Romans 6:

Romans 6:1-6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and this is a gift; but saving faith is never lacking in good works, holiness, and righteousness because saving faith always unites the believer to Jesus Christ in His death and raises him to newness of life. Through that union with Christ the believer dies to sin and lives to righteousness; he is liberated from his slavery to Satan so he may become the slave of Christ; he is buried with Christ through baptism into death and raised into newness of life.

As Romans 6:6 (above) puts it, his old self is crucified with Christ in order that his body of sin might be done away with, so that he would no longer be a slave to sin.

Or, to turn back to Galatians 2:20:

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.

Now at this point many are tempted to think that the Apostle Paul is here talking about a sort of Eastern mysticism whereby we decrease and God increases; that as we lay down our lives, our wills, our personalities, our actions, that God is pleased to fill us with Himself and to live through us His life, His will, His personality, and his actions. And to some degree this is true—as believers, we do die to ourselves and are made alive to Jesus Christ.

But that aliveness is not one that leads us away from our will, personality, and actions; instead it changes our will, personality, and actions so that, instead of sin being our master, God is the one who controls us. Yet His control is not away from life into the mist and ozone of self-negation, but towards life, true life, in which everything is clear, we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us and He makes all things new; we are zealous for good works knowing that it is those good works to which we have been saved.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

1 Timothy 2:9, 10 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, 10 but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

Yes, we are dead and Christ lives in us, but He lives in us so that we might honor and glorify Him by fulfilling all His commands, and most particularly His commands that we are to produce fruit. After all, our Savior’s rule is that “by their fruit ye shall know them.”

Timothy George points out that it’s likely no verse Paul has written in this book of Galatians is quoted more frequently by evangelical Christians than this one:

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.

But George goes on to issue this warning:

Much harm has been done to the body of Christ by well-meaning persons who have perpetuated erroneous interpretations of these words. Properly understood, Paul’s words give sanction neither to perfectionism nor to mysticism. Paul was not saying that once a person becomes a Christian (his) personality is zapped out of existence, being replaced somehow by the divine (principle). The indwelling of Christ does not mean that we are delivered from the realm of suffering, sin, and death. Paul made this abundantly clear in his very next phrase, “the life I now live in the flesh”. So long as we live in the flesh, we will continue to struggle with sin and to “groan” along with fallen creation around us. Perfectionism this side of heaven is an illusion (George p. 200).

And he points us to Romans 8, where we read:

Romans 8:18-26 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

The Christian is not someone mouthing pious phrases waiting for Christ to return and, meanwhile, trying to empty himself of all words, thoughts, and actions because “inside of him dwells no good thing”—that is a misapplication of Scripture.

Did not Jesus say that if anyone would follow Him, He must take up his cross?

Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Again, to return to our text:

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.

When Paul says, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” he is not encouraging Christians to be millenarian escapists, passively awaiting the Second Coming and, meanwhile, emptying themselves of all initiative and zeal. Otherwise, why would Jesus have said this about His Second Coming:

Matthew 24:37-51 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:1-46 Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. 14 For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ 29 For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 31 But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41 Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We are not saved by our own efforts and good works, nor are we made holy by our own efforts and good works.

No, both justification and sanctification come by the grace of God, alone, and are not added to by the effort of sinful man—not even regenerated sinful man.

We have been crucified with Christ, but our death is not to passivity and a sort of heavenly-mindedness that’s no earthly good; rather we die to sin and arise to good works, thereby demonstrating that we are, truly, the sons of God.

This is the meaning of John 15, where Jesus says to His disciples:

John 15:1-27 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another.

Again, our text:

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.

How twisted it would be if Christ died but we refused to!

Are we not to join Him in His sufferings, and is this not the life of faith? How does Scripture describe faith, after all?

The man who takes up his cross and follows Jesus; the faithful slave who has made all things ready for his master’s return; the virgins who are alert and whose lamps have been filled with oil; the slaves who work to add to their talents and have a return on his investment to show their master when he returns and asks them to give an account for what they have done in his absence; Jesus tells us that faith is shown by those who give him something to eat when he’s hungry; something to drink when he’s thirsty; those who invite him into their homem when he is homeless or a foreigner; those who clothe him when he is naked; those who visit him when he is sick; and those who attend to his needs when he is in prison. In short, those who produce fruit.

This is hardly passivism or mysticism; rather, it is that old Protestant work ethic that came from Scripture where it is said, to the Thessalonians:

2 Thessalonians 3:10-15 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. 13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”

* Calvin:

It is faith alone that justifies, but the faith that justifies is not alone.

Then read from George, p. 201...

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