Sermon notes: Galatians Series, Number 17...

"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 home 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."

NOTE: This is number 17 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
May 2, 2004; AM
Galatians Series No. 17

The Son of God Who Loved Me
Sermon Text: Galatians 2:20, 21

This Lord’s Day, we turn to our seventeenth 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.

When the Apostle Paul did his utmost to be saved by keeping the law, he came to see that, like every other man 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 to lead Paul to death—to cause his sin to increase, thereby driving him to the grace of Jesus Christ. Even when he, Paul, believed he was most righteous, carrying out the persecution of the new Christian church with Pharisaical zeal, at that exact time he found, on the road to Damascus, that these very actions were not righteous, but terribly evil because by them he was persecuting the Lord 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…

His efforts—his best efforts—to keep the law led to the death of all hope in obedience to that law being the path to Heaven. Through working to keep the law, Paul died to the law.

But he was not left dead; rather, he “died to the Law, so that (he) might live to God.” And in verse 20, Paul opens up this statement in verse 19 even more; he puts it another way, saying:

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

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. The Judaizers have accused him with words something like this:

“You’re teaching cheap grace. And if you keep that up, you’re going to lead many people into sin. They’ll think there’s no sense being good since being good doesn’t save them, so they’ll just be bad. Thus your teaching about Jesus will lead them into sin. In fact, you will make Jesus into a worker of iniquity, 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!”

The Apostle Paul responds saying that 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. And 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 Jesus Christ and His righteousness; through baptism he is buried with Christ, and raised into newness of life.

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, 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 us 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.

Rather, it’s towards life, true life, in which everything is clear; in which we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us and He makes all things new; in which 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 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—most particularly His commands to produce fruit. After all, our Savior’s rule is “by their fruit ye shall know them.”

20b …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.

What is the life of “faith” other than a life of bearing fruit for the Lord?

Timothy George has this warning for us as he opens up this verse, 20:

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).

He points us to Romans 8, where we read:

Romans 8:22-26 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.”

We must not get confused on this matter: We are not saved by our own efforts and good works, nor are we made holy, sanctified, by our own efforts and good works.

No, both justification and sanctification come by the grace of God, and are not produced by the efforts of sinful man—not even regenerated sinful man.

Yet “the life which (we) now live in the flesh (we) live by faith in the Son of God…”

We continue to live here in this evil world, in the flesh and all its vulnerability physically and spiritually, but we live in the flesh “by faith in the Son of God…”

And what is the life of faith but the life of fruitfulness for our Lord? 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 home 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.

* Calvin:

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

The life of faith is always a life lived “in the flesh;” otherwise it would not be faith at all—but sight. As Scripture says, who hopes for what he already has?

But the life of faith lived in the flesh is always a life of fruitfulness because faith without works is dead.

In one sense, faith is absolutely opposed to works, as we are told in verse 21:

21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.

But in another sense, there is no true faith without works. Faith is always fruitful, naturally producing good works as it gazes on its object—“the Son of God, Who loved (us) and gave Himself up for (us).”

If, as Calvin says, the husband who doesn’t love his wife is “almost a monster;” and if the children raised by a godly mother who, from her love, not only gives birth to them physically, but emotionally and spiritually—if those children so well-cared for fail to rise up and call her “blessed;” if we recognize such callous ingratitude in the home, how much more ought we to recoil from even the thought of the man or woman who refuses to take up his cross and follow His Master, Jesus Christ?

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.

The life in the flesh lived by faith is a life lived in this veil of tears with a single eye turned to the Master; it’s  a life lived in the midst of many dangers, toils, and snares, but with single-minded devotion to the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself up for us.

Think of this: God’s Son gave Himself up for us on the Cross, taking upon Himself our sin and suffering His Father’s righteous judgement because of His love for us!

Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

And this is a free love, not in any way nurtured by the object of his love—we sinful men. No, we were corpses and corpses do nothing.

Ephesians 2:1, 2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Or rather, worse than corpses, we were His enemies—traitors against our Creator Who made us for His Own glory:

Romans 5:8-10 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

But note the precise wording of this statement made by the Apostle Paul:

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.

Do you see, there, the personal nature of this statement? Paul doesn’t say “who loved us and gave Himself up for us,” but rather “who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Is this a small thing, to be passed over without comment?

No, because without this statement—this very personal statement—Paul would still be lost in his sins, still damned and hopeless facing death and hell.

You see, it is not enough to believe Jesus was a great prophet, as Muslims do; it’s not enough to believe He was a great humanitarian and role model, as Western intellectuals do; it’s not enough to believe even that He is the Savior of the world, which even the demons do.

You must believe that Jesus is your Savior, the lover of your soul. With the Apostle Paul, you must say:

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.

You must claim Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for yourself:

Matthew 10:32, 33 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Romans 10:6-18 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart”--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 18 But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.”

1 John 4:2, 3 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

* * *

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