Woe Unto Me
Woe Unto Me
WUM Galatians 3
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In today's episode, Butch and Rod discuss Paul's emphasis on the importance of faith and the dangers of going back to the law.
Well, good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, or whatever time it is that you are listening. Welcome to W U M. I'm Butch.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Rod, and we're back for another exciting adventure of Woe Unto Me. How you doing, man?
SPEAKER_02I'm doing fantastic. Right on. Too blessed to be stressed. I'm gonna go with that.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Right on.
SPEAKER_02How about you?
SPEAKER_00Uh I went I'm I'm gonna write on your coattails. I like that. Yeah. Too blessed to be stressed. God is good.
SPEAKER_02Amen. He is, brother. And but I better say something here. I stole that from, I think it was one of the Arizona Recardinals who's retired. I heard him say it once, and the way he said it made me laugh too. He had a good cool southern accent like you do, and I'm like, huh. Maybe I can pull this off sometime. Well, apparently today is the day.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Right on, we'll take it. We've just had a great conversation before we started recording, and uh it's it's really been an encouragement as we encouraged one another, and so we're here today uh to encourage you, you all who are listening, um, through Galatians chapter three.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and hey, as a reminder, in case any of you are new to our channel, I don't know why, it just made me think about it. Rod and I don't pre-talk much at all about what we're gonna talk about. So this is pretty raw and real. We just literally read and think about the things that we've been studying and convicted by or challenged by, or even things that we have questions about. So we try not to talk too much about Galatians 3 before. So before we were just talking about all personal cool stuff, getting caught up on how our kids are doing, and now there's a grandkid involved from my end. So it's just that's been fun. But in case any of you wonder what the format is of about what these two Yahoos are doing here, it's like we just we study on our own and then we get together and we try to just be iron that sharpens iron. And if you want to listen in and enjoy it, awesome. Uh if you want to tell two friends and they tell two friends, awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right on. We enjoy it. We've been doing this kind of thing with each other for 20 plus years, you know, off and on.
SPEAKER_00You're right. Yeah, very long time. And our conversation is very organic, as Butch said. So um there's there's there's nothing rehearsed or or or or pre-thought out. This is just this is off the cuff, if you will. Very organic. Right on.
SPEAKER_02So we should dive in, huh?
SPEAKER_00Right. So is it is it that we're saved by by faith, or are we saved by faith with a little bit of works, or is it our good works that get us into God's good graces that get us into his good heaven? How do we figure this thing out?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think we let scripture say it, right? Right. It's not us trying to say, oh yeah, if you do this plus this plus this, and Paul makes it very clear in chapter two, right? It's certain his words certainly not, that mega noita, one of the strongest negatives in all of Greek language, you know, are we justified in Christ or are we trying to serve the law and follow the law? And he's like, No, definitely not.
SPEAKER_00So are you saying that when I walk little ladies across the street, uh that I don't get brownie points for that?
SPEAKER_02Well, you get a badge if you're uh in you know in the Boy Scouts.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02I don't think they even call them Boy Scouts anymore. I think they're scouts, but you could earn a badge for that, but you don't earn favor with God.
SPEAKER_00God doesn't say, hey, good job, that that's that's a star for you.
SPEAKER_02Here's your salvation. No.
SPEAKER_00Oh no. Okay, well, we better see what Paul has to say. So yeah, so he begins uh chapter three, uh, beginning in verse one. You foolish Galatians. Now, right off the bat, that is not a good thing. Right? Right.
SPEAKER_02Start off with you, you guys are fools.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. Who has bewitched you? Who's cast this spell on you? Right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I want to think about this right off the bat. He starts off with, we're gonna we're gonna be raw, we're gonna be real. And it is absolute foolishness to think that you can do something to earn your salvation. So Paul is not afraid to say the hard things to people. Yes. You need to hear the hard things. Yes. And then he even used some this language bewitched you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He's using like pagan magic trick language here because there are people that are tricking people with weird magic tricks. And he's like, this is not what this is about.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We've done no fooling around, we've done no uh tricks or things to try to trick you into believing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. And it's not that Paul is being mean, but it's like we pointed out last time we were together. The gospel is just that important that we get it right.
SPEAKER_02And sometimes you do have to use strong language to get us out of these traps that we fall in. Jesus didn't hold pullback punches, he said things like, you whitewash tombs. Yeah. Right? So you're dead, you're dead men walking.
SPEAKER_01Right, right.
SPEAKER_02Um you've you snakes, like, I mean, there was a lot of words said, and Paul's just like, hey, you are foolish Galatians. Yes. If you're being bewitched.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. It's like Christ was crucified publicly for you. Then he says, look, this is the this is the only thing I want to find out from you. Here's the only thing I want you to tell me.
SPEAKER_02Verse 3. I mean verse 2, right?
SPEAKER_00Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith?
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02This is the most important question that the Apostle Paul has for the Galatians in the church. Yes. In the church of Galatians, area then, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Did you follow the law or was it by faith that you received the Spirit? Which one was it? And he says, Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? In other words, you started out by believing by faith, but now is it your works and the things that you do that bring about your your your salvation and your and your justification?
SPEAKER_02Well, and that's the foolish part of it all, right? You might think, okay, well, I first get saved by hearing of by faith, right? Hearing with faith. That's how I got saved. Oh, but how I stay saved or how I continue being saved or I continue with sanctification, it's now works of the law. And he's like, no, no, no. Just because you started this way doesn't mean you then switch back to going following the law. Right, right. And that's what he's trying to wake them up to say, no, no, no, you didn't receive the spirit by works of the law. You received it by hearing with faith.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02And are you so foolish having begun by the spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But there's this idea in our culture that we have to do something in order to contribute to our salvation. There's got to be something that we must do. It's got to be. It can't be as easy as place your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. Believe the gospel.
SPEAKER_02You know, you know what? This is so interesting. This morning, I was reading in 1 John doing a Bible study with some folks, and I literally am like, how did I not see this second part of this verse? I've read 1 John a gazillion times, it feels like. But in 1 John 3, 8, he talks about whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil's been sinning from the beginning. Here's the phrase I never caught. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02The reason I thought of this to tie this in, the reason Jesus came was to not only fulfill the works of the law that we could never fulfill, he was also here to destroy the works of the devil. And they work hand in hand. When you see this, the devil loves to tell us, didn't God say that you need to do this, this, this, and this to please him? Right. Most of the time, no, he didn't say that. What he said was, have faith in me, believe in me, trust in me, abide in me. Not do these works like go back to Leviticus 19 if you really want to have some fun. Go back and and read the things that you're required to do. Like you're in trouble, Rod, because you cut the hair in the corners of your beard, and you cut the hair on the corner of your head.
SPEAKER_00What little hair.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, same here.
SPEAKER_00Right? But you're right. And and Paul is going to address that very thing. Oh, oh, you want you wanna you want to follow the law? Oh, well then. He's gonna address that very thing in just a little bit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, as we get going.
SPEAKER_00Right? But I love that. Uh verse 4, he says, Did you suffer many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain? So then, does he who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you do it by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Which one is it? Is it by the works of the law or is it by faith?
SPEAKER_02You notice he doesn't give any other option.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It is either all by the law, and that's what we're a good point when you say it'll make a lot of sense as we read later. It's one or the other. There's nothing in between.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you're you're it's not a compromise.
SPEAKER_02One or the other. Yeah, it's all by faith, or it's all by works.
SPEAKER_00Right. There's no gray, there's no gray in between.
SPEAKER_02So you foolish knuckleheads talking right now, including us, yeah. Think about this for a minute. Do you want to go with the law or do you want to go with faith?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And if you go by the law, you better swallow it all because it is the whole law.
SPEAKER_02He's all right. He's gonna say.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I think that's a profound question.
SPEAKER_02So then verse 6, right, he makes it even clearer because we may get stuck on thinking that at some point it was about following the law, and Paul goes, Oh, I got a good one for you. Right? Because he goes, Hey, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, Abraham came before the law. So, what has it always been? Has it always been about the law? Oh, the law didn't even exist before that, before then. Or was it always about faith?
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02So to hammer the point home, he goes back to Abraham. For then you to go.
SPEAKER_00Before Joshua? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Before the Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_00Before the law.
SPEAKER_02Before the sacrificial system, before the tabernacle, before the temple.
SPEAKER_00Before any of that.
SPEAKER_02Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_00Right? Abraham believed God. And that's key. He believed God.
SPEAKER_02Faith.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02And it was counted to him as pretty good, except he still had to do all of these other things, and then God would give him righteousness.
SPEAKER_00I know that's your other Bible. But yeah, it was reckoned to be. That's the King Richard version. Right, right. Reckon to him as righteousness.
SPEAKER_02Abraham believed.
SPEAKER_00Period.
SPEAKER_02And righteousness was imparted to him.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Put within him.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yes, because he trusted God. Therefore, verse 7. Be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.
SPEAKER_02It's always been about faith.
SPEAKER_00I love this. Yeah. It is those who believe by faith, Paul says, that are the sons of Abraham. Not those who try to work this thing out in the flesh or through the law. It is by faith that we become children of Abraham. I love it because I think it's in Romans chapter 9, where Paul makes a statement not all who are of Israel are of Israel.
SPEAKER_02Yep, it is chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's those who are grafted in by faith. And then Paul explains even more about that very thing in verse 8. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by works of the law.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_02Oh, my Bible says by faith. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00It is by faith. And this is the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02They preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Long before there was ever a sacrificial system, the Ten Commandments, the law, the requirements of the fulfilling the law and all those things. No, no, it we're gonna go back to the very beginning. It's always been about faith.
SPEAKER_00It is by faith and faith alone. And even James in James chapter 2 points this thing out. It's not about works, it is by faith. And he even points out Abraham. Um yeah, so verse 9. So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. Not Abraham the worker, not Abraham, the keeper of the law, but Abraham, the one who believed. Yeah, and and because he believed by faith, there's a blessing.
SPEAKER_02In verse 10, this is what we were talking about earlier. This is where it really the rubber hits the road.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02For 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.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so what's Paul telling us?
SPEAKER_02If you want to be under the law, then you have to do every single one of them perfectly.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Otherwise, you are cursed.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you foolish Galatians.
SPEAKER_02Why would you want to go back to works of the law when you have the freedom that there is to have faith in Christ?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Well, in Abraham's case, he had faith in looking forward to the Messiah. But us, we look back towards the cross and go, oh, I would like I think I would like to put my faith in Jesus' works that fulfilled all the law. Not Butch's pathetic attempt to walk the little old lady across the street to gain some kind of grace or something that he would give me his blessing when it tells me that that God would justify me by faith, the gospel that was preached beforehand to Abraham. Tell me that isn't fabulous news.
SPEAKER_00It is.
SPEAKER_02God always had a plan to justify Gentiles, including you and me, and whoever else may be listening, who is not of the remnant of Israel.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah. Always. It was always by faith. Jews and Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02Not Gentiles get a pass. Yeah. No, not Jews have to follow the law. Gentiles do something different. No, no, they've all had the same thing. It was by faith that righteousness isn't imputed to you. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And if you're going to keep one aspect of the law, you gotta keep it all. Like it's it's all or nothing. It's either all law or it's all by faith. There is no in-between, there is no, there's no gray area. You either keep it all the law, or you you you you it's by faith in Christ in Him alone.
SPEAKER_02Hey, so in case you think that Rod or May and I are making this up with our commentary, how about verse 11? Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law.
SPEAKER_00I think that's pretty clear.
SPEAKER_02The righteous will live by faith.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. The righteous, those who have been declared righteous before God, will live not by the law, but by faith. Period.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so the next time somebody comes up to you and says, We need to follow the Ten Commandments, you need to follow the Old Testament law, you need to follow the sacrificial system, you need to keep the Sabbath. Yeah, you need to worship on Saturday, start all these little things. Have in your brain these verses right here. Absolutely. No one is justified before God by the law. That's right. The righteous shall live by faith.
SPEAKER_00And then he says in verse 12, however, the law is not of faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. If you're gonna add the law to your salvation, to your justification, uh you had better live by them all.
SPEAKER_02It's exactly what Jesus was alluding to when he said you're gonna be measured by the measure that you measure others. That's right. So if you try to measure yourself by the law, then he's gonna say you gotta you better keep every single one of these.
SPEAKER_00Perfectly.
SPEAKER_02Including your thought process.
SPEAKER_00For the rest of your life. For the total life.
SPEAKER_02And never miss one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because otherwise you're under the curse.
SPEAKER_00And if you miss one, done.
SPEAKER_02You broke your code. You're cursed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You broke all of them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's the other funny thing. People don't want to think through all the implications of that. Right. When they say, well, I've kept these and I only miss one. And you're you're damned. If you if you broke one law, you are damned. Then you need something to step in for you.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right.
SPEAKER_02And so Jesus Christ and his work.
SPEAKER_00That's why Jesus is a much better savior, a much better system. Grace is so much greater and so much sweeter because Jesus paid it all for us.
SPEAKER_02And Paul puts it like this Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone who's hanged on a tree. Long before he went there, they already had the prophetic thing of how God was going to balance that thing out of I expect perfection to be in my presence. When they know I can't keep the law. How are we gonna do? Okay, I keep I keep sacrificing bulls and goats and pigeons and doves and you know, you name the thing. I keep trying to go, oh, please, God, clean me up, use this blood to cover my sin up. But all it did was cover it over.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's key.
SPEAKER_02It never took it away. That's what Hebrews has such a beautiful picture of. Hey, the difference between the blood of bulls and goats and the blood of Jesus is a complete cleansing and a clear conscience. Something the law never could do.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02So here Paul's like, hey, look, Christ redeemed us from the curse that we were all under. We were all stuck under the curse of the law.
SPEAKER_00Right. And verse 14, in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that, here's the purpose statement, we would receive the promise of the Spirit through works.
SPEAKER_02Oh, geez, mine, you got to get rid of that. Oh man, mine says faith. Mine says through faith.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's my glasses. You're right. It sure does. It sure does. It is what's Paul's point to these Galatians and to us today is that our our faith, our justification, is by faith.
SPEAKER_02Our righteousness by faith.
SPEAKER_00It's by faith.
SPEAKER_02Our hope by faith. Yes. It's faith and trusting what was done on the cross is enough. Yes. Period. End of sentence, right? There's nothing else to add to this. There isn't. If you add anything to it, you start nullifying the work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah. You run back to the law. And again, Paul said if you've got to keep The law, you gotta keep it all. It's it's one or the other. There is no middle ground.
SPEAKER_02Brother, I can't keep one of the laws. Like when you think about him saying doing it from the heart, it's like if you're really honest with yourself, you do have to say, Yeah, yeah, I have coveted my neighbor's donkey. I've coveted my neighbor's wife. I've covered You can go down the list of all these things that you have went, Yeah, wow, I have murdered, because I've thought about people that tell me I'm number one on the freeway.
SPEAKER_01Right. Right.
SPEAKER_02Wouldn't be upset sometimes if they got busted by the cops for blowing by me. Right, right, right, and think even worse.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And like you said earlier, it's not a matter of what we do or say, it's just oftentimes it's a matter of what we think. We see a pretty girl walk by and we play with that image in our mind, and up, boom, adult trust.
SPEAKER_02Or, hey, some of you may be a handsome man walking by and you're like, hey, check him out. And you're like, hey, that's not your husband. What are you doing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's just that easy.
SPEAKER_02And for us as Christ followers, we need to be reminded. We're not trusting in our own thought processes. We're not trusting in that I'm going to get better at not thinking about these things and not coveting and not thinking mean things or you know, wanting to give somebody the verbal what for. It's going back to, wait a minute here. Christ died for me. He paid for all of this for me. And keep my eyes and my focus on him.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Right? That's what Paul is reminding us. Don't get fooled by these works of the law. And do I do I keep doing this? Or now that I'm saved, do I go back to doing this now? That's it. Well, no. No, because it doesn't matter. You notice Paul hasn't said, once you're saved, don't worry about this. It's literally like, don't go back to works of the law. Yeah, yeah. Stick with by faith.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, verse verse 15, Paul says, brethren, I speak in terms of human relations. Even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. And I love that. I love what Paul is saying is that once this covenant, even though it's a man's covenant, once the covenant of Christ has been ratified, you don't add to it. It's done. It is written in stone.
SPEAKER_02And these promises, yeah. They were made to Abraham and his offspring.
SPEAKER_00And offspring, by the way, I did check. It's singular. Seed is singular.
SPEAKER_02It does not, and he even clarifies it does not in English. It does not say, and to offsprings, referring to many. Like there's a whole bunch of different ways to God. Right. We're all gonna get there. It's like, uh no, no, no, no, no. No, he refers to one, right? To your offspring, who is Christ.
SPEAKER_00Through whom the whole world is blessed. Wow. Man, right? He says, What I am saying is this. Let me make it plain for y'all. The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate the covenant previously ratified by God so as to nullify the promise. The law does not come in and say, well, we're gonna take over from grace and we've got this. No. God's covenant, his covenant with Abraham, we are blessed through that. And there is no law that can negate that.
SPEAKER_02And what's interesting, how easy it is to fall trap to, okay, so God instituted all these laws and uh sacrificial system and things, but they were all to be a picture of Jesus, not an actual mode to have imputed righteousness.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02That's why he's saying, look, 430 years after is when the law came, it did not nullify what God ratified before, that faith would be imputed, a righteousness would be imputed by faith.
SPEAKER_00By faith.
SPEAKER_02Because that promise wasn't made void, it's still there.
SPEAKER_00Right. And I love because Paul continues, he says, For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise. But God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. And so if we're gonna go by the law, then you lose the promise. But it was all about, and it was all granted to Abraham by means of a promise. And I love that. It's just like it's and how many times does Paul have to say, it's by faith, it's not the law. It's by faith, it's not the law.
SPEAKER_02And he's using and he's using multiple different avenues to get us to think through it. Yeah. He's making references to multiple different things, to the Abrahamic covenant, right? And to the law itself, and even to pagan magic about being fooled by little tricks of things that go, hey, oh yeah, oh, I know we said it was faith in Jesus, but now that you're in faith in Jesus, hey, we're gonna tweak this a little and now we're gonna tell you to keep the law. You need to be circumcised. We'll talk about that here in a bit in weeks to come. There's always something the devil is always saying, Did God really say that? Right. And we have to put our foot down and go, oh, you bet he did, and he said a whole lot more.
SPEAKER_00You know what comes to my mind as you're as you're talking is the one thing I hear over and over and over and over again. It comes out of James chapter two. Faith without works is dead. Well, that means I have to have some works in order to have faith. And it's like, no, you need to go back and read James chapter two very carefully. But I hear that all the time. Faith without works is dead. So you gotta have works. If you don't have works, you have faith.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's just fruit. That's just fruit, and what's happened on the inside is real.
SPEAKER_00But that's so prevalent in the American church today, and I hear it all the time. It's like um, and this is this is a bunny trail, when I hear people say, um, well, where two or three are gathered.
SPEAKER_02There he is in the midst.
SPEAKER_00I'm in the midst, and it's a and I my my ears cringe. Yes, it's like the nail.
SPEAKER_02Because the context is what?
SPEAKER_00Right, it's it's church discipline. Yes, but we act like, oh, so we're all together. As long as two or three together, God's gonna be here.
SPEAKER_02You know what I used to always say when people would do that? I'd go, who's getting disciplined?
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02And they'd go, what? I'm like, look at the context. What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00See, I always ask, so if I'm praying by myself, is Christ, does he not here? Is he not is he not here present?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's he's within us.
SPEAKER_00Is he in me? Doesn't he go everywhere? So if I'm praying alone, yes.
SPEAKER_02So see if see if you want to have fun with that. Next time somebody says it, feel free to steal that from me and say, hey, who's getting disciplined by the church right now? Because that's what that context is.
SPEAKER_00Yes, but yeah, it is by faith and faith alone. And the the law does not negate the promise that God made to Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through his seed. And that seed, as Paul was pointed out, is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02So then what I love about the way Paul is, he's so good about the clinical like, okay, well then if this is the point, he always has these, I know where you're gonna go next. So I already thought of that, right? Like the well, what's the point of the law?
SPEAKER_00Well, glad you asked that question, right?
SPEAKER_02Because verse 19 helps us.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he says, so why the law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. So the law was sent. It it it it's it's a picture for us, it's a mirror for us. So, you know, Rodney, you're you're not as good as you thought you were. You're not as righteous as you thought you were.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you get to look into the perfect law of liberty and see what manner of dude we really are. Like, oh.
SPEAKER_01Right?
SPEAKER_02But that's what you're asking us, and I'm like, well, we can't possibly keep that. Yeah, that's why you had to have all these festivals and sacrifices and constantly going and having the reminder because you had to keep killing something to be like that. Yeah, sin is like death. Yeah, that's why you keep bringing bulls and slitting their throats and pouring their blood out.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02It's a constant reminder of what wasn't really needed if we would have followed the law, followed the simple law. If we would have followed the simple one, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was the only requirement.
SPEAKER_00But no, we couldn't even keep that one. Right. Well, Satan came in and started, just turned everything upside down with Eve and Adam, and the rest is history. And so Jesus came to destroy all these works of the devil.
SPEAKER_02And it's just like supposed to be the point, right? There was an intermediate intermediary, right, who came in to give us this look forward of, oh my goodness, there's coming a day when we don't have to be doing all of these things as a picture and as a reminder that I can't do this.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02I need somebody to be my intermediary.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And he showed up. I love it. Verse 20. Now a mediator is not for one party only, whereas God is only one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? He says, May it never be. For if a law had been given, which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based upon the law. But verse 22, strong contrast, the scripture has shut everyone, has shut up everyone under sin. So that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
SPEAKER_02Gosh, this just blows your mind. Because he answers all the questions that you start to have. Well, then why did you give us a law? Because it would just show that you could never keep it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But he just doesn't keep us stuck there. Yes. Right? He then goes, and he what's amazing to me, this little phrase here at the end of 21, for if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. So why are we so foolish to go back again? He's telling us again, if there if the law mattered and why you should keep the law, why would he send Jesus?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Folks, slap yourself upside the head when you start to go there and go, Yeah, then why did Christ die?
SPEAKER_00I should be doing something.
SPEAKER_02If I could keep the law, and if keeping the law matters and is still in place, then Christ came for Christ came, he lived a sinless life for nothing. He took this torture and the punishment that was I deserved for nothing. You're right. Absolutely nothing. Yes. So then just chuck this book. Chuck it all. I'll just go keep the law.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02But there was no law that could do not one law. Out of this, what, 663 in the Old Testament, there's none. Not one could give me the righteousness that brings eternal life.
SPEAKER_00And thank the Lord for that. Because the minute, the minute, the minute you trip over one, I'm cursed. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02If that's where my trust is.
SPEAKER_00If that's where you're placing your faith in your trust for your righteousness. If it's in the law, the minute you break one, you've broken them all. And that's the point Paul is trying to get these Galatians to see. The law doesn't do anything for you, it will keep you trapped in your sin. But there is this one that was promised, the seed of Abraham, through whom all the world, Jew and Gentile, they are blessed because of him.
SPEAKER_02The promise by faith in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00Amen.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so he goes back again. Now, before faith came, we're held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So the law then was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_02Not by law, not by works. No, not by trusting in law and works.
SPEAKER_00But now, verse 25, that faith has come. We are no longer under our tutor, and that tutor is the law. We are not under the law any longer. Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_02Oh man, verse 26, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for you are all sons of God through not the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. And it is all by faith. And I love how he closes this. There is neither, and this is in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_02Amen, brother, and amen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All of this baloney of racism and the junk that we've come up with to make things about gender and gender neutral. And I mean, look at all the weird things that we're trying to do here. Yeah. When we're like, we're missing the entire point.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02The entire point has been this is about the gospel of Jesus Christ and faith in him. Yes. It breaks every barrier. It does. Social, economic, gender. I mean, you name the ethnicity, you may name the specific teaching that you were under, or whatever. Whatever weird, stupid group that we want to put ourselves in, and we can go, dude, we're all in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00We are all one in Christ. Not separate and and div and and and divide it. We are unified. We are one in Christ.
SPEAKER_02Wait, you mean I'm not separate because I'm the Fourth Baptist Church on Central and Not at all. McDowell or whatever?
SPEAKER_00Not at all. We are one across culture, across color, across class. We are one in Christ Jesus. Don't miss that. And Paul says verse 29, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. So if you were in Jesus Christ, you are an heir of Abraham. You don't have to get circumcised for it. You don't have to keep the law. You don't have to do any of that. If you were in Christ by faith, you are a part of Abraham's family.
SPEAKER_02And look at the promises that he gave to Abraham that in you all of the nations will be blessed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, not so. All of the nations. How does that happen? It happens through Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_02By faith of the promises that are in Christ Jesus. The same people that were looking forward to the coming Messiah have these same promises. And all of us that trusted in faith in Jesus Christ and His work are all heirs.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_02According to the promise.
SPEAKER_00Not according to law. No, not but according, but all by faith. What's Paul trying to say? I mean, really.
SPEAKER_02What's he trying to say? Yeah. I think he's trying to say it very clearly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It is about the gospel of Jesus Christ and believing that.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Period.
SPEAKER_02End of sentence. Noah. Don't add anything to this. Don't say, oh, well, we have to keep the Ten Commandments. I had people pull this with me. Because I said, go, okay, you think about the law. Well, go to Leviticus 19. They're like, oh no, we have to keep the Ten Commandments. Well, wait, where did he say that? He never said that. He, in fact, said, well, when somebody asked him what's the greatest commandment, he didn't even mention a Ten Commandment.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02He said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And he said, Oh, and the second is almost identical to it, which is love your neighbor as yourself.
SPEAKER_00On these two, hang all of the prophets and the law.
SPEAKER_02Right? On those two things.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But he never said keep either of these two be saved.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_02He said, believe in me.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_02Abide in me. Trust in me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We just interested. We've got to get out of our own heads with this idea that I have to do something. No. Christ did it all. He paid it all.
SPEAKER_02Even here where he says, oh, where was that about the Gentiles?
SPEAKER_00You're thinking like verse 7? Therefore.
SPEAKER_02It was by the first page. Right? God would justify the Gentiles by faith.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Even that's done to us. The justification is God declaring Rod righteous.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. As wretched as Rod is, Jesus, because I place my faith in him, has declared me. You have a right standing before God the Father. Not your righteousness, Rod, but my righteousness has been imputed to you.
SPEAKER_02Perfect righteousness imputed that can never be taken out of you.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_02Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02So I don't even know as we've said it so many times throughout this little thing, but it feels like if we're to hold on to one thing, it is don't be fooled. Yeah. Don't be fooled by the devil's little tricks and crafts and little beautiful little trinkets to try to say you need to do something to be saved, other than putting your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Amen. And that's so prevalent in our culture today. You gotta come to church. Uh you gotta do this. Oh, you gotta tithe. You gotta tithe, yeah.
SPEAKER_02At least 10%. And you have to sow that seed and all these things that people trick you with.
SPEAKER_00No, guys, Paul has said it eight ways from Sunday. Our justification is by faith and faith alone. Not of works, not by trying to keep the law, not by trying to teach to keep the Ten Commandments. It is by faith. Just like Abraham, by faith. And he believed God. He believed God.
SPEAKER_02And it was counted or imputed as righteousness done.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So get out of your own heads, trust what the scripture says, and rest in that freedom in Christ.
SPEAKER_02Rest in the promise that you are an heir to the throne of the Most High God. Right? Wow. Well, we appreciate you. We're so grateful that you listen. Uh, because we we like listening to each other and being encouraged because we're listening to God's word. Not because we love the sound of each other's voices, but because we love the sound of hearing the Spirit of God remind us of the truth of God's word.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02And we're gonna hold on to that. And we pray you do too. If you'd like to reach out to us, you can by email. You can reach out with W-U-M, the number two, the word guys, G-U-Y-S at Yahoo.com. We would love to hear from you. Did I get it right finally? Okay. He's not Rod's not used to me spelling because spelling's hard for me. Yeah. And he knows I can't spell. But I do know Jesus, and that's Most important thing. Yeah. So we appreciate you. Hey, seriously, if you want to tell friends to listen, we would love it because we love people to be in God's Word and be encouraged by His Word and not be fooled by the devil's tricks or even other men and women trying to trick us away from the gospel.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_02Because that should give us righteous anger to say, no, please stay in God's Word. Trust Him.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02You can trust Him. You should trust Him. Absolutely. He will not fail you.
SPEAKER_00He will not. He never has, and He never will. So we hope you've been encouraged today. As Butch said, drop us the line. We'd love to hear from you. And with that, we hope you have a blessed rest of your day.
SPEAKER_02Lord bless you.
SPEAKER_00We'll see you soon.
SPEAKER_02Or in the clouds.