Galatians 3. We have been studying Galatians chapter 3 for about a month now, and this is really an amazing chapter. As I was studying this passage this week, it came to me that we could boil everything down in chapter 3 to two main points. Here they are: #1: how to be right with God. #2: how to be free habitual sin. So those are the two things we are going to look at this morning. How do we get right with God, and how do overcome addiction. 

In the Book of Galatians we’ve seen that some people were teaching that in order to be right with God we must obey God’s Law. So Paul corrects them by saying, no, we are not saved by keeping the Law, or by following a set of rules, we are saved by believing in Jesus. And when we come to chapter 3 Paul is going to teach us how to be right with God, and how to be free from sin. And he does that by contrasting the Law and the gospel. He lists 7 contrasts in this chapter, and we’ll look at all 7 of them briefly and then we’ll close with an illustration. Let’s pray first.

Contrast #1 is in vss. 1-5: The contrast is between human effort under the Law, and receiving the Spirit by believing the gospel. In vs. 2 Paul reminds these Galatians that they received the Spirit by believing the gospel, not by their human effort at law keeping. The way to be right with God is by believing in Jesus and receiving His Spirit to live in you. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”  

That’s the first contrast: under the Law we strive in our own strength and we must be perfect. Under the gospel the Spirit of God lives in us and through us and “sticks out” in various ways.

Contrast #2 is in vss. 6-14: Under the Law we’re cursed, by believing the gospel we’re blessed. When we talk about being cursed sometimes we think of witches brewing up a curse in a black cauldron, and putting a hex on someone. But that’s not it. The curse of the Law is to be separated from God. Vs. 10 says “all who rely on observing the Law are under a curse”, they are separated from God because we can’t obey perfectly.

But vs. 13 says that Jesus became a curse for us, for it is written “cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Consider for a minute that as Jesus hung on a tree, God cursed Him. Jesus endured separation from God, which is why He cried out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why have you turned your back on me? Why are we separated? And the answer is given in vs. 9. That all who believe will be blessed.

He gives the example of Abraham in vs. 6. “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Paul says, that’s how to be right with God, by believing what God says about Jesus. Think of it, by believing the good news you will never be cursed, will never be separate from God. “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?”…”I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39). Know why? Because Jesus was separated from God. He was cursed that we might be blessed.

So contrast #2 is that we are cursed under the Law, or blessed by believing in Jesus.

Now we left off last week around vs. 19 that says “What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” Paul reminds them of the temporary purpose of the Law. It was given to reveal our sin, and to reveal our Savior. I want to show us this clearly, please turn with me to Romans chapter 3. Here we will see exactly what the purpose of the Law was. Paul says in vs. 19: “¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” That was the purpose of the Law, to make us conscious of sin.

Think of it like this: in your bathroom, among other things you have a mirror and a sink. Think of the Law as the mirror that makes us aware of dirt, shows us our sin; and the gospel is the sink where we clean up.  Now what would you think of someone who looks in the mirror and they see a big smudge of dirt on their cheek. And as you watch, they lean over to the mirror and try to rub off the dirt on the mirror. Call the psychiatrist. A mirror isn’t supposed to clean off the dirt, it is only supposed to reveal the dirt. And yet people turn to the Law, and try by their own efforts try to make themselves right with God. The Law is just a mirror which shows us our faults. But, thank God, there is a sink underneath. As the hymn writer puts it,

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

That is where you remove the spot, at the fountain of the cross.

There’s an ancient proverb that says “Hunger makes the best cook.” When our kids were little and they were finicky eaters, we just delayed lunch by an hour. Suddenly everything tasted much better, because “hunger makes the best cook.” The Law was given to make us hungry for a Savior. When we see that we can’t live as we should, we can’t measure up, it should cause us to crave and yearn and hunger for Jesus.

Contrast #3 is in vs. 19: The Law was temporary, the gospel is permanent. According to vs. 19, the law was “added because of transgressions, until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” The Law was temporary; it was added at Mt. Sinai, until Mt. Calvary. It revealed our sin until Jesus came to remove our sin and make us right with God. That’s why Jesus died on the cross was to make you and I right with God when we believe in Him.

Contrast #4 is in vs. 19 and 20: The Law required mediators, but we get direct access to God through faith in the gospel. “¹⁹ The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. ²⁰ A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.” Moses is up on this mountain that is on fire, it’s filled with smoke and the earth is shaking; the mountain has a fence all the way round it saying “keep out.” He then got the Law by God through angels and Moses became a mediator to the people. Nobody could talk to directly to God under the Law you had Moses, and angels and the priests who were mediators. There’s all these go-betweens, mediators. But compare Moses and the Law with Abraham and the gospel. Abraham got the promise of the gospel directly from God, friend to friend.

See if we believe the gospel we become the friend of God, and have direct access to Him. Jesus is our only Mediator and He is God. We now come to God through Jesus face to face, friend to friend.

And now Paul anticipates a very important question. In vs. 21 he asks, “Is the Law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God?” In other words, “the way you’re talking Paul, the Law must be bad”. Should we just remove the Law from our Bibles and just stick with the gospel? And Paul’s answer is “absolutely not!” The Law is not bad, and the gospel good. The Law and the gospel work together; the one reveals our sin, the other removes our sin.

Contrast #5 is in vs. 21. The Law brings death, the gospel gives life. Vs. 21 says: “For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.” See what that tells us? The Law brings death, it cannot give life. You want to know how to kill your family spiritually? Just set out the Law for them, tell them that this is what God requires, and they better measure up. And you’ll end up with people who have no interest in God, because they know they don’t measure up, and they don’t care to. They will, in a sense, be dead to God.

What does it mean to be dead to God? I’m dead to watching sports. People find out I live in Cleveland and they’re like “how ‘bout them Indians” and I’m like “which ones? The Cherokees or the Navahos, or..?” And they’re like, “no the sports team” and I’m like “oh, I’m not into soccer, or football, or whatever they play.” I have no interest in it. You may like it just fine, but I’m dead to watching sports. And that’s what it’s like to be under the Law; you just have no interest in the things of God. No interest in prayer, or Bible study or church. Paul says, “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” Rom. 7:10.

J. Vernon McGee describes it like this: 3 construction workers are on the roof of a very high building. And the supervisor on the ground gets worried because they look too close to the edge, so he radios up and says, “guys, look out, be careful, don’t fall off.” And one of the guys is like, “that supervisor is always telling us what to do, never wants us to have any fun. I personally like being close to the edge, and I even like dancing” and he starts to dance but pretty soon loses his step and falls off. A window cleaner on the 10^th floor notices him falling and asks, “how are things going?” and he says “so far so good.” Then he adds, “I’m turning to the Law of gravity to save me.” He will soon discover that that is not the purpose of the Law. The Law kills.

The Law brings death, but the gospel gives us life, forgives our sins, and reconciles us to God, and thereby making us alive to Him. Some of us long to be at prayer meetings on Wednesdays and hate it if we can’t make it, we long to be in church, to pray to our God and to see Him in each other. You don’t have to command us to be there, we’re alive.

Contrast #6 is in vs. 22-23. We are in prison under the Law, but free in Jesus. Notice vs. 22: “²² But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. ²³ Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.” Notice these words “prisoner of sin”. This is what the world calls addiction. We are sinning and we can’t stop, anymore than a man in prison can just walk out of prison. This is because the Law is keeping us under guilt and condemnation. That’s it’s purpose, to keep us locked up. And we can make vows, and promise to try harder, and to stop doing that. And we will find we have a ball and chain, we are shackled to sin, prisoners of sin.

So how do we get out? Notice vs. 23. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners. Well obviously when we put faith in Jesus we escape the prison of sin. There it is. Simple. A 1-step program. I don’t mean at all to make light of it. But friends, we have hundreds of 12-step programs where you work the program for 90 meetings in 90 days. But here is God’s way. Turn to Jesus, put your faith in the fact that when He died, He removed your guilt and took all your condemnation on Himself. Therefore you are free from both. And when you get free from guilt and condemnation you walk out of sin’s prison.

Now, look with me at Luke chapter 4. And remember the prison of the Law, the shackles of the commandments. And let’s look what Jesus came to do. Here’s His first sermon and He stands up to read and in vs.17 ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Ah, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Contrast #7 is in vs. 24-25. The Law is for the immature, the gospel is for the mature. “²⁴ So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” The picture here is of an underage child who must be guided to school by a schoolmaster who supervises him. Under the Law we are immature, a young child who needs rules. But when we believe the gospel we have come of age, and come into the full rights as sons of God (notice vs. 26). The coming of faith is the coming of age. We have matured, we’ve grown up. “for the law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” Hebrews 7:19 (NIV)  

So let’s summarize: the Law required us to be perfect on our own, by human effort. It brought a curse, and it was temporary. Under the Law, we had no direct access to God, we had to have a Mediator. The Law was for when we were immature, it kept us in sin’s prison of addiction, and it brought death. Whereas believing the good news about Jesus gives us God’s Holy Spirit, brings a blessing, is the permanent pathway to God, gives us direct access to God, makes us mature, frees us from sin’s prison and brings life. Which path are you on? Law, or the gospel? Works or grace? Self-effort or the Spirit?  

And let’s close with this illustration. If you would turn with me to Numbers chapter 21. We’ve looked at this story before, but maybe we’ll see it in a new light. This story teaches us how to be right with God and how to be free from sin. It illustrates the points we’ve seen in Galatians 3. Here the Israelites were complaining because they were thirsty. We should never complain in any situation. And so pick up the story in vs. 6: “⁶ Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”

So here they were, bitten by snakes and they had venom running all through their veins. Imagine someone who was bitten saying “Ok, I’m going to remove this venom. I’m going to work at it. I’m going to cut the spot, I’m going to suck out the venom, I’m going to heal myself through my own efforts.” But he would find that there is a problem inside of him that he can’t overcome. The venom is causing him to be weak, and to lose hope. He’s trying real hard but he feels like he’s under a curse; and now he’s getting blurred vision and he finally collapses and dies. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end leads to death.

What if he turned from his own efforts, his own work, and just believed God’s Word that told him to turn and look at the uplifted snake on a pole and live. Well he would discover that He was miraculously healed. What he could not do for himself because of the venom, God did for him when he put up that pole.

The reality is that we have been bitten by a serpent, all of us have the venom of sin running all through us. And we can try hard to obey God’s law, we can put forth all the effort we have, but we will find that there is a problem inside of us. And it prevents us from measuring up and living right. So God has given us the Solution. He has lifted up a cross-like pole and on that pole He hung a Savior. And if we will turn and look we will live. “By His wounds we are healed.” By looking and believing in the cross we become right with God, and free from habitual sin.

And then our message to other people will not be “here’s the rules you better keep them” but rather “oh my, look at what Jesus did for me. Have you looked at the cross? Just look and see Jesus becoming sin for you, taking your curse upon Himself, and just dying to forgive you. And by His wounds, you will be healed. Believe and live.” Let’s pray

This morning I’m going to start by asking us a few questions to get us thinking: 1-Why did God give His law? 2-Are you under Law, or under grace? 3-Is your family under Law, or under grace? The answers to those questions have huge ramifications in everybody’s life. Hopefully God will help us answer those questions as we study His Word today. Let’s pray

In the first 14 verses of Galatians 3 Paul proved from Old Testament Scriptures that Abraham was made right with God by faith and not by obeying the law. And, Paul makes the point that every other human being is likewise saved only by faith in Jesus by not by trying their hardest to obey the Law.

And now Paul anticipates the argument that these false teachers would make against this point. Here is how their argument would go: “It is obvious that when God gave the law to Moses, the method of salvation changed. A new way of salvation was established, that of obedience to the Law. Abraham lived before the law and was therefore saved by faith. But we have the Law, and so things have changed.

And Paul answers this in vss. 15-22. His answer compares God’s promise (or the gospel) with God’s Law. Here are a few comparisons: the promise to Abraham depended entirely on God’s faithfulness, whereas the Law depended on man’s faithfulness. To Abraham, God said, “I will.” Through Moses He said, “Thou shalt.” The promise centers on God’s plan, God’s grace, God’s initiative, God’s sovereignty, God’s blessings. The law centers on man’s duty, man’s effort, man’s behavior, man’s obedience. The gospel is grounded in grace and brings a blessing. The law is grounded in works and brings a curse. Paul is going to argue that the Law did not replace faith in Jesus as a means of salvation. Here’s how he proves it:

Notice vs. 15: “Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life.” Now pause for a minute and understand that Paul used an illustration from the Old Testament (Abraham) and now he is going to use an illustration that is not in the Old Testament, he is going to use something from everyday life. He says in vs. 15: “Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.” Paul says “man’s agreements are binding”.

And now Paul applies the illustration in vs. 17: “What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.” See if a man’s agreements cannot be set aside, how much less can God’s covenant that He makes with Himself be changed. In other words, the giving of the Law 400 years later did not change God’s covenant with Abraham; it bring in a new way of salvation. We, today, are right with God when we believe the good news about Jesus.

So, back to the question. Paul says in vs. 19: “What then, was the purpose of the Law?” Now understand; the answer to this question is extremely important. If we get this wrong, we face God’s curse. An individual or a family or a church that gets the answer the answer to this question wrong comes under the curse and condemnation of the law. This is why the answer to this question is so important, as we do not want to be under a curse. What is the purpose of God’s law?

Well here’s what the false teachers in Galatia taught (it’s the same thing that some churches teach today): the Law was given for you to obey so that you can be in relationship with God, so that you can be right with God. You must live up to the standard: you must keep the Sabbath, you must eat a vegetarian diet, and you must keep the feast days. But the problem is that this teaching puts people under the Law and brings the curse of God. Remember vs. 10. “All who rely on observing the Law are under a curse.”

See how important the answer to this question is? What is the purpose of God’s law? And now Paul is going to give us the correct answer. He is going to tell us that there are two purposes of God’s Law. Here they are real quick: #1 the purpose of the Law was to reveal our sin. And #2 the purpose of the Law was to reveal our Savior. Let’s look at these two things:

#1: The Law was given to reveal our sin. Vs. 19 says, “the Law was added because of transgressions…” God’s Law given to reveal sin in us. The Law says “don’t’ do that” and when we do it we see that we are wrong. We’ve sinned, we’ve been disobedient. The Law reveals the sin that is in us. It brings out this sin in us.

Here’s an illustration from everyday life of what the Law does: several years ago a big hotel was built in Galveston, Texas. They built it on stilts so it could sit right on the Gulf of Mexico. When the hotel was about to have its grand opening, the General Manager thought, What if people decide to fish out the hotel windows? So they placed signs in the hotel rooms, “No fishing out the hotel windows.” Naturally, many people ignored the signs and that created a problem. Lines got snarled. People in the dining room saw fish flapping against the picture windows. Know how they solved it? They took the signs down. No one checks into a hotel room thinking about fishing out of the windows. They wouldn’t even think of it until they read the sign that said don’t do this. The Law actually stirred up sin, it revealed the sin that was in them.

Look with me at Romans chapter 7, and let’s see very clearly what the Law did. Paul is discussing the Law here, and he says in Romans 7:7-8: “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.” And vs. 10 says, “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” The Law reveals sin in us; it stirs up sin, and it brings death. So wherever you find a person, a family or a church that is under the law you find sin running rampant. The Law manifests our sin.

2.Here is the second purpose of the Law. Back to Galatians 3. The Law was given to reveal our Savior. We can see that in vs. 24: “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” The words “put in charge” are the Greek word “pedagogue” which means schoolmaster. In Paul’s day, a schoolmaster’s job was to take children by the hand and lead them to school. So Paul is saying the purpose of the Law is to take us by the hand and lead us to Jesus. The Law reveals our Savior. How does it do that?

Like this: when we sin the Law condemns us. The Law tells us we’re guilty. And we wonder, is there any way to be rid of guilt? Is there any way to be free from condemnation? And then we hear about Jesus. We read that He was made sin for us, that He was condemned in our place, that according to vs. 13 He took the curse of the Law for us when He was hung on a tree. And we run as fast as we can to Him. And when we come to Jesus we have escaped our condemnation, and been set free. So this is the value of the Law. It was given to reveal our sin and to reveal our Savior. It shows us the problem and the solution.

So let’s summarize this part of Galatians: Paul says Abraham was declared righteous when He believed God’s promise about God’s Son. And so are we. The Law, given 400 years later, did not do away with the gospel promise, it didn’t change the way we are saved today. Instead, the Law was given to reveal our sin and to reveal our Savior.

So now let’s apply all of this to our lives. Are we under the Law or under grace? How do we know? Turn to Matthew chapter 18. I want to look at a few passages with us this morning that show what it is like to be under law. And let’s ask God to reveal that to us. Now in Matthew 18 Peter has asked Jesus how many times do we forgive people who sin against us. Peter says, “clear up to 7?” And Jesus says “70X7” (unlimited). And then He tells a parable. Notice vs. 23: “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents (millions of dollars) was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. So far, this is just business as usual. If we don’t pay our debts the court will take our assets. “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. Now this is not business as usual. This is not law, but grace. The king had compassion, so he forgave his debt, cancelled it. “You owe me nothing.” What grace. And now we see the value of the cross. For all who beg for mercy God shows us the cross where Jesus completely cancelled our debt of sin. An unpayable debt was cancelled.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (a few dollars). He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ (same words the first servant had used)“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. No grace here, only law. So others tell the king and he calls that servant back in, and says in vs. 32: ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

People under law demand others to pay up and to measure up, even though they, themselves cannot. A person under Law requires others to live perfectly, and if they don’t there is punishment for them. And so a husband under the Law sets a certain standard that his wife and his kids cannot meet and if they transgress they are punished for it. A wife that is under the Law requires her husband to shape up and measure up, while she herself cannot do so, and if he fails she punishes him in any number of ways. And a family living like this experiences a curse. A church that is under the Law has the pastor telling the people to shape up and do this and don’t do that and live right, even though he, himself is not able to do so.

What Matthew 18 teaches us is to view our sins against God as much worse than anyone else’s sins against us. We owed an unpayable debt to God; by comparison, others owe us a few bucks. And since we’ve been forgiven a huge amount, we should forgive others sins against us. And what Satan does is turn this around, and makes other’s sins out to be much worse than our own. It sounds like this: “well she doesn’t respect me” and “well he doesn’t love me”…  “I’ll obey and respect my parents when they are respectable…” These people have it wrong. Somehow they think other’s sins against them are millions of dollars whereas they just owe a couple bucks.

Let’s close by looking at Matthew chapter 7. This is another passage that shows what it is like to live under the Law. Vs. 1: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

So here’s the picture: a man, woman or child has a plank, a telephone pole in their eye, but rather than deal with their own sins (the plank) they go to others and start inspecting them—they’re looking for errors, mistakes, anything wrong. And when they find something—and they will—they think they need to correct it. Remove that speck of sawdust. But they aren’t effective because they have a big plank that everybody sees in their life. The one under law always inspects others and finds things wrong with them.  

This passage teaches us to view our sins as planks, and others sins as specks. But Satan reverses it and tells us that other people’s sins are huge planks compared to “my little speck.” My wife went to a church when she was young that preached law, and required all people to measure up and meet the standards. In fact, the young men were required to submit to “hair measuring” and the girls to “skirt measuring” and if you didn’t meet the standard you were sent home. Of course, it wasn’t until later that they discovered that the pastor was involved with sexual immorality. See, where there are planks in our eyes, there is a whole lot of inspecting of others’ lives, because we want to show that they don’t measure up either. This is nothing but law and it brings a curse.

Question: are you under the law or under God’s grace? Is your family under Law or under God’s grace? See under God’s grace we have been forgiven and helped by God so we want to forgive and help other people.

If we discover that we are under law, what needs to happen is for us to plead with God for mercy, and accept and believe that God forgave our huge debt, and then begin to forgive others smaller debts. When Jesus died on the cross, He cancelled our debt of sin that we could not pay, and now we are to cancel others sins. Jesus taught us to pray. “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

Deuteronomy 28. You know some people feel that their lives have been very unfair. It seems like nothing ever goes right, that everything is a constant battle, and that they can never get a break. I heard one guy describe his life as if he were constantly trying to push his car up a long hill, at night, in the snow. And then he made this statement, “And when I slip and fall the car just runs over me.” Sometimes people can feel just plain run over; their jobs aren’t going well, their marriage is in a bad place, they can’t make ends meet, they’re constantly sick, and just cannot seem to get ahead or get a break.

And people in that situation can become very discouraged by reading Deuteronomy 28. They see that God promises blessings if His people obey Him and cursings if they disobey. Let’s just notice a few of the blessings. In vs 1 He says “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” So the requirements for God’s blessing were perfect obedience. If they perfectly obeyed, God promised to exalt His people, to give them the place of honor.

Then He says in vs. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: Vs. 3 blessed in the city and in the country. Vs. 4 children and livestock would be blessed. Just look at some of these blessings: Vs. 6 blessed when they come in and when they go out. Vs. 7 blessing of victory over all their enemies. Vs. 8 blessing on their work, their jobs, their livelihoods. Vs. 11 promises abundant prosperity. Vs. 13 promises they would be the head, not the tail; the top, not the bottom. In other words, obedience brings blessing. It brings the favor of God. God smiles on those who obey Him and He blesses them.

But just the opposite is true as well; disobedience brings a curse. Notice the warning in vs. 15: “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” And if you read through these curses they are just opposite of all the blessings. Cursed in the city and in the country, cursed when you go in and go out. Vs. 20 is powerful: “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.” Vs. 23 “wasting disease, fever, inflammation, scorching heat, drought, mildew…will plague you until you perish.” Vs. 25 defeat by your enemies, vs. 27 “boils, tumors, festering sores, from which you cannot be cured.” Vs. 28 madness, blindness and confusion. Vs. 29 “At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark.” Can you imagine it being pitch dark at noon? Almost like the sun refusing to shine on you. What a curse this is! And look at vs. 35 “The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.” Wow, the curse of God afflicts a person’s whole body, their whole life. There is just wounds and welts as if you’ve been beaten and you’re just a bloody mess. Vs. 48 is shocking: “therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.”

So let’s summarize Deuteronomy 28: God promised to bless His people if they perfectly obey Him and to curse them if they disobeyed Him. And the history of the Jewish nation shows that they were entirely unable to obey and that as a nation they experienced the curses listed in this chapter.

And now we have a major problem. The problem is stated one chapter back. Just notice the last verse of chapter 27: “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” The verb tense here means to continue to obey, to ongoingly obey. In other words, we are to continue to do the Law, and if we have a lapse, if we do not continue to do the Law, we are under a curse. So that the obedience God demands is not only perfect, it is also perpetual.  We must continue to obey God without failure, or we are under a curse. Sin brings a curse.

But God did something about our condition. And this is what we are studying in the Book of Galatians. Please turn with me to Galatians chapter 3. We remember that false teachers have come to the Galatians and were basically teaching Deuteronomy 28: that you must obey the Law in order to receive God’s blessing. And last week we saw that Paul contradicted that teaching and said it was by faith in Jesus that we receive God’s blessing. In vs. 9 he said “So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” So let’s understand what Paul is really teaching. Here is a summary of what Paul is saying: Jesus Christ came to this earth, and He was born the Law, and He obeyed God perfectly and perpetually. But remember that everything Jesus did, He did for others. He did as our proxy, our Substitute. So He obeyed God in our place, thereby winning all the blessings of the Law for you and for me.

You could write Galatians 3:9 right over the top of all the blessings promised in Deuteronomy 28. For instance, the first blessing: “…the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” And so Jesus Christ, having obeyed unto death was exalted to the highest place, and all believers are in Him—set high above all the nations on earth. Exalted in our Lord and Savior. He was exalted for us, we are exalted in Him. And just keep right on going with these blessings in Deuteronomy 28: By faith in Jesus we are blessed when we come in and when we go out, blessed in the city and blessed in the country. We have victory over all our enemies; the world, the flesh and the devil. We are blessed in our work and blessed in our home. And through the gospel we have abundant prosperity. That’s exactly what 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “…Jesus Christ, …though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Rich in faith and love and eternal life.

The reality of what Paul is teaching here, is that Jesus lived in our place, and obeyed in our place, we lived in Him by proxy, and we get all the blessings of the Law when we believe in Jesus. Let’s put a visual to this. Turn with me to Luke 24, and let’s see the last time Jesus was on earth. In this chapter He is talking with His disciples and He has just preached the gospel to them and He has opened their hearts to understand it. You can see that in vss. 45-46. In vs. 47 He gives them the content of their preaching: repentance and forgiveness of sins. And then notice the last picture we have of Jesus on this earth. In vs. 50 it says “When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” The last picture of Jesus on this earth is the posture of blessing. The last thing we see of Jesus is His arms upraised in blessing, going up to heaven. Because He lived to bless us, He died to bless us, and He ever lives to bless us now. And this is what Paul is saying. Jesus came to do for us what we could not do. He obeyed, and we got the blessing of God by faith.  

Back to Galatians 3. OK so Jesus bought the blessing of the Law for us by His perfect life. But what about the curse? We’ve all disobeyed so aren’t we under God’s curse?  Notice vs. 10: “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” So here is our problem stated very clearly: not one person who has ever lived has continued to do everything written in this Book. We’ve not obeyed perfectly, and we’ve not obeyed perpetually. So the inevitable conclusion is if we rely on the Law, we are under a curse. And that curse is to have Almighty God against us in whatever we do, and wherever we go, until we finally die under His curse and live forever separated from Him in eternal torment. This is what it’s like to be under God’s curse.

But again Jesus to the rescue. Notice vs. 13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 21:23. Please turn there with me if you would. God is describing how to deal with someone guilty of a capital offense. Isn’t it amazing to think that Jesus was treated as a murderer. In Deuteronomy 21 vs. 22 He says:  “If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.” A man hanging on a tree was such a curse, such a defilement to the people and to the land that God said, “Get that body off that tree and get rid of it. Bury it. Don’t let it sit there and rot and defile My land.”

And now let’s see a couple of examples of this. Look with me at the Book of Joshua. Just over 1 book. And here the Israelites have fought a battle against a town called AI. AI had earlier won a victory over the Israelites and they have regrouped and have now won this battle with AI. Vs. 28 says “So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day.” But notice what they do to AI’s king in vs. 29: “He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.” How disgraceful! Just to be hung up on a tree in public humiliation and shame and defeat. And Josephus records that all the people walked by him and cursed him and spit on him. So he’s cursed by God and by man.

Now, move ahead a couple thousand years and there’s another example of a man cursed. Jesus lived perfectly, He kept God’s law perfectly and perpetually. But Jesus was judged as guilty. He was cursed in the city of Jerusalem and cursed as they led Him out to the country to crucify Him. And He struggled up that hill and He fell under the weight of the sin of the world, and finally He reached the hill and they pounded nails into His hands and feet, and they lifted Him up on a tree to die. How disgraceful. Just to be hung up on a tree in public humiliation and shame and apparent defeat. And there God laid on Him the wasting disease of our sin, and He endured inflammation, scorching heat, drought, which plagued Him on the cross. And it was pitch black at noon. For 3 hours the Sun refused to shine on Jesus. He was “in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty.” And the LORD afflicted Him from the soles of His feet to the top of His head.

Why is Jesus enduring all this? Because He is taking our curse so that we might have His blessing. Those who feel like they just can’t get a break, like everything in their lives is a battle, like I just can’t get ahead; now we have a place to go to come under the blessing of God. Galatians 3:14 says: He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

So to summarize: Jesus lived perfectly to win the blessing of the Law for all who believe. And Jesus died substitutionally, to remove the curse of the Law for all who believe. We can see these two things in vs. 8 and vs. 13. Vs. 8 says “all nations on earth will be blessed through you” and vs. 13 says “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.”

So, what does this mean for us today? I just want to give you four quick things:  

1. Think of the misery we were under: the curse and condemnation of the law. As unbelievers God was against us, our lives were cursed.

2. And now think of the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ towards us-He agreed to be made a curse for us in order redeem us from the curse of the law.

3. Think of the happy condition we are in now: not only have we escaped the curse of God, but we inherited the blessing of God.

4. Remember, that it is only through faith in Jesus that we get God’s favor and blessing. Don’t put yourself under the Law; in other words, don’t try to earn God’s favor. Jesus already did. Just put your faith in what He did and you get God’s favor, God’s blessing and God’s smile.

Actor Kevin Bacon remembered when his 6-year-old son saw Footloose for the first time: He said, “Hey, Dad, when you swung from the rafters of that building? How did you do that?” I said, “Well, I didn’t do that part–it was a stunt man.” “What’s a stunt man?” he asked.”That’s someone who dresses like me and does things I can’t do.” A little later he said, “Hey, Dad, when you spun around on that gym bar and landed on your feet? How did you do that?” I said, “Well, I didn’t do that. It was a gymnastics double.” “What’s a gymnastics double?” he asked. “That’s a guy who dresses in my clothes and does things I can’t do.” The boy was quiet for a minute and then asked “Dad, what did you do?” and Kevin said, “I got all the glory”.

The truth is that Jesus came to this earth and put on our flesh. He looked just like us. And He did something we cannot do. He obeyed perfectly and perpetually. He was our “Obedience Double.” And then wearing our skin, looking like us, He was hung up on a tree; made a curse for us. He was our “curse double” taking upon Himself God’s wrath and anger against sin, for all who have broken the Law. And now anyone who believes gets the blessing of forgiveness, and pardon, and reconciliation with God, and new life and eternal life. And we should just bask triumphant in Jesus’ glory. Let’s pray.

Dear friends,

At our Setting Captives Free ministry we have a pastor on our board of directors who has been such a blessing to so many people. We write a “check-in” to our team members once a week, and I wanted to send you Pastor Reid’s writing yesterday. I believe this will really bless and challenge you, as it has me:

My dearest fellow laborers in Christ’s Kingdom. I hope this week finds
you again sweetly enjoying the Savior’s bounty and experiencing the
power of His Spirit in your own lives.

We can get battle-weary at times.

Consider Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:1–5 (ESV) Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the
church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the
whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us
in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are
in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are
comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings,
so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Having been born again, and brought into Christ by the Holy Spirit -
into His family – we now live as aliens in this world as He did.
Knowing true holiness now, we suffer remaining in this fallen,
sin-sick world, experiencing it from a completely new perspective than
we once did. This is a high honor He bestows upon us, to be
transferred out of the kingdom of darkness, and into His kingdom.
(Colossians 1:13)

This then is what is behind the “groanings” of Romans 8:22-26 and
later in this letter, 2 Corinthians 5:2-4.

We do not share in His sufferings as though somehow WE pay for sin in
some respect. That is His exclusive work. Ours, is to be allowed to
enter into the reality of His sufferings in leaving Heaven, and
becoming incarnate. It is a most intimate opening up of His heart to
us. It is as though He says “come inside me, and feel what I felt” -
if only in the most minute degree. It is a priceless treasure to know
this world as it really is in His eyes – and to know something of how
being here impacted Him. This is intimacy of the deepest kind. We need
to bear this in mind when we grow weary of being here too. Growing
weary of sin and its discord with our God is a gift. Don’t refuse it
or throw it away. Be glad you can want to be free of sin and its
effects, not because they are uncomfortable in the natural, but
because they are antithetical to your new nature in Christ Jesus.

This is what He suffered, so as to pity us and act toward us in mercy
- and so it is it ought to produce the very same result in us. It
ought to make us sympathize and empathize with our brothers and
sisters in Christ – and to minister to them as He has ministered to us
- indeed OUT of how He has ministered to us.

Can you look back at a struggle from this past week and see how it is
Christ has let you enter into His suffering? Oh how it grieved Him to
see the ravages of sin in and on those made in His image.

Can you look at one who has hurt you or lashed out at you in their sin
- and feel more grief for how that sin still has sway in them, than
for the impact it has had on you? It will inform your prayers as never
before.

Can you “redeem” the pain of this last week, by treasuring the glimpse
you have into the Savior’s heart, and melting in compassion toward
their sorrow in failure? It will free you from defensiveness and
hardness. It will cause forgiveness to flow from you like a fountain.

Freedom through the Cross
Preaching Christ Crucified as the Means of Deliverance from Bondage to Pornography

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”     1 Corinthians 2:2

Paul writes to the Corinthians and reveals his focus in life and ministry: the cross. How powerful the cross must be when considering the context of the Corinthian letters. The context reveals that these churches were dealing with division (1:10-17), immaturity (3:1-9), incest (chapter 5), lawsuits (6:1-6), carnality and impurity (6:12-20), and sin and idolatry of all kinds (6:9-11). With all these issues as the background of his writing, Paul determined to focus his attention on the cross, as if stating that it alone had the power to deal with all the issues in the Corinthian church and bring freedom, healing, cleansing and deliverance to all who would embrace it.

The church of 2010 is not very different than the church of 60 A.D. Local churches today still deal with all the same issues that the church faced from the beginning. Pastors today face an intense assault on the church in the form of pornography, just as lust and impurity had wreaked havoc in the Corinthian church. The focus of this article is on the church’s battle with impurity, and how pornography’s assault on the church can be overcome by the preaching of the cross of Jesus Christ.

In my younger years, I was exposed to pornography and became enslaved for 15 years, during which time the “locusts” of sin devoured my life. In January of 1999, I was exposed to the gospel, and through godly sorrow and genuine repentance, and the forgiveness of the cross, God began restoring the years the locusts had eaten. Later, as my wife and I began the ministry called “Setting Captives Free,” and then as I was called to preach the gospel in pastoral ministry at Ohio Valley Church, I have seen pornography grab a hold of numerous men and women and have watched Satan destroy their lives, in varying degrees, through its deception and bondage.

What is the answer? Many would say that these issues are too difficult for the local pastor so he should refer those who struggle to “the professionals” meaning psychiatrists, psychologist or family therapists.  How foolish!  The answer today is the same as it was 2,000 years ago: the cross of Jesus Christ! When preaching to captives today, or counseling men and women who are enslaved, we would do well to imitate Paul’s focus and “determine to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” The gospel is still “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16) and is still that which “stabilizes” and strengthens believers today (Romans 16:25). 

Pastors are especially the target of Satan because he knows if he disables the shepherd, he can devour the sheep. As those called to minister the gospel we must first ensure that our own lives are free from impurity and that we are walking in the Light. We must have no secret sins if we wish to minister freedom to others (Psalm 51:12-13; 2 Timothy 2:20-22). We must be extra vigilant and utilize all the resources of God’s Word and God’s church to live in the light. Modern technology can be of great help to us in this area—tools such as Covenant Eyes accountability and filtering technology can go a long way toward helping a pastor “walk the talk” and therefore have power in his preaching and his counseling ministry, family relationships, and every other area of life.

As pastors we must use the tools God has given us to help those who come to us in darkness as “prisoners in iron chains” (Psalm 107:10) of pornography. God has given us His Word, His Spirit and His body to specifically deal with all the sin issues in a person’s life, and so we have all we need to minister healing and freedom to those who are caught in the trap of the evil one. We need not look outside of God’s Word and God’s church for any methods of deliverance, but rather proclaim Christ crucified, buried, risen, interceding and returning as the hope and freedom of all who believe.

So how do pastors deal with the very real threat, the clear and present danger of the increase of pornography? At the risk of seeming simplistic, we deal with it the same way we deal with all sin, by the preaching of the cross and the whole counsel of God’s Word. This should be done from the pulpit, in counseling sessions, one-on-one mentoring, and any other time there are people who will listen. The remainder of this article will give specifics on how to preach and counsel from the cross so that we minister grace and freedom to the people God has entrusted to our care.

Colossians chapter 2 presents us with an opportunity of preaching freedom from the cross. This passage is a sample of how we can apply the gospel to those in bondage. It is thrilling to then watch the Holy Spirit bring freedom to their hearts and lives as they receive and apply the good news.

¹¹ In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Colossians 2:11-17

The context of this passage is the cross, as noted in the following:

The “circumcision” (vs. 11) that was “done by Christ” happened at the cross, where our old nature was “cut off” and discarded when Jesus died. When He rose, we rose with Him as a new creation with a new nature, created in Christ Jesus in truly holiness and righteousness (Ephesians 4:23-24). Those enslaved to pornography should be encouraged to look at Jesus’ death, and in His death see their sinful nature cut off and discarded. This “circumcision” was prophesied in Deuteronomy 30:6: “⁶ The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” Now, viewing the cross of Jesus Christ, we see our old nature cut off, our hearts circumcised of sin, and we can look at that cross and love God and live! This heartfelt affection for Jesus is what releases a man or woman from their fatal attraction to lust and impurity, and keeps them free forever.

Verse 12, likewise is a reference to the cross/resurrection event, where all believers were “buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him”. Preachers can help those enslaved to see that their “old man”, who loved lust and impurity, died on the cross and was “buried with Jesus in baptism”. Now we must “reckon” or believe our old selves to be dead (Romans 6:11).

This unity in the death and resurrection of Jesus was prophesied many places in the Old Testament. For instance, in Hosea 6: 1-2 it says: ¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. ² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.” Those in bondage to pornography, indeed all sinners, were with Him and in Him when He was “torn to pieces” and “injured” on the cross, and we were with Him and in Him when He was revived and restored on the third day. Now “we live in His presence”! The one in bondage to pornography needs to see that it is the presence of God that brings freedom from sin and idolatry, even as the presence of the ark of the covenant knocked over the idol god Dagon (1 Samuel 5). Those previously in bondage can know what a joy it is to be “buried with Him” and “raised with Him”, for therein is real freedom.

Verse 13 is a reference to the cross where “He forgave us all our sins”. Those enslaved to the destructive power of sin need to see the forgiveness that flows from Calvary. Their sins were nailed to a tree, covered in Jesus’ blood, and buried in a tomb. These sins were “blotted out” (Isaiah 44:22) and “washed away” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Issues of pornography and adultery are often called “scarlet sins” but the good news for the slave of pornography is that through the cross our scarlet sins are made “white as snow”. Though our sins are red as crimson, through the cross they are made “like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Horatio Spafford saw the forgiveness of the cross as a glorious thought: “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul.”

Verse 14 references the cross where He “cancelled the written code…” as it was “nailed to the cross.” That which opposed us by highlighting all our faults and magnifying all our sins, that which condemned us to hell because of our disobedience has been nailed to the cross and taken out of the way. The one in bondage to pornography needs to grasp that the cross is the death of all evidence against him or her, and the complete removal of the Law that condemns.

Verse 15 shows us that Jesus defeated the devil and triumphed over all the powers of darkness. He defeated them…“triumphing over them by the cross.” The cross is our banner of victory. It is our triumph over Satan and all his demons. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8) and when He did so He declared victory for every child of God. Because of the cross all who were previously enslaved can now be “more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.” It is in the context of “the gospel, which is of first importance, that Christ died for our sins…” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) that Paul offers up his thanks to God for victory: “Thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). As we preach the glories of Calvary we bring those in bondage to pornography to the place of victory.

So the preaching of the cross brings freedom to those in bondage, for it is the place of “circumcision” of our old nature, the burial of our old nature and the birth of our new selves, the complete forgiveness of all our sins, the cancelling of all evidence against us, and our victory over Satan and his demons.

As preachers of the gospel, we have the opportunity of applying the entirety of Scripture to the heart of the captive. We have used one example from the New Testament above; let us now close with one example from the Old Testament.

We are all familiar with the passage that describes the gospel very clearly in the Old Testament—Isaiah 53. Here is a sample of how we might preach this passage to bring freedom to those in the clutches of pornography. As we are preaching the glories of Calvary throughout this passage, we come to verse 8 which shows how God dealt with our sin. “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken” (Isaiah 53:8 NIV). God deals radically with sin; He put it on His Son and then Jesus was “taken away” and “cut off” from the land of the living.

And Jesus used these same words when speaking about lust in Matthew chapter 5. He said “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Jesus refers to the two body parts that are involved in pornography and self-gratification: the eye and the hand. It should be clear that Jesus is not speaking literally here, for self-mutilation does nothing to restrain the lusts of the flesh. Rather He is speaking spiritually, saying that “radical amputation” is needed if we wish to be free from sin. We must treat sin as God did and radically cut it off. Give ourselves no access to it. Don’t allow ourselves to see it (the eye) or get to it (the hand). Cut the cable, destroy the DVD’s, tear up the video club membership, and be as radical as necessary in order to be free.

So again, using the cross of Jesus Christ, we can preach freedom to those in bondage. Just as Jesus, with our sin on Him, was “cut off” when He died on the cross, even so we are to imitate God’s method of dealing with sin and radically amputate all avenues to it. This, if done thoroughly, and if the previous sin habits are replaced with “radical appropriation” of the cross (John 6:50-58), and “radical accountability” in the body, produces real and lasting freedom.

Preachers have a wonderful opportunity today, just as they have for hundreds of years. We get to apply the power of the cross through our preaching to the issues that people face today. We should not hesitate to speak to the issues and reveal how they were all dealt with through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and freedom, pardon and power are all ours through the high cost of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us celebrate the power and the preeminence of the cross by determining to “know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified” as we preach the whole counsel of God’s Word.

May God give you the glorious sound of chains falling off and prison doors opening as you glory in the gospel and call others to worship around the cross with you.

Please open your Bibles to Job chapter 9. This morning we are going to study the most important subject in the world. For you young people, this subject is more important than what you should do for a job, or where you should live or who you should marry. It’s a subject with eternal consequences. To illustrate how important this is, imagine for a minute that you just found out you have a terminal illness. You sit down with your doctor. “Isn’t there any hope?” “Well,” he says, “there is one thing. Without this one thing, it’s over. But with this one thing, you will be completely healed.” What would we say? “What is it? Tell me now! I have to know, and I won’t leave until you tell me!” Well the truth is: you and I have a fatal disease. We are all dying from it. And the message I bring today is the “one thing” that will entirely cure you and give you eternal life. The Great Physician has spoken out the remedy, and this one thing is what we need.

What is it? Job asks it in question form. In Job chapter 9 vs. 2: He asks: ² “But how can a mortal be righteous before God? It’s the question of the ages: “How can a man be right with God?” Now most people don’t really give this subject a second thought; they certainly wouldn’t say it is the most important subject in the world. But that’s because we don’t know that we have a terminal illness. It’s like the man who checked in to a hospital with a headache, and the tests revealed he had a blood clot on his brain and the doctor determined he would die within hours unless they operated. But he felt a little better and before they could find him, he left the hospital. He thought all was well. How many people today think “all is well”, “I’m ok, you’re ok.” But if we’re not right with God, we’re not ok.  

And the world tells us don’t worry at all about being right with God, just be happy in life. Smile, enjoy life. Job tried that. Notice what he says in vs. 27: “²⁷ If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,’”…you know, “put on a happy face.” Like that old song, “Don’t worry, be happy.” But the problem is in vss. 28-29: “²⁸ I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent. ²⁹ Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?” Ah, there’s the real problem: Guilt! All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the terminal illness of sin brings death.

And we cannot heal ourselves. We can’t clean up our own act; serve in ministry, work to be good and live right. Job knew that wouldn’t work. Vs. 30 “³⁰ Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda, ³¹ you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.” Job says, “I cannot make myself clean, or rid my life of guilt.” It won’t work.

See Job cannot find a way to be right with God. He cannot do it by smiling or by scrubbing, trying to clean up his life. For God is perfect and man is sinful. He is pure, we are impure. He is holy, we are guilty. And notice where Job’s despair leads him. In vs. 33 he says “³³ If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, ³⁴ someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.” I need a go-between. Somebody to bring God and me together. I need someone to remove my guilt and God’s rod at the same time. Then I could be right with God.

Vs. 35 “³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.” Listen to those words, “I cannot.” I cannot make myself righteous, I cannot clean up my act, I cannot just smile and make it all better, I cannot speak up in my own defense because I’m guilty.” The end result of every person who tries to make themselves better, who tries to keep the Law, to speak on his own defense and to do right is “I cannot.” Every person who has tried to please God by self-washing cries out with Job. “I cannot. I cannot. I cannot.”  

Please turn with me to Romans chapter 8. Can you imagine for a moment Job reading these words? With his crying out “I cannot make myself clean. I cannot defend myself before God” we read in vs. 3. “³ For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Can you imagine Job hearing this good news? What I cannot do, God did? He sent His own Son to become a sin offering for me? He’s the go-between? I now meet the requirements of God’s law? I’m right with God? Wow! And now Job’s cry of despair “I cannot” turns into a shout of victory. God did! What I could not do, God did by sending His Son. Hallelujia!

But wait a minute. You could just hear Job thinking here. I see what God did on His side, but what do I have to do on my side? What is it that applies this sin offering to my account? How do I receive the benefits and the blessings of His sacrifice?

Turn with me to the Book of Galatians chapter 3 and this question will be answered. We are studying the Book of Galatians right now. And some people have come to the Galatian Christians and are answering these same questions for them. How can I be right with God? And these teachers in Galatia have said, “by obeying His law. It’s by being circumcised and keeping the Jewish customs, and all of the Old Covenant Law.” Oh no! That puts me right back where I started. I can’t keep His law, I’ve tried. I cannot. I cannot. And so the apostle Paul comes along and corrects the wrong teaching.

And in Galatians 3 he corrects it by saying we are right with God by faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In essence saying “God’s part was to send His Son to take our sin, to make us holy. Our part is to believe it.” Just exercising simple faith in this good news makes us right with God. Now within the context of believing is also confession of sin and turning away from sin. So in the first 9 verses of Galatians 3 Paul mentions “faith” or “believing” 7 times. From our side, it’s faith, it’s believing that makes us right with God.

Now Paul makes this point in 3 ways. And we’ll spend the remainder of our time today looking at the 3 ways he teaches that we are right with God by faith in Jesus. Paul shows us this by experience, example, and explanation.

Last week we saw Him prove it by experience. In vss. 1-5 he asks all these questions which reminded them of their experience with the gospel. He reminds them in vs. 2 that they received the Spirit by believing the gospel. In vs. 3 He they received suffering by believing the gospel. And finally in vs. 5 they received the supernatural. God worked miracles among them when they believed the gospel. So Paul is proving that believing the gospel makes us right with God. He proved it by their experience, and now he is going to prove it by an example from Scripture.

Notice vss. 6-8: ⁶ Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁷ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:6-8

And so Paul proves by an example that we are made right with God by believing the good news. This is the most important subject in the world: do we believe the good news about Jesus? And I want to look at this example with you, if you would turn to Genesis chapter 15 with me, because the timing of all of this is critical. We want to notice the timing of when Abraham believed God. So in Genesis 15 God has come to Abraham to tell him of his future blessings, and in vs. 5: ^“5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. And the point of this story is that God had not given circumcision yet when he declared Abraham righteous by his faith. Circumcision would come 14 years later, and the Law would come over 500 years later. Imagine these Galatian teachers coming to Abraham with their message: in order to be right with God, Abraham, you need to be circumcised. And he’s like, “Circum…what? Circum-navigation? Circumstance? Circumvent? I don’t even know the word you are talking about.” 

And turn over to chapter 22. Here Abraham just obeyed God by offering up his son to God, and God says to him in vs. 18: “¹⁸ through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Imagine the scene: Abraham is standing on Mt. Calvary, his son, Isaac, was under the death sentence for 3 days, and he just received his son back on the third day, and Abraham knows he is right with God by believing the gospel that was preached to him. And picture the Galatian teachers, “Abraham, the way to be right with God is through obeying God’s law.” He’d be like, “what law?” No, God gave me some good news about a descendant of mine who would bless the whole world. It has something to do with this mountain that I’m standing on, and with this descendant of mine carrying some wood up this hill and being sacrificed as a sin offering, and that will bless the whole world. I believed it, I became right with God.”

This is not fanciful speculation. Listen to Galatians 3:8 again. It says that God ⁸ …announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” He heard the gospel, about a descendant of his who would bless the whole world, and he believed the good news, and he became right with God. He was made right with God through believing.

So we’ve seen Paul teach this truth by experience (in vss. 1-5); we’ve seen him teach it by example (vss. 6-8). And now he is going to explain it in vs. 9: “⁹ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Ah, now he makes it plain. We’re right with God by believing the gospel. We’re healed of our terminal illness when we believe the good news.

To people who have been burdened down by the Law, who have tried to keep it and failed, who are now under the burden and bondage of guilt. God did something for us. He sent His Son. And Jesus was judged as guilty in our place, and they took Him to the base of the same mountain that Abraham took his son too. And men laid a cross on him, and God laid our sin on Him. And He struggled up that hill and He fell under the weight of the sin of the world, and finally He reached the hill and they pounded nails into His hands and feet, and He died as a guilty man, having committed no sin. At the cross God took His rod off of us and beat His own Son. It was the Lord’ s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and He made Jesus’ life a guilt offering.

And now our part is to believe, to count it as true, to hang our faith right on Calvary’s tree. The Philippian jailer asked what to do to be saved, and Paul replied… ³¹ “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31 See by believing we are declared righteous, acceptable to God, holy in His sight, without condemnation and free from all accusation.

But you know as well as I do that most people just want to know how to get through their daily struggles in life. Yes I want to be right with God but I just need to make ends meet, I want to get over this sickness, I want to have peace in my marriage. I’m in a financial storm, or a marital storm; how do I make it through? And I want to close with this illustration; if you would turn with me to Acts 27. Here Paul is in a storm out on the open sea, and it is a violent storm. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. But just compare this verse with verse 25: ²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” What? From “we gave up all hope”, to “keep up your courage.” What happened?

What happened was vss. 23: “²³ Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.‘” And Paul believed God’s Word, and that’s how he makes it through the storm. You see, we come into Christianity by believing God’s Word, and we make it through all the storms of our lives by believing God’s Word. Whenever we go through hardship and difficulties we run to God, we open His Word, we say please show me your Word for me today. And we read, and we believe it, and we make it through any problem, any difficulty, any challenge. 

So here’s the good news. Anyone hearing my voice today can be right with God. Just by believing the gospel: Jesus Christ died for you, He removed your guilt and sin, He rose from the dead and now if you believe that good news you are right with God. You are cured of your fatal disease called sin and you will live forever.

And anyone can make it through whatever problem you are facing the same exact way; by putting your faith in God’s Word. Just run to God’s Word and find a promise and hold on to it. If you are going through a very intense storm in your life today God’s Word to you is “Keep up your courage… have faith in God that it will happen just as He said.”

Dear church,

God has been teaching me so much about praise and thanksgiving lately, and how powerful it really is. Lord willing, over time we will begin to incorporate the power of praise in our prayer times together, both on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Considering that God dwells in the praises of His people we may want to dedicate an entire Wednesday prayer time to praising and thanking our God. Notice this passage:

⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. John 11:41

This is an unusual order, isn’t it? Lazarus is still in the grave, and Jesus’ thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. It seems that His thanksgiving and praise would have come after the resurrection, when Lazarus was brought to life again. But instead Jesus gives thanks for what He is about to receive. His thanksgiving and praise comes before the miracle happens, and Jesus expresses the assurance that it is certainly on the way. This is the song of victory being sung before the battle has been fought. It is thanksgiving before the miracle!

Also, there is a parallel passage in the Old Testament. In 2 Chronicles 20 Jehoshaphat faced a mighty army and did not know what to do to win the battle. But he consulted with the Lord and the people, and then he

²¹ …appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” ²² As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” 2 Chronicles 20:21-22

The praise team went ahead of the soldiers and it was “as they began to sing and praise” that the Lord won the victory for them. Oh what a lesson this is for us. Do you have battles in this life? Give yourself over to praising the Lord and He will fight for you and ensure your victory. After all, He won the main battle for us on the cross when He “disarmed the powers and authorities, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15). So praise Him now and watch the victory come in time. Thank Him now, being assured of what He will do.

Because of the victory Jesus won, we are assured of victory ourselves even before we engage in battle. Therefore we can praise and thank Him, even before we see the battle won.

“Who thinks of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received? And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master’s order. Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith”.—Dr. Jowett.

PRAISE CHANGES THINGS

Nothing so pleases God in connection with our prayer as our praise, and nothing so blesses the man who prays as the praise which he offers. I got a great blessing once in China in this connection. I had received bad and sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. Just then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: “Try Thanksgiving.” I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. Yes, the Psalmist was right, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord.”—Rev. Henry W. Frost.

Man’s Ruin and God’s Rescue

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6  

Dear church,

I wanted to show us another gospel lesson in the middle of the Old Testament, and then share with you the lyrics to a wonderful song I found just this morning. We know that the gospel can be found throughout the entire Bible as the gospel is the main point of the entire Bible. When we as Christians continually emphasize the gospel, and share the gospel with others, it is because the Bible continually emphasizes the gospel. In this verse about the gospel we can see the practice, the peril, and the pardon of man.

Practice of man. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; . . . iniquity.” The practice of man spoken of in this verse is a selfish practice, for it says man went “his own way.” This is how we all lived before Christ; our “own way”. It is also a popular practice, for “all” are doing it.

Peril of man. This sinful practice of man has put him in great peril. We were in great danger because our way was the wrong way. We went “astray”. This is not the way to heaven. Man is in peril because his way is a deadly way. The way of “iniquity” is the way of death, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Also man is in peril because his way is a condemned way. Man may call sin nice names, but that does not change the peril of sin. Changing the names on a bottle does not change the contents of the bottle, and if the bottle holds poison, the poison is just as dangerous with a nice name as it was with a truthful name. The Word of God gives sin the right names.

Pardon of man. “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This pardon is a Divine pardon. God laid our sins on His own Son. God provided the way of salvation. It was not man’s idea. This pardon is a merciful pardon, for man does not deserve the pardon. We do not deserve to be pardoned for we have gone our “own way” and rejected God’s way, yet God in His mercy provided for our rescue (see Colossians 1:13). This pardon is a vicarious pardon. This just means that our pardon comes through “Him” Who took our sins to the cross and died in our place. Finally this pardon is a sufficient pardon. Did you notice the word “all” at the end of the verse? This says salvation is available for anyone who comes to Jesus Christ and puts their faith in Him. The “all” who have “gone astray” can find pardon and peace with God through Jesus Christ.

After considering our previous practice and peril, does this not make the pardon that is in Jesus very precious? He is the “Cornerstone”, a very precious Stone to those who believe, and His rescue of us is very precious to us. In Jesus there is no condemnation, for He was condemned in our place, and this makes Him so precious to we who were previously in such peril. Now we praise His Name and there should be a desire within us to share Him with all we come in contact with. Here’s Peter’s commentary on Isaiah 53:6:

²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:24-25

The author of this hymn is unknown, but what powerful lyrics. This is my testimony. Is it also yours?

I was in sin’s prison, oh, so dark and cold
Like a lost sheep wandering from God’s eternal fold.
Then the door swung open, and He spoke to me,
“I have signed your pardon, now you may go free.”

Chorus
Jesus signed my pardon, this I surely know
Took my place at Calvary, now I won’t have to go.
All my life I’ll give to Him – He gave His for me
When He signed my pardon there at Calvary.

Since the Savior led me from that awful place
I can hear the angels as they sing Amazing Grace.
I know I was pardoned from my sin and shame
When I joined them singing, “Glory to His name.”

Chorus
Jesus signed my pardon, this I surely know
Took my place at Calvary, now I won’t have to go.
All my life I’ll give to Him – He gave His for me
When He signed my pardon there at Calvary.

Life is now worth living since I’ve been set free.
I’m so glad He was willing to save a wretch like me.
Now I have a mansion, not a prison wall.
Jesus signed my pardon, Jesus paid it all.

Chorus
Jesus signed my pardon, this I surely know
Took my place at Calvary, now I won’t have to go.
All my life I’ll give to Him – He gave His for me
When He signed my pardon there at Calvary.

Yes, Jesus signed my pardon – Jesus paid it all!

You are loved!

Mike Cleveland

Dear friend,

We have been studying about faith, both in our Bible Study time and in our sermon messages. Faith is simply believing God, taking Him at His Word. And genuine faith will overcome any trial or problem, any time of testing, or any difficulty or storm. Even if you may not be going through a difficulty presently, take notice of how Paul’s faith got him through an extreme trial, for there may come a time in your life when you will need this as well. Notice the kind of faith Paul had. Here were his circumstances:

²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Acts 27:20

They were in a raging storm out in the open seas. The situation looked bleak, the circumstances were very bad. So bad that they “gave up all hope of being saved.” How would you react in a storm this bad? And how do we react when going through stormy trials that are exceptionally intense? When our hope is gone, or our hearts are hurting badly. Here is where faith comes in, and this faith will get us through any storm, even ones that are very intense and severe. Notice Paul’s faith:

²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Acts 27:25

What a contrast! From “we finally gave up all hope of being saved” to “so keep up your courage men!” And what made the difference? “I have faith in God…” and more specifically, in His Word. “it will happen just as He told me.”

Weak faith is doing as Gideon did, and asking God for “confirming evidence” of what He says; a wet fleece or a dry fleece. Strong faith is believing God in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances, and taking Him at His Word no matter how bleak your circumstances or how bad you feel. So when you come upon a trial, run to God’s Word and find a promise to latch on to, and as you believe God’s Word you are strengthened greatly in the storm.

God has given us everything we need to make it through intense storms and fiery trials. It is His Word. And as we believe His Word, even in the face of circumstances that appear contrary, we gain the victory over them. Indeed, faith is the victory. ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4

Dear friend,

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all people, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:25-32

A brother and I met for lunch yesterday and discussed the wonderful truth of this passage. If we remember the conditions at the time this was written it helps to see the truth: Israel was no longer a sovereign nation, but rather were subject to the Romans. They had not a had a prophet in 400 years, so God’s voice had been silent. They were emasculated as a nation, demon-possession was rampant, and true godliness at an all-time low. It was in these conditions that old Simeon had been earnestly seeking the Lord. He was “waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon Him.”

What does consolation mean? The Word in Greek is paraklēsis, from where we get the word for the Holy Spirit Who is our “Comforter.” The Word means to comfort, to console, to encourage, to build up, to strengthen. And oh how Israel needed consolation at this time in their history. They were under oppression from the Romans, they needed freedom and consolation. They were subject to the devil’s fury, they needed protection and comfort. They were cast down as a nation, they needed to be picked up, encouraged, given strength.

Simeon was moved by the Spirit to go to the Temple, and seeing Jesus Christ, He “took Him in His arms and praised God…” To those who need consolation, Jesus is the answer! To those attacked and beaten down by Satan, Jesus is the answer! To those who are weary and worn, tired and discouraged, Jesus Christ is the “Consolation of Israel!” Though we most certainly need each other, Jesus can do more to console and comfort us than any human being. The truth is, He consoles and comforts us through His Word, through His Spirit, and through His body. Triple consolation for all who are His.

Simeon saw Him and was moved to take Him in His arms. To hold Him. To embrace Him. God would encourage us today to take Jesus in our arms, to embrace Him; that is, to love and worship Him. We are instructed to “kiss the Son…” (Psalm 2:12) in submission and adoration and worship.

And then Simeon “praised God.” Once we take Jesus in our arms praise comes out of our mouth. We have found Who we were waiting for. We have Who we need. This beautiful baby, this “Consolation of Israel” is the Solution of all mankind! He would grow up and purposefully go to a Roman cross to die. Why? To remove our sins from us and replace them with His Spirit, thereby comforting us. Isaiah says it this way: “¹ Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:1-2

Are you in need of consolation today? Needing comfort and encouragement and strength and love? Jesus is the consolation of Israel. No, He is the consolation of the whole world: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”