THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
Gal_1:3-9.
The Gospel of Christ is simply the good news concerning Christ. The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth, that is, the favour and exact expression of God, came by Jesus Christ (Joh_1:17-18).
I. What is Offered to Men in this Gospel?
1. Forgiveness. "He gave Himself for our sins" (Gal_1:4). Here we have God’s best, in contact with man’s worst. The Holiest One in Heaven, with the foulest thing on earth. What must sin be in the eyes of God, when it took the life and death, and all the wealth of the character of His own Son to put it away? Now in Him we have redemption through His Blood, and the forgiveness of sins (Eph_1:7).
2. Deliverance. "That He might deliver us from this present evil age" (Gal_1:4). Although forgiven and justified, we are still here in the midst of all the evils of this present age, and need to be delivered and continually kept from their enthralment. "He is able to keep you from falling. "
3. Grace and Peace (Gal_1:3). Grace sufficient to meet your every need, and the peace of God to keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Php_4:7). Bless God for such a full salvation.
II. How are these Blessings to be Received? How can I make sure that they are mine? "Him that called you into the grace of Christ" (Gal_1:6). The Gospel brings God’s call to the soul to enter into the full enjoyment of that grace abounding which is in Christ Jesus. There is no other way but by the obedience of faith. You believe the message, you obey the call, and the grace of God does all the rest (1Jn_3:5). "He is faithful that hath promised. "
III. How Can this Gospel be Perverted? "There be some who would pervert the Gospel of Christ" (Gal_1:7). The Gospel in itself cannot be perverted: it is always and everywhere the same. But it can be so misrepresented that the minds and thoughts of men may get a very distorted view of its real character. The Judaizer taught that they must be circumcised to receive the full benefits of the Gospel of Christ. We Gentiles are not concerned about being circumcised; but there are many who think that they ought to be compromised, that God will save them because of their moral character and good works. This is a perverted view of the Gospel of Christ. Anything we can do, or be, will never add any value to the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom_5:8). Therefore it is by faith that it might be by grace (Rom_4:16). "The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. "
IV. There is No Other Way. "Though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other Gospel, let him be accursed" (Gal_1:8-9). Neither the wisdom of the ages, nor all time, nor eternity, will ever produce another Gospel whereby sinful men-without the grace of God in Jesus Christ His Son-can be saved. "There is none other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby ye can be saved" (Act_4:12). Jesus said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. " "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (Joh_3:36). Believest thou this?
"THE LIFE I NOW LIVE."
Gal_2:16-21.
This was certainly not the life he used to live, when he was "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Act_9:1), but it is a brief spiritual autobiography of the life he now lived. It is-
I. A Life Justified Without the Deeds of the Law. "By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal_2:16). If we have offended in one point, we have broken the law. The law cannot forgive sin, but by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom_3:20). To be justified in God’s sight is to be free from guilt. So free from punishment.
II. A Life Imparted Through Faith in Jesus Christ. "We have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ" (Gal_2:16). Thus by faith in Christ the righteousness of God is imputed to the believer. The law is but our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Gal_3:24). "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Rom_4:3). This is the Divine law of grace. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God."
III. A Life Lived Unto God. "I am dead to the law that I might live unto God" (Gal_2:19). Being now delivered from the terrors of the law, and the ensnaring power of sin; saved out of the self-life into the happy freedom wherewith Christ hath made His believing ones free, his one absorbing purpose is to love, honour, and obey Him who hath redeemed by the Blood of His Son and brought into sweet communion with Himself.
IV. A Life Crucified with Christ. "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal_2:20). The old man, with all his fleshly passions and lusts is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed (Rom_6:6). In the Cross of Christ he sees the whole body of his sinful nature nailed to the tree, and in this he gloried. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (chap. Gal_6:14). Crucifixion is a painful remedy, but it is effectual.
V. A Life Indwelt by Christ. It is now, "Not I, but Christ liveth in Me." He has now become, as it were, a new personality. A new will, a new purpose, and a new power now rules and reigns. Where Christ dwells is always a centre of attraction, like the home in Bethany. To be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man is as Christ dwelling in the heart. This comes by faith (Eph_3:16-17). Christ’s indwelling is manifested by the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. "Herein know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit" (Joh_4:13).
VI. A Life Continued by Faith in the Son of God. "The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God" (Gal_2:20). This life begun by faith in Christ, is to be perpetuated by a continuous act of faith in Christ. By grace are we saved through faith, all the way long. Ours is a life of faith in the Son of God. We live by faith, not by sight. Continue in the faith, and be not moved away from this doctrine. He that endureth to the end in this steadfast attitude of unfailing trust will be saved with a full salvation. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb_11:6).
CHRIST IN ME
Gal_2:20
Paul had two distinct revelations of Jesus. While on the way to Damascus Jesus was revealed to him. This revelation slew the enmity of his heart and converted him to God. Then he writes to the Galatians that "It pleased God to reveal His Son in me" (Gal_1:16). This second revelation proved his sanctification and fitness for service, for he adds, "That I might preach Him among the heathen." How barren and fruitless our testimony for God is until Christ in all His power and sufficiency is revealed-not only in Heaven-but in us. Then, like him, we can triumphantly say, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." If Christ is in me, then I must be-
I. A New Creature. When the "Living One" enters, then the reign of death ceases, "I am come that ye might have life." Regeneration is the incoming of the "Life of God" into the soul by the Holy Spirit. Which were born, not of blood-it is not hereditary; nor of the will of the flesh-it is not by carnal energy; nor of the will of man- it is not by intellectual power, but of God. How will evolutionists explain this? Until Christ is trusted and received there can only be death and degeneration; but when He enters into the heart and life of man how completely His Word is fulfilled: "Behold, I make all things new."
II. A Temple of God. Solemn thought. Shall God in very deed dwell with men? "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?" (1Co_3:16). As God came down and dwelt in the temple of Solomon, so God the Holy Ghost has come to dwell in the body of each believer, to show forth the glory of His grace and power (1Co_6:19-20). The indwelling of the Spirit implies the all-cleansing of the blood. Cleansed, possessed, used. Spirit, soul, and body.
III. Governed by His Will. "Not My will, but Thine be done," was a gleam of Heaven’s glory from Jesus as the temple of God. The house cannot stand that has two opposing wills within. If I recognise "Christ in me," then all my ways and purposes will be heartily submitted to Him. The earth is His footstool; but He sitteth not on a footstool, but on a throne; the centre of power and authority. The reign of Christ within is the divine remedy for unruly passions, ungovernable tempers, fruitless testimony, and the spirit-grieving life of selfishness. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in us, as it is in Heaven.
IV. In Possession of all Sufficiency. The continual needs of the spiritual life are very great, but all fullness dwells in Him; and if He dwells in us, then we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Surely the "unsearchable riches of Christ" are sufficient to meet the daily and hourly demands of our new and God-given natures. "Christ in me." What a reservoir to draw from. Christ in me, to fill up every crevice in my being, as the waters cover the deep. Christ in me, to impel and constrain, as the steam in the engine. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always may have all sufficiency in all things" (2Co_9:8).
V. Sinful Pleasures will have no Attraction for Me. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." What fellowship can light have with darkness? If Christ fully satisfies the desires of the heart there will be no cravings for things contrary to His will. When Christians hanker after doubtful things, it is an evidence that Christ is not fully trusted. She that is satisfied with her lover does not seek another. The cabbage leaf cannot have the attraction for the butterfly that it had for the caterpillar. Those whose lives are hid with Christ in God will set their affections on all things above.
VI. Willing to Sacrifice for Others. If Christ is in me, then the Christ-like life will be manifested. "He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mat_20:28). He glorified God by a life of self-sacrifice for the good of man. He did not seek popularity by striving and crying in the street (Mat_12:19); If Christ is in us there will be no striving for the chief seats of honour; no courting the praise of man. Since Christ hath loved us, and given himself for us, ought we not, through love to the perishing, give ourselves to God for their salvation?
VII. More than Conqueror. The Christ-possessed soul will come into contact with principalities and powers, with rulers of the darkness, and with wicked spirits, in a way that others cannot understand; bat "greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (1Jn_4:4). Let us never forget while fighting against unbelief, unrighteousness, and all the powers of darkness, that the battle is the Lord’s. God, who dwelleth in you, He doeth the works. "God working in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Php_2:13). How the apostle must have realised the power of the indwelling Saviour when he exclaimed, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." By faith we, too, must reckon on His almighty power, so great things will be done in His Name. Doubting or ignoring "Christ in us" is the source of weakness, fruitlessness, and discouragement in the service of God. Believe God, that Christ by the Spirit dwells in you; reckon always in His presence, power, and fullness, and soon you will sing, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
LAW-GRACE-FAITH.
Gal_3:6-14.
These three, but the greatest of these is "grace." The law shows us our need. Grace reveals God’s provision to meet that need. Faith is the personal application of that provision to meet that need.
I. By the Law there is Condemnation.
1. It Demands a Perfect Obedience. "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the law to do them" (Gal_3:10). "He that offendeth in one point is guilty of all." You cannot break one link without breaking the whole chain.
2. It Cannot Justify a Transgression. "No man is justified by the law in the sight of God" (Gal_3:11). It is easy for us to justify ourselves in our own eyes, but then it is with God we have to do. This was the delusion of the Pharisees (Luk_16:15).
3. To be Trusting the Works of the Law is to be Under the Curse (v. 10). That is a withering sentence against those who are hoping to earn eternal life by their trying to obey the just demands of the law. "Whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped" (Rom_3:19). The law would shut us up, that we might look to Christ.
II. By Grace there is Salvation. "Grace came by Jesus Christ" (Joh_1:17).
1. "Christ hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law" (v. 13). Jesus Christ hath bought us with His own Blood. We now belong to Him and are not under the law. So we are freed from its curse. One is your Master now, even Christ.
2. By "Being made a Curse for Us." "He was made under the law, that He might redeem them that were under the law" (Gal_4:4-5). He became under the law, that He might come into contact with those who were under the curse. He could not be made a curse for us by becoming disobedient to the law. He said: "I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil" (Mat_5:17). He willingly took the place and curse of those under the law, and bore their penalty when He was hanged on a tree (Gal_3:13). He died for us, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.
3. Christ Redeemed us "that we Might Receive the Promise of the Spirit" (Gal_3:14). It is a great blessing for us to be delivered from the curse and dominion of the law. It is also a great honour to Christ that we should be possessed by His Spirit and made witnesses for Him. Is not this the ultimate purpose of our redemption? Saved to serve. He hath redeemed us that we might receive the promise of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is promised to every believer in Jesus, and a promise is for faith. "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? " (Act_19:2).
III. By Faith there is Justification. "The just shall live by faith" (Gal_3:11). Abraham was justified by faith because he believed the promise (Gal_3:6). This was 430 years before the law was given. The promise of eternal life, given us in Christ, which the Scripture foresaw before Abraham (Gal_3:8) is an infinitely greater revelation of God than the law given by Moses. The law offers no promise, but is a command with a penalty for disobedience. Having no promise, then it cannot be by faith. The Gospel is a glorious God-honouring promise, therefore the appeal is to faith. "All that believe are justified from all things." "He that heareth my Word, and believeth in Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation" (Joh_5:24). As the Gospel is offered in promise, then salvation cannot be by works. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith (Rom_3:27).
THE PURPOSE OF THE INCARNATION.
Gal_4:4-7.
I. The Time. "When the fulness of the time was come" (Gal_4:4). There is no premature action in the Divine Providence. He does not pluck unripe fruit. The time was ripe for the coming of the long promised Seed (Gen_3:15). The Mosaic age had come to its close. "Now once in the end of the age He appeared to put away sin" (Heb_9:26). The psychological moment had arrived, prophetically and politically, for the Coming of Him who was to bring to the sons of men the new age of saving grace.
II. The Person. "God sent forth His Son" (Gal_4:4). The pre-existence of the Son is clearly implied. "In the beginning was the Word" (Joh_1:1). "He is before all things" (Col_1:17). "He only could speak of the glory which He had with the Father before the world was" (Joh_17:5). "It was by His Son God made the world" (Heb_1:2). Now by His Son He seeks to save it. What a "good-bye" among the angels when He left His Father’s Home to take the form of sinful flesh, and become "God manifest in the flesh." It is humiliating to think that there are teachers so blind and so presumptuous as to say that this Christ was a product of the age. "God loved the world, and sent His only begotten Son" (Joh_3:16).
III. The Manner. "Made of a woman" (Gal_4:4). With regard to His physical nature, He was born of a woman; but He was never called the Son of Mary. He was not the Son of Joseph. But He called Himself "The Son of Man," the Son of humanity, as if the blood of the whole race was in His veins. He was the Child of all ages and of all nations. "Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given." As a child in human form He was born; but as a Son in the likeness of His Father He was given (Isa_9:6). "Made under the law." No angel ever knew what it was to be under the law, yet He who was higher than the angels, humbled Himself to become a debtor to do the whole law, and to be obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Neither the law, nor any of His accusers, nor the prince of this world, could find anything against Him (Joh_14:30). Worthy is the Lamb!
IV. The Purpose. When the clock of time struck the appointed hour, God sent forth His Son.
1. To Redeem "them that were under the law" (Gal_4:5). All were under the law, and all were under the curse (chap. Gal_3:10), and the only way of escape from the curse was by a Divinely ordained redemption: for no man could "redeem his brother." He gave Himself as the Surety for an insolvent humanity.
2. "That we might receive the Adoption of Sons" (Gal_4:5). This sonship is based on redemption. There are those who teach that Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. These facts are implied in the teaching of Christ, but never is it stated that He came and suffered and died to make this known. "He came to seek and to save the lost." He came to redeem us, that we might receive the adoption of sons. All men are God’s creatures, but only those who have been reconciled to God by the death of His Son can have the true spirit of sonship (Gal_4:6). Sonship implies family likeness. "All one in Christ."
3. "If a Son, then an Heir of God." "An heir of God through Christ" (Gal_4:7). "If children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom_8:16). All who are in Christ are heirs with Him of that inheritance of "honour and glory" which is now His, being exalted to the right hand of God. This is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and reserved in Heaven for you (1Pe_1:3-4). "All are yours, for ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s" (1Co_3:23). "What think ye of Christ?"
SOWING AND REAPING.
Gal_6:7-9.
In chapter 5, verses 17-25, there is a description of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. The contrast is between rottenness and perfect soundness, between the basest and the best. The works of the flesh are separate individual acts. The fruit-not fruits-of the Spirit are all of one, but manifold in its expression. This fruit is the outcome of the energy of the indwelling Spirit, and "against such there is no law," because they are above and beyond the law. Now he speaks about sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit. Here we have-
I. An Unalterable Law. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap" (Gal_6:7).
1. The Seed. The harvest will not be according to how much we know, but how much we sow. There may be a large stock of seed in the barn of the mind, but unless planted in suitable soil there shall be no profit in the time of harvest. The seeds of thought are sown in words and deeds. The "Word of God" is the incorruptible seed (1Pe_1:23). That always brings forth fruit "after its kind."
2. The Soil. There are two classes of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. To sow to the flesh is to sow rotten seed, in a poisonous soil. Nothing can come from it but corruption. We sow to the flesh when we sow to our carnal self-pleasing, worldly lives. There is nothing in this for the honour of God, so it will rot like a lifeless carcass. To sow to the Spirit is to sow to the revealed will of God, that which is pleasing unto Him. Then the fruit of the Spirit will appear.
II. A Solemn Reminder. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked" (Gal_6:7). No one can ever gather "grapes from thorns," or "figs from thistles," or the fruit of the Spirit from the works of the flesh. The flesh is bad, and cannot bring forth good fruit in the sight of God. The Spirit is good, and cannot bring forth evil fruit (Mat_7:17-18). By their fruits ye shall know them.
1. Be Not Deceived. It is easy to deceive ourselves by false expectations, by trusting to appearances, by being guided by our feelings, instead of God’s Word. We deceive ourselves when we think it matters not what we sow, if only we mean well. Would that be wholesome advice for a farmer? Most certainly the self-life will never produce the fruit of the Spirit.
2. God is Not Mocked. He is not going to be silenced and put to shame by men’s indifference and unbelief, in regard to this great eternal law, that spiritual things can never be produced by carnal things. The unrenewed man cannot bring forth the fruits of the new creation. The flesh and the Spirit are as different as death and life. The Christless man sows to the fleshly life, and reaps corruption. The Christian sews to the Eternal Spirit and reaps life everlasting (Gal_6:8).
III. A Word of Encouragement. "Be not weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not" (Gal_6:9). We have much need of this cheerful word in these conflicting days. The season for us to reap the final harvest from all our spiritual sowing is not yet due; but the firstfruits are being gathered, when the personal character is being made rich with the graces of the Holy Spirit. Some weary themselves looking for the fruits of their labours, and get discouraged because they seem so scanty and poor. Let such seek more earnestly that the fruit of the Spirit may be manifested in their own lives, and God will look after the fruit of their labours (Joh_15:5)
Autor: James Smith