Series: Galatians
Title: Dead and Alive
Text: Gal 2: 18-20
Date: Oct 29, 2020
Place: SGBC,NJ
Galatians 2: 18: For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I
make myself a transgressor.
The whole old covenant law has been done away in Christ. God’s saints are not under any old covenant
law of Sinai. If I bring that law back
in as a necessity to justify or sanctify me, for acceptance with God or for
rewards in heaven, or for any aspect of salvation, even as a rule of life (in
the sense the world speaks of it) then I make myself a transgressor. If I build again the middle wall of
partition—the law of Sinai—for a justifying righteousness or a sanctifying
righteousness—then I am the one who transgresses. Then he gives a reason this
is so.
Galatians 2: 19: For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might
live unto God; 20: I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faith OF the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Paul declares he
through the law is dead to the law.
How? “I am crucified with Christ.”
That is how I, through the law, am
dead to the law: I am crucified with Christ. Then how do I live? “Not I, but Christ liveth in me.” And how do I live my life as a born-again
believer? “The life I now live in the
flesh”—that is in this physical body—“I live by the faith of the Son of God”—by
Christ living in me and working in my by his faithfulness—“who loved me and
gave himself for me.”
Proposition: True believers are
dead to the law of works given at Sinai because we were crucified with Christ
and we now live because Christ lives in us: we live our life by Christ
faithfully working in us.
Christ keeps us
walking by faith, resting in Christ. He
constrains us and motivates us by his love who loved us and gave himself for
us. The old covenant given at Sinai
saying “Do and live” is the law of sin and death. But by Christ dying under that law I am dead
to the law because I was in Christ. All
God’s elect were in Christ when he was crucified. Believer you can say with Paul, “I am
crucified with Christ.” Now, the new
covenant of grace everlasting is the law we are under. It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. Under this covenant we live by
Christ regenerating us to spiritual life.
And we live life, walking by faith constrained by love, by Christ working
in us faithfully.
DEAD TO THE LAW
How are true believer’s
dead to the law? “I through the law
am dead to the law…I am crucified with Christ.”
God gave one law in
the garden. Adam broke it. Thus all his people became dead in trespasses
and in sins. The law that God gave at Mt
Sinai was to declare us all guilty, under the curse, destined for death.
Romans 3: 19: Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. 20: Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.
All God’s elect
sinned in Adam, along with every other child of Adam. The law given at Sinai shows us how greatly
we sinned.
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law
entered, that the offence might abound.
By that one
transgression, we broke every moral, ceremonial and civil law given at Sinai. We never lived in righteousness before God morally. We never worshipped God in righteousness as the
ceremonial law typifies. Nor have we
ever obeyed civil law in righteousness.
And to break one law is to break the whole law. That is what we did by the one transgression
in the garden. That is what we do in our
sinful thoughts every hour. That is what
we do in practice every day.
But the law given at
Sinai, not only declares we are guilty and must die, it also declares that
Christ is its fulfillment! The law and
the prophets bear witness that it is by the faithfulness of Christ living and
dying for his people by which Christ makes his people the righteousness of God
in him.
Romans 3: 21: But now the righteousness of God without the law is
manifested, BEING WITNESSED BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS; 22: Even the
righteousness of God which is BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST unto all and upon
all them that believe: for there is no difference
When Paul says “I
through the law am dead to the law” it is because Christ fulfilled the
whole law given by his death. All God’s
elect were crucified in him. He redeemed
us from the curse Adam put us under.
Also, being crucified
under the law, Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law. Christ is the fulfillment of every type
and shadow. He took the ceremony out of
the way: we are dead to the old covenant of works. Now, with Christ formed in us, we are alive
to God under his everlasting covenant of grace.
We live to Christ who is our High Priest, our Lamb, our Mercy Seat, our
Tabernacle.
Furthermore, Christ
fulfilled the civil law. Scripture
says, “the government shall be on Christ’s shoulder.” Christ was made under the law of Israel
and fulfilled the civil law. Now with
Christ formed in us, we are alive to God under his covenant of grace living
unto Christ our King, as his righteous and holy servants, in his kingdom. The government—our government—is on Christ’s
shoulder and we live unto him.
In addition, Christ
fulfilled the moral law—the ten commandments. Christ is the Righteousness of the moral law. He is the only Man who is Holy, Just and Good
as the moral law of God. When Christ was
crucified and we were crucified in him.
God’s elect died on the cross and now we live by Christ living in us.
Romans 6: 6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin. 7: For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8: Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9: Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10: For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he
liveth unto God. 11: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto
sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12: Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof.
As Paul says in our text, by building up again the law as a requirement
for some aspect of salvation, that is the lust of the flesh which Paul is
dealing with. Now with Christ formed in
us, we are delivered from the law, we are alive to God—"I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
Brethren, the only way we can be alive to God is to be dead unto the law—"I
am crucified with Christ.” The only
way we can be alive to God is to be the righteousness of God: Christ is our
Life, our Righteousness—"I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Christ has delivered us from the law of sin
and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8: 1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2: For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death.
Christ has taken us
out of the realm of flesh into the realm of the Spirit.
Romans 8:9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Christ is our Life,
our Righteousness, by whom we live unto God: Righteousness is life; Life is
righteousness. You cannot have one
without the other.
Romans 8:10: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
When we are made righteousness in
Christ it means there is no law against us.
It means before God’s judgment seat, we cannot break the law. We are eternally righteous. We are eternally alive by Christ’s death and
life.
Romans 8: 33: Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It
is God that justifieth. 34: Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Now when we go to the old covenant law, we behold Christ who is our
Life, our Righteousness, by whom we live.
We delight in the law after the inward man because we behold Christ our
Righteousness who established it for us.
The law declares to us how righteous Christ is. Christ has given the law perfect obedience
for us and his righteousness really is our righteousness. God declares we have kept every precept and
since Christ put away our sin we cannot break one law; this is our eternal
standing before God.
Therefore, to bring a believer back under obligation to the law is to
call Christ the minister of sin and to make myself a transgressor because
Christ yielded perfect obedience to it and gave me life by it.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF BEING DEAD TO THE LAW AND
ALIVE TO GOD
A dead man has no relationships. So the man who is dead to the law has no
relationship between himself and the old covenant law. The relationship is dissolved (Rom. 7:1-4). The law is like a first husband who died. Now we are lawfully married to Christ. Our relationship is with Christ our Husband. We look to him for everything.
In death there is no care, no concern, no
doing—Ecclesiastes 9:10: There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor
wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest. The man that is dead to the law has no
more care or concern about the works of the law like we had while trying to
live and be just and holy by the law. Now
we live unto Christ who justified us. We
mind the things of the Spirit, rather than carnal things. We walk after the Spirit, we are led of the
Spirit, and the Spirit keeps our mind and affection set on things above not on
things on the earth. We have a
sin-nature that minds only earthly, carnal things. But the Spirit makes us look to Christ our
Life. He makes us wait on him by faith. Our mind is no longer set on us, no longer set
on touch not, taste not, handle not. We
are alive unto God eternally now. We get
our law directly from Christ—the law of faith and love.
In death there is no hope; “To all the
living there is hope…” (Eccl. 9:4). Being
dead to the law we have no hope or expectation from the law by our obedience to
it. We have no hope that God will pardon
us or pity us because of our works under the law. We have no hope that because we have been good
to our neighbor or just in our dealings with our neighbor God will do something
for us. Now, being alive to God, our
hope is Christ. In Christ we have
kept the law so we hope for righteousness by faith. Our hope of eternal life enters into the veil
where Christ sits at God’s right hand as our forerunner (Gal 5:5; Heb 6:
19-20).
In death there is no works to weary us and
nothing to terrify us—Job 3:17: There the wicked cease from troubling; and
there the weary be at rest. Those
who are yet alive to the law work in weariness trying to obtain life by their
works. They weary themselves in the
greatness of their way (Isa. 57:10). They
try to make brick without straw. Now,
we are dead to the law so that the weary are at rest. Christ is our rest; “Come
to me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Christ
is rest to our conscience from our legal fears.
He is rest from legal slavish works.
Christ is our Sabbath in whom all the works are finished! Sweet, sweet rest!
In death there are no senses. Being dead to the law we do not see the
lightnings of Sinai on fire. We do not
hear the thunders of Sinai roaring in our ears.
We do not feel the terror of the
law in our bones. We do not taste the
bitter dregs of God’s wrath threatened in the law. Now, being alive to Christ we behold how Christ
drank the dregs for us so we “have not come to the mount that might not be
touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and
tempest, and the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of words, but they are
come to mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,” (Heb. 12:18-24).
HOW DO WE LIVE?
Galatians 2: 20:…I live, yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Christ is our Life by whom we live. Christ is our life at God’s right hand and
Christ is formed in us. We live by Christ
our Life.
It is impossible to make ourselves godly. We are made godly when born of the Spirit of
Christ when a new spirit is put within when we are created in a sanctified state
in union to Christ by the faith of God’s operation.
Then we are married to Christ our Husband and
it is he who produces fruit in us unto God. The tree of Adam cannot bear good fruit—our
flesh is sin. It is only the true Vine that
bears good fruit (John 15:4,5)—Christ makes the tree good. Thus being united to Christ he produces fruit
in us.
Only when the Spirit of God’s Son in us are
we born into a state of adoption; only then are made followers of God as dear
children.
Christ is the bread
of our life. We would die if he did not
feed us with his flesh which is living bread and water
Christ is the
medicine of our life—the Balm of Gilead.
When we seek to be healed spiritually from our sin we do not go to the
law, we touch the hem of his garment. Our
soul is healed under the wings of the Sun of righteousness.
It is called a living
in the Spirit: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit,”
(Gal. 5:25). We cry,
Psalm 143:10: Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my
God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
Christ our Husband
produces fruits of the Spirit: fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus
Christ. (Gal. 5:22) The Spirit subdues
our old nature so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh: the power of
the Spirit restrains the power of sin in our flesh. Oh, we sin.
But God only permits our flesh to arise for a season. And he only does it to teach us that it is
the Spirit of Christ, not us, by whom we live.
We are comforted by the Spirit our Comforter. We live in constant dependence upon Christ,
upon the Spirit of our Redeemer, and his grace is sufficient. By him we can do all things. Without him we can do nothing. It is living under the influence of the grace
of God which effectually works in us—God “working in us both to will and to
do of his good pleasure.”
Christ is the Head—we are the body—members in
particular. Christ is our Redeemer—we
are bought with a price; our bodies are not our own, therefore his love
constrains us to glorify the Lord in our souls and bodies, which are his. It is a living to God as our heavenly Father,
depending on him as children on their father.
It is a living to Christ as our King and our Law-giver—we sit at his
feet receiving the word from his mouth, yielding praise, obedience, and
subjection to our loving, righteous King!
It is from Christ that we are given grace to
live. He enlightens us in the knowledge
of himself making us children of light so that we walk as children of light. It is by his grace to us that we are made gracious
to others. Being forgiven by God for the
sake of Christ, makes us forgive those who trespass against us. Christ is our Peace with God and he makes us
peacemakers with our brethren and with all.
Only by him renewing and sanctifying us
inwardly do we mortify the lust of our flesh.
Beholding our Life at God’s right hand—he makes us set our affection on
things above and live as citizens of heaven, as pilgrims and strangers passing
through this world. By communion with
him beholding him high and lifted up that we sanctify the Lord in our hearts, His love shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost and that makes us love.
Only by Christ living in us do we believe we
are dead to the law. Only by Christ
living in us do we live unto God. A man
that is under the law can perform no holy act: he may do good things but
nothing is done in holiness. “To the
pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is
nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled,” (Titus 1:5).
A man’s living to the law, or being alive to
the law, makes him live in sin. He lives
unto himself. Israel missed righteousness,
because they sought it by the works of the law rather than by faith.
Colossians 2: 14: Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to
his cross; 20: Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ [dead to the law] from the
rudiments of the world, [the law is only for those who live in the world, not
for a righteous man; not for heaven, therefore] why, as though living in the
world, [why as though you have life by the law] are ye subject to ordinances, 21:
(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22: Which all are to perish with the using;)
after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23: Which things have indeed a shew
of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any
honour to the satisfying of the flesh. 3: 1: If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. 2: Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5: Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth;
Brethren, Paul is declaring that by bringing the law back in we are
making ourselves transgressors. We are
treating our body as though it is alive and can give us life. Mortify that lust! Do not be a debtor to the flesh to live after
the flesh. If we build again the law—all
the things he lists in verse 5 on are the lusts we are committing by attempting
to live under law. It is all living
after the flesh. So treat this body as
dead because ye are dead, crucified with Christ.
By Christ living in us we live to God because
our Life has the Spirit of God for the power of it, the word of God for the
rule of it, the love of God for the motive of it and the glory of God for the
ultimate end of it. We say “Whom have
I in heaven but thee? And there is none in all the earth that I desire besides
thee.”
Amen!