Title: Blessed with Faithful Abraham
Text: Galatians 3: 6-9
Date: Nov 12, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Those who opposed Paul’s gospel used the same argument
as those who oppose us. They insist that
the works of the law must be added to faith in Christ. Judaizers then and now are really saying that
though it is necessary to believe the gospel, the gospel is not sufficient
unless works of the law are added.
Legalists make works of the law a necessity for a
justifying righteousness or a sanctifying righteousness. They add many man-made commands as well,
including church creeds from the past that their members must adhere to. When it comes down to it, they always choose
their church creed over the scriptures. Pharisee’s
are always examining others; always pointing out faults; always bringing others
under censor. It is bondage. But whatever the purpose for which they make the
believer’s works a necessity, their argument amounts to the same thing—CHRIST
IS NOT ENOUGH!
A so-called faith born out of carnal reason and logic
and mental assent cannot believe the gospel.
Natural man requires a sign as did the unbelieving Jews (1 Cor 1:22). Believer
have the sign our Savior spoke of—we know we are complete because Christ was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification (Mt 16:4; Rom 4:25; Col
2: 10). But Christ is a stumblingblock to the will-worker. It is because without the Spirit of God a
carnally religious man needs outward works which they can see by carnal sight. So it was not enough to the Judaizers that
the Gentiles professed faith in Christ. They insisted that in addition to faith, the
believing Gentiles must be circumcised and live in adherence to the law of
Moses. The apostle Peter spoke very
boldly when he declared that, not only where none of their Jewish father’s able
to keep the law, but Peter also called it tempting God.
Acts 15: 10: Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a
yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear?
True believers are not justified by the works of the
law nor are we made holy by the law. We
do not grow in holiness by works of the law.
Nor do we live under the law. The
law only speaks to the lawless but has nothing to say to those made righteous
in Christ (1 Tim 1:5-11). We walk in the Spirit by faith, not by law and not in
the flesh.
In fact, the Spirit of God declares through Paul that
it is an utter impossibility to live by law and live by faith—"The just
shall live by faith and the law is not of faith” (Gal 3: 11-12). God’s elect are justified by Christ by his
faithfulness. His righteousness is
imputed to us through God-given faith in Christ. Therefore, once born of the Spirit we walk
after the Spirit living by faith in Christ through the hearing of Christ’s faithfulness
preached in the gospel. Christ is our Husband to whom we submit and
obey as a faithful bride If we go to
back to the law it would be to leave our new Husband and go back to our first
husband who is now dead (Rom 7: 1-6). The
law of God endorses our union with Christ as being a lawful and righteous
union. Therefore, everything about our
walk we learn looking to Christ.
Believing this good news, we are accused of being
against the law—antinomian. They insist the believer is yet under the ten
commandments as the believer’s rule of life.
They require works of the law to accompany faith. Since we do not bring believers back under
law, they say we are against the law.
To the contrary, God’s saints are the only ones who
are not against the law. We know the law
is established only by Christ. We do not
pretend as the legalists that an outward show of obedience is truly establishing
the law. God’s saints have a
sin-nature. Therefore, sin is mixed with
all we do. Therefore, none but Christ
ever kept the law.
It is not the law of Sinai that God writes on the new
heart. It is the covenant of grace. The statutes are the law of faith, the law of
love (also called the law of Christ), the law of liberty, the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus. The believer’s
rule of life is faith which worketh by love (Gal 5:6). The love of Christ and the law of Sinai are
two separate constraints entirely.
Brethren, when you are confronted by men who accuse
you of being against the law given at Sinai, remember our text. The Spirit of God teaches us that Abraham is
the one that best illustrates how a believer is justified through faith in
Christ and lives his life by faith in Christ.
The father of the faithful lived 430 years before the law at Sinai was
given. Abraham did not have the ten
commandments. How then did he live? What was his rule of life?
Galatians 3: 5: He therefore that ministereth to you
the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of
the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6: Even as Abraham believed God, and it
was accounted to him for righteousness. 7: Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8: And the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the
gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9: So
then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10: For as many as are of the works of the law
are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. 11: But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12: And the law is not of faith:
but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13: Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed
is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14: That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith.
Brethren, I
pray we never think of this as a doctrine that we have learned so that now we
can move on to other things. Legalism
and self-righteousness are struggles we face every day. We so easily turn from Christ to our flesh
and our works: by comparing ourselves with ourselves, by judging, by becoming
critical and doubtful of brethren, by using scripture to whip instead of build-up. We far too quickly question another’s faith based
on outward things when we do not know the heart. Doing so we bring ourselves back under the
law and into bondage. Thankfully, the
Spirit of God will not allow one in whom he dwells to remain there but will
mortify that sinful flesh. When he shows
us that only the Spirit of God can make us put off the old men then we learn a
little more of what it is to live by faith rather than law.
Proposition: God made Abraham the father of true
believers to show us that every believer is justified the same way as Abraham
and we live our lives under the same rule as Abraham.
WHAT WAS ABRAHAM WHEN GOD CALLED HIM?
The Judaizers boasted they were God’s children because
they were the children of Abraham. But
Abraham was not a Jew when Christ came to him.
God did not form the nation Israel until 430 years later when he called
them out of Egyptian bondage and entered the covenant of works with them at
Sinai.
The Judaizers insisted on outward circumcision and
keeping of the law of Sinai as a necessity for believers, especially Gentile
believers. But Abraham was not circumcised
outwardly until 15 years after God circumcised him in the heart. And the law of Sinai was not given until 430
years after Abraham died. Abraham
certainly did not begin by works of the law nor did he live under the law of
Sinai. He did not have the law of
Sinai. That covenant of works did not
exist for him. Neither does it exist for
all who believe on Christ and rest in him (Heb 7:12-19).
When God came to Abraham he was a spiritually dead
sinner worshipping idols. That is where
he would have stayed. He would have
remained a dead sinner worshipping idols but for God’s free and sovereign
grace. But because God chose Abraham in
Christ before the world began therefore God came to Abraham and preached the
gospel to him (Gal 3:8).
HOW DID GOD MINISTER THE SPIRIT TO ABRAHAM?
The apostle Paul asked the question, “He therefore
that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it
by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” However Christ sent the Spirit of God to
us in the beginning is how we continue to maturity. So did God minister the Spirit to Abraham by
the hearing of works? Was it by works
Abraham was required to do? Or was it by
the hearing of faith—the hearing of the faithful works of God? We find the answer in Genesis 12.
Genesis 12: 1: Now the LORD had said unto Abram,…
Abraham’s spiritual life began by the God of glory
coming to Abraham. God spoke and ministered the Holy Spirit to Abraham through
the Lord’s word of grace. The Lord
preached before the gospel unto Abraham.
That is the only means through which Christ sends the Holy Spirit of God
into a dead sinner. It is the only through
the preaching of the gospel that a dead sinner is regenerated to spiritual life
(1 Cor 1:21; Rom 10: 13-17). The only
way a defiled sinner is given a new, holy pure heart, ears to hear, and a heart
to believe is by Christ sending the gospel to him then sending the Holy Spirit
to regenerate through the Word. It is
not by our works—"faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of
God.” Likewise this is how God’s
saints continue unto the day Christ calls us home.
WHAT WAS THE MESSAGE?
Was it the hearing of works? Did God require Abraham do certain works
before God would minister the Spirit to him?
Or was the message the hearing of faith: the promise of the gospel declaring
what God would do for Abraham? It was the
hearing of faith! Notice God’s “I will’s”
and the result being “thou shalt.”
Genesis 12: 1: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house,
unto a land that I will shew thee: 2: And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and
in thee shall all families of the earth [all nations] be blessed. 4: So Abram
departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him;
This blessing God promised was yes and amen in the person
and work of Christ, the promised Seed.
As we read the following make sure you are using a King James translation. The word “seed” is of utmost importance
because it speaks of Christ. Most modern
translation have replaced this word and totally removed Christ from the
original.
Genesis 15: 1: After these things the word of the LORD
came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and
thy exceeding great reward…5: And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look
now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he
said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6: And he believed in the LORD; and he
counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 21: 12:…in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Genesis 22:17: That in blessing I will bless thee, and
in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Now, listen to the Spirit of God declare to us that
the “Seed” is Christ.
Galatians 3:16: Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to
thy seed, which is Christ.
So Abraham was called by the hearing of faith. The Lord preached Christ and him crucified to
Abraham. The Mediator ministered the
Holy Spirit to Abraham by the gospel which promised to Abraham that God would save
him and his spiritual children in and by Christ. He heard God promise to freely give him the blessing
of an eternal inheritance which Abraham did not work for. Our Savior himself declared, “Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56).
WHAT WAS THE RESULT?
What was the result of Christ sending the gospel and
the Holy Spirit to Abraham? Our text
says, “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” It is not the letter of the law that
Abraham obeyed, it was God himself. He
believed on Christ his Righteousness. It
was not his flesh that obeyed. It was
the Spirit of Christ in his new man that obeyed. The obedience of faith in Abraham was
manifest this way:
Genesis 12: 4: So Abram departed, as the LORD had
spoken unto him;
We know his departing was the fruit of the Spirit, the
obedience of faith, because scripture declares it:
Hebrews 11: 8 BY
FAITH Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went.
As the message went forth, God ministered to Abraham
the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit regenerated and sanctified Abraham like
he did us, brethren. God gave him a
pure, holy heart so that he believed God.
The Spirit of God set him apart in heart and set him apart from his
country and kinsman so that Abraham obeyed and went into a foreign land. Abraham lived by faith. By faith Abraham saw Christ the promised Seed
and believed on him. Through faith God
imputed the righteousness of Christ to Abraham.
With Christ as his Surety, Abraham was justified from all his sins and
made the righteousness of God in Christ.
In Christ his Surety, Abraham was dead to the law and alive unto God and
walked by faith—dead to the law in the garden, dead to the law of Sinai though
it was not yet given. And that is how
Abraham continued to live all his days, by faith living unto God.
Galatians 3: 10: For as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. 11: But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12: And the law is not of faith:
but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Having begun
in the Spirit how did Abraham live and walk?
He did not have the ten commandments so what was his rule of life? God continued to preach the gospel to Abraham,
declaring the works God would do for him.
Abraham’s rule was the hearing of faith, the hearing of God’s works
in Christ, the hearing of the promise of God.
Genesis 12: 6: And Abram passed through the land unto
the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the
land. 7: And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give
this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8:
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched
his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded
an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 9: And Abram
journeyed, going on still toward the south.
The Spirit of Christ continued to work in Abraham’s
heart so that Abraham lived and walked by faith all his days. In Abraham we see what it is to live by
faith. Remember, the law was not given
for 430 years. Abraham was dead to the
law that he might live unto God. He was
led of the Spirit, ruled by Christ, guided by the Spirit into all truth. Therefore, he lived and walked by faith.
Hebrews 11: 9: By faith he sojourned in the land of promise,
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise: 10: For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Through the preaching of the gospel, Abraham
was justified with Christ’s righteousness imputed to him through faith, apart
from Abraham’s works. By the same
gospel, by the same Spirit of Christ, Abraham lived and walked by faith. Christ lived in him and ruled his heart. The ten
commandments were not even given. That
is why God holds Abraham up as the father of the faithful. It is to show us a pattern. This is how every believer is saved and how
we live and walk by faith. Even before
Christ laid down his life, in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
Abraham could say with Paul and with you and I who believe:
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: 20:
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.
The
Spirit of Christ made Abraham obedient even against his greatest fleshly
desires. Obeying God is bearing great
crosses which are contrary to our flesh.
Our sinful flesh is a legal Pharisee. But by faith Abraham denied himself when God
commanded him to offer up Isaac. In his
heart, Abraham really sacrificed his beloved Isaac at the command of God. God made Abraham faithful to bear witness of Christ. He said, “My son, God will provide himself a
lamb.” Look how he loved Lot. He gave Lot choice of the best land to
prevent hard feelings. Then Abraham risked
his life to save Lot. The sinful things
were of Abraham’s sinful flesh just like ours.
But the good works were by Christ working in him both to will and to do
of his good pleasure.
THE APPLICATION
Galatians 3: 7: Know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
The Judaizers boasted that Abraham was their father
and that is why they were saved. Paul declares
that they were not even children of Abraham because they insisted on returning to
the law of Sinai and their works. Only
those who are of faith are true, spiritual children of Abraham. Being physical descendants of Abraham
guaranteed no spiritual blessing to Jews (Matt. 3:9). And being the physical
descendants of godly (believing) parents secures no spiritual blessing to any
today (John 1:11- 13).
Then he applies it to God’s elect Gentiles which
includes us,
Galatians 3: 8: And the scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9: So then they
which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
The scripture foresaw—meaning it foretold. We read in Genesis 15, “the Word came to
Abraham.” Christ the living Word came to
him. He came declaring the end from the
beginning. God says I purposed it, I
will also do it.
The scripture declared “God would justify.” Whoever is justified from our sins, it is God
that justifies, apart from our works:
Romans 3: 26 To
declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just,
and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
God said he would justify the heathen through faith. So the Lord preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” In Christ shall all God’s elect in every
nation be blessed. That is the gospel. God promised Abraham that in Christ and by
Christ God would save his elect from among all nations and families of the earth—even
us Gentiles who, like Abraham, were never under the law at Sinai.
Believer try to understand that the law given at Sinai
is another covenant which the Hebrew writer says is disannulled. Men will say the ten commandments are still
in effect. Indeed, they are for the
lawless and disobedient! But not for
those made righteous in Christ. He established
that covenant and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross. He removed every ordinance—every moral
commandment—that was against us. He
removed them by fulfilling them, dying under their curse in our place. The law has nothing else to say to a man it has
executed—that is every child of God in Christ.
We are under a new covenant. We have a new High Priest, a new Lamb, a new
Tabernacle and our new statute is faith which works by love. How much clearer can God be than to say to
his child you are dead to the law, you are not under the law, you are under the
covenant of grace.
It means through faith in Christ we have established
the entire law of Sinai. We have not
made the law void through faith as we are accused by legalists. No, through faith we have established the law
exactly as Abraham did (Rom 3:31-4:6). We are righteous and COMPLETE in Christ
(Col 2: 10). Our motive is not law. It is Christ in you constraining you by love. He leads you by the Spirit of God by which we
walk. We learn what to do in every
situation by looking to Christ.
But turning to law we turn from Christ to the works of
our hands. It is impossible to do
otherwise because the law is not of faith.
It is of the law it is no more by grace.
We must abide in Christ because
Christ said without him we can do nothing.
Our union is as the vine and the branches. Christ commands us to abide in him and he abides
in us which keeps us abiding in him. He
said only those who abide in him bring forth much fruit. And we, the branch, bear fruit only from Christ,
the Vine. He give us the Spirit as the vine
gives sap to the branch so that elievers bear fruit from the Spirit of Christ
in us (Jn 15: 4-5). “Being filled with fruits of righteousness, which are by
Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Php 1: 11).
But to turn to the law of Sinai as a necessity for any
part of salvation or as a requirement of salvation is to turn to our works and
our flesh. It is to go to another vine
which is intended to produce another kind of fruit: dead fruit. It would be like a peach branch grafted into
a thorn bush. No fruit. Paul said by our works under the law we only
brought forth dead fruit; fruit of which we are ashamed now.
It is only by Christ the Vine that his branches bear
fruit. When we look to Christ through
faith we find we have no sin—the law can never condemn us or even charge us
with sin. When we look at ourselves and
our so-called law-obedience we find nothing but sin—we cannot keep the law of
Sinai—only Christ kept it—abide in him by faith.
Looking to Christ we are taught how to love one
another. But when we compare ourselves
with ourselves we are either cast down by our sin or puffed up in
self-righteousness. It is what we are
doing when we are imputing a charge to brethren—exalting self in
self-righteousness. Christ is the
righteousness of the law for us and Christ is the Power who rules our life
keeping us looking to him in humble faith and serving by love. The motive of the heart is of Christ—only God
makes us to differ.
Amen!