Not By Works

[0:00] works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and work miracles among you do so by works of the law or by the hearing of faith, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

[0:38] And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, and you shall all the nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Let's pray together.

[0:59] Father, I thank you for your word. And Lord, I thank you for these things. And if we don't take time to think about them and consider them, these could be dry truths. But when we think about them, when we when we dig in to know what's there, it's a glorious thing to know of your power and wisdom and all knowledge, the ways you've chosen to bless your people, the ways you've chosen to work in your people. And the wonder of working in the midst of sinful people to bring them to yourself and providing for salvation completely, even though like Abraham, his life was still so full of sin.

[1:43] But I thank you, Father, for the work that you did. Thank you that you saved him by grace through faith and that you offer that to people today and your people today. The only ones who will be able to be in your presence are those who are saved by grace through faith, trusting in the work of Christ.

[2:02] I pray that you would be with us. Help us to rejoice in that today. I pray that you would help us to learn from your word. And Father, that you would work in our hearts in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. The book of Galatians was written to deal with those who are trying to make believers keep the law in order to be saved. And they were these people who were trying to do this were perverting the gospel. And so Paul wrote this book to deal with that. Last time we looked at how it was plain that they had been saved by faith. They had been saved by trusting Christ. Paul had laid the gospel out before them and they had heard it and they believed it. And they were true Christians and they knew it. And Paul says, what happened? You were taught the gospel. You believed the gospel.

[2:52] You understood it and it was true and you understood it. Who bewitched you and has tried to lead you away from the truth. He's tried to get you to say, oh, you need to do these works in order to be saved.

[3:09] And so Paul asked that question. And so he makes an argument. He makes this argument that their testimony was already that they had trusted Christ. So we read the first nine verses. We're going to start dealing with verses six through nine by looking again at verse five, because verse six is really the middle of the sentence. And it makes sense to look at that. So verse five, does he who supplies, supply the spirit to you and work miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing of faith? And that verse is set up so that the answer, the understood answer, the true answer is, well, you were saved by faith. You were saved by hearing with faith. And so he takes that and begins at that very point to begin with an illustration and, and not only just an illustration, but tying back truths that are true truths clear back to Abraham. Now he's linking it with Abraham. It can be true truths. He could have gone back to Adam and Eve and the people who walked with God, Noah, he could have been an example here, but he picked Abraham on, on purpose because those who are coming and saying, oh, you need to be circumcised. Yes, they were basing that on the law, but they are also tying it back to Abraham and the covenant that God made with Abraham. You remember that covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the big important sign and seal that covenant was circumcision. And, and the Judaizers were all caught up in circumcision saying, if you're going to be a real Christian, if you're really going to be a

[4:55] Christian that God accepts, you not only need to trust Christ, but you need to be circumcised. And they tie that back with Abraham and the covenant that was signed and sealed by circumcision.

[5:07] And so Paul could have jumped to anywhere in the old Testament and given the same gospel message, but because they were trying to pull from Abraham, because they were trying to defend their position based on Abraham, he goes back to Abraham and deals with what it said there. Now, of course, there's a lot written there. And it's interesting because I'm getting ahead of myself, but Paul jumps there, not only because there's a lot there and it applies to what's going on, but God foreseeing what would happen, put answers there and in his word that Paul is going to quote. And it's like God knew what he was doing all along. And so we'll look at that as we go through. So my first main point today is basically just a summation of what's here. And that it was that Abraham was saved the same way you and I are. Now the argument that he has here, he's saying to the Galatian people, Abraham was saved the way you were speaking to the Galatians. And that's what he's going to argue.

[6:12] But the truth is true, not only to the Galatians, but to every person who's been saved since the Galatians. And really the truth is true, even for every person who's been saved from the Galatians back to Adam and Eve. This is a true truth. That's true through the whole of scripture.

[6:29] And that is everybody is saved the same way that Abraham was saved. Adam was saved this way. Noah was saved this way. Uh, here, Abraham is saved this way. Moses was saved this way. Even though he gave the law, he was saved the same way Abraham was saved. And you could go right down through it. Elijah was saved this way. And, uh, right down through all the old Testament private prov prophets there.

[6:57] And, um, even John the Baptist was saved this way. Uh, all saved the same way. So Abraham was saved the same way you were by faith. And so, uh, that's why he picks Abraham. So the Judaizers tried to say that Abraham was saved by faith and the obedience of circumcision. Now they based this on Genesis 17, 10. This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you.

[7:30] Every male among you shall be circumcised. So he's bringing that, that understanding in. He's explaining where these Judaizers are getting their thinking. They're going back to scripture, but they're not looking at the whole of the picture. They're not even being very good at looking at the details of Genesis 17. Um, the details of that covenant was a covenant of a people through whom Messiah would come, not a covenant of salvation. Sorry. Some of you, I understand where you get this and I'm, I'm not knocking you about this. This is not a covenant of salvation, but it points to how Abraham was saved the same way we are. Okay. So these Judaizers, they go back to this covenant with circumcision. They say that this is the way to be a true child of Abraham. If you're going to be a true child of Abraham, you're going to be, to be saved by yes, accepting Christ as savior, but also being circumcised. That's what they said. That's what the Judaizers said. And they are looking for what they want to see rather than what is there. Now, let me just say this. I made a comment and I don't be smirch those who are of a good Presbyterian thinking. I'm not speaking of their thinking of the covenant of Abraham. I'm not be smirching that at all. Um, I understand where they get that. It makes sense. I don't follow it the same way, but, um, I, I'm not knocking it. It, it, I can see where they can get that from scripture and it not be an offense to the gospel anyway. So these people, the Judaizers were looking for what they wanted to see rather than what was there. They tried to base salvation on Abraham.

[9:23] They tried to base Abraham salvation on Abraham, keeping the covenant of circumcision. And of course, that is not what's really going on there. And Paul points to scripture to demonstrate that, that God, um, God declared Abraham righteous years before God instituted the covenant of circumcision.

[9:47] Years before he was, he was circumcised. So I want, I want you to point, I want to point you back to verse five here in this passage. I read it. I'll reread it again. Does he who supplies his spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing of faith? Um, and then it goes on just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. So Paul's arguing with these Galatian people saying, now think about this. The Judaizers are saying that Abraham was saved by circumcision, but Paul says, no, wait a minute. That's not what scripture says.

[10:29] Scripture says, and he's quoting here from, uh, Genesis. He says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. We'll get to that. That's Genesis 15 five. And we'll talk about that in just a minute, but he's pointing back to scripture and it says nothing about circumcision.

[10:50] Paul here is making an argument that the Galatians were saved the same way that Abraham was. Abraham was saved by faith. Okay. So if you want to keep your place here, I'm going to read it. We're going to go back to Genesis. We're going to look at Genesis 12. We're going to look at, um, a couple of other verses in Genesis. I'll read one from Hebrews. It's up to you. First, I'm going to look at Genesis chapter 12. This is the first interaction that we see in scripture that God dealt with Abraham at that time called Abram and Abraham was saved by faith. And that was demonstrated by his actions.

[11:29] It was demonstrated by his actions. It's not how he got saved. It showed that he was trusting God in Genesis 12, one through four says, now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation.

[11:49] And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you. I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham went as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him. Abraham was 75 years old when he departed for, from Haran. Now, um, Paul doesn't address this. I I'm, I'm just giving here some actions that, that, uh, demonstrate Abraham's faith, demonstrate that it was before he was circumcised. Paul centers on one argument that we'll get to in just not the next paragraph, but the paragraph after that. So he was a man who believed God and in obedience and are in faith, obeyed God, uh, going out from Hebron. Now I quote those verses because Hebrews chapter 11, verses eight through 10 referred to Genesis 12, one through four and claim him to be a man of faith at that point. So I'm going to make the case in a few minutes that Abraham was declared righteous 13 years before he was circumcised. But if you take Hebrews declaration of Abraham and look back to

[13:16] Haran and him leaving Haran, actually he left Ur of Chaldees and then he was called again to leave Haran. He left initially when he was 75 years old and he was circumcised at 99 years old.

[13:31] 24 years before he was circumcised, the Bible calls Abraham a man of faith, not just that he had faith, but that he had faith in God to do and to do what he said he would do. And so here, uh, in Hebrews chapter 11, verses eight through 10, let me read that by faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going, but I'm sorry, by faith, he went to live in a land of promise as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city who that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. And that last phrase does not apply to Canaan. I wish we had time to explain all that, but he's looking for heaven. He's looking to trust Christ and be in God's presence. He's looking for the city whose foundations God has built.

[14:39] And if you want the answer to that, look to Genesis chapter 21, I think it is. And you'll find the city whose foundations God has built. That's what Abraham was looking for. And so, um, he demonstrated his actions as actions of a man of faith. The new tribute, new Testament attributes his actions to be a result of faith. And then he, in Genesis chapter 15, Abraham is declared to be righteous by God in Genesis 15, five and six. If you turned earlier, it's just a page or so after. Let me read the first verses of Genesis chapter six, or Genesis chapter 15 verses one through six. Um, background Abraham, a lot had been captured by the five Kings of the plane. Abraham had gathered his servants together and they, uh, band of 300 and some odd people had gone out to, to rescue Lot and God gives them deliverance and they defeat these five Kings. But as he comes back, he's worried because he has attacked a five nation, uh, group of

[15:53] Kings. And now are they going to turn on him or not? They, but the people that are around us, Hey, who's this guy? He's coming in here? He's wiping out Kings. We better get him before he gets us. And so he's scared. And in Genesis chapter 15, it's just after he's come back and he's living in that scared state in verse one, it says, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not Abram. I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, Oh Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless? And the air of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, behold, you have given me no offspring and a member of my household will be my heir. Behold, the word of the Lord came to him. This man shall not be here. The steward won't be your heir.

[16:55] Your very own son shall be your heir. And he thought he brought him outside and says, look toward heaven, number the stars. If you're able to number them, then he said to them, so shall your offering offspring be. And he believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness.

[17:17] This is the verse that Paul refers to. This is where God flat out says he's righteous. There's no questioning this. Now they couldn't really question the other. Although the book of Hebrews wasn't written yet, they couldn't question it because God said it was true. But here there's, this is absolutely something they can't question. And again, as I mentioned earlier, this is 13 years before he was circumcised. God declares him righteous at that time, 13 years before God instituted the covenant of circumcision. Genesis 17, 24 and 25. This is, this is God has instituted the covenant of circumcision. Abraham says he'll do it. And this is where he takes care of making sure the sign is rightly applied. Genesis 17, 24 and 25. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael, his son was 13 years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Now I say 13 years. Isaac was 13 years. God had promised him a son. And it was right at the time around the birth of Isaac that he had been promised a son. And then Abraham took matters into his own hands. So at least 13 years had gone by and God had already said that Abraham was righteous. I declare him righteous. So we go back to Galatians chapter two. Paul has made the argument in the first five verses. You, you were saved by faith. It was pretty obvious. And here he's making the argument as we go through this, you were saved the same way. Remember the end of, of verse five and into verse six, just as Abraham believed and it was counted to him for righteousness. What's going on there? He said in those first three verses, it's evident that you were saved by faith.

[19:27] faith. And he's making the connection here that as you were, you're saved by faith, just like Abraham was. You're saved in the same way. They were saved by the hearing of faith, hearing with faith.

[19:47] Paul had preached the gospel of Christ crucified to them in Galatians one, last half of verse one. It was before your eyes that Christ, Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. And they had accepted the work of Christ for them by faith and lived in that salvation by faith for a while. Was it a month?

[20:06] Was it several months? Was it a year? Was it two years? We don't know exactly. Depends on how you interpret the, the timing in, in acts there, but they had accepted it and lived by faith for a while.

[20:20] And they didn't question it until these people come. And then all of a sudden these people come and Paul's reaction in chapter one in verse six, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. You, you heard the gospel playing for me.

[20:41] I didn't add law to it. I didn't add circumcision to it. That's not required. It's not necessary. I never preached that to you. And you heard the gospel plain and clear and you accepted it.

[20:53] And it was evident in some of the things in the first few verses that we talked about last week. It's evident that you truly were saved and you are saved just like Abraham.

[21:05] Abraham. And it was before his circumcision and before that circumcision, God declared him righteous. That's you. You who put your faith in Christ. You're declared righteous without works, without doing something that someone else requires.

[21:21] They were saved by the hearing with faith. They had accepted the work of Christ by faith. And the Judaizers were trying to say that you Gentiles need to be saved like Abraham was saved.

[21:36] That's what they were trying to say. You need to be saved like Abraham was trying to be, was saved. And, and you might be saying, now, wait a minute, preacher. You've just talked about how Abraham was saved by faith alone.

[21:48] Yes. And that's exactly true. But what the Judaizers were saying is go back to Genesis 17. That's how Abraham was saved. Is that true? That's not true.

[22:00] That's not what scripture points out. That's not what, what, um, God was getting at that Paul was getting at. That's not what Abraham did. It wasn't because of his circumcision that he was saying, but the Judaizers were claiming that they were ignoring Genesis 15, 6.

[22:18] They were ignoring the testimony of Genesis 12, 1 through 4. They were ignoring God's very declaration.

[22:29] Abraham, you believe what I said. You're righteous. And to get to their way of thinking, to get what they wanted in these people, they were willing to ignore scripture and ignore the clear declaration of God, the clear sequence of things to say, well, brothers and sisters, you need to do this in order to be saved.

[22:52] And Paul's saying that's not true. And it's true. And it's true by, it's not true because the evidence says it's not true. It's not because I like this version, Paul could say.

[23:02] It's not because I think that's just a waste of time, Paul could say. Paul's saying, that's scripture. Why did you move from it? So Paul is going on to say to the Galatians, since you were saved the same way Abraham was, don't be influenced by this false gospel.

[23:22] These people coming in who have some sort of agenda. They're purposely ignoring scripture to get you to do what they want you to do.

[23:33] Don't listen to them. Don't be influenced by the false gospel of thinking that you need to add obedience to the law, obedience to the law with your faith in order to be saved.

[23:49] And so he's encouraging them to be very careful. To avoid this, just a little side note. I won't take long.

[24:01] This very teaching helped me so much in my Christian life. I used to believe, along with so many who were in some of the struggles of dispensationalism, I used to believe, I hate to admit this, I used to believe that New Testament people were saved by Christ.

[24:23] And Old Testament people were saved by keeping the law. That they did the things the law said, and that God was pleased enough for that to take them to heaven. And as I went through Romans the second time, I believe it was, and went through Galatians, have gone through Galatians before, I began to see, wait a minute.

[24:44] There was no different kind of salvation for Abraham. None at all. It's the same kind of salvation. They were looking forward, and there's a lot of things they couldn't see or understand, but they had the promise.

[25:00] There will be one who comes who will crush the serpent's head. But his heel will only be bruised. Paul makes it clear. And then through scripture, more and more is revealed.

[25:13] Paul makes it pretty clear. I was going to add this, but I didn't put it in, and so I won't elaborate on it. Maybe we'll get into it more later in the book of Galatians. Paul said, Abraham looked to Christ.

[25:28] And he said it pretty specifically. And Jesus says, when they questioned him about what Abraham said, Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day.

[25:44] And pointing to the fact that he may well have understood much more than we give them credit to understand. But those, aside from that, those in the Old Testament were looking forward to Christ.

[25:57] And how were they saved? By looking forward, trusting in what God said that he would do. Whether it was as small as the promises in Genesis 3.15, or as they grew larger and larger through the Old Testament.

[26:13] Even getting to Isaiah 52 and 53, and talking about the suffering servant, and how he would be as a lamb to the slaughter, a sheep to the slaughter, and how he would give his life without complaint, and he would be taking on himself the sins of those around.

[26:31] The gospel would become clearer and plainer, but it was gospel from the very beginning. And everyone who has been saved from Adam and Eve, till the last moment, till this age is done, is saved because Christ died for them, and because they're trusting what he did.

[26:52] Never, ever, ever has there been a time when you and I could do one thing that would help us to be saved, or that could make us saved.

[27:02] And these people were trying very hard, these Judaizers were trying very hard to get people to believe that they needed to do something. And you'll find that that's true today.

[27:17] All the false religions that are around you, every single one of them, asks you to do something to get to heaven. Roman Catholicism, if you've sinned, you need to do these things to take care of your sin.

[27:34] And you could just, if it's Jehovah's Witness, you need to be out knocking on doors, and doing some other things. Mormons, it's other things. Everyone asks you to do something to get to heaven.

[27:48] Christ is the only one who has done it all for you, and says, trust me. And be very careful. I know I've rang this bell almost every message that we've dealt with Galatians, but it is the oldest heresy in the world, and it is the ever-present heresy in the world.

[28:09] Because it's built right into us. We're the kind of people who want to do something to be pleasing in God's sight. And that is a damnable heresy. You cannot do anything to be pleasing in God's sight.

[28:23] You must trust Christ. All right. Verses 8 and 9. In this section, it turns a corner. And the Judaizers had been in a situation where you're going to be blessed, you're going to be called the sons of Abraham if you get circumcised.

[28:47] And Paul says, uh-uh, you've missed Scripture again. You've not paid attention and read what's there. The Judaizers claimed that they were sons of Abraham because of their circumcision, but Paul will demonstrate that all people who are saved by faith are sons of Abraham.

[29:04] Now, they were claiming they were sons of Abraham because they were Jews and they were circumcised. Or they would say other people were sons of Abraham because they had been Gentiles and they'd become proselytes of the Jewish religion and they had become circumcised.

[29:19] And so he says it all comes back to doing those things that pertain to circumcision, the covenant of Abraham, and it's not that at all. And so he demonstrates that all people who are saved are the sons of Abraham.

[29:34] They thought it only took place through the physical lineage. Paul is saying, No. Sons of Abraham take place through the spiritual lineage, the those of faith lineage of Abraham.

[29:58] I have this quote here and somehow the name didn't get in. This is not mine. It belongs to someone else. Christ in his teaching had emphasized the same truth, namely, that not physical descent, but spiritual likeness makes a person a true son of Abraham.

[30:17] Those are the sons of Abraham who do the works of Abraham. And the work of Abraham is to trust, not circumcision.

[30:28] He was declared righteous at least 13 years before circumcision. He was declared righteous. Why? Not because he got circumcised, because he trusted God and the promise that God would provide.

[30:45] John 8, 39, They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works that Abraham did. And what did he mean?

[30:57] You'd be believing me. That's what he meant. That's what he was pointing to. Paul's arguing that they, the Galatians, are sons of Abraham because of God's promise.

[31:14] Galatians 3, 8. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed.

[31:28] It says, just clear up this so you understand what's going on here. It says, And the scripture preached. The scripture preached. Usually people preach. What's going on here?

[31:40] Well, scripture is God breathed. And here, scripture is personified because it's saying what God said. The scripture is personified here also because it is reminding us of something that God has recorded for all of his people to see and know.

[31:58] So, the writer of Galatians, or, of, anyway, Genesis, he's saying that scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles, preached, and that is another way of saying God was saying this.

[32:15] God made sure that this was in. Foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. And we've already established that the only way anyone can be saved by faith is in Christ.

[32:27] Paul's now pointing out that God has always intended to save the Gentiles. The Judaizers said God always intended to save the Jews.

[32:39] And if you want to be saved, become a Jew. And Paul here is saying, no, you look at the evidence. And God has always intended to save Gentiles by faith.

[32:52] Not by being proselytes. Not by taking on the characteristics of Jews, but by being saved the same way the original Jew was saved.

[33:05] By faith. By faith. Always God's purpose. Since God included this blessing of foreknowledge that the Gentiles would be saved by faith through Abraham, and that's ultimately by faith in Abraham's seed, then circumcision or any other law cannot be kept.

[33:29] So he's saying, I want you to rejoice. These people say the only way you can be a son of Abraham is by becoming a Jew. No, that's not the case. God had planned on saving Gentiles.

[33:44] He planned on saving Gentiles from before the foundation of the world. But now he's talking about it as he talks with, or speaks with Abraham. So that's something to rejoice in.

[33:57] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. So he's saying, first there's a blessing that God said he would always, it was always his plan to save Gentiles.

[34:10] So as you sit here today, it has been God's plan, and we know this from this, but we also know it from Ephesians chapter 1. It has been God's plan to save you who are saved here today.

[34:21] It has always been his plan. If you are his, he has always planned on saving you. It's not something new. This is not plan B. It's not that the Jews failed in serving God and the way of salvation died out, so God had to come up with another way.

[34:38] Oh, let's send my son. Maybe they'll respect my son and they'll trust him. But that's not what was going on. Always, always, always it has been Christ. And so that's the first thing.

[34:51] God has always planned on saving Gentiles. But not only that, God has always chose, or planned on blessing the people of faith just like he blessed Abraham.

[35:03] And you think about the life of Abraham. Now, he messed up a lot, but God blessed him a lot. Now, I'm not going to be a lot of wealth.

[35:15] I'm not saying that at all. We're going to suffer. We may well be poor most of our lives. We will be sick. We may not own but a post-it stamp in our life.

[35:26] But we're going to be blessed like Abraham. Abraham was blessed because he believed God and it was counted him for righteousness. He was blessed with salvation. I mean, we could stop there and that be it.

[35:39] if you and I have been blessed with salvation, if we live a miserable life all our days, if we are sick every day of our life, if we are crippled every day of our life, if we are poor every day of our life, if nothing goes right every day of our life, and yet in the end we go to heaven, what's that?

[36:01] It's nothing. So we're blessed with salvation. but the blessing, another part of the blessing is not just salvation.

[36:16] Another part of our salvation, many feel, is wrapped up in the Aaronic blessing.

[36:28] You say, the Aaronic blessing, you've heard it all the time. You know it well. If I start, you almost will probably be able to finish it. The Lord bless you and keep you.

[36:38] the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. It's a blessing. It's a blessing, presence, protection, and God's lifting up his countenance upon you, giving favor to you.

[36:58] Those who are of faith are like Abraham and are blessed like Abraham. Abraham. Abraham had a lot of cattle and all that stuff, but that's not what it's talking about.

[37:10] Now, eventually, we'll get there. In the new heavens and new earth, we'll enjoy beyond our wildest imaginations. But even now, we're going to enjoy the same kind of things that Abraham enjoyed.

[37:24] God kept Abraham. After defeating those five kings, nobody come after him. Abraham. He lived as a sojourner in that land. He was a great man.

[37:35] Many people were afraid of him, and yet God protected him. He kept him. God shone his face upon Abraham and blessed him. Gave him a son at 100 years old.

[37:51] I'd say that's pretty great. Now, all of us are sitting here going, yeah, it was hard when I was 30. I don't know if I'd want it when I was 100. And I understand. all that. But if your heart's desire and your longing is to have an heir, have a son, and if God gives it to you at 100, that's a blessing.

[38:17] And he was gracious to him. Abraham was a great man of faith, but he was a great sinner. Lied about his wife two times.

[38:30] called him, yeah, she was his half sister, but that was the skin of a truth stuffed with a lie. And yet, God was gracious to him.

[38:45] And he's gracious to us. How many things do we do when we stop and think, how does God ever love me? How does he ever put up with me? God's love me?

[38:56] It's because being a person who trusts Christ by faith, you're saved, and it's because of his son, and everything's bought by his son, and everything's provided by his son, and you're in that condition.

[39:11] So God's presence, protection, and blessing, we could go further, but we'll wrap this up. So then, those who come by faith alone for salvation, and all of our Christian walk are blessed like Abraham.

[39:29] That applies to the Galatians, that applies to all the Gentiles, that applies to all the Jews, and that applies to you and me. So, before we even around, God called a blessing down on us.

[39:45] those who would trust Christ are blessed with Abraham. Now, we'll have to stop here. Paul is setting up a contrast, because next week we're going to look at those who are cursed, and we'll see that as we go along.

[40:03] But we have a God who's done all this, and it's not because we've been circumcised, it's not because we've kept the law, it's not because we've done anything, it's because his son provided salvation, and he has brought us to trust him by faith, and that's where we're to rest, and not let anybody steal that from us.

[40:22] What a thing to praise God for. You and I are like Abraham, hopefully we don't call our wife our sister, and put our wife in that kind of situation, but we do some pretty dumb things.

[40:38] Praise God for this kind of salvation, where he's done it all. God blessed Abraham, he watched over Abraham, he was with Abraham, and God gave Abraham peace, and we enter into those same blessings, because we trust in the same Christ for salvation.

[40:59] Secondly, let me just mention this, in our interactions, we need to be careful not to require more than Christ requires for forgiveness. Now I'm talking about taking the gospel that we live, and how we relate to the people around us.

[41:15] God doesn't require of us something, some work, some repayment until he forgives us. As you and I sit here, we're bound to offend one another.

[41:31] We should not allow or require something as a standard, when they do this, then I'll forgive them. don't require something beyond just your forgiveness.

[41:46] Now, there are situations where repentance is right, I'm not getting into that, but you don't have to draw blood to be able to be able to give forgiveness to people. Don't set up non-gospel standards of others in holding your opinion to them.

[42:01] I'll love them when they love the kind of music I love. Or I'll love them when they like the kind of food that I think is right. Or I'll love them when they spend their money the way I think is right.

[42:16] We've been saved by grace. We should show grace. If you're here and you don't know Christ, and think that you have some foundations for saying that you've done what you could.

[42:34] I mean, you've been here and how many of us haven't talked with people? How many of us haven't been the people who at one point in our life said, you know, you asked me about if I'm going to heaven, and I've done what I could, and I think in the end, God, he's going to look favorably with me, and, you know, I think God owes me salvation, because I'm better than, I'm at least 51% better, or better than 51% of the people.

[43:03] God owes me salvation. salvation. If that's the case, you've not seen salvation as God has pretended it, presented it. If you're hoping that what you have done in this life is enough for God to owe you salvation, you have no hope.

[43:21] One sin is all that would require eternal damnation in hell. You have no hope. God has said throughout scripture that those who desire salvation can only come like Abraham, trusting the promise of salvation, trusting in what Christ offers, how he offers salvation to all who will trust only in what he has done to pay for salvation.

[43:48] So let me encourage you, if you're here and you've wondered, am I, am I, could I get to heaven? It's only going to be because you're trusting in what Christ has done.

[44:00] Until you're there, if you're at any point saying, yeah, I want to trust and I hope he remembers that I've done this, then you're not there. When you can say, I need him and he's all I need and nothing I can do can help me, that's when you'll be there.

[44:21] That's when you can trust in Christ and have an assurance of salvation. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word. thank you that we are blessed because of who you are.

[44:34] Thank you that you have chosen before the foundation of the world, you made it known with Abraham that you've chosen to bless even us because of Christ.

[44:46] Thank you that you've allowed us to come or called us to come simply based on his work. I pray that you would help us to rejoice in that, help us to live out of that. I pray that you would be with us in Jesus' name.

[44:57] Amen. Let's close with our hymn 499 Rock of Ages. This hymn written by Horatius Bonner speaks of our only hope is being in Christ.

[45:10] We can't do anything else. We just have to be hidden in Christ. He's the one who's done all the work. 499 Rock of Ages cleft for me. Let's stand and sing together.

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