The Case For Grace, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. What's that mean in English? Easy. A deal's a deal.

That's it. You have a deal. You sign a contract. Why do they tell you to read the small print?

Why do they tell you that? A deal's a deal. Whenever you sign it, that's what you signed. Paul says, look, even with men who aren't really, you know, that impressive, a deal's still a deal. He said, how much more so if God makes the deal? Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world.

Forty eight percent of all Americans believe that oatmeal comes from wheat. That alone should demonstrate the difficulty of my job. Teaching God's word to God's people has been the challenge of my life. Over the years, I have been astounded what people have concluded based on what I have said. There has not always been a marriage between your conclusions and my intentions. And I don't know who bears most the blame. But I have a good idea. But, you know, I think sometimes I have to admit that the problem might be mine.

Maybe I was just not clear enough. The apostle Paul was a great teacher. William Ward said this.

The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires. That's the apostle Paul, a great teacher. But when Paul taught grace to the Galatians, apparently their conclusions were not his intentions. Judaizers came in and persuaded them that neither Paul's message nor even Paul was really credible. And so Paul writes them a scathing letter.

And he decided at that moment in that letter that he would do everything that he could possibly do to get them on the right track. First of all, he discredited the Judaizers message and then he cursed the Judaizers. The Judaizers basically said, look, you need to believe in Jesus, but you've got to do something religious also.

In their case, they said you need to be circumcised. And if you believe in Jesus and you're circumcised, you'll be all right with God. Paul was very upset by that. Paul called that another gospel. That is not the gospel of Jesus Christ at all. But I think as any great teacher, Paul had to wonder, was the problem the Galatians? Or was the problem myself?

Or was a combination? And so Paul decides that what he wants to do is he said, I'm going to make sure that there will be no stone unturned when it comes to making a case for the grace of God, that a person is justified or saved by faith and faith alone in Christ and Christ alone. And so Paul sets out right in the middle of his letter to have six different approaches to teaching the exact same truth. So would you open your Bibles to Galatians chapter three? This morning, my job will be to teach you what Paul is trying to teach the Galatians.

I've given you some thought. And so my strategy will be is I'm going to try to stay out of Paul's way as much as I possibly can. So that way, if you have a problem with understanding what is said, your problem is not with me. Your problem with the apostle Paul.

I'm going to treat chapters three and four as one section. And the reason I'm going to do that is because the apostle Paul does. He decides right there that he is going to make his case for grace. And my prayer is that when Paul is finished, you will be convinced that salvation is attained by faith alone in Christ alone, and that it is solely a matter of the grace of God and not any religious activity or works. The first thing Paul starts out with is what I would call the personal approach.

And it's about as personal as it can get. He starts out and he says, you foolish Galatians. Now, he's almost kind in the English translation here. You foolish Galatians. J.B. Phillips, the great New Testament scholar who wrote a paraphrase of the New Testament. He paraphrases it, you dear idiots.

And he's a lot closer to the Greek. It's the word is noeo means to comprehend or understand. And this is the word and noetos. And this word, this word is a negative of that. And basically, it means someone who cannot comprehend, someone who cannot understand, someone who just doesn't get it.

I guess in English we would use the word stupid. That's what Paul is saying is personal. Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Now, he knows who was the Judaizers. But in what an interesting term, he uses the word bewitched. It's the only time that word is used in the entire New Testament. And it basically means who cast a spell on you, who fascinated you. Sort of like what you'd, if you went to a magician's act and you saw a sleight of hands, you'd be amazed.

You'd be fascinated by it. That's the word that Paul is using. He says, you foolish Galatians, who's bewitched you?

Now he talks about their personal relationship with him. He said, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. You heard what I gave you the gospel.

I gave you the gospel that in Jesus Christ and Christ alone there is salvation. And that Jesus Christ went to the cross and was crucified. And that through his crucifixion, he is our sin bearer. And God was appeased or propitiated by it because God raised him from the dead. And that's all there is. In fact, the word as crucified is in the past perfect tense.

And so what that means is something that happened in the past, but the results of it go on forever. Paul says, you heard it. He said, this is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the spirit by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? You see, they had received the spirit of God when they believe, just as we do. And he says, now, didn't you receive the spirit of God when I gave you the gospel? Or did you receive it when the Judaizers came and went to put you under law?

Of course, it's rhetorical. He knows when he came. He said, are you so foolish? Having begun by the spirit, you're now going to be perfected in the flesh.

How do you think you're going to do that? Now, you actually believe you're going to be saved by grace and then you're going to live out your Christian life by religion or by works. He says, didn't you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain? He said, even think back to when you were converted. You were pagans. And just like today, people weren't thrilled by your conversion. He said, remember, your family didn't like it. Your friends didn't like it. The culture didn't like it. You see, you suffered whenever you come to Jesus Christ in any culture you do.

But in this culture, a great deal. He says, so then, does he who provides you with the spirit and works miracles among you do it by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? You see, one thing that Paul did that the Judaizers didn't do. Paul healed the sick. Paul, blind people saw, lame people walked. That's the apostle Paul. You see, Paul allowed all of that to happen. Under Paul, he said, what did the Judaizers do? Tell me what they did.

They didn't do anything. And so he gives this personal approach. You saw it. You experienced it. Now understand for the Galatians, it's all new to them. They basically all came to Christ as adults.

They were pagans. The apostle Paul comes and preaches the gospel and they get saved. And so for them, it's a very, very momentous event. And that's the way it is for many of us. That's certainly the way it was for me. Because I was fortunate enough in a certain way to come to Christ as an adult. In other words, I knew what it was like to be without Christ. And then I knew when Jesus Christ came into my life what that meant.

And it's interesting. Maybe with you it's the same way. But I can remember the moment I prayed to receive Christ. And I can remember from that moment on, my life is different. Now some of you were raised in a Christian home. You may have heard the gospel when you're young.

There's not a time in my life when I didn't believe in Jesus Christ. And that's a wonderful testimony. But that's not the testimony of the Galatians. The Galatians knew it was momentous.

I mean most of you know that. Many of you I know came to Christ as an adult. You knew the difference between religiosity and Jesus Christ and grace. Because you sat in churches.

You went there every week. You sat in the church. You stood up when they stood up. You sat down when they sat down.

When they said something, you said something. And you went through it week after week after week after week. But when you finally understood the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you put your faith and trust in Him and you were born again in God's family.

You know there was a difference that day. You see that's the difference between relationship and religion. And Paul tries to appeal by the personal approach. He then moves to a very solid approach, the scriptural approach. From verses 6 to 14. He quotes the Old Testament. He said look, even so Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. That's from Genesis 15. And now that's interesting because Paul wants to quote a particular Old Testament writer here. Moses. Because who's the champion for the Judaizers? Moses.

Why? They say Moses wrote the law. Paul says yes, but Moses also wrote Genesis. And long before there was a law, look what he said. Moses wrote that Abraham believed God and that was reckoned or accounted or imputed to him as righteousness. Exactly what Paul says in Romans chapter 4 and verse 3. He says therefore be sure that it is those who are of the faith who are the sons of Abraham.

Now he's putting something in from left field. The Judaizers came and said look we know the truth because we're Jewish. And we're sons of Abraham. And we have the genetic background. We can trace our roots right back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Paul said basically big deal. So that's not really what a son of Abraham is. Now he understands in a certain way it is, but notice what he says here. Therefore be sure it is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham. See the real son of Abraham that counts are you a son of Abraham by faith. In other words Abraham had faith and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Do you have faith? And it's reckoned to you as righteousness, therefore you're a son of Abraham. He says the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying all the nations will be blessed in you.

All the people groups. He said all the way back in Genesis. Moses knew, he wrote it down that all the people groups around the world will be blessed and come under the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant.

How? By faith. His inference you're already in the Abrahamic Covenant because you are people of faith. He said so then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer. See not Abraham the patriarch, Abraham the believer. And so he makes this scriptural appeal. If you take the father of the Jewish race you can find out how was he justified before God by faith. Whenever you have faith you are justified just like Abraham therefore the blessings of Abraham are yours and you are sons of Abraham. So he uses the personal approach.

Now watch as he goes on here. The question then comes what about the law. He said for as many as are the works of the law are under the curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. Quotes Moses again this time in Deuteronomy. You see if you want to be saved by the law that's great. But Moses wrote that in order to be saved by the law you have to keep all of it.

Not 30 percent, not 50 percent, not 80 percent, 100 percent. And that's why Moses gave them 600 laws and ordinances. Said go ahead now keep those.

And if you mess up on one of them you're cursed. Now what you should respond when you hear that is what? I couldn't possibly do that. And God would say Hallelujah.

That's the point. You can't possibly do this because it reveals my righteousness. He says now that no one is justified by the law before God. He said it is evident for the righteous man to live by faith. No one could ever be justified by the law. That's what the law tells us. He said however the law is not of faith on the contrary. He said he who practices them shall live by them.

If you want to put yourself under law then the law is going to be the standard that judges you. And if the law is the standard that judges you, you're lost because you're cursed. He said Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Have him become a curse for us. For it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles.

So that we he says would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. You see the law condemned. It cursed you.

And so how do we get out of it? Well remember there was a moral law and there was a ceremonial law. The ceremonial law was you sacrifice something.

It was only a shadow but you sacrifice something when you couldn't do the moral law. So the fulfillment of that is who? Jesus Christ. So what does John the Baptist say when he first sees Jesus Christ? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Here he is. He's the sacrifice.

He lives the perfect life. And then he's put on the cross and cursed as everyone who hangs on a tree. He's not stoned to death as a sinner.

He hangs on the tree. He becomes the curse. He then becomes our sin bearer.

The curse that he got is the curse that you and I deserve. You see that's called substitutionary atonement. Jesus Christ then bears our sin. And he said by our faith in Jesus Christ as he concludes that. He says that our faith in Jesus Christ he said is the reason we have this spirit of promise. And so he uses a scriptural argument and it's solid. So this great teacher uses a personal argument and he uses a scriptural argument. And now he moves on to a logical argument. Chapter 3 verse 15. He says, Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations even though it is only a man's covenant.

Yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. What's that mean in English? Easy. A deal is a deal.

That's it. You have a deal? You sign a contract? Why do they tell you to read the small print?

Why do they tell you that? A deal is a deal. Whenever you sign it, that's what you signed. Paul says, look, even with men who aren't really, you know, that impressive, a deal is still a deal. He said, how much more so if God makes the deal?

You see, that's the logic. He says, now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, and to his seed, as referring to many, but rather to one, and to your seed, that is, Christ.

Who's the deal between? Abraham and God gets the deal, and who's the recipient of the deal? The seed of Abraham. And who is the seed of Abraham? Christ. Now, what did the Judaizers say?

No, no, no, no, no. We're the seeds. Abraham's our father, and we're all his seeds. Paul says, absolutely not.

That's not the way it works. By the way, it's kind of a strange thing if you enjoy such a thing, and I kind of do, but the word seed in Greek is sperma, and the word seed in Hebrew is sera, and both sperma and sera are both singular and plural. In other words, in either case, when you say it, it's been translated with, and I understand why, why it's called seed, but it really is, in both cases, a deeply translated sperm, which is interesting in and of itself. But Paul says, it only goes to one seed. You see, now, he could have been plural and still look singular.

In fact, Paul invents a word here, which I find kind of fascinating. The form of sperma is spermati. That means singular, spermati. That's how you'd usually use it. He wrote the word down, spermasen, for plural seeds, but the Greeks don't use the word spermasen.

It's never used anywhere. Paul says, no, I'm going to use it here for plural. In other words, Paul wants to make it sure that we understand something under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that this has nothing to do with a people group. This has only to do with Jesus Christ. So who is the seed of the woman in Genesis 3? Jesus Christ. Who is the seed of Abraham?

Jesus Christ. That's what Paul was trying to say. That's what the covenant is made. He said, what I am saying is this. The law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate the covenant previously ratified by God, so do nullify the promise.

The law comes way later. Now, I know some of you, and I know you're jot and tittle kind of people, and so I know somewhere in a week I'm going to get an email, and you're going to tell me somebody made a mistake in this verse. It's just the kind of thing some people live for, because you're willing to say, I researched it, and Abraham showed up 645 years before Moses and the law, and Paul made a mistake because he only said 430 years. Okay. Normally, by the way, when you find something that you're so convinced of that is absolutely contrary to what the Bible says, start with the fact you're probably wrong, that that's probably where you're at, and believe that somewhere in the last 2,000 years someone has answered your question, because they usually do.

But in this case, it is an interesting thought. And what he means by 430 years, the last time that the Abrahamic covenant is repeated by God in the Old Testament, the last time is to Jacob, exactly 430 years before the law. So it's the last time God repeats the Abrahamic covenant, and he repeats it to Jacob. So we can save the email.

All right. He then says this. For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on promise, but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. Well, if that's the case, why the law then? If the law doesn't really do anything to set us up before God, if being religious is not my ticket to be right with God, then why did God give the law in the first place?

Well, Paul says it's easy. It was added because of transgressions. Like, what?

Yeah. God wanted to give you a whole list of things that you shouldn't do so that when you do all the things that are on the list, you realize you shouldn't do. You see, that's the whole point of it.

That's why there's 600. He gave you so many. And by the way, this is not an easy lesson for a religious people. When if God would have only given us Ten Commandments, you know what a lot of religious people said? I'm in.

I keep them. Now, I don't know about that. That'd be the lying one, I think. The false witness one could be in jeopardy there.

But we could. Jesus ran into people. Jesus actually ran into people, as I said before last week, that said, I kept all 600. So Jesus said, I'll tell you what. If you even think in your mind, thoughts that are lustful or anger, you broke the law.

Then they said, let's kill him. Because everybody knew that they did that. The law was added for transgression. The law wasn't added so that you could see if you could work your way to heaven. The law was added so you would say, I can't do this.

You see, I absolutely cannot do this. That's the point of the law. He said it was added because of transgression. Having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed would come, he said to whom the promise had been made. Now, a mediator is not for one party only, whereas God is only one.

You say, well, what does he mean by that? He's saying grace is superior to law and another reason. The promise made to Abraham was only between who? God and Abraham. But when the law was given, the angels were mediators between God and man, and Moses was a mediator between man and God. He said there's no middle man when it comes to the Abrahamic Covenant. There's just God and Abraham. That's the deal.

He said that makes it superior. So, is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Is then the law completely out of whack with grace? No.

He says, may it never be, meganointa, absolutely not. For if the law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law. In other words, the law is perfect. Is the law of God good? Yeah, it's good. Is it great? It's great. Is it perfect?

It's perfect. There's not a problem with the law. Guess who the problem's with?

You. You see, the law's not a problem. You're a problem.

I'm a problem. We can't keep the law. He said if you could keep the law, Christ wouldn't have had to come and die.

Because we could do it on our own, but we can't. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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