Authentic Christianity Cancels the Law of Moses

Thankful to Eddie for leading those good songs this morning, and thankful to you for being here today. Let’s open to Galatians chapter 2. We’re going to continue to think about authentic Christianity. It’s the first Sunday of the month, and we’re glad to have you here. And so we’ve been having this series this year, going through, studying through the book of Galatians, And thinking about what that book teaches us about authentic Christianity.

And this morning, we’re going to be getting into what some would refer to as the doctrinal part of the book. That is, the deep thinking that the Apostle Paul does about Christ and His sacrifice and what that means for the Christian and for the Christian’s relationship specifically to the Law of Moses.

And we’re going to see, you know, as we’ve been looking at this topic, we’ve understood what the occasion of the writing of the Book of Galatians was all about. There were certain men who came to Judea, or from Judea, and they taught the brethren, unless you’re circumcised, According to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And they commanded them to keep the law of Moses.

So that was happening among the churches of Galatia. And now the Apostle Paul is writing this letter to the churches of Galatia saying, No, what they’re saying is not the case. And instead, we should be thinking more about being justified by Christ.

In Acts 13, 39, we read just that message. And by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. And why are we thinking about authentic Christianity? Why does the book of Galatians take us to there? Because there are some who have corrupted Christianity, and it is in a sorry state.

So how do we restore what is broken? How do we come back to what God intended for Christianity to be? And of course, we’ve got to go back to the plan. We’ve got to go back to the Bible, which is God’s plan in order to do this.

And so we’re studying Galatians 2, verses 15 through 21 this morning as we think about how authentic Christianity cancels the law of Moses. Yes, it cancels the law of Moses. And that’s exactly what Paul is talking about in this section of Galatians chapter 2, verses 15 through 21.

Now, Paul and Peter, they had a dispute. When Peter came to Antioch, he didn’t have a problem sitting down and eating with the Gentiles there until certain men from James came to Antioch, and they wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles.

So Peter separated himself, and then Barnabas separated himself, and then Paul was not happy with that because he basically recognized Peter and Barnabas and the others doing something for what it was, which was, he called it, being hypocritical. And that’s because both Jews and Gentiles had been justified by Christ. And so there was no need for them to separate themselves from one another, the Jews from the Gentiles, when they came together to eat.

And as we think about this topic this morning, we’re going to look at three things related to how authentic Christianity cancels the Law of Moses. First of all, it cancels the law of Moses because the works of the law cannot justify. Secondly, authentic Christianity cancels the law of Moses because Christ justifies.

And then finally, authentic Christianity cancels the law of Moses because Christians have died to the law. And so we’re going to look at those three points as we study through Galatians chapter 2, verses 15 through 21. Let’s dive right in here. Galatians chapter 2, verses 15 and 16. After Paul had finished explaining his response to Peter’s behavior, he then says this, “…we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentile, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.”

And so, what Paul was saying here to Peter and to the rest of the Jews is that even we Jews have been justified by faith in Christ Jesus. And therefore, we need to put away our relationship with the Law of Moses when it comes to seeking justification with God.

Well, this raises a whole bunch of questions. There’s a lot packed into these verses. And so let’s think about them for just a moment. First of all, what in the world does the word justify mean? You know, a lot of times we don’t really use that in our language today. Maybe we use it more along the lines of talking to other people and justifying our decisions or something like that with, with, and we give, you know, reasons why.

We’re justified to do what we do, but that’s really not what this word means in the New Testament, although there’s a relationship to it. But it has a relationship to the word righteousness. So it’s from the same root as the word righteousness.

And so, it’s a judicial word. When it’s originally used in its context, it means to declare right, exonerate, or to pronounce innocence. And that’s the idea behind the word justify in the New Testament. And a person that is justified, the verb form of the word, is a person who is righteous.

And that’s the adjective form of the word. And the word righteousness is the noun form of the word. But all three of those words, justify, righteous, righteousness, they have this same basic root. Dikio is what the word is, the root is.

And so when we look into the Bible, and the same is true for the Old Testament word in Hebrew, but look at Deuteronomy 25, verse 1. This is the context in which the word is used in its literal sense.

If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the Judges may judge them and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. So there’s a dispute, they come to court, that the Judges may take one of two actions.

First of all, either they’re going to justify the righteous, which means to exonerate them, means to pronounce them innocent, or condemn the wicked, which means that they’re guilty, you know. So in its original context, justify means to exonerate or to pronounce innocent.

And that’s how we’re using it in relationship to our relationship with God. What can exonerate us with God? What is it that can pronounce us innocent before God? And Paul is saying it’s not the law of Moses. And why is that? Because the law of Moses was limited. It could only do certain things. For example, it could only tell us what sin was. Romans 3, verse 20.

Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So the law reveals what sin is, but the law doesn’t say, okay, but if you’ll do this, this, and this, you could be justified. No, that wasn’t the purpose of the law.

Look at Romans 7, verse 13. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not, but sin, that it might appear sin. Sin was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin, through the commandment, might become exceedingly sinful.

So what is Paul saying there in Romans 7, verse 13? Well, he’s saying this. He’s saying that God wanted to show sin for what it was. He wanted to expose it so that everyone would know how sinful it was. And that’s what the Law of Moses did. The Law of Moses revealed to us the knowledge of sin. And so that’s one thing that the Law of Moses does.

What else could the law of Moses do? What did it do? And the point that Paul is making here in Galatians chapter 2 is that the law of Moses could only condemn. It didn’t have a mechanism for justification. James chapter 2 and verse 10 says, It says, “…for whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” So if you were living under the law of Moses and you just, you know, hypothetically, you just violated the law one time in your whole life, you were still guilty of violating the whole law of Moses.

And all it could do then was condemn. Deuteronomy 27, verse 26. God made the people say these words, “‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them, and all the people shall say, Amen.'”

So, if you didn’t confirm all the words of the law by observing them, you were under a curse. And what is that to say? What does that imply? What it means is it only takes one sin to separate us from God.

And when that’s taken place, there’s nothing that we can do in the works that we can say and present to God with those works and then say, and specifically the works of the law of Moses, and specifically say, aha, I’ve done all these other things, so you owe me salvation. I have earned my salvation. God says, nope, you sinned once, you’re done, you can’t earn salvation. That’s not going to happen.

The law of Moses could only serve to condemn. Now, Paul quotes from that passage in Deuteronomy in Galatians 3 and 10, he says, For as many as are under the works of the law are under the curse. And the law, 1 Timothy 1, verse 8, he says, was not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate. And so the law of Moses could only condemn.

Think about 2 Corinthians 3, verses 7 and 9. There, the apostle Paul calls the law of Moses the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation. And in Romans 7, verses 9 through 11, he says, I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

It killed me, he said. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it, killed me. So the law was only there to condemn. It could never justify. And that’s why we needed Jesus, because Christ justifies. And this is verses 17 and 18.

He says, “…but if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not. For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgression.”

In other words, what he’s saying there to Peter and to those who came from James and Barnabas, why are you going back to the old law? If you go back and you start building the things which Christ destroyed, why? You’re just making yourself a sinner again because the law could only condemn.

It couldn’t justify. Because it can’t justify, you’re just taking yourself back to a place where you’re just condemned again. And that’s what he’s saying. If we seek to be justified by Christ, but we’re going back to the law of Moses to justify ourselves, we’re just going to be found sinners. And Christ is not a minister of sin. That’s his whole argument here.

And because Christ is not a minister of sin, we can’t go back to the law of Moses to justify ourselves. If you build those things, if I build those things which I destroy, that is, Paul says, as a Christian, if I go back to the law of Moses and try to build that up, Because look, I destroyed it when I became a child of God. I destroyed it, you know. Paul did there in Damascus when he was told, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins. That’s when he destroyed the law in his life. Till that point, he was just under condemnation. But then Christ justified him.

So, Christ justifies. Well, what was the purpose of the Law of Moses? The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. And the word tutor here is literally a little boy leader. It’s someone who takes a little child’s hand and leads him to the teacher.

Christ is the teacher, and the law was just someone who was taking us to Christ. That’s the purpose of the law, to lead us to Christ. And in fact, the law actually says that. Look at Isaiah 53, verse 11.

By His knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Now that’s a prophecy, Isaiah 53, about Jesus and the work that He did on the cross. And in that prophecy, He says, it’s my righteous servant who will justify many. He didn’t say the law of Moses would do it, He said His righteous servant would do it, and that’s Jesus. In Isaiah 45, 25, “…in the Lord,” that’s the name of God, Yahweh, “…all the descendants of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” And it was through Jesus that happened.

Matthew 5, verses 17 through 18, Jesus Himself said, Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Now, some look at that passage and they think, well, the law is still ongoing because, you know, Jesus said it wasn’t going to pass away, But that’s not what He said. He said, until it was fulfilled, it wasn’t going to pass away. But Jesus fulfilled it. And on the cross, we studied about those seven sayings of Jesus on the cross a couple of weeks ago. And what was one of the last things He said? He said this, it is finished. It is finished. You see, He fulfilled the law. He finished it. And now It passes away. All things have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus only did that because He was perfect and He was sinless. John 8, verse 29, “…and He who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” Every single thing Jesus did pleased the Father. And in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, there the Apostle Paul says, Because He knew no sin, we can become the righteousness of God in Him. And so, Christ justifies.

Christ’s sinless life meant that He was always righteous, and we put our faith in Him, then He justifies us and we become righteous by His sacrifice. Notice Romans 5, verse 18. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all the world, or to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Christ justifies. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

As we continue to think about this process of justification, we’re justified by Christ, we’re justified by His blood, we’re justified by His sacrifice, we’re justified by faith in Him. Look at Romans 3, 28 through 30. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, apart from the works or the deeds of the law, or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.

Since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. So you see, both Jews and Gentiles, both are justified by Christ. Now, without Christ, Jews cannot be justified. Without Christ, Gentiles cannot be justified. Both Jews, the circumcised, and Gentiles, the uncircumcised, Are justified through faith in Christ. Therefore, Romans 5, verse 1, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And all of this is done by the grace of Christ as well.

Titus 3, verse 7 says, “…having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs.” Romans 3, verse 24, “…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” So what justifies us? Grace justifies us. Faith justifies us. The blood of Christ justifies us. The sacrifice of Christ justifies us. Christ justifies us.

You see, the law cannot justify. Only Christ can. And then finally, as Christians, Paul says, we have died with Christ. And it’s our death, then, that marries us to Christ. Notice what he says. We’re going to talk about this, but look at this. Galatians 2, verses 19 through 21. For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, Now think about that last point first. If you can go to the law of Moses and say, oh, okay, I can be justified, then there’s no reason for Christ’s death. There’s no reason for God to send His Son to the earth and die for everyone if the law could do the job.

But you see, it couldn’t do the job. Christ needed to die so that we could be justified. And because Christ died, we have to die. Now, obviously, we’re not talking about physical death here. We’re talking about something else. And Paul said, I died to the law. I was crucified with Christ.

Now, was Paul literally placed on a cross? No. But he says, I was crucified with Christ. I died with Him to the law. How did that happen? How is it that we then must die because Christ died? Think about Romans 7, verses 4 through 6. It says, Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of spirit, not in the oldness of lettering.

Paul is making a point here. He’s saying, you know, and if you go back to Romans 7, 1-5, he says, you know the law. It says that if a woman is married and she has a relationship with another man, she commits adultery.

But if her husband dies, she’s free to marry another. And Paul is saying, that’s like what it is with us. Christ died. We died. So we’re free to marry another. And who is that other person or who that other that we are marrying? It’s Christ, not the law of Moses.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 14 says, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died. Christ died for everyone. I must die. How does that happen? Romans 6, 3-4. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized, look at that expression, baptized into His death. Paul said, I’m crucified with Christ. How were you crucified with Christ, Paul? I was baptized into His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death that just as He says, Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. Before we identify with Christ in baptism, we’re condemned. But after we identify with Christ in baptism, Christ justifies us.

Now how does He do that? Because we participate in His death, and He died. He died to the law so that He could justify us. How are we justified? By Christ, by faith in Christ, by the grace of Christ, by dying with Christ in baptism.

Authentic Christianity cancels the law of Moses because the works of the law cannot justify, because Christ justifies, and because Christians have died to the law with Christ. Do you need to die with Christ this morning? No, not a physical death, but a spiritual one.

Leaving behind all of your sins, leaving behind all of the things for which you’re condemned, being buried, dying to those things, being buried, and leaving the dead man buried, and being raised to walk in a new life. That’s how Christ justifies. Yes, it’s by faith. Yes, it’s by grace. Yes, it’s by Christ. All of those things together work to justify us. So maybe you need to be justified this morning. Maybe you need to be pronounced innocent. Maybe you need to be exonerated. That’s something we can help you with because God wants you to be and we want you to be so that one day you can experience It’s the great blessings that God has for those who are pronounced free.

If you need to respond to the Lord’s invitation this morning to become a child of God, we invite you to participate in authentic Christianity today while together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!