Authentic Christianity Means Justification by Faith

The call came in to the police station. There had been a murder and so the chief of police dispatched one of the officers to the house and there was the body and there was on the kitchen table was the woman who was responsible for the murder and after about 20 minutes, the chief of police called the The officer and said, how are things going? He said, everything’s going fine. He said, well, why did he kill her? Or why did she kill him? And he said, well, she had just mopped the floor and it was still wet. And he walked on it. And he said, well, why haven’t you arrested her yet and brought her back? And he said, well, the floor is still wet.

You know, that story has been on my mind all week because it’s an example of, you act according to how you believe. And evidently, the officer recognized that if he had taken certain action, he might be in jeopardy. So he just waited until the floor dried to do his business.

Well, that’s an example of what we call faith. Faith, the Bible says, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And we use faith all the time in our actions and in our business dealings with others.

We regularly trust in other people and other things that those things will continue on as they are because we want to live in an orderly society. Well, this morning we’re going to be talking about authentic Christianity, and specifically that it means justification by faith, and specifically having faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we’re going to be taking our text from Galatians chapter 3 and verses 1 through 14 this morning, so if you have your Bibles with you, let’s go ahead and open up there. Now while you’re doing that, let me remind everyone that tonight we have our ice cream supper, and I promise you that the floor has been mopped and it is dry, and so we’re going to have a good time this evening.

If the men don’t mind, after the service, you go back and set up the tables for us, that would be a tremendous help. We are honoring our graduating seniors, and they have done a tremendous job in their years of school.

We’re so thankful for them. We’re so thankful for all of our teachers. And I saw some really good things this past week on social media about some of our teachers who received a rather substantial award for excellence in teaching, and we want to say congratulations to you.

When we think about authentic Christianity and the book of Galatians specifically, we remember that there were some who were trying to get the Gentile Christians to go back to the Law of Moses And to follow the law of Moses, and to obey the law of Moses, and specifically the custom of circumcision. But Paul said, no. We’re not going to do that. We’ve been justified by faith in Christ, and we’re not going to return to the law of Moses.

Acts 13, verse 39 says, “…and by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” In fact, the law of Moses didn’t offer justification, only condemnation as we’ve already talked about in previous studies. We won’t talk about it again, but we want to think about why authentic Christianity?

There are so many religions today that have gone away from authentic Christianity, and they’re not doing things the way that God wants us to do things. And the state of things has become, religiously speaking, a situation where there’s much disrepair.

But if we want to restore what is broken, we’ve got to go back to the plan. We’ve got to go back to God’s Word, which is the Bible. And in going back to the Bible, we can know everything that we need for life and godliness. And we can then restore what was broken. Today, there are many who simply Do you really have a checklist religion? You know, they say, well, as long as I do the do’s and don’t do the don’ts and do all that and I’ll be fine. But is that really what the Bible teaches? In fact, just the opposite of that, what we’re talking about this morning from Galatians chapter 3 isn’t checklist religion. It’s about a life of faith, having that daily faith that we use.

Jesus, at every moment, in order to inform our life, in order to inform our decisions, in order to inform the way that we handle things each and every day, that doesn’t come from checklist Christianity. It comes from putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ at all times.

And authentic Christianity means being justified by faith. And we’ve got to have that faith in our life at every moment. We’ve got to trust in God at every moment. We’re not just talking about faith in the sense of making a mental acknowledgement and then going on and doing whatever we want. That’s not what faith is.

Faith is deeper than that. It goes beyond that. It involves having the Spirit of God active in our lives through His Holy Word. It involves understanding that as we inform our lives by faith, that through that life that we live, Others can see the light shining within us and glorify God. That living in active faith means acknowledging, accepting, and understanding the role that Jesus Christ played, as we remembered this morning, in thinking about His body and about His blood.

Authentic Christianity means being justified by faith. And that’s what we want to talk about this morning from Galatians 3, 1-14. Now, when we get into Galatians chapter 3, we’re getting into a very doctrinal part of the book. And Paul is making a doctrinal argument here in these verses. And he’s setting forth four areas of evidence to show that we’re justified by faith not by the law of Moses. And those areas are simply this, that we’re justified by faith because Christians received the Spirit by faith. Secondly, that Abraham was justified by faith and we’re children of Abraham through Jesus Christ.

Third, the prophets confirmed that we’re justified by faith. And finally, Christ died so that we could be justified by faith, not by the law of Moses. So let’s look at those four areas this morning as we think about Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 through 14, justification by faith.

Now, Christians receive the Spirit by faith. Now, that’s the first thing that Paul points out here in Galatians chapter 3. He says, this only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Therefore, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? And He uses that term, hearing of faith, more than once in this section.

You may be reminded of Romans chapter 10 and verse 17, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. And that hearing by faith is something that Christians receive. Now his point here, first of all, is how did you receive the Spirit?

Did you have to complete the works of the law to receive the Spirit, or did you receive the Spirit upon the hearing of faith? And, of course, it was upon the hearing of faith. And we see that in the New Testament as we study through and we learn from the Apostles.

In Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, Peter pointed out the connection between faith and the Holy Spirit when he said, Repent and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So there wasn’t the completion of the law that needed to be done there. It was simply upon their confession of faith and practice of faith through baptism that they then received the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 2 and verse 41 says, “…then those who gladly received His word, the hearing of faith, were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.”

Another passage that shows the connection, Acts chapter 19 and verses 5 and 6, when they heard this, that is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the reception of the Spirit, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and when Paul had laid his hands on Him, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

So God didn’t hold His Spirit back to wait for people to do the works of the law, but rather it was upon the hearing of faith that He gave it to them. Ephesians 1, verse 13 also confirms this. Paul writes this, “…in Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth,” there’s the hearing of faith, “…the gospel of your salvation, “…in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Now, we have a miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit given in the New Testament, but there is also a personal measure of the Holy Spirit given to every single Christian, for all Christians are temples of God, and therefore a place for the Holy Spirit to dwell.

And so Paul makes this point, first of all, was it the law of Moses that you needed to perform in order to receive the Holy Spirit? And the answer was no, it was simply upon the hearing of faith. We think about the hearing of faith, we think about a very spiritual aspect to Christianity, as opposed to the law of Moses which was very carnal.

And this same tension can be felt today when you have those who are very concerned about carnal matters and not as much concerned about the spiritual matters. And when we practice, let’s say, a checklist religion and we’re just concerned about the carnal things and we don’t give our attention to spiritual things, In practicing faith, we are not really acknowledging the nature of faith within Christianity.

And so Paul says, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? You see, the flesh doesn’t have anything to offer when it comes to being perfected in the Spirit. Think about the law of Moses on one hand, the tablet of stone, the physical temple, the animal sacrifices, a physical land of Canaan and an earthly king. As opposed to in Christianity, the law is written on the heart. The body is the temple of God. Christ is our eternal sacrifice. We have a heavenly kingdom and a heavenly king.

There’s a contrast between those two. One very carnal in nature, very fleshly in nature, and the other spiritual in nature and heavenly. And it’s that spiritual heavenly relationship that governs and that we need to submit ourselves to. You don’t complete or perfect something that is spiritual or heavenly by returning to something that is fleshly and earthly.

And sure, when we begin the Christian walk, a lot of our focus is upon, well, what do I need to do in a physical way? You know, how do I need to worship? What do I need to be as a Christian? How do I need to change my life?

What things should I put out of my life? But as we grow and as we mature, we need to be focused on more spiritual matters, such as, what is my attitude toward my fellow man? How can I practice loving others more? How can faith inform all of my actions and decisions? Those are great questions that help us to grow.

We grow in faith by being spiritual, not by being carnal. Now, Paul makes that point because does God supply the Spirit and work miracles among you, he asked, by the law or by the hearing of faith? Now think about these examples from Jesus’ life and ministry. Matthew chapter 8, verse 2 through 4, Behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Then Jesus put out His hand and touched Him, saying, I’m willing, be cleansed. Immediately, His leprosy was cleansed, and Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one, but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them.

The hearing of faith here was what Jesus blessed, not the performing of the law of Moses, because what did He have to do under the law of Moses to be cleansed of His leprosy? You can go back and read it in the book of Leviticus. It was a lot of things, but Jesus didn’t wait for Him to do that. He cleansed Him of His leprosy upon His faith.

The woman who had an issue of blood from Luke chapter 8 and verse 48, she didn’t have to do all the things that the law of Moses said to do to be cleansed. Rather, Jesus healed her immediately. And He said, Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Not the law of Moses, but your faith.

And so she didn’t have to go through that list of things that the Law of Moses said to do. We need to put our trust and our faith in God and Jesus Christ at every moment and let Christ bless us with His power.

That’s the first argument that Paul makes. Now the second one he makes is this, They were justified by faith because Abraham was justified by faith. Look at the text, Galatians 3, 6, 2, 9. He says, “…just as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. In the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. Only those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. And what does that mean for us today? To be in Christ is to be of the family of Abraham.

You know, Abraham believed God, the text says, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, Genesis 15, 6. And that’s repeated in Romans chapter 4 and verse 9. And when we put our faith and trust in God, God counts that to us for righteousness as well.

Think about James chapter 2 and verses 21 through 23 in relationship to this because so many times people take these two passages and they look at them and think that they conflict with each other, but they don’t because James is saying that our faith isn’t just something that we do once and then forget about it. It’s something that we practice all the time and that’s what he’s talking about when he says, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the author? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect.

And the scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Not the law of Moses, but the faith of Abraham and the actions that he performed, demonstrated To God, that he truly believed. That’s what shows to God that we truly believe. Not just our mental acknowledgement, but the working out in our lives of our beliefs. Abraham was justified by faith. And in him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Now, Galatians chapter 3, verses 26 through 29 tells us that we are the children of Abraham when we live the same way in Christ Jesus. For you’re all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There’s neither Jew nor Greek, there’s neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. For you’re all one in Christ Jesus, and if you are Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. And being in the family of Abraham means receiving the blessings of Abraham, and receiving the blessings of Abraham means receiving the blessings of Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1 and verse 3. And when we think about those blessings, think about Acts chapter 3 and verse 26, for example, “‘To you first, God, having raised up His servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities, the forgiveness of sins, a great blessing in Christ Jesus.'” And all those spiritual blessings that we have, They’re innumerable. So many of them. The blessing of being in the family. The blessing of being able to call upon God our Father. The blessing of having fellowship. The blessing of hope. So many spiritual blessings all come because we are in Christ Jesus.

And so God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, not under the law of Moses, but rather by faith. Third, Paul says the prophets confirmed justification by faith. And he cites several passages here from the Old Testament to show that those things that were happening under the Old Testament weren’t designed to just emphasize the Old Testament, But rather, to show that something else was coming, something greater, something better than what they had there.

For example, Galatians 3, 10 through 12 says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.

Yet the law is not by faith, but the man who does them shall live by him. Now Paul quotes from several passages in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 27, verse 26, for example. Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law. And so a curse was placed upon everyone, even if they didn’t do one aspect of the law, they were still cursed because they missed that one aspect.

But Habakkuk 2 and verse 4 says, the just shall live by faith. The just, the righteous, those are the ones who live by faith. And faith justifies them, not the law of Moses. When we think about these prophetic statements from the Old Testament and about the days when God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, as Paul mentioned, we think about these prophecies that are written there in Isaiah 44, 3-5, These are great prophecies about the time when we would be justified by faith.

Think about Zechariah 12 and verse 10, “…and I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me in whom they pierce. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Think about the Lord’s Supper and how by faith we remember the body of Jesus and we remember the blood of Jesus today.

And that is something that we do in fulfillment of prophecy, that we would be justified by faith. Ezekiel 36, 27, I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Not because there is a law of Moses that we will be physically and tangibly and fleshly accounted to, It’s not counted to, but because we as individuals live by faith each and every day, and God’s Word is written in our hearts, and we love it, and we want to follow it. That’s a life of faith. That’s what God prophesied about what happened in Ezekiel 39, verse 29.

And I will not hide my face from them anymore, for I shall have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God, and God is with us at every moment if we are in Christ Jesus.

And finally, we’re justified by faith because Jesus died so that we could be. Now think about this, because when Christ died on the cross, the book of Colossians tells us He nailed the law of Moses to the cross and left it there. No longer for it to be something that we are accountable to, but rather now we are justified by faith. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Look at Galatians 3.1, verses 14 through 15. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. Now, he makes a sandwich argument here. He talks about Jesus Christ here in verse 1.

And then he talks about some other things, but he comes back to Christ in verses 14 and 15, and what does he say? Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Isaiah 53, in verses 5 and 6 says, But He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Jesus died for us, for our sins, to redeem us from those things so that we could live by faith. He did this by going to the cross. That cross was the tree that He hung on, that the law of Moses said, “‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree.'” Deuteronomy 21, verse 23, but Paul says, “‘Because He took the curse, we don’t have to take the curse.'”

Paul wrote those words that were recorded in John 19, verse 19. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, so that the whole world would know that Jesus died there for them. Christ died so that we could be justified by faith. And then what happened? The blessing of the Gentiles might come upon everyone.

You know, the Law of Moses talked about, the Prophets talked about how one day God would bring the Gentiles into His Kingdom, and that’s what He did through Christ. Ephesians 3.8, the Apostle Paul said that was the eternal purpose of God, to unify everyone in Christ Jesus.

He said to me, who am the less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. He said the same thing in Colossians 1, 27, to them, God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

When we think about these great passages and the wonderful promises, and I love that Eddie sang that song this morning, standing on the promises, because we are standing on those promises today, and we are receiving the blessings of those promises that God prophesied years before Christ came through the prophets and said He was going to make happen, and He made it happen, and now we get to live being justified by faith, not by the law of Moses.

And so Jesus, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, what did He do? He poured out that which those in Acts chapter 2 saw and heard come upon the apostles there.

In Ephesians 1, verse 13, again, when we trust in God, when we hear the word of the gospel, and we believe it, and demonstrate that faith by being baptized into Christ, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

And we show, once again, that we’re justified by faith, not by the law of Moses. Faith in Christ Jesus, that’s what justifies us today. And because that’s what justifies us today as Christians, it means that we can live an authentically Christian life if that life is informed by faith in Jesus Christ.

Is your life lived that way? Maybe you need to make some corrections. Maybe you need to make some changes so as to bring your life in line with that life of Jesus Christ, that life that you identified with when you were baptized with Him and you said, I’m going to be a Christian. I’m going to live a life of faith in Christ. Maybe this morning you need prayer to do that. Or maybe you need to become a Christian today through hearing His Word and believing it. That hearing of faith.

That Paul talked about. When you hear and believe and repent and confess Jesus as Christ and are baptized just like those people on the day of Pentecost, God will bless you with His presence in your life. The Holy Spirit will come into your life. Through His Holy Word, you will then be able to live in a way that is justified by faith in Him.

I’m so glad that I don’t have to be justified by the law of Moses. I’m so glad that I don’t have to be justified by thousands of little intricate things that have to be done or else I’ll be cursed.

In fact, I am justified by faith in Christ Jesus. And when I put my faith and trust in Him, He justifies me. And that makes me right with God. Do you need to be made right with God this morning? We’d love to help you do that, and you can come make your desire known right now while together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!