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Our text for today's message is taken from Galatians 5:2-6. So far we have learned that regarding salvation, it boils down to one of two choices: either you can earn your salvation by your own efforts and works, or you believe your salvation is a free gift by trusting totally in Jesus Christ. There is no in-between. The Apostle Paul had given many examples like Hagar or Sarah, Ishmael or Isaac, Commandments or Promise, Old Covenant or New Covenant, earthly Jerusalem or Heavenly Jerusalem, law or Grace, bondage or freedom.
In our last message, we focused on the fact that if Christ has set us free from the slavery and bondage of legalism and works, we must continue to stand firm. Continue to persevere in this freedom and not return—do not return—under the bondage again. By way of illustration, it is like a man who has spent about 20 years in prison and finally he was set free, he was released from prison. But imagine if he got out of prison and said, "Well, well, you know, I love being locked up in the cell, I love having no freedom." Something must be terribly wrong, right? That was exactly what Paul was trying to teach and explain to the Galatians. By faith in Christ Jesus, you have been set free from the slavery and bondage of legalism and works. Why do you want to return to be under the bondage again?
If the Galatians, who by faith had been set free, were to return under the bondage of works again, what would happen? What would be the consequences? This is what we want to learn from today's passage in Galatians 5:2-6. The title of our message is "By Faith or By Works." If they return to the bondage of works again, Paul says, then Christ shall be of no benefit to you. That is our first point.
Let us begin with verse two: "Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." Firstly, Christ was not against circumcision. Like all the other Jews, He Himself was circumcised when He was young. He said in Philippians 3:5, "I was circumcised the eighth day." He did not object to the Jews being circumcised. In fact, He had Timothy circumcised. Timothy was half-Jew; his father was a Gentile, but his mother was Jewish. Timothy was circumcised so that he would be able to minister to the other Jews.
Circumcision was a sign of God's covenant of promise, and it symbolized the cutting away of sin from the heart. It represented God's desire of cleansing by faith in Him and to impart His grace upon the people. So, Paul was not against what circumcision represents, but he was against the misrepresentation of circumcision. Because there were false teachers and Judaizers who would teach the false notion that faith alone in Jesus Christ for salvation was insufficient, so you must add something to it to make it more complete—you must be circumcised.
So he began by saying, "Behold, I, Paul, say unto you..." He was not only emphasizing his apostolic authority, but in a sense, he was saying to the Galatians, "I was circumcised the eighth day. I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews, I am a Jew just like you. I am not biased against Jewish practices. I am telling you the truth: if you think that by your circumcision you can earn salvation or gain certain spiritual benefits and merits, then Christ shall profit you nothing." Which means Christ shall be of no profit to you at all.
You see, when our Lord Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He said, "It is finished," which means His atoning sacrifice was perfect and complete. "It is finished" means nothing should be added onto it. And if anyone were to add anything else to Christ's atoning work—that something, no matter what it is, would stand between that person and Christ. That something would be a hindrance. When that happens, Christ shall be of no benefit to you at all.
It is like a lifeguard trying to save a drowning person. If the person just gives in and surrenders to the lifeguard, he will be saved. But the moment the person tries to save himself and desperately struggles and kicks around, the lifeguard will not be able to save him—he will drown. That is the same thing with salvation. If a person wants to struggle and work and rely on himself, he will drown in his own sins. But if he stops and places his faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he will be saved.
My friends, you and I are acceptable to God only by our complete faith and trust in Christ alone. After we are saved, we persevere in living a life with God also by completely trusting in Christ alone. We always need to trust Christ.
There are some people who profess to believe in Christ by faith at the point of their conversion. So, they started off very well. But after that, they would add their own works. They will start to think that they need to add something to their salvation, whether it be baptism or church membership, church attendance, Bible reading, or the giving of tithes and offerings. All these things are good. These are spiritual activities that we should be engaged in, but they cannot save us. They are the consequences of our salvation; they are not the requirements of our salvation.
The moment we add anything onto our salvation, that thing—no matter what it is—will stand between us and Jesus Christ. The result is that Christ shall be of no benefit to us at all. So, we must not let anything come between us and our Lord Jesus Himself.
Our second point is the obligation to keep the whole law. Verse three: "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law." Previously, Paul had emphasized this point, so he said, "For I testify again," which means he was reiterating. The Jews were very meticulous about the laws of God. In fact, they counted every one of those precepts of the law, and they came to the conclusion that there were a total of 613 laws. These 613 laws were divided into negative and positive commandments. For example, "Thou shalt do this," that is positive; "Thou shalt not do this," that is negative. Altogether, 365 negative and 248 positive commandments.
They were very particular about all these commandments. Let's say a person is somehow able to keep all the laws of God during his lifetime, but if he broke just one of those commandments during the last minute of his life on this Earth, he would have lost his salvation. Or, if he were able to keep all the laws of God except one, it would be the same thing—he would have lost his salvation.
By way of illustration, imagine a driver cruising down a city street, and he drove through a red light. He was pulled over by a policeman, who asked to see his driver's license. Immediately, the driver defended himself, "Officer, I know I ran through that red light, but I’ve never robbed anyone, I’ve never stolen anything from anyone, I’ve never killed anyone, I’ve never cheated on my income tax." What do you think the policeman would say? The policeman would smile and write him the ticket, knowing that no amount of obedience could make up for one act of disobedience.
So, to boast about keeping part of the law while at the same time breaking another part of the law actually means that person is confessing that he is worthy of punishment. God's standard is perfect righteousness. The fulfillment of only one part of His law falls short of His standard. James 2:10 makes it very clear to us: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
That was what Paul was trying to emphasize here. You cannot pick and choose what you like and reject what you do not like. You must take everything together. If you insist on circumcision for salvation, well, you are also obligated to keep the whole law. No one was able to keep the whole law perfectly. There was only one person who was able to keep the whole law perfectly, and He did it on our behalf. He was none other than Jesus Christ. So by faith, we put our trust in Him.
Our third point is "Fallen From Grace." Look at verse four: "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." Christ is of no effect to you means to be separated, to be cut away from Christ. To "fall from grace" does not mean a person who has already been saved can lose his salvation. Once saved, always saved. You cannot lose your salvation. Jesus Himself said so: "And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." Very emphatic—never perish. "Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Who can be stronger than the Lord Jesus and be able to pluck the believer out of His hand? No one (John 10:28).
So, you cannot lose your salvation if you are saved. To "fall from grace" simply means to fall from the realm of grace, or to lose one's grasp on grace. Let me explain. Some people believe that this verse is talking about justification; others believe the verse is talking about sanctification. Well, I believe that it can be applied to both.
You see, Paul was speaking about law and grace being opposing systems. Either in justification or in sanctification, for salvation, a person must choose either law or Jesus Christ. For sanct
ification, or spiritual growth, he must also choose either law or Jesus Christ. It is either one or the other—it cannot be both. They are incompatible; they are opposing systems. In other words, if a person is an unbeliever and he is trying to be justified by the law, trying to save himself by obeying the law, he is separating himself from Christ and the salvation work that Christ has done for him on the cross of Calvary. He is no longer holding onto grace. That person will remain as an unbeliever, and he will not be saved, no matter how hard he tries.
If the person is a believer, after salvation, instead of living his life in the Spirit, he is living his life in the flesh. Although he may not lose his salvation, he is drifting away from Christ. He is no longer living in the realm of His grace because he is trusting in his own works, trusting in his own efforts, trusting in his own human wisdom, and not on God's grace.
For example, we should worship God in spirit and in truth, from the heart—that is to live in the Spirit. But instead, if we worship only physically and try to impress others with this outward show of spirituality, that is to live in the flesh. Or we should give our tithes and offerings because we love the Lord. But if instead, we think we are fulfilling certain obligations and are proud of our giving—when we are in the church, the giving goes up; when we are not in the church, the giving goes down—and we think it's because of us, that is to live in the flesh.
Or we should evangelize to others by trusting in God to convict their hearts and convert them. That is to live in the Spirit. But instead, when we share the Gospel with a person, if we have this intention to convert him based on our knowledge of the Bible and the power of our persuasion, that is to live in the flesh. It is no longer about God's grace; it’s all about our own works.
So, no matter how worthy the outward spiritual activity appears to be, to perform it by the flesh is to separate ourselves from Christ. It is to separate ourselves from the realm of His grace, and it will be meaningless. It will be vanity.
My friends, can you imagine if we are living that kind of Christian life whereby spirituality is just an outward show? We are serving just to impress others. We are here today because of someone else. We are trusting in our own works. We are living in the flesh. We have fallen from the realm of God's grace, and are no longer growing in grace anymore. Even though we may be believers, we may not lose our salvation. Eventually, we may still go to heaven, but when we stand before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, there will be nothing. Everything we have done will be burned up.
Can you fathom this thought? Everything we have done—our worship, our singing, our services, our giving—would be burned up. Harry Ironside, the theologian, said this: "The vast majority of Christians have fallen from grace." He went as far as to say about three-quarters of all Christians. We do not know for sure how many, for all we know it could be more than three-quarters of all Christians. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: Are we one of those so-called Christians who have fallen from the realm of God's grace? Are we one of them? May the Lord have mercy on us.
Our fourth and final point is: Without faith, everything is vanity. Let's move on to verse 5: "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." If we are true believers, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and we live our life by the Spirit. If we are true believers, we already possess the righteousness imputed unto us—Christ's righteousness. When God sees us, He sees us clothed with the righteousness of His only begotten Son.
But as long as we are living on this earth, in this mortal body, we will still sin. Perhaps this morning, before you came to church, you already harbored a wicked thought or were jealous of somebody. As you are sitting there, you may be thinking of doing something sinful immediately after this worship service. We will still sin. That is why every day of our lives we need the righteousness of Christ to sanctify us.
But the day will come in the future when you and I will have this complete, perfect righteousness—total sanctification and glorification. That is why Romans 8:18 says this: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." In other words, whatever trials, sufferings, sicknesses, or afflictions we are going through at this very moment in this present world cannot be compared to the future glorification.
So, in this life, we are still waiting for complete, perfect righteousness that is yet to come. That day will come when Jesus comes in the clouds. According to 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, the dead shall rise first and be united with their souls, which were already in heaven, in a glorified body. Then those who are still alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and their bodies will instantly be transformed into a glorified body. Is this not your hope and my hope? Is it not true that we are all hoping for this day to come?
But how are we looking forward to this hope? The Bible tells us: by faith, not by works. That is what this verse means. Even if you are lying on your deathbed at this very moment, and you feel yourself fading in this physical body, the body is dying, you will not be thinking of this glorious hope, this complete, perfect righteousness, and trusting in your works: "What must I do? Must I wake up now to do something? Must I do this? If I fail to do this, then I will not have this future glorification." By faith, you trust that "My Lord Jesus has paid it all, and my trust is completely in Him." But that day will come when I will receive this glorified body, this complete, perfect righteousness.
Verse 6: "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." Circumcision, just like baptism, is an outward sign of an inward faith. So as an outward sign standing alone by itself, it is totally worthless. Whether you are circumcised or not, whether you are baptized or not, it does not avail anything. It does not mean anything because the outward sign must come with something. If that outward sign stands by itself, it means nothing. The outward sign must come with faith. Without faith, it is meaningless. If there is faith, then everything we do—our circumcision (of course, we are not circumcised but baptized)—our baptism will be meaningful, and everything else we do will be energized by love. That is the meaning of the word "worketh."
Jesus Himself said this: "The whole law was fulfilled in one word: love." Remember He said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). The believer who lives by faith will worship God and serve the Lord. Why? Because he truly loves God. The believer who lives by faith will not steal, cheat, or kill his neighbor. Why? Because he truly loves his neighbor. The motivation is love.
That's why Paul says it will be energized by love. My friends, everything—our coming to church this morning to worship God, our prayers, our singing, our giving, our fellowship—if it is by faith, then it will be motivated by love. It will be energized by love. But if everything we do is not by faith but by works, then it will be motivated by legalism, by selfish desires, by pride, envy, jealousy, and whatever sin you can think of. That is why churches are often plagued with troubles and divisions—because the things people do in the church are not by faith but by works. When it is by works, it will come with all these sinful attitudes, mentalities, and influences that bring trouble. But if it is motivated by love because of faith, then there will be unity, the gospel work will flourish, and God will be glorified.
By faith or by works? A story was told of an aspiring artist who was commissioned to create a large sculpture for a famous museum. At last, he had the opportunity to create the masterpiece he had long dreamed of. Laboring over the work for many years, he saw it grow not only in size and shape, but in beauty as well. He was very happy. But when he was finished, he discovered, to his horror, that it was much too large to be taken out of the window or through the door. And tearing down the building to remove this masterpiece was impossible, as it was not allowed. So, his masterpiece would forever remain in the room where it was created. His beautiful work would never leave that room.
Do you realize that this is the ultimate result of all our human works, all our human efforts, and all our human endeavors? Everything we do, trusting in our own works, can never leave the room of this earth—the confines of this earth. It will always remain on this earth because it will never be fit for heaven. Only the things we do by faith will leave this earth and ascend unto God as a sweet savor.
Our Lord Jesus Himself said this: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal" (Matthew 6:19-20).
I would like to leave this thought with every one of you: Let us examine our hearts. We have made many professions, we have said many things in our lifetime, and done many things in the church. But let every one of us examine ourselves—everything we profess to believe in, everything we have said, everything we have done—is it by faith, or is it by works? If it is by works, it will remain on this earth. If it is by faith, then it will ascend unto the Almighty God as a sweet savor.
Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for this time that we can consider this portion of scriptures. Help us to remember whatever we have learned. Most importantly, by the empowerment of Thy Spirit, help us to put into rightful application whatever we have learned. We thank Thee and praise Thee for teaching us through Thy precious Word, preserved through the ages, that we can read and be encouraged by it ourselves. We give thanks today in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's name. Amen.