What faith in Christ does for us

Introduction:

The theme of this book has been that we are saved by grace alone through faith in alone in christ alone...

and it is a very timely theme for us today because just like in the church of Galatia, there are churches, teachers, and preachers today who tell us that its faith plus this and that we have to follow in order to be saved...

it has become just like it was then where it is almost impossible for a christian who is real about their situation of being a sinner to fellowship with the church

we have made it harder to be part of a good church than it is to be saved

and in doing that we have slowly, but purposely returned to the law just like the Galatians did...

they said you were saved when you commited to christ plus commited to the law…

and in the modern American church a lot are teaching that we are saved by christ plus doing whatever the preacher says or whatever the church does...

people are being shammed in to doing this or that because if they don’t then how can they ever be a good christian...

people are being pushed to dress this way, listen to this music, or to do this work or that work in order to be made to fell like they are right with god

people are even being told they are less than or not as christian as others because of this situation or that situation that they have been trough....

your divorced, you’ve done drugs, you have tattoos, or you have whatever going on in your life and we have christians today who pretend like that makes them better that you because they never have gone through that

but the fact is this… we are all sinners, we all deserved hell and the wrath of God, but if you’re saved then you have been given a new life and that new life comes only through faith in christ as your savior...

its not about doing what is socially considered to be good.... not that doing the right thing is wrong matter of fact real faith in christ will push you to do what is right in the eyes of god ...

but the only thing that will make you acceptable in the eyes of god is Faith in christ… nothing more and nothing less will work

true belief in christ as your savior is what saves you and yes true belief in christ will change you because true belief will usher into your life a true commitment to the savior...

and with real commitment you will serve him…

Real Faith Changes Everything.... but look at the text and lets see what it changes....

I. faith frees us from the supervision of law (23-25)

Galatians 3:23–25 KJV 1900

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

there is 3 points here that clearly show this...

A. the law was a prison for man (23)

before faith came (or before christ died for us) ma was “KEPT UNDER THE LAW”

the words “KEPT UNDER” means to be guarded or kept in custody, imprisoned or held in bondage

or in other words the law shuts us up and keeps us under sin and it holds us in bondage to our sin....

the law shows us where we fail.... over and over again.... and legalism does the same thing today

legalism says man needs to do this, but ultimately man will do the opposite because we are sinners

the law and legalism points our our sin to us and to others

the law and legalism today condemns man and accuses man...

as soon as you violate the law or the legalists preference you’re charges under the law or the legalist preference

it preys on your mind and weighs you down with guilt about life

the law and legalism has no power to deliver us from the violation...

look at it like this the law shows man our condemnation but it can do nothing to free us from the condemnation it brings to us

its the finger of accusation pointed at us and the only hope man has is the savior who came free us from the condemnation, the bondage, and the guilt that the law brings with it...

you can’t work yourself into the favor of god.... but faith in christ makes us acceptable to god because of the work christ did on the cross...

B. The law was the schoolmaster of men (24)

it lead us to the savior by showing us our sin and our need for the christ to come...

the greek word used here for “SCHOOLMASTER” was a word (paid-a-gogos) that means a slave that was entrusted in a child's moral welfare

this slave usually took the child to school as part of its duties and also was to instruct the child in morality

and this is what the law was used to do for man

it showed us our sin and about morality (school) and taught us of our need for savior

lets again just be honest about ourself… if left to ourselves we think we are good people and we don’t see much wrong with whatever we enjoy doing...

we think as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone its ok but then we measure what is considered hurt by our own moral standards which are pretty much nonexistent...

when we think of morality and right and wrong or whatever we have to look at the standard of that morality

Charles Manson didn’t see what he did as wrong even when he died.... Ted Bundy thought what he did was ok, Osama Bin Ladin that he was morally right in his terrorist organization.... and thats just a few of the standards of men...

we have to look at right and wrong from the eyes of the highest standards their are and that standard is the standard of god....

we have the bible we need to be looking at for right and wrong… we have the law we can look at for right and wrong....

and no matter how good you are you can’t live up to the standards of god because you are a sinner...

so like a good schoolmaster the law teaches us we need a savior and that savior is only and can only be the sinless son of god...

C. the law kept us in bondage to itself (25)

before faith (or before the death of Christ) all men had was the law....

but once christ came we don’t have o follow the law anymore we are free to follow the savior who came to free us from the law

now take that how you want, but the fact remains is we are not under the law once we have been set free in christ....

and if we are not under the law then we are not under the thumbs of the hypocritical legalist in the modern church today...

we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in christ alone… and it isn’t mine or anyone else's business because salvation is to the glory of god alone....

these false teachers then and now have tried to make the church for their glory and have tried to pretend that salvation is here to glorify themselves

and no they wont openly say it but you can tell by how they look down on others that they really think they are the glory of god instead of god being their glory

faith frees us.... and

II. faith makes us children of god (26-27)

Galatians 3:26–27 KJV 1900

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

as i have been saying over and over again in this study if we are saved then we have been made acceptable in the eyes of God because of our faith

and because of our faith we have been adopted into the family of god and made children of god (talk in detail about this tonight)

and guess how this happens??? BY FAITH ALONE

A. faith causes us to focus on God’s son...

we can rest on one thing : God will accept a man who focuses his life on the son of god....

God the father loves God the son with a real love and god will honor anyone who honors his son by believing and trusting in him...

when we focus on the law or on legalistic rules and traditions we are not focused on god and we are instead trusting in ourself for salvation

and as we know we cant save us because we are sin filed and unrighteousness

but when we focus on the son of god through our faith in him for salvation god accepts our faith and counts our faith as righteousness

and when we are saved he accepts us as a child of his through our faith in christ

B. Faith also clothes us in christ so to speak...

faith brings us to a place where we are baptized into his righteousness, his freedom, and his sonship...

we actually put on Christ in our faith in him...

the phrasing “PUT ON” comes form a phrasing that means the same as putting on a piece of clothing....

clothing covers our immodesty right? so when we put on christ and we think of it in the same context what we are doing is coving our unrighteousness with his righteousness...

if i put one hand over the other then you can’t see one of my hands correct?

when we are saved we are baptizes together with christ and we have put on his righteousness to cover our unrighteousness

christ is righteousness and he is the one who was sent to secure righteousness for man

and when we believe in him (really believe in him) god clothes us with the righteousness of christ so our sin and our failures can’t be seen any more...

the bible says :

2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV 1900

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

because the plan from the beginning was to have jesus come to earth and die for the sins of man...

and in that death he would be made into sin for the sinners so the sinners could be sinless in him...

C. to be clothed in christ is to be covered in his sonship...

when god looks at me or you all he sees is his son in us

and thats how we become children of god in salvation…

we believe in jesus christ as the son of god and god takes our faith counts it as righteousness (just like Abraham if you remember)

and then he places us positionally in christ (or gives us positional righteousness, clothed in christ)

and just like that all god sees in us is his son… so we are accepted and adopted as children of god because of our faith...

think about that for a minute… how many of us have felt less than or not as christian as others?

how many of us have walked into a church for the first time after some terrible sin or terrible time in our life and felt like we were not as good as the other christians in the room?

how many times have we been looked at for this fault or that fault and all we could think about is how unworthy we are and then the actions of those around us confirmed to us thats how everyone else felt as well?

now look at how god looks at me and you… he sees us and he sees us as his children with out spot or blemish because of the righteousness of christ...

it doesn’t matter what you think of you and it defiantly doesnt matter what the person next to you thinks of you because of you’re saved you are a child of god

and when good looks at you he doesn’t see your sin, he doesn’t see your failure, he doesn’t see your mistakes....

all he sees is his child and he loves you...

and not only does it make us his children

III. faith unifies us in christ (28)

Galatians 3:28 KJV 1900

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

regardless of what you think our faith in christ unites us and makes us one in him....

i don’t care how you were raised or what generation you came from or what you think about what...

A. christ is the answer to prejudices, bitterness, hatred, oppression, and inequalities...

we are one in Christ...

Christ solves the divisions between men… we don’t need the liberals or the social justice warriors to do what christ already did

being a conservative christian means you don’t see people like you used to see them it means you have a new vision and all you see is lost and saved people and you know you’re not better than anyone...

he came and he died for the whole world and that means everyone including that group youre mumbling under your breath about now....

we are all on equal footing when we stand before christ...

we are sinners who need saved no matter what color our skin is, no matter what sexual proclivity you might have, and no matter what addictions you might have

you’re no worse or no better than anyone because you sin differently then them

we failed and we sinned and we all stand guilty before the righteous god of all creation

and jesus accepts all of us if we come to him correctly

praise god he reaches out and he embraces us and he forgives us no matter what we have done...

he sees past our depravity and sees past our pride and he sees us for what we are and he saves us because of who he is

side note if you’re busy looking at the color of someones skin, or the sin of their life, or whatever i have news for you:

you need to be looking at your own sin because in looking at that in them your pride and arrogance and sense of entitlement is shown...

and guess what else faith does...

IV. faith in christ makes us heirs of the promise (29)

Galatians 3:29 KJV 1900

And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

A. remember the promise made to Abraham...

it was the promise of gods blessing, His presence, and his leadership

it was the promise of being accepted by God

it was the promises of being allowed to live in Canaan ( a picture of heaven)

B. our faith in christ makes us heirs to that promise through christ

we followed god in faith is we are saved....

and following him gives us god’s acceptance, righteousness, and living forever in the new heavens and earth....

and all of that came through faith in christ

Conclusion:

real faith takes us out of the supervision of the law it makes us children of god, it unites us in christ, and it makes us heirs to the promises of god

real faith changes everything going on in our lives and makes us acceptable to god

real faith makes it to where we don’t have to worry about this or that all we have to do is follow Christ

salvation isn’t about rules or about dress codes or about the law...

salvation is lawless and without rules and all that other stuff

salvation comes from real faith in the son of god and real faith changes everything....