In Covenant with Christ

Read

Galatians 5:1–6 (ESV)

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ [in covenant with Christ] Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Opening Prayer

Recap

Paul has been arguing and defining what it is that gets a person into Covenant with Christ.

What is it that lays hold of the promises of God obtained and distributed by Christ...

In the New Covenant.

So, first thing this morning I want to do is go into classroom mode and define a few things...

What is a Covenant?

Forgive me for the summary fashion of this...

Natural Law or the Moral law is what God has put in us as creatures.

We know it instinctively…(Rom. 1)

And, in our fallen nature we suppress it actively and relentlessly.

Every creature is bound to obey the moral law of God.

A covenant is outside of God’s moral law.

Outside of the natural arrangement of creation.

Each covenant that God makes must be defined how God defines it.

Any law that God gives that is more than natural law is called positive law.

Positive laws are laws prescribed to a particular person or people group.

We se positive laws within covenants.

So, the command to Adam regarding the trees of the garden...

Was a positive law.

Given to Adam within the Covenant of Works.

Some more examples of positive laws that we see within covenants are circumcision, baptism, Lord’s Supper.

Natural/Moral Laws are universal and binding.

Positive laws are binding to those within the covenant for the period of time that God ordains it to be binding.

Circumcision was binding within the covenant.

It is no longer binding because God says so.

Now, throughout the whole of scripture there has been Law and Gospel.

They are two opposite paths to a righteous standing before God.

A perfect record of personal obedience.

Obey and live. Disobey and die.

A perfect record of imputed obedience.

Trust God to do for you what you cannot do.

And, one of the uses of the Law is to drive a person to a rightful understanding of their unrighteousness...

So, that they will trust and hope in imputed righteousness.

So, let me define a covenant, in particularly, a divine covenant.

A covenant with God is His free and merciful interaction with mankind...

It is a declaration of God’s sovereign pleasure concerning the undeserved benefits He will bestow on man, the undeserved communion they will have with Him, and the way and means by which this will be enjoyed by them.

What is a Federal Head of a Covenant?

A federal head of a covenant is the person to whom the particular covenant was made.

Or the lead person to whom the covenant was made.

The Federal Head is the covenant representative for those who are connected to him in the way the covenant defines.

What Does it Mean to Be in Covenant?

To be in a covenant with God...

Which is above and beyond our natural relationship with God...

As Creator – Creature...

To be in a covenant, you have to have the ability to lay claim to the Federal Head.

Covenant of Works

All are under it, because all are in Adam.

Noahic Covenant

All are under it, because all are in Noah.

Abrahamic Covenant

Only those born of Abraham’s bloodline are in it....

Males had to be circumcised on the eighth day to be considered in the Abrahamic covenant.

The promises of the Abrahamic Covenant were:

Multitude of fleshly offspring.

The Land of Canaan.

The Seed of the Woman in Gen. 3 would come through the lineage of Abraham.

The Promised Offspring

Who would bring a New Covenant and bless the Nations through that New Covenant.

Mosaic Covenant

This covenant was a covenant that laid out how one could live a blessed life in the land of Canaan.

So, it was subservient to the Abrahamic Covenant...

It served the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant.

It was for the same people group.

Within the Mosaic Covenant, you have...

The Davidic Covenant

And, the Kingly line that would rule the Nation.

And, what the Kings did defined what happened to the Nation of Israel.

Being an Israelite and the promises to those in the covenants was tied to being of the lineage of Abraham.

Now, let me say this...

This is an important biblical truth and it draws out how a person is connected to the covenants...

Through, and only through our connection to the Federal Head of the Covenant.

Think about the Second generation coming out of Egypt...

How were they allowed to enter the Promised Land?

Was it because of their believing parents?

Was it solely based on the faith of their parents?

No.

As a matter of fact, their parents weren’t allowed into the Promised Land because of unbelief.

The Second generation were allowed into the Promised Land because they were connected to the Federal Head...

In spite of their parents unbelief.

So, it wasn’t their connection to their parents...

It was their connection to Abraham.

And, so in the New Covenant, it has nothing to do with your parents...

Why?

Because the NT teaches us that it is not based on lineage.

John 1:11–13 (ESV)

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

In the New Covenant, whether you are in it or not depends solely on your connection to Christ.

It has nothing to do with your families connection to Christ.

To Be In Covenant with Christ

Look at what Paul says...

Galatians 5:6 (ESV)

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Circumcision Nor Uncircumcision

Neither mean anything in the Kingdom of Christ.

Remember, circumcision was how you entered into covenant with God as one born of the lineage of Abraham...

And, to not take on circumcision would have been to cut yourself off from the people of God...

And God Himself in the Abrahamic covenant as a person born of the lineage of Abraham.

But regarding the being in Christ...

Which is being in Covenant with Christ...

Paul restates this same thing a little later in...

Galatians 6:15 (ESV)

15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

What counts is being born from above...

Made alive, spiritually, by God the HS...

To walk in newness of life.

Entering the new covenant has nothing to do with something you can do, physically.

It’s not about lineage.

How many times did John the Baptist and Jesus point that truth out in the gospels.

This whole argument in Galatians is to help the Galatians see this truth.

Entrance into the new covenant is not a physical act...

It’s a spiritual act effected by the Hs.

And, I feel I should insert this here...

Baptism Does Not Replace Circumcision

If baptism replaces circumcision...

As some of our brothers and sisters from other denominations state...

If baptism replaces circumcision...

This whole epistle is somewhat a moot point.

Judaizers...

Listen, you need to be circumcised in order to be in covenant with God.

Paul...

No, no. Baptism replaces circumcision.

You no longer need to be circumcised...

You need to be baptized to be in covenant with God.

But, that is not Paul’s argument at all.

Paul’s response to the demand to be physically circumcised is...

No!

You no longer need to be physically circumcised of the flesh to be in covenant with God...

You need to have faith to be in covenant with God.

And faith is a fruit of the HS’s work on someone in regeneration...

That’s a highlight of the New Covenant.

Paul argues that it’s no longer being physically born of parents in the covenant...

It is being born from above...

It is being born of the Spirit...

Not being born physically from people.

It is strictly being connected to the Federal Head of the New Covenant…Jesus.

And that connection comes through Spiritual circumcision of the heart...

Physical circumcision in the Old Covenant has been replaced by spiritual circumcision in the New Covenant.

Not physical circumcision of the flesh.

Not physical lineage.

Not your connection to your parents...

Or your physical connection to Abraham.

If baptism replaces circumcision...

This epistle could have been 1 Chapter long.

But, Paul says here in v.6 neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything...

Only faith working through love...

Only faith counts.

Counts for what?

As an outward sign of a person being in covenant with Christ.

As an outward sign of a person being granted an eternal inheritance in Christ.

As an outward sign that a person’s name is written in the Lambs Book of Life.

As an outward sign of a person gaining the promises of God.

Those promises being obtained by and distributed through Jesus Christ...

The Promised Seed & Offspring.

Paul states the only thing that matters is faith working through love…v.6b

The question may be asked...

How is faith an outward sign?

Isn’t faith an internal reality?

Yes and No.

Yes, Faith is an internal reality...

But Faith is Never Alone

Since you cannot see one’s faith…(James 2)

God has ordained that Faith is never alone.

This is beautiful.

God not only saves us by faith...

But God works in us...

Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So, God gets the glory for the Kingdom work we do.

Why?

Because we do it because of the Spirit of God’s work in us...

And, because of the new heart put within us by the Spirit...

In the effecting of the New Covenant in the people of Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

One of the purposes of our redemption...

Is to show the good work of God...

In the new creation that He has created in us by the HS.

Additionally, in v.6 Paul is making this point...

Which he makes elsewhere in his epistles...

Pride Must Be Checked at the Door

Being circumcised should not be a source of pride...

Which it was to the Jews...

The Jews had great pride in, and found false security in, their bloodline.

And, the Bible shows it was an undoing of theirs.

And, Paul is also warning...

Not being circumcised should not be a source of pride, either.

Neither, circumcised or uncircumcised, matter in one’s connection and identity with Christ...

It’s all grace.

It’s a gift.

It’s not a work done by either group...

Or any individual within one of those groups.

And, so Paul is warning them about the elusiveness of humility.

As soon as you think you have it, you lost it.

I mean if you have pride in being circumcised your boasting.

If you take pride in not being circumcised, your boasting.

Don’t put stock in either.

Salvation is a free gift...

It’s not earned, not a wage...

And it is received by those who see themselves as bankrupt of anything to be proud about in God’s eyes.

Faith is a gift of God...

And, faith always works itself out in behavior.

God produces love in us.

And, love is expressed.

We cannot help but express our love.

Love is not the basis of our justification...

Love is the fruit of faith.

A couple of concluding thoughts on this phrase...

Working through love

Love of what?

Love of God

Love of Neighbor

1st and 2nd greatest commands...

The Law of God summed up in two rules.

So, we Love by example, imitating God in Christ...

For God so loved the world...

Are we loving the world like Christ loved us?

I don’t mean love the world’s beliefs or behaviors...

I don’t mean loving the world’s fallen systems...

I mean loving the people in the world, caring for people...

Ministering to people.

I thought about how this would be tested...

What is the litmus test of loving others?

I think it is this:

Loving them in spite of, or without concern for, how they treat you.

Anyone can love someone that makes much of them...

Or adds to their feeling of self-esteem.

But, can you love someone that:

Persecutes them.

Demeans them.

Belittles them.

Makes them feel small and worthless.

If you can, it is a fruit of the Spirit of God working in you...

both to will and to do according to His good pleasure.

This is how God has called us to love.

This is the kind of love that faith expresses itself in.

Let’s pray for this kind of faith showing up in this kind of love.

Closing Prayer