James Reed's FORGE

As we continue on with Paul’s discussion of works of the law as opposed to faith in the promise, we’re going to see how these two different approaches effect people. In verses 6 through 22 of this same chapter we have seen that the Abrahamic Covenant of promise is superior to the Mosaic Covenant of the law. Now, we’re going to look at personal application in verses 23-29. Paul takes a kind of before and after approach. Paul will show us our character and orientation before we trusted in Christ for salvation. He also shows us the righteousness that God grants because of that trust. We brought out in the last episode that before we became followers of Christ we were under the law. To be under the law is to be under bondage. Remember, we talked about how the law is binding on both parties, but the promise is kept by God alone. When we understand this, it ought to compel us to go preach the gospel to our neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, and even our government officials. 

On the last episode, we focused on covenants. God has chosen to deal with His people and their redemption through covenants. We talked about the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants last week, but there are others too. There was the Noahic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. In creation, God entered into a covenant of works with Adam. Adam was called to obey God. The law at that time was not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is called a covenant of works because if Adam kept the law, he would live. If he violated the law, he and all his posterity would die.

Concerning our text today, RC Sproul said, “Ironically, that we are justified by Christ alone also means that the only way any of us will be saved is by works.” [1] Now, when I first read this, I thought, “What in the world is RC getting at here? Did I read that right?” RC is correct from a certain point of view. We are all under the work of the first Adam which resulted in disobedience, or we are under the work of Christ—the second Adam. The work of Christ kept the law perfectly. So, when you think of it this way, we are saved by works. The question is, “Whose works?” This is what RC was getting at.

[1]Sproul, R. C. For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free. (Sanford: Ligonier Ministries, 2022), 71.

The doctrine of justification has been called the storm center of the Reformation. For Paul, it was the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From Galatians 2:15 through 5:1, we will learn how this concept shaped Paul’s message and devotion. This subject of justification by faith is spoken of by others in the NT, but it is most often the words written by Paul that we turn to when we seek to defend this beautiful doctrine.

Justification is God’s act of pardoning sinners and accepting them as righteous for Christ’s sake. When God justifies someone, He permanently puts right their relationship with Himself. 2 Cor. 5:21 reminds us, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” This is the foundation of our acceptance by God.

R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005), 1696.

Daniel Bush and Noel Due, Live in Liberty: The Spiritual Message of Galatians (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015).

I don’t think I’d be too far off base if I told you that our culture has completely embraced what is called moral relativism. This philosophy states that whatever is right for you may or may not be right for me. If you’ve ever heard someone say, “I have to speak my truth,” they are referring to moral relativism. Relativism on the whole states that everything is relative, and depending upon the situation in which you find yourself, lying, cheating, stealing—even killing might be the right thing to do.

Allan Bloom indicated in his book The Closing of the American Mind, that 95% of students who graduate from high school and enter college are already convinced of the position of moral relativism. By the time they graduate from college, that number goes up to 98%.

While this may be a true statistic, I’m willing to suggest that if I wanted to break into their home and take their stuff, they would suddenly believe that I was absolutely wrong. If I took their wallet, I can guarantee they would call for justice. This is because we are all image bearers of our creator God, and He has put a moral law in all our hearts. We know without anyone telling us that it is better to love our neighbor than to kill our neighbor and take their stuff.

I heard a story about the professor who asked his class if there was any such thing as an absolute. A student replied, “There are no absolutes.” The professor then replied, “Are you absolutely sure of that statement?” Hopefully you can see that as soon as someone makes an absolute truth claim, they believe in an absolute. To state that there are no absolutes is an absolute truth claim and thus contradicts itself.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, God has given us moral absolutes—what He demands of us as humans. And second, Paul uses logic applied very simply over today’s text. Let’s see what Paul had to say.

Paul heard the reports that the Galatians had departed from the true gospel of Christ, and that false teachers had brought in ideas of keeping the law in order to truly be a Christian. By now, you may have noticed that the Apostle Paul has a very stern tone with the Galatians. If you think that Paul has been harsh over the first 2 chapters, just wait to see what happens here in chapter 3.

There’s great assurance here. May we all realize that we have received a generous, overflowing, abundant power from the Holy Spirit to live this life. We have received eternal salvation through faith in Christ the Lord. God the Father promised, and as always, He keeps His promises. How foolish we would be if we thought for one second we could add to that with some work or merit on our part. Just as Abraham believed God, we are to do the same. There’s simply no other way to be a member of this Faith Family. The foolish Galatians could yet become wise, and so can we. Reflecting on their own experience, the covenant with Abraham, and the curse of the law, they could return to the wisdom of the Gospel—sola fide, faith alone.

There are two pillars of the gospel. 1. The grace of God. 2. The death of Jesus Christ upon the cross. These are so important for us to understand because to the extent that you understand this, will be the extent that you run from false gospels. You will run from legalism.

The full doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone is that we are saved by faith unto good works. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” A study of this passage will show you that just as much as grace is a gift of God so to is saving faith. And we see here that we have been saved for good works, and further that God has prepared those works for us to do beforehand. James 2:17 says, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” As Christians we have a living faith, a faith that goes with us wherever we go. It is not dead, but it produces good fruit.

Chapter 10 of the Westminster Confession is entitled “Effectual Calling”, and it begins with the following: “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.”

I do not believe these writings because they were written so long ago by the Reformers. I do not follow the teachings of men. I only believe these things to the extent that they adhere to the inspired Word of God. I believe these things because they systematically teach doctrine derived from scripture alone.

1. Scripture Alone. Meaning that we look to the Bible alone as the highest source of authority in a Christian’s life. This is not the only authority as we do submit to government and other authorities. However, we will not follow these authorities if they go against the clear teaching of the Bible. We also do not look to Rome or any other Church body to tell us what the Bible clearly states. 2. Faith Alone. This means that we believe a Christian is justified—that is to be made right with God—only through faith in Christ. 3. Grace Alone. This teaching states that sinners are saved only through the unearned gift of God’s grace. It is not of works, lest any man should boast. 4. Christ Alone. This statement emphasizes the exclusive role which Christ has in our salvation. We are not saved through a Church system, a list of good works, penance, or any other man-made way of atonement. Christ alone is the only way. And 5. To the Glory of God alone. The purpose of creation, salvation, God’s eternal decrees, everything you can think of, and most especially our goal as Christians is the glory of God that God may be all in all as the Bible says in 1 Cor. 15:28.

Jesus gave a parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30. What we learn from that parable is that wherever the seed of God’s truth is sown, Satan will also be there to sow his seeds of lies. In the Book of Acts chapter 20, we find that Paul warns them to be on guard against wolves who want to come in and kill the flock. Paul claims that these wolves will say perverse things and draw people away from the truth. If you have ever heard of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, this is where it comes from. Paul instructs Timothy that people will fall away from the faith and go after deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Paul does not say that these wolves have it mostly right except for a few things… he calls it doctrines of demons. Let that sink in. This is not to be taken lightly. Read 1 Timothy 4:1-2.

Paul the Apostle was always fighting this—or so it would seem. False teachers would come in after Paul and attack his apostleship, and in doing so would attack the gospel which he preached. The idea was that he could not possibly be a real Apostle like the Lord’s twelve. They accused him of preaching something different than Peter and the others who were in Jerusalem. What we find here in the second chapter of Galatians is Paul’s account of a trip to Jerusalem where a council was called to proclaim what the gospel truly is.

Dear Paul,

We have heard some very exciting teaching in the churches of Galatia lately. The new teachers have shed new light on what you taught us.

Some of us wonder why you didn’t know these things. In fact, the big question around here is where you really got the right to call yourself an Apostle. Furthermore, we didn’t realize until now that you and the Jerusalem Apostles—that is the real Apostles, are teaching different things. Your gospel, Paul, doesn’t do justice to the old Jewish laws. After all, wasn’t Jesus the Jewish Messiah?

Please answer two questions: 1. Where did you get the right to be an Apostle? And, 2. Is the gospel of the grace of Christ (as you like to call it) different from what the venerable Jerusalem Apostles are preaching?

Thank you- Philip Nomos, Clerk.

Harn, Roger Van. Revelation Series for Adults: Galatians. Grand Rapids, MI: Education Department of the Christian Reformed Church, 1984.

We live in a world which seems to have no shortage of belief systems and religions. Indeed, there are cults which would call themselves Christian. I’m sure you have them wherever you are. 

How do you know what you believe is correct? What if they are correct? Is everyone correct in what they believe? Do all roads end up going to the same place?

Friends, a different gospel is not another gospel. There is only one gospel. It is found in this Book, the Bible. It is not found in another “testament”, Rome, a new “un-corrupted Bible”, nor any other false system of works. Here at the FORGE, not only do we believe in Scripture alone, we also hold to grace alone, faith alone, in Christ alone for the glory of God alone.

You were truly born into sin, you have broken God’s laws, and you are a sinner (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23). You have been found guilty and the penalty is death (Romans 6:23). That’s the bad news. 

The good news is that Christ came to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15; Hebrews 9:26). God the Father placed your sin upon Christ who was innocent. Christ then took the penalty and the full wrath of a righteous God and Judge upon the cross where He bled, suffered, and died for His people (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21). For all those who would call upon the name of Christ for salvation, your sin was placed upon Him, and in turn His righteousness was placed upon you. You can become a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus the Son of the living God (Romans 8:16-17; John 1:12). Come to Christ alone in faith realizing that you have nothing to offer but the sin that makes your salvation necessary (Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Corinthians 3:14-15). It is that simple.

Keep it simple folks. The gospel is that Christ came to redeem us from sin. We preach the law to the proud, so that we might be conduits of grace for the humble.