Justification By Faith

All right, let's turn scripture to Galatians 2.11. We will start at 2.11 today and we'll read down. I'm thinking maybe we ought to read to the rest of the chapter, but I think we will stop with the verses that we have today, which are 15 and 16, the title of which is Justification by Faith. How's that for a title? Is this Spirituality 101 here? Anyway, it's fun. This was a fun section to look at more carefully. All right, I'm reading from the New King James Version, verse 11.

Now, when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be blamed. For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, if you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

Verse 15, we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.

Wow, okay. All right, so as we usually do, let's review last week Bob's wonderful teaching as usual. I'll ultimately raise the question, what happened when Peter went down to Antioch? We just read it. Well, Paul stated that, I'm quoting from scripture here now, when Cephas came to Antioch, I posed him to his face. because he stood condemned and said to him, if you being a Jew live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? So that we read it scripturally and I'm repeating it here.

And this is the diaspora when many Jewish believers in Jerusalem fled to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch where many Gentile believers were already present. So we're seeing this infiltration of Jews leaving Jerusalem and going to this, if you will, the new church. Thus, Antioch became the new home of the church, not Jerusalem. And this is the beginning of the end in terms of looking at the history of the new church established in Antioch now, mostly because, initially because of the Gentile believers that were there, but now the Jews are infiltrating this and we could maybe generalize and say these are Judaizers who clearly are sane but are returning to old ways in terms of their living out their new faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what follows I think presumes that Peter was ultimately convinced by Paul and we'll not dwell on that here but I think we have to believe that if we read through the rest of chapter two that ultimately this was a convincing argument that Paul provided to Peter. All right, Verse 15, we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of, I think from the better preposition, from the Gentiles, is the first part of this lesson for today.

So is Paul still talking with or at Peter? and perhaps other Jewish Christians in Antioch or to the Galatian Church. What's your thought about that? I know Bob has a feeling about that. And by the way, I think one of the verses that preceded this talked about others that maybe were listening into this argument he was having with Peter. So I think it's likely that if this was directed at Peter only and not to the Galatian Church, that other Jewish believers were also listening into this argument. Your thoughts? Bob, you want to defend that this is directed towards Peter and others?

Yeah, I believe he is still talking to Peter here, although he approached him in public with all the other believers around. When half your church decides to go astray, you don't talk privately to Peter, you talk openly with Peter, with all the other believers. You've got to put a stop to this.

Right. Yes, I think, you know, the scriptures that we read before, verses 15 and 16, indicate that there were others who were of the Jewish faith who were also Judaizers and living the law out in their newfound position of grace and truth. All right, let's look at verse 14, and I think that really documents the fact that this is mainly addressing Peter and the others, but when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter, before them all, if you being a Jew, before them all, by the way, this is just maybe, not Peter, it's more than he, you being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as a Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? And then therefore we go on, we who are Jews, this has to be not the Galatian church, but this is an ongoing conversation. with Peter and the others who are being accused of living under law here in Nazareth race. All right.

What does it mean to be Jews by nature? And we could even kind of contemporize that question. Who are the Jews today? And I kind of simplistically separated the three kind of groups of Jewish people. Well, they can be Jews by birth, obviously. I think that's what he's... Okay, a Jew by birth. But, of course, Scripture increasingly calls a Jew by birth who's saved a Christian, not a Jew any longer, but a Jew by birth. Okay.

How would you describe a person who's a Jew by birth today in terms of their worldview and or their, if you will, their spiritual view? They still consider us Gentiles as sinners all through the Old Testament. You were either a Jew or a sinner. You weren't both.

Right. All right. That's the Old Testament. I kind of look at the Jews today. There's the Orthodox Jews. And if you've ever been to Jerusalem, they're at the wall. I mean, they have little caps and they follow all the traditions of the Jewish law. They think they do, anyway.

And I have a story I could tell later about someone I was on a plane with going to Australia, who was returning to Australia after going to Yeshiva University in New York City, and he was keeping all of the law. It was an interesting conversation. It's a long flight, by the way. from Los Angeles to Sydney. Anyway, so there's the Orthodox Jew, and then there's the Jew who, in fact, kind of relates to their history as being born a Jew in the Jewish tradition.

But basically, they are in favor of the land, you know, defend the land. And that's kind of where politics are at right now, defending Israel as a land. And then the third is they take the holidays, but they don't care anything about And you look at New York City, we now have a Muslim who's been running against a classic liberal Democrat who won the election, the preliminary election in New York City. So where are all the Jews that live in New York City?

And by the way, I have a comfort zone with Jewish people because in my profession, I hung out with a lot of Jewish people. In fact, when I was in Chicago last week, I had dinner with a Jewish woman who I've known for a long time. Anyway, all that aside, so the Jews here, though, looked at the Gentiles maybe as a second class group of people. Yes, Bob? There's also a lot of Jews since the Holocaust have become atheists. There's many Jews that believe that after what happened at the Holocaust, that there's no way in the world that God even exists. That's a good point. Well, let's look at somebody smarter than me and what he says.

The word we is emphatic and serves to emphasize the sharp contrast which Paul is about to make between the Jew and the Gentile. Paul is here speaking to Peter on the common ground of their former Judaism, and in an ironical fashion, using the language of Judaism. He says that he and they are Jews by birth, not only not Gentiles, Prentice is dull, we'll come back to that, but not even Gentile proselytes. He implies that as such, the Jews have special privilege and prerogatives.

And I think that really, Lee says it beautifully, I think that reflects the history of that time. Amazing, isn't it? And you know, even in today's world in which we live, the Jew who is semi-serious about their faith and their tradition, I think has a kind of a similar mindset. I'm generalizing that comment because individually there's a lot of different Jewish people with very different perspectives.

All right, so Romans 3-1 says, what advantage then, Paul says, has the Jew? Or what is the profit of circumcision? So in the book of Romans and Galatians, Paul continues to address the fact that the Jew may be a Jew in terms of their birthright, but as a Christian, they're a Christian, no longer Jewish. Okay, does this imply that the Jews didn't see themselves as sinners?

What do you think? Yeah, kind of, yeah. There's a lot of answers. Well, why would they not see themselves as sinners even if they were attempting to follow the Mosaic Law? God shows us we must be good, right? Yeah, that's kind of the arrogance of the Patriarchs. They're circumcised. They think they've already done what God wanted. But Margaret, what did Paul say about their circumcision? I think they're not even listening. But Paul said something that they should be circumcised. What did he say they should be circumcised in?

Not the flesh, but the heart, right? Okay, good. We're on the same page. We're moving forward here today. What does it mean not to be sinners? I think from is a better preposition there. Not to be sinners from the Gentiles. Well, Constable, unsaved Jews regarded Gentiles as sinners.

Paul ironically referred to them as that since Peter was discriminated against them by behaving as he had. So, therefore, looking up to Peter as an example, these Judaizers were following his example. He can hang out with the Gentile believers and meet their needs, but then he goes back and falls back into tradition. Yes, so those sinners, by the way, are different than we are.

We have a law that helps us organize our lives and live the Christian life. And Christ referred to Gentiles as dogs, which was consistent with the Jewish view in that day. Mark 7, let somebody read Mark 7, 26 and 27. And boy, this looks like a terribly offensive or prerogative statement of the Lord Jesus Christ, but this is really the Jewish view of the time.

So whoever has that, just read it out for me. Now, the woman was Gentile of the Siphonitian race, and she kept asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he was saying to her, let the children be satisfied first. where it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it in the darkness. Okay, I didn't hear all that too, Ellen. So, did you say the word dogs? Yes, she did. It's interesting because I really did a word search on this thinking that Paul in some way at some time had used the term dogs.

But it's the Lord Jesus Christ who used the term dogs. Why would the Lord use that term to describe the Gentiles? I didn't put that in the questions in the handout, but nevertheless, it's coming up as a spontaneous statement. Because everybody thinks that the dogs are bad, but he knows they're really great. That's right. Somebody has to speak up for the dogs.

At the time, Christ's ministry was too was to the Jews offering the kingdom. It wasn't to any of the Gentiles. Thank you, Bob. And you know, if we look at the Synoptic Gospels, I think this is shared in Matthew in addition to Mark. I don't think it's in Luke. Maybe in Luke, but it's not in John. So the Synoptic Gospels really have a different view of Christ ministering to the nation of Israel and protecting the kingdom, correct?

Good, that's a great answer. And Paul goes ahead and addresses this in Romans 3, verse 9. What then? Are we better than they? Not at all, for we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. So Paul really nails it down, and I think the preaching that Roger and Mike had in the auditorium, ultimately through Romans, we see chapter three particularly, chapters nine, 10, and 11 really address this to the nation of Israel. But whether Jew or Gentile, God's truth never changes. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All have. Yeah, Jeff.

Isn't this falling on deaf ears with the Jews? Well, keep in mind these are new believers here, today for sure, but Paul is addressing a major and critical issue in terms of the future of the church. And I think, are these deaf ears? Peter's trying to give us a dual example how you can be saved and live under the law, but Paul's criticizing him.

And I think we have to believe that what the verses that follow that we'll cover in the next few weeks are really indicative of the fact that for I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. I mean, we're gonna get to that. That's the end of chapter two. All right, all right. Verse 16 could be five lessons. And I think if Brother Hal were still here, we have two years to look over on this one.

Okay, but I'm going to do my best. Spirit-led, I trust to share this with you. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified."

Now, there are some surprises in this section, so pay attention, please. No sleeping here now. All right. All right. First, what verb is knowing here? Here are your choices. I know this is a factual use of the verb, no. Gnoska, which is an understanding or perception, it goes beyond a factual knowledge. Or epigonoska, which is experiential, relational, and transforming in terms of its intent. Which node do you think is being used here, knowing that a man's not justified by the works of the law? Of those three uses, who was it? Margaret says gnoska. I say I don't. Everyone says I do. I say factual. How many say I do? I may say gnostu. How many say epigonostu? The true verb is aido, it's factual.

Knowing that a man's not justified by the law. That's basic common knowledge that Paul is trying to express here. You should know this, is what he's saying. You should know this, that man is not saved by works of the law. Let's first define being justified. And this is kind of an interesting thing. Thy gait to is a present passive form of the noun, which means righteousness. So justifies really stands for being made righteous.

So interesting. So let's now turn to two of my favorite verses and one I use frequently and I don't mean to bore you all, but ultimately 2 Corinthians 5, 21, for he hath made him who knew no sin to be made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. What an incredible verse.

You know, as we think about positional truth, when you fall short of the glory of the Lord in your walk, your thoughts, or whatever, and you think positionally, God, this isn't who I am. You've declared that I'm righteous. How many believers in the church of this age really understand? what this really means. You know, that's it. That makes for a, you know, a nice soft pillow to a tired head. We're all righteous. God sees us all as righteous. And when we fall short, we don't disclaim that righteousness. We just lose the fellowship that we have with him.

And then secondly, 1 Corinthians 6.11, and such for some of you, but you who are washed but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And herein we stand, guiltless, without condemnation, now and forevermore. Incredible truth of scripture.

All right, what are the works of the law? By the way, the term for law, this was somewhat surprising, is nomos. Least, the word law here is used in its qualitative and legalistic sense. It denotes divine law looked upon as purely legalistic system. We must be careful to note that the Bible nowhere teaches this concept of divine law so far as a lost sinner is concerned. And with a reference to this salvation from sin, this concept and its origin in the thought and practice of man all down through the ages since its inception in the heart of Canaan.

I think Wiest is correct in part, but if you look at how Nomos is translated, I think we're going to be surprised a little bit. And Paul's roots as a Pharisee, I think, saw that once he was saved, that living under Mosaic law, or by the way, any law, was nothing but death. Romans 7, 10, and the commandment which was But anyway, it didn't get copied. You could read the verse, which led to death, the commandment led to death. Again, this is the battle of Romans 7 that Paul's falling back under legal systems ultimately to fall short of the glory of God. So in context, law here seems to be the mosaic law. from which Peter and Paul emerged, but no proceeding article indicates any legal system that makes the cross equally as worthless.

And Romans 2.14, or when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do the things in the law, those, although not having the law, are a law under themselves. So even though in context Paul is arguing with Peter about leaving the mosaic law, legal things behind, this law could be any law system.

And just think as Gentile believers, how many Gentile believers who don't have Jewish tradition make laws under themselves? And you know, I think this is really an important truth. that we who are not Jews in fact fall into this trap or condemnation of making laws under ourselves. And I think ultimately the idea of being good is all that God needs, right? If you're good enough, you're judged by your works and it's not judged by faith.

And no matter what law system is operational, there is a purpose. And Galatians 3, 24, where for the law, nomos, again, any law system was our tutor or schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. So whether it's your own law system or the Mosaic law system, it's there as a school. I love the term in the old King James, schoolmaster or tutor to bring us to Christ. All right, now that we've conquered this, what is faith?

And I think we can all turn directly to Scripture, everyone, Crow's Hebrews 11.1, and that says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, but the evidence of things not seen. Is that clear? I mean, we can talk about that verse a lot and kind of dissect it, and that's what faith is, is substance of things hoped for, hope, future, the evidence of things not seen. So our faith is really directed at things that we're hoping for, our eternal salvation, but it exists right now. So, I don't know, I mean, that's scripture.

But I think that in the walk that we are about, it also depends on tarlam faith, doesn't it? And I think that Hebrews 11, 6 says, but without faith it's impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is also a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

So this idea of the faith is we all get saved by faith, but also we think of the three verb tenses of being saved. I was saved, I'm being saved, and I will be saved. And I kind of think that Schofield summarized faith best, and this is, you know, taking what Scripture says, but faith is believing and receiving what God has revealed. And, you know, the neat thing about that is it takes us back to the Old Testament, and ultimately from Genesis all the way through Revelation, the Word of God is the truth. And faith is believing everything that God has revealed and receiving that and applying it to our lives. Any thoughts at all about that? All right. Notice the preposition used here in this verse and those not used. The preposition is not with, it's not of, it's not about.

But ultimately, it's faith in Jesus Christ, believed in Christ Jesus, justified by faith in Christ. And I, shortly after getting saved, I think I've had to grow a minuscule amount to go to this, but I looked up the prepositions in Christ or for Christ. It's like 150 something to four or something. And the for Christ in context really didn't mean you're doing something for Him. The for is used in other contexts to look at some circumstance that Christ was involved with.

Anyway, you know, at Holly Hills, we need to continue to remind ourselves we are in Christ for new creations, and that's a new life that we live in Him. So Bob, back to your point now, and you've made it down here, faith has to have an object. And for the believer in the Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ is the object, whether faith or belief or whatever. The object of our faith is in a person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's critical. If it's in something else, then you've got a problem. And verse 16, I certainly think, documents that, using the preposition. I'm with Christ, I walk in His footsteps, et cetera. I'm about Christ, thinking about Him, studying Him, et cetera. Doesn't cut it. All right.

Our walk today is accomplished by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit and will be found in Him. So Philippians 39, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which of course none of us have, which is from the law, which again, that could be again any legal system, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. So salvation is not simply I was saved by faith, but we're being saved by faith in him and will be saved by him. Remember, I alluded to this a moment ago, we are all new creations in position and condition and precious.

I went to there's a friend that we know from the golf club that we're part of, and he wanted me to go to one of the Wednesday gatherings. I've been twice now to these gatherings, which is from another church and. So we were talking on the way home, and it's clear that this group of men, men only, and the teaching that's going on there is all about pleasing God, and it works. And he's encouraging me to go, but I think that he's still interested in the conversations we have in the car going home.

So it wasn't argumentative, but it was clearly trying to make a different point to him that that ultimately I came to the question, do you believe you're a new creation in Christ Jesus? And he paused and he said, he kind of legally said, yes, he believes that. But yet working to please God was still the operation of, by the way, the conversation around the little table and that that's being taught in this group. The question is, should I keep going back? Margaret thinks I should, so maybe I can hope would be a vessel of bringing some light to some of these people. But anyway, so the conversation I had with him, because I wrote over with him twice, we're very much in line, not preaching down, teaching down, it was just conversational, but this idea, how do we please God?

And we please him by having a positional view. I can't decide if he's inviting Bob back to try to convince him. If what Bob is saying to him, you know, is sort of maybe he's thinking about that, because that's why I told Bob I thought he should keep going, is because I thought he could be a witness, not only to the Sprinklers, but they all sit kind of at the same, the same group sits at a table that has lunch, you know, during all this. And so I said, you know, there are other people who are listening too. Maybe they've never heard this.

Yeah, I mean, the first time I went, this table has about seven men around. There's about six or seven of these tables. And something came up. There's a topic that's presented by the speaker. And then the group has a chance in 10 and 15 minutes to discuss what was presented. Then they go back and somebody from the table shares what was said. And at the table, you know, this whole works emphasis and I thought falling short of not doing things God wants me to do all that kind of thing.

And I kind of mentioned that, look, everyone, you know, God sees us as righteous. And it's interesting. And these seven men, I was one of the seven, about three of them seemed really, you know, this is like new information to them. And the other three, I mean, I'm not being critical or argumentative.

I was just trying to remind them that, you know, sacred Corinthians 5.21, He hath made him—I've shared the verse—who knew no sin to be made sin for each one of us. Say, Bob, if you don't continue to go back, there's a good chance that the Holy Spirit isn't going to be there either. I don't care.

Let me ask Mike Doyle about that. I asked Mike the other night about this. He thought maybe I should go a few more times to see what happens. But I'm not God's great gift of truth, I mean, but it was just interesting because just to be a friend with Steve, because I know Steve was saved, just to be a friend with him, he wanted me to come and I said, well, we'll give it a try. But, you know, we'll see. You said your conversations, even in the car, were the real conversations that he was having. But you may be the only one that actually provides the truth of the Word of God.

That's right. No pressure there. Oh, hey, Bob? Yes, Andrew? I think everyone's overthinking this a bit. I think it's just Margaret trying to get you out of the house. That's where I went first, but I'm not confident. Well, Andrew, can we talk privately a little later?

And so these new creations, if anyone's in Christ, it's a new creation. I think that's kind of the message I shared with Steve on the card. And he reluctantly said, yes, I'm a new creation. But then I think he still felt the responsibility was his, and pleasing God in everything he does. Our responsibility in Christ, spirit-led, is still bringing glory to God.

So the question is, where do you put your emphasis? So to conclude, Robertson says that the terms faith, righteousness, law, works occur more frequently in Galatians than Romans because Paul is dealing directly with a problem and opposition to the Judaizers who contended that Gentiles had to become Jews to be saved. I thought that was, and it's interesting looking at those words he pulled out of this verse that ultimately indicate the truth of the gospel. And ultimately, yes, but be aware of any law system.

And by the way, just being good. And I think, I think the unsaved person, my brother's a great example of this, my late brother, Ed. He heard the gospel once too often from me, and we had kind of a separation of relationship for a while, and then ultimately that was restored. And in fact asked us why we weren't praying at a meal that we had with he and his wife. Anyway, all that aside, he felt that he did a lot of good things, and that's all he needed for whatever happens after he dies. But the idea that just doesn't cut it. I mean, I didn't say it that way. He couldn't buy.

So I think the world system overall, if you look at Hinduism, if you look at the Muslim world, you look at much of Roman Catholicism, I mean, people are into being good or doing good things, right? But only by this platform of grace we all live in is our faith made real. And that's where the truth of the gospel is.

All right, let's close in prayer. Father, we're grateful for the scripture that you give us. It's so revealing, so uplifting, and so directive in terms of all the issues that have been brought up in these two verses, particularly verse 16, and in terms of that we're justified by not works, but by faith, and that faith is all entirely directed to the Lord Jesus Christ. in his nature as we are new creations that spirit led that we bring glory to you in our walk. So we're thankful for the fellowship we have around the word and may the service to follow bring glory to you in Jesus name we pray. Amen.