The New Fellowship of Suffering

All right, this is it. This is the end of Galatians. Well, actually Bob, not quite true. Remember next week? Well, next week, I know we have next week, but there are no more verses to cover here, Roger. There must be an epilogue. You're going to get a double dose next week. He's going to do all of Galatians. Or you could call it the burial or the resurrection. Both services.

So, in fact, what Roger's planning on doing is reviewing Galatians 1.1 through Galatians 6.18 next week. And you've got seven seconds per verse. Anyway, no, Roger's got something special planned for us. Well, actually, Vern's going to be gone, so he asked me to do the main service.

So I'm going to do a summary of Galatians. actually use how how boys notes heavily so thank you I'll always good to have three years to do yeah you know I'm going to mention more than that oh yeah for you don't it took a nine-minute years eight years never be that what six months old when you're going to be 20 and then in the I was like say in the I was off and you're like Bob but that's all right we have just two verses to do with it in his summer yeah so I have his notes he says eight years, and he talks about, we spent one year on Galatians 2.20. That's right. Yeah, I remember that.

One year on Galatians 2.20. Didn't sink enough, did it? Were there any rabbit trails? Oh, there were many. We actually covered the entire Bible. And you heard the story about the tortoise and the hare. This was a slow hare. It's a hyperthyroid hair. All right, we're going to wrap it up today by looking at verses 17 and 18. Let's lead into that by beginning in verse 11. You see how large a letter I've written unto you with mine own hand.

As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your place. But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision, a veil of anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be unto them, and mercy upon the Israel of God. Henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

So Randy last week did one of my favorite verses, Galatians 6.14. Crucified unto the world, the world unto me. I mean, what better theology than that? What a great way for Paul to end this wonderful epistle to the Galatians. So let's begin with verse 17.

From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. from now on, or for the rest, or henceforth, it really implies in respect to the remaining time. From this point forward, all the time I've got here, let no one trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord these times.

Troubles. ILG translates it as troubles to me let no one give. It's interesting, that's a whole kind of verbotic phrase, this let no one trouble me or give trouble unto me is one or two words in the Greek, and those words are in the present active imperative. So how do you interpret the tense, present active imperative, in terms of troubles to me let no one give?

Is Paul himself controlling these troubles? So present? I mean, isn't he the recipient? So shouldn't this be passive? It's almost like he's not going to allow anyone to trouble him. It's not going to get to him. There. That's good. And it's imperative, which means what? It's a command. It's a command. And so, you know, the response to this isn't trying to work harder at it, is it?

I mean, Paul's firmly positioned to say nobody's going to touch Touch me with troubles. Now what kind of troubles are we talking about? Let's look first of all at troubles which mean labors or toils and let give means to bring or to render. What kind of troubles is Paul referencing here? What do you think?

Is he talking about being stoned? I think it refers back to a little bit when he said, let no man judge me. I'm judged by no man. He's judged by Jesus Christ, no man. So regardless of this world it's not going to affect him like Margaret said. Other thoughts? Wouldn't he be talking also about the other gospel and the Galatians because they've been critical of him because of his ministry. I would say it refers right back to the whole chapter. That's the problem with getting the handout out first. I haven't looked at the handout. I see you haven't. Maybe you tucked it in behind your Bible. Keep in mind we're at the end of the epistle.

What Paul doesn't want to be troubled by is the truth of the gospel. What's this other gospel? Nothing's going to bother me about this. You can't persuade me about this circumcision stuff. That's one aspect of this whole legal system that the Galatian brethren have been exposed to. And Paul says, no way. I'm not going to budge on this. Too bad we can't say that. Well, in terms of doctrine, I think we can.

Now the question is, what kind of, this is kind of a bit on the side, but when we're challenged about our doctrine, how do we respond? And by the way, in the body, keep in mind, Paul's writing to the brethren here. He's not writing to some people out in the field who have no knowledge of salvation. What do you say when you're challenged on the doctrine of the exchange of life and the identification? I mean, I think at times for me the flesh kind of shows up there a little bit and that's not where we need to be.

I mean, you know, we stand on firm doctrine. So how do we share with our brethren who in fact are under law and doing works and wondering why we're not working harder? Well, you present the truth and love. I mean, you know, it's that balance of truth and love. But I think the best way is to go right to Romans. I mean, show what Paul wrote about the law. Okay, so the scripture tells the story.

Yeah, instead of you trying to convince them, you're not going to. But I'm sure many of you in this room have been under preaching or teaching where in fact people read Romans and they declare what it says but there's absolutely no ownership for it. I mean they can teach what the written word says and in fact believe that ultimately you know we're buried with him with baptism unto death and risen with him in noneness of life but in fact in terms of their own lives does that doctrine apply to their being saved in the life of Christ? I guess my thought is that sometimes you just have to let them read it and interpret it the way that they're going to and just present something to them and because sometimes the harder you argue your case the harder they argue their case and you just don't come to your gap gets larger instead of smaller, and you're not making any progress at all, you're defeating yourself.

You're right. It's kind of like sharing of the gospel to the unsaved, right? You pound the truth of the gospel to them, that's not spirit-led, is it? But sometimes that's easier than somebody that already has their mind made up. Somebody that is doesn't know or is looking is much easier to talk to than somebody that is convinced that what they are doing or what they have been taught is right.

So you kind of have to feel it out. You yourself, you and yourself cannot necessarily change their mind. You can plant a seed like you said before. I think it goes along with what Paul said that you pray unceasingly. You have to be in an attitude of prayer.

So what Pat's saying is very true because only the Holy Spirit and God can can present the truth in a way that that particular person is going to be able to accept it and understand it. It always comes from God. Question, what brings people to this exchange life position and acceptance and having that change the way they walk? What brought you, each one of you, to saying there's more to this than my trying to pay God back? God draws people. What's that? He draws people. Oh, like the spirit?

Actually, many times it's troubles. Difficult. Alright, troubles. You're not making it. You're not performing like you. After a while you say, I can't do this. In my case, I was praying for things that I already had. Lord, give me more of this. Give me more of that.

Maybe this is a narrow view and just subjective, but I think it's coming to the end of yourself. Once you're exasperated and you're seeing that you're not getting a job, what else is there? There must be more to Christianity than my trying to have these legal principles apply to my life to pay God back for the salvation he's so graciously given me. Coming to the end of yourself, I think, is the beginning of the Christ life being portrayed in our walks on a daily basis.

That doesn't mean we do well at it sometimes by faith. Gail? I guess I would add to that, and it goes right along with it, the idea of over and over again sensing that okay I did that and it isn't good enough and I'm not satisfied and I'm not happy and I'm always working and struggling and it's coming to the end of yourself but it's realizing that you're never going to feel a point where you're good enough and that you've done enough. And I think that's what Paul says, these troubles of this other gospel, you're not going to influence my doctrine.

It's factual. I'm standing firm in the position of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm crucified unto him and him unto me. and I'm living now in the newness of life without legal principles being applied. So this is in response to the Judaizers all around, and we still believe the law has merit in terms of the Christian performance. What does bearing in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ mean here?

Well, let's look at the definition. Marker is stigma. Interesting term we use in the English language. It's an incision as a scar. So it can be a physical mark. And that's often used to identify ownership. The slaves were marked, same Greek term, having a mark to identify who you belong to. But in addition, it's a badge of service too. So, in a sense, how does that relate to his body having the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is this some sort of an insignia? Or is this related to the trauma and physical persecution he's been through previously? It's interesting.

My NIV says, on my body. Rather than of? In. Do other versions have on rather than of? Mine says in my body, on my body. Numeric standard, on my body. I kind of summarize this in two ways. One, circumcision is a mark, is it not? Let's look at these verses. Donna, Acts 15, 24 and Ingrid, could you do 2 Corinthians 11, 23 and 25? So these deal with two different kinds of marks that we might be relating to here.

For as much as we have heard, that certain which went out from us hath troubled you with words subverting your soul, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law. to whom he gave no such commandment. Okay. Amber? Okay. Are they servants of Christ?

I am out of my mind to talk like this. I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, and been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.

Okay, good. So if we go on to the next point, I think to continue this theme, we could either be dealing with the circumcision as a visual mark, in fact, of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, which I think is not probably what Paul's talking about here. But it is a mark or a badge or an act of ownership. He belongs to the nation of Israel, etc. And in terms of the message to the Judaizers, I think it's perfectly consistent that this could be a mark on his body that reflects his Jewish heritage. But more likely, he's glorying in the marks of the suffering that he's had on behalf of his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ on his own body. and we all benefit.

So let's look briefly at three other verses here. We've got time today. But I'm going to give you Colossians 124. Pat, could you do Galatians 6.14, a verse very close by? You don't have to turn your page.

And Roger, Philippians 3.10, please.

Galatians 6.14. 6.14. But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom the Word has been crucified to me and I to the world. So Paul himself is crucified. Those are spiritual marks, if you will, in terms of the theology he's presenting.

Philippians 3.10. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering and be conformed to his death. identification in his suffering.

Can I also read Acts 9.15? You may. Or maybe I should make it 9.11.

The Lord told him, Go to the house of Judas on the street. The Lord told him, Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight, and then further down on 15. But the Lord said to Ananias, Go to this man in my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

That's a great verse. That really fits here, doesn't it? Go ahead with the Colossians first. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the church.

By the way, we can build on this tenfold. 1 Peter says a lot about suffering. It's a privilege to suffer. Most of us don't look at it that way. This is truly identification, isn't it? Paul glories in these marks. This isn't a matter of, gee, I've had to go through this. To God be the glory. No, Paul himself is glorying through the opportunity to suffer in the name on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, is this just Paul or is this Rustin? It's Rustin. I think so.

Now, you know, if you look at the Geneva commentary, it says, it's very important whose marks we bear for the cause makes the martyr and not the punishment. Think about that for a second. Are we called to be martyrs? Actually, because the Lord says that we're going to suffer, you know, because of our belief in Him. And, I mean, you can say that's martyred or not being a martyr, but I think in that sense of the word, we are. Martyrs. Does everybody think of themselves as a martyr? It would be good to define martyr carefully, I think.

I've looked it up. I think what we see around us we think is normal for Christianity and treatment of Christians, but I think in other countries Christians really are abused and beaten and jailed and everything for their faith. It's hard to say just by what we see here. Yeah, we're pretty fortunate at this point. Okay, again, I think that the Geneva commentary hits it pretty well. It's the cause, not the punishment.

So a martyr is someone who gives himself up for the cause, with not really relating to all that he or she might incur as being part of the cause. Yes? I was going to bring up, Pat brings this up often about Rachel in the Columbine, when the guy held the gun to her head and told her that all she had to do was give up her in the name of Jesus Christ. And she refused and he shot her. Now she was a martyr. And that is martyrdom, is it not?

But I think that we will, you know, unfortunately I think the United States will be seeing more of that, I think, as things unfold and we get more and more pressure for other predominant religions that we will find Christianity is, and not necessarily how according I've done to our own achievements, but I think that we will be more and more ostracized and challenged. And I think it will be up to us to stand up. Hypothesy is not anything that's uplifting in terms of the improvement of this earthly system we live in. I was just thinking that you say where the cause makes the martyr.

You know, there's a lot of martyrs in religious environments. I think the difference is that understanding those identification truths and who we are in Christ that we're given and raised. What you talk about, it's a life. And that life lives out. And if it ends up being a martyr, It's not something that we decide. I like that. I think we've all defined martyred correctly, but in fact, you know, the martyrdom role is one that could be taken on by anybody. The Christ's life speaks for itself, and there it's a life, not an act of martyrdom. Let's look at a couple of verses that I think portray this a little bit.

2 Corinthians 4, 6. 6, 4 through 6. Stan and Margaret, would you do 2 Corinthians 4, 10? And I'm going to ask you to look as you read these, whether these define us as martyrs, or whether what Donna just said may be closer to the truth. What did you say about 2 Corinthians 6? Yes, 6, 4 through 6, please. But all things, in all things. 2 Corinthians 6, 4-6.

Rather as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way, in great endurance, in troubles, hardships, and distresses, in beatings, imprisonments, and riots, in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger, in purity, understanding, patience, and kindness, in the Holy Spirit, and in sincere love. Go ahead and read on down to verse 10. Just keep going. That's easy for you to say.

In truthful speech and to the power of God, with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report, genuine yet regarded as impostors, known yet regarded as unknown, lying and yet we live on, beaten and yet not killed. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Poor, yet making many rich. Having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. to dine with the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." Okay, so there's the life. It's the life that ultimately puts up with the traumas, the persecutions, the trials, the tribulations. We're in foreign soil here, right? I mean, this is not our citizenship.

So, we can think of ourselves as martyrs, but I think Donick very, very carefully identified the fact that martyrdom, look at 9-11, right? Isn't that martyrdom for Allah? I mean, they had a cause, the cause was more important than their own lives, and ultimately they died for that. Of course, about 2,000 other people died too, plus. That's the definition of Jihad. I think we look at the term martyr and we think of it in a negative connotation.

No, I don't have it negative. No, I think the term itself, but I think you're right. It's because of who we are, our life, that people see that life and as Pat pointed out, I think you're probably right. We're going to be challenged, is a good word, as time goes on.

Read that verse again. always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. So how's that life manifested? The dying. And we're thankful, I think, you know, I think we're all thankful that we're not persecuted the way Paul was. And the trials and tribulations we have are minuscule compared to what he did.

But he was so lifted up by these things. And considering it, you know, look at the verse and go back to the verse. says, to the glory. I mean, back in, I'm sorry, verse 14, but God forbid that I should glory except in the cross. I mean, so this is part of the life that the trials and tribulations brings glory, not only to the Lord in terms of our walk in faith, but also to us in our lives. In Romans 12, which Margaret was talking about earlier, go to Romans, and I agree with her because just about all the answers are here.

12. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world that be transformed to the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will.

So is it any wonder that our Congress and our government and our leadership in this country is so confused and so inept at determining truth from error? I mean, the first part of that verse, it says, do not be conformed. That means that Maybe we won't be politically correct. Oops! How does that work? So our minds get screwed up when we become politically correct. It's so true, Edmund. It's so true. Because there's no truth. So although if you look at a Webster's or Oxford's dictionary, we as believers could be determined as martyrs under some circumstances for sure.

But I think, again, Donna's correctly identified what 2 Corinthians 4.10 says. It's a lie. That's the infinite interpretation of good doctrine. This is my real Christ, right? Nevertheless, I live. Good discussion, everybody.

So, last verse in Galatians. Brethren, in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Notice how Paul addresses this parting word, remember, to the brethren. Brethren. This is not to the unsaved. This is written to the church. So there's a lot going on here that's not very satisfactory in terms of doctrine. But yet the message is addressed to them, not the unbelievers. So these are members of the body of Christ. Also notice that the appeal is to the spirit, not to the mind or to the flesh.

Now the question for the class is, is this pneumatos, or in the great spirit, the general use of the term spirit, or is this applying to the Holy Spirit? What do you think? Well, there's no the. What's that? There's no the before the word spirit. Okay. Keep in mind, the term pneuma or pneumatis can apply to the mind, body and spirit, right? I mean, soul, I'm going to interpret that. But we all have the spirit, you know?

The spirit of life, which is with or without God, right? Yeah, but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ couldn't be just any, I mean, the fleshly part. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, wouldn't it only be interacting with the spirit? Well, we were talking about this in Bible study on Friday night, weren't we? Wasn't that the discussion we're having in terms of the soul?

The soul could be influenced in the nature, the old nature, or the soul could be influenced by the new nature. And I think the spirit of man could be also influenced by the Holy Spirit. or the spirit could be influenced by the spirit of the world system, right? I think this is a general use of the term spirit because the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is not going to be appealing to the spirit of mankind to move in the wrong direction. It doesn't say the Holy Spirit here. It says spirit.

Isn't it true that when you're born again it says that your spirit is quickened? Or in other words, it's re-enlightened? that were re-enlivened or it's brought to life again because at the original sin, they were separated from God. When you're born again, your spirit is then reconnected, correct?

But you would agree that all men have a spirit, right? Oh, sure. I mean, we all have a spirit. We have a mind and a body and a soul and a spirit and all that kind of stuff. So if he's talking to believers, then their spirit would be identified with Christ. I don't think this one's worth dying for here. But not being a martyr. I've seen enough of your martyrdom in the past. First Thessalonians 5, that's living with me is the martyrdom. Maybe you should go to one of the other Sunday School classes. This is on tape, right? Across the internet.

Alright, Margaret, how would you interpret 1 Thessalonians 5? Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. How would you interpret spirit there? Notice souls in there too, and body, right?

Those are pretty neutral items. The spirit of man is not evil. The spirit of man is not holy and righteous. We all have this spirit of life. It's called being alive. So I would tend to think that there's no other way to interpret this than we're talking about the spirit of man. I mean the spirit that we're all given at birth. Gail, you look curious.

Yeah, I'm just thinking that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, doesn't need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has it and it uses it to help us, but our spirits and souls and bodies, we need the grace, even as saved people, having the life of Christ in us, that grace, if we didn't have it every day, where would we be? That's right, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ energizes or activates or quickens our own earthly spirit. Well let's go back to what Jesus said.

Jesus said the first commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your spirit, with all your strength. So he's saying the entire man is made up of those four things and it's interconnected and it's all part of the whole and it also says in Hebrews it says the dividing of the marrow and the joint and the soul and the spirit so in other words they're so interconnected that they're just indivisible they're all part of the whole.

Pat? A hundred years ago when I started nurses training I went to a Catholic hospital And one of the very, very basic things that we learned is that we treat patients body, mind, and soul. We didn't specialize at that time. We treated, but they included the spirit, body, mind, and spirit. I said soul earlier, but I meant body, mind, and spirit. You could not specifically separate them when you took care of a person. there and you were to address your care so it wasn't, it was not the Holy Spirit, it was the spirit that each person that you gave me to contact had and that affected, was a part of them and you were to address it as part of them.

And I think we've left that part of it behind these days haven't we? In lots of areas. Okay, good. And the source of the appeal is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, that's the foundation of Paul's appeal to the brethren. And grace is in the benediction of every Pauline epistle. I went to every single one of them. Grace is in the last verse or two of every Pauline epistle.

And if you look at Peter and John, you see it occasionally show up. I mean, not all, but John uses it, I think, once. And Peter, I think, once. But Hebrews, I think, has it. And some people would argue that Hebrews was written by Paul. I don't know how you feel. I'm not so convinced. But that doesn't make any difference. It's a great text.

But anyway, in every Pauline epistle, grace is at the end of the epistle. Doesn't that say something about Paul's doctrine? I mean if every epistle he closes with grace, I mean this is a whole different message. Don't you think it also has to do with the fact that grace and forgiveness are so connected and Paul's life centers around the things that he did that he was so ashamed of doing, like holding Stephen's coat and persecuting the Christians.

The things that he did, not because he was trying to destroy the religion that he truly believed in. In fact, it says that he was zealous. That he was more so than anybody else. But he was an heir. And when Jesus corrected that, that heir, I think, really just punctured his inner being. And he just felt that forgiveness. And he was so glad that it was given to him. And I think that's why he just constantly says grace. It's just so important to him in his life. And don't we thank the Lord so much by having so much of Paul that follows Acts?

Roger and Randy are getting ready to teach 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. You've got to be, again, firmly based in Pauline doctrine before you go to those other epistles. Not that they don't have value in their own selves, but really critically important. Why is this so very important? I think it's so very important because grace is the foundation of Christianity. Without it, we have nothing. And the legal life is not one we can live that's insufficient in terms of pleasing God, and we're on a whole different walk here based on grace.

And so Paul makes that clearly known in the concluding comments in all of his epistles. So overall, the Epistle of the Blessed. I'm going to summarize here, and then I'm going to read something else which is really totally applicable. and comes from the none but the hungry heart. Again, so timely that today's none but the hungry heart is absolutely perfect for what we've done here in Galatians. So, overall, the epistle to the Galatians, and Roger's going to continue this theme next week, concludes that all believers are delivered from another gospel. That's where we began this whole text. And that other gospel is love.

Galatians 1.9 and that whole section surrounding that. And we're all made the spiritual seed of Abraham. Remember, written to the Jews predominantly. And that seed of Abraham deals with not Abraham's works, but his faith.

So this principle of grace is played out in our faith. And in fact, without faith, grace can go on infinitely, and we're not taking advantage of it. Remember, our faith is believing what God's revealed. And God's revealed nothing but grace in this epistle. Nothing but that. But we have to respond by saying, do we believe it? Or do we not believe it?

The Galatian church was weak and foolish in subjecting themselves to the law. So I think Paul repeatedly points that out, how they're really falling behind the eight ball, if you will, in terms of living the Christian life. And that by submitting themselves to circumcision is an act in that kind of mindset. In other words, the idea to be circumcised really is kind of putting themselves under legal principles. And that's dealt with repeatedly throughout the epistle of the Galatians. And once you think that circumcision is necessary to have as a believer, then you're putting yourself under the whole law, and we know certainly being under the whole law, no man keeps the law, no not one.

So we're in fact looking at a flawed Christianity when in fact legal principles are those that we try to abide by. And in addition, this submitting themselves to circumcision really forfeits the benefits of the covenant of grace. This idea of being under legal systems really trumps grace for all that it is worth. It's hard to mix law and grace because then grace becomes paled and law, in fact, often and frequently prevails. And with appropriate instruction and exhortation, it's not I, but Christ.

In Galatians 2.20 and 2.21, if in fact we haven't died within and Christ died in vain, I mean, it's just so critically important that we come away from this with the idea that it's not only that law is not right, it's that the principle of grace relates to our walk by faith, that it's a new life, a new creation, in fact, we walk with. And this particularly concerns their newly obtained Christian freedom. By the way, it sounds like a contradiction when you say, in Christ there's freedom. What do we mean by that? Rather than by law. It's a freedom to do what I want to do when I want to do it? Is that what we mean by Christian freedom, Stan? Paul, didn't Paul say, I am free to do all things, but not all things are of benefit? But obviously, if you're in Christ, that would not be the case, that he would be doing all these things, but you're free to do all these things.

Alright, the principle of grace says that it's all been done, right? It's a done deal. So we're fully acceptable to God, and he sees us in Christ. Now is that freedom of sin? No, the freedom is to really live a life free of sin. Because as the Spirit empowers the new creation, we all are in Christ Jesus. That's the freedom to live a life before God that's perfectly glorifying to Him. And amen, right? So the freedom is to have an existence that's not dependent on failure, which is what the law implies. which in Jesus said, my yoke is easy, it goes back to the law.

The connection to Jesus Christ is, you know, much easier than the connection to the law or the oppression of the Judaizers or, you know, anything else in the world. And the final point here is, this is all commended to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And again, grace is the foundation of Galatians and every other epistle that Paul has written. So let's close today and close our formal study of Galatians with today's Hungry Heart. Again, it's been so interesting when I seem to teach that the Hungry Heart for that day really hits the message that we're trying to touch. Now maybe that's because the message has always gotten to the same message that's embellished in different ways.

So today's lesson is entitled Touch Not, and it comes from Galatians. I through the law am dead to the law. Okay, so here's what Myles had to say. The law will not touch us if we do not touch it. We were born in the first Adam. He was responsible for God to stand in righteousness, and he failed. We were responsible in him, and we failed.

We sinned in Adam, Romans 5.12, 5.19. What did God do about it? He gathered us up into the last Adam, and we died in Him. God allowed His holy law to condemn us utterly, and the law, seeking to slay us, found us in Christ on the cross, and set upon us and slew us.

Law hath dominion over a man as long as he lives, Romans 7.1.

But when it has cursed him and killed him, the law has no more to say to him, and we are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, Romans 7.4. For we have died judiciously with Christ on the cross.

The new life which we have in him comes to us from him in heaven, the risen and glorified Man before the Father, M for Man. There prevails a notion that the Lord Jesus was keeping the law for us and establishing our righteousness when he was here below. Now his life was necessary to vindicate the Father and his holy law, as well as to manifest himself and his love. But the righteousness that we are made in Christ is another thought altogether, not the law fulfilled by him. but the justifying righteousness of the Father founded on the Lord Jesus' death, displayed in His resurrection, and crowned by His glory in heaven."

This vindication before God of the perfect man is not what we're all about down here, although true to the Jew, ultimately has no bearing whatsoever on our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The final paragraph, I love this, The Ten Commandments require no life of prayer, no Christian service, no evangelism, no missionary outreach, no gospel preaching, no life and walk in the Spirit, no union with the Lord Jesus, no fellowship of saints, no hope of salvation, and no hope of heaven.

And he ends by saying, now we're delivered from the law, Romans 7.6. Isn't that beautiful? I really think that's a very special day.

These are great, but it's really fit today to wrap up Galatians. So, Roger next week is going to take us through an open sharing and we'll see what happens. Actually, I ask if you think about what verses as you've gone through Galatians have benefited you and come Since I'm going to be teaching in the second service, I'm not going to be able to prepare anything really formally. So come in with something that you benefited from Galatians. Maybe something you learned that you didn't know before.

Great. Let's close. Stan, would you close this for us please? Thank you, Father, for the opportunity to study your word without persecution in the United States today. Thank you for the church that we can come here and openly learn from your word about you and the gospel of grace that you have given to us as believers. Lord, I again lift up the prayer requests at the beginning of the service. And I would just ask that you use each and every one of us as your servants to reach out to this world and that we focus not on the politically correct but on your truth as we live our lives. I ask this in your son's glory.