Scripture Reading: Gal. 2:5b, Gal. 2:14a, Gal. 2:16, Gal. 2:19-20a; Gal. 3:11, 23-25; 4:2; 6:15
In 2:5 and 14 Paul speaks of the truth of the gospel. The word truth in these verses does not mean the doctrine or teaching of the gospel; it denotes the reality of the gospel. Although Galatians is a short book, it affords us a complete revelation of the reality of the gospel. This revelation, however, is given not in detail, but in certain basic principles. Therefore, in this message we shall cover the truth of the gospel revealed in these basic principles.
The first aspect of the truth of the gospel is that fallen man cannot be justified by works of law. In 2:16 Paul says, “Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law.” At the end of this verse Paul declares, “By works of law no flesh shall be justified.” The word flesh in 2:16 means fallen man who has become flesh (Gen. 6:3). No such man will be justified by works of law. Furthermore, in 3:11 Paul goes on to say, “Now that by law no one is justified before God is evident.” In these verses Paul tells us clearly that no one is justified by works of law.
The Seventh-Day Adventists insist on strict observance of the Sabbath. However, they seem to forget that by endeavoring to keep the law with respect to the Sabbath, they make themselves debtors to keep all the commandments. The New Testament says that if we keep all the commandments except one, we transgress the whole law (James 2:10). Romans 7 proves that we cannot keep all the commandments. In verse 7 Paul refers to the commandment about coveting: “I had not known coveting except the law had said, You shall not covet.” Then in verse 8 he goes on to say, “But sin, taking occasion through the commandment, wrought in me coveting of every kind.” The more Paul tried to keep this commandment, the more he failed. This indicates that it is impossible for fallen man to keep all of God’s commandments. How ridiculous it is to go back to the law and try to keep it! We simply do not have the ability to keep the law. As Paul says in Romans 7:14, the law is spiritual, but we are fleshly, sold under sin. Therefore, by works of law shall no flesh be justified.
Since it is not possible for fallen man to keep the law, we may ask why the law was given. It was not God’s intention in giving the law that man should keep it. When God gave the law, He knew that man would not be able to keep it. God’s purpose in giving the law was to use it as a custodian to keep His people until Christ came (3:23-24; 4:2). God’s intention was to use the law as a fold in which to keep His sheep.
Perhaps you are wondering why Christ did not come earlier than He did. Why did He not come at the time of Moses? If Christ had come sixteen hundred years earlier, there would have been no need for the law. Why did He not come before the law was given? The best way to answer this question is to turn to the Scriptures. Romans 3:19 and 20 say, “Now we know that whatever things the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become subject to the judgment of God; because by the works of law no flesh shall be justified before Him; for by law is knowledge of sin.”
In Galatians 3:19 Paul asks, “Why then the law?” In the same verse he answers his own question: “It was added because of transgressions.” The law was given to expose what man is and where man is. The best way for man to be exposed is to cause his situation to be seen in the light of God’s attributes. The Ten Commandments are composed mainly of four divine attributes: holiness, righteousness, light, and love. God is holy and righteous; He is also light and love. If you look into the Ten Commandments, you will see that they embody the divine holiness, righteousness, light, and love. For this reason, the law became God’s testimony. In other words, the Ten Commandments testify that God is holy and righteous and that God is light and love. God used this testimony to expose man. As man stands before this testimony, his sinfulness is exposed.
When the law was given, the children of Israel promised to obey God’s commandments (Exo. 19:8). Before the children of Israel responded in this way, the atmosphere around Mount Sinai was not threatening. But when the people declared that they would keep God’s commandments, the atmosphere changed and became terrifying. God exercised His holiness, and the people were not allowed to approach further. Frightened by the manifestation of God’s holiness, the people asked Moses to go to God on their behalf. This indicates that the function of the law is to expose fallen mankind.
As the law functions to expose people, it keeps them. Thus, the law was used by God as a custodian to keep His people just as a fold keeps a flock of sheep during the winter or during a storm. The time before the coming of Christ can be compared to a winter season. Hence, God used the law as a fold in which to guard the people. In their blindness the Judaizers thought that the law had been given for them to keep. They did not realize that the law was given to guard God’s people in custody. Paul makes this basic principle clear in Galatians 3:23. “But before faith came we were guarded under law, being shut up unto the faith which was about to be revealed.” In verse 24 he goes on to say, “So the law has become our child-conductor unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” These verses reveal clearly that the law functions as a custodian. As it exposed man’s transgression, it guarded God’s people until Christ came.
Now that Christ has come, the law is over. But the foolish Judaizers wanted to go back to the law and try to keep it. They did not realize that the law has a dispensational function. When this function has been fulfilled, the law should not remain any longer. The stubborn Judaizers did not know God’s purpose in giving the law. Therefore, even after Christ came, they held to the law. This is against the basic principle of God’s economy.
In 3:25 Paul says, “But faith having come, we are no longer under a child-conductor.” Since Christ has come, the law is over. The Seventh-Day Adventists need to learn this basic truth. Now that Christ has come, God’s purpose in giving the law has been fulfilled. The law has handed God’s people over to Christ. It is rebellion against God’s economy to snatch the people away from Christ and lead them back to the law. We must be bold to tell the Seventh-Day Adventists that, as Christians, we must not go back to the law. The law has fulfilled its purpose.
Under God’s New Testament economy, we are not to keep the law. On the contrary, we are justified by faith in Christ (2:16). We may be so familiar with the expression “justified by faith in Christ” that we take it for granted. But what actually is faith in Christ, and what does it mean to be justified by faith in Christ? Faith in Christ denotes an organic union through believing. The proper preaching of the gospel is not the preaching of a doctrine; it is the preaching of the Person of the Son of God. The Son of God is the embodiment of the Father and is realized as the Spirit. To preach the gospel is to preach this Person. Whenever we preach the gospel, we must impress those who hear us with the living Person of the Son of God. No matter what the subject of our gospel message may be, the focal point of our preaching must be this living Person.
The faith in Christ by which believers are justified is related to their appreciation of the Person of the Son of God. For example, in Hong Kong there are salesmen who are skillful in presenting jade and its values to people. The more they talk about jade, the more the listeners spontaneously appreciate jade. This appreciation can be compared to what we mean by faith. In our preaching of the gospel we must present Christ as the real jade. We need to present Christ as the most precious One to people. The more we describe Him and speak of His preciousness, the more something will be infused into the being of the listeners. This infusion will become their faith, and this faith will cause them to respond to our preaching. In this way they will appreciate the Person we present to them. This appreciation is their faith in Christ. Out of their appreciation for the Lord Jesus, they will want to possess Him. The Christ who has been preached to them will become in them the faith by which they believe. Faith is Christ preached into us to become our capacity to believe through our appreciation of Him.
When I was young, I heard a very precious gospel message. Although I had been in Christianity for years, I had never heard such a message. After hearing that message, my heart was captured, for some precious element had been infused into my being. I did not try to believe, but I had a spontaneous appreciation for the Lord Jesus. I was willing to give up the world in order to have Him. This is faith.
We may quote Hebrews 11:1, but still have only a doctrinal definition of faith. The genuine experiential definition of faith is that faith is the preciousness of Jesus infused into us. Through such an infusion, we spontaneously have faith in the Lord Jesus. This definition of faith matches our experience. The teaching of doctrine did not impress us with the preciousness of the Person of the Son of God. But one day we heard a living message filled with the preciousness of Christ. When this preciousness was infused into us through the preaching of the gospel, we spontaneously began to appreciate the Lord Jesus and to believe in Him. We said, “Lord Jesus, I love You. I treasure You.” This is what it means to have faith in Christ.
This faith creates an organic union in which we and Christ are one. Therefore, the expression “by faith in Christ” actually denotes an organic union accomplished by believing in Christ. The term “in Christ” refers to this organic union. Before we believed in Christ, there was a great separation between us and Christ. We were we, and Christ was Christ. But through believing we were joined to Christ and became one with Him. Now we are in Christ, and Christ is in us. This is an organic union, a union in life.
This union is illustrated by the grafting of a branch of one tree into another tree. Through faith in Christ we are grafted into Christ. Through this process of spiritual grafting, two lives are grafted and become one.
Many Christians have a shallow understanding of justification by faith. How could Christ be our righteousness if we were not organically united to Him? It is by means of our organic union with Christ that God can reckon Christ as our righteousness. Because we and Christ are one, whatever belongs to Him is ours. This is the basis upon which God counts Christ as our righteousness.
Marriage is a helpful illustration of this, although it is inadequate. Suppose a poor woman is united in marriage to a wealthy man. Through this union she participates in the wealth of her husband. In like manner, through our organic union with Christ, we share whatever Christ is and has. As soon as this union takes place, in the eyes of God Christ becomes us, and we become one with Him. Only in this way can we be justified before God.
Many Christians have a mere doctrinal understanding of justification by faith. According to their concept, Christ is the just One, the righteous One on the throne in the presence of God. When we believe in Christ, God reckons Christ to be our righteousness. This understanding of justification is very shallow. As we have pointed out, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, we need to believe in the Lord Jesus out of an appreciation of His preciousness. As Christ’s preciousness is infused into us through the preaching of the gospel, we spontaneously appreciate the Lord and call on Him. This is genuine believing. Through such a believing we and Christ become one. Therefore, God must reckon Him as our righteousness.
When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we had this kind of experience, although we did not have the terminology to explain it. When we heard the gospel, we began to sense the Lord’s preciousness. This gave rise to the living faith that joined us to Christ organically. From that time onward, Christ and we became one in life and in reality. Therefore, justification by faith is not merely a matter of position. It is also an organic matter, a matter in life. The organic union with Christ is accomplished spontaneously through the living faith produced by our appreciation of Him. This is to be justified by faith in Christ.
In God’s New Testament economy, man also has life by faith and lives by faith. In 3:11 Paul says, “The just by faith shall live.” The word “live” here implies to have life. As a result of the organic union, we have life in us. Furthermore, we live by the faith which is our appreciation of the precious Lord Jesus. We not only have life, but we also live by this life.
In 2:19 Paul says, “For I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” It is very difficult to explain in doctrine what it means to die to the law so that we might live to God. It is most helpful to consider this matter in the light of our experience. Our Christian experience proves that as soon as our organic union with Christ took place, we had the sense that we were dead to the world, to sin, to the self, and to all the obligations of the law. At the same time, we were conscious of the fact that we were alive to God. Probably when we first realized this, we had neither the knowledge nor the terminology to explain it. Perhaps you said, “Lord Jesus, from now on I don’t care for anything other than You. I don’t care for my education, my work, or my future. I don’t even care for my family or my own life. Lord Jesus, I care only for You.” This is to be dead to everything in order to live to God.
As those who are dead to the law and alive to God, we have Christ living in us. In 2:20 Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This also is a basic aspect of the truth of the gospel.
Another aspect of the truth of the gospel is that in Christ man is to be a new creation. Galatians 6:15 says, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” The new creation is the mingling of God with man. The new creation takes place when the Triune God in Christ through the Spirit is wrought into our being. This is the mingling of divinity with humanity. Living in this new creation far surpasses trying to keep the law. How foolish the Galatian believers were in going back to the law! They should remain in Christ by faith. In this union with Christ, Christ lives in us, and we become a new creation. Although we remain God’s creature, we are nonetheless mingled with God the Creator. Having become one with the Creator, His life becomes our life, and our living becomes His living. This mingling produces a new creation. This is not accomplished by works of law, but by faith in Christ.
