The Word of God comes to us this morning from Paul's epistle to the Galatians, Galatians chapter 2, as we read together verses 11 through 21, we'll draw your attention to verse 20 for the text this morning. Galatians chapter 2, beginning at verse 11. Hear now the Word of God. When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas was led astray. when I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it then that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law because by observing the law, no one will be justified. If while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not. If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. May God add His blessing to the reading and consideration of His words. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, heaven is not for good people. That's what we said last week and as shocking again as that statement may come, We consider that with Matthew chapter 7 in connection with Jesus' teaching that not everyone who knows or says or even believes the correct things about Him or does the right things or does their best or tries their hardest will get into heaven. And none of those things will get anyone into heaven. But heaven is for those trusting in Jesus Christ, trusting in His work alone. Heaven is for those washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Heaven is for those who are crucified with Christ. And the same is true for the Lord's table. It's not for those who are good enough to come, for those who think they are good enough to come. It's not for those who seek their salvation into themselves. On the other side, however, there are some who refuse to come because they are not good enough. And in that way, they kind of make the table also a work, a good work. Yet, that is exactly why the believer comes to the Lord's table. Because by the grace of God, he recognizes his unworthiness. By the grace of God, he seeks his salvation outside of himself. He trusts in the blood of the Lamb of God. The believer comes to the Lord's table because he is crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. That is an amazing, it is a powerful and even somewhat mysterious statement by Paul. But what does it mean? Crucified with Christ means, first of all, sharing in His death. And the beauty of Paul's confession here is magnified as we understand its context. The context which includes a burden for Paul. it's clear in this epistle that Paul was bearing a burden. We read about it beginning in chapter 1, verse 6. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to, Let Him be eternally condemned. And it goes on to talk about that burden in chapter 3. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, Are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Paul was burdened because that's what was beginning to take place, achieving their goal by human effort. The theme of the Gospel, which Paul tirelessly taught and defended, and that comes out in some way in all of his letters, including in verses 15 and 16 of the portion we read, that theme is that man is saved, he is justified, he is made right with God, not by the works of the law, not by doing those works, but by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone. A truth that had been embraced by the Galatian believers. And that truth of justification by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone is true for Jews and Gentiles alike who put their faith in Jesus Christ. The wall of separation and in some ways that points literally to a specific wall in the temple at that time that separated the Gentiles from the Jews who came to offer their sacrifices. That wall of separation, separating the Jews with all of their ceremonies and all their laws and setting them apart as God's people. That wall, in a sense, separated them from the Gentiles who were outside of God's people. That wall had been torn down by Christ. And as the early New Testament church and the leaders of that church needed to learn very quickly, the Gentiles did not need to become Jewish. They did not need to follow the ceremonial laws like circumcision in order to enjoy the covenant blessings of God in order to express loyalty to Jesus Christ. Again, that was all considered at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 as the elders and the apostles and the elders heard about all that had been done among the Gentiles. Yet the Judaizers and those who are described in verse 12 as being of the circumcision group, they came teaching that the Gentile Christians had to become circumcised. They had to follow the other Jewish ceremonial laws in order to be saved. See, it's one thing to be circumcised and to follow all these dietary things simply to show your devotion to God. We have many things in our lives by which we show our devotion to God. But not in order to be saved. And the circumcision groups taught that if they would not follow these things, the Jewish Christians could have no part with them. They could not mix with them. Paul's burden was a different Gospel which included the works of the law, which was no Gospel, no good news whatsoever. And that different Gospel was being embraced by the Galatian believers and causing division among them. And that situation had been fueled by Peter. Peter, whom we know, we might say, is the leader of Christ's apostles. He had been given, you recall, that vision of that sheet coming down out of heaven. Boys and girls, you know that story. That sheet coming down out of heaven filled with all kinds of unclean animals. And through that vision, the Lord was teaching him that the saving work of Jesus, praise be to God, was not limited to the Jews. Peter embraced that truth. Peter embraced the Gentile believers. He ate with them. He enjoyed fellowship with them. But then in Antioch, when the circumcision group came around, he gave in to their peer pressure. He separated. He withdrew himself physically from the uncircumcised Gentile Christians. And the other Jews followed him in that example. And the result was that the loving display of unity and fellowship that had existed was destroyed. And Paul challenged Peter. He challenged him to his face in front of others. He challenged him, in effect, saying that Peter's action, his action of separating himself, misrepresented the gospel of God's grace. It misrepresented what Christ had done. And that example played right into the hands of the false teachers who said that one must not only trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, but also keep the Jewish customs and laws in order to be right with God. In other words, it's not Christ alone. It's Jesus and me. And really the result, beloved, was the rebuilding of that wall. The rebuilding of that wall of separation between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians, a wall that had been torn down by Christ. The result, in effect, was wiping out the cross of Jesus and what that cross means. But Paul is saying here, he is emphasizing, it's only about that cross. It's only about the cross of Jesus. Not a combination. And also not that cross is simply the better of two options between the cross or law works, but it's the only option. The only option is to be crucified with Christ, sharing in his death. What does that mean, being crucified with Christ? What is Paul talking about? Well, we know that he is not talking about literally, physically being crucified. He had not gone to the cross and died on the cross. He was very much alive when he spoke these words. The two criminals on Calvary that day, now they were physically crucified with Jesus. And Paul is not talking about some sort of an emotional crucifixion in the sense that he had contemplated, he had thought long and hard about Christ's love for sinners, especially that love as it was displayed on Calvary, so that with emotional pity and pain, He's somewhat identified with Christ's suffering. That's not what he's talking about. But, of course, he's talking about spiritual crucifixion by faith. Those united to Jesus Christ by true faith have been crucified with him and received the benefits, received the accomplishment of his crucifixion. What is that accomplishment? Well, crucifixion, we know, means death. Christ was crucified all the way unto death, And therefore, to be crucified with Christ also means death for the believer, but not a death that is to be mourned, that we cry about. Paul says in verse 19, For through the law, I died to the law. Death to the law. The reason we know for Christ's crucifixion is that the law required it. As our substitute, He took the place of His people. Man, by his sin, violated God's holy law, which brought on him the law's curse and the man's death, the wages of sin. And man in his sin could not offer perfect obedience to God leading to life, and therefore the law only led to condemnation and death. The law can only point at you and me and say guilty, worthy of death. the Son of God became man the Son of God offered perfect obedience to God as He walked this earth and He went to the cross He paid for the sins of His people and He fulfilled the demands of the law but not only did He fulfill the demands of the law through His perfect obedience but He also fulfilled its demand of death Christ's accomplishment if we can put it in the context of verse 19 we might say through the law its demand Christ died to the law it had no more claim over him it had no power over him it had nothing more that it could require or demand of him and his people died to the law as well and that law lost its power it lost its claim over Paul and over all believers. There is no more curse of the law over those who are in Christ Jesus. That's what it means to die with Him. Through His crucifixion, Jesus Christ paid my debt with God. He restored me to fellowship with Him. And my situation is as Paul, your situation as believers is as Paul beautifully describes it in Colossians 2, 13 and 14, when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And it remains canceled. The result, we have been crucified with Christ. Paul's confidence was sharing in Christ's death. But also, in the second place, living by His power. He says, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Living by Christ's power. Because Paul was dead to himself. For Paul, union with Jesus Christ by faith also meant the death of the old man. The old Paul, the one that he describes in Philippians 3, verses 5 and 6, circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law of Pharisee as for zeal persecuting the church, as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. The old Paul who was a model Pharisee, the old Paul who kept the law to a T if anybody ever did, the old Paul who was working to reach the unreachable and to do the undoable was crucified. A different king was on the throne of his heart. Not himself, not his achievements, but Jesus Christ and His perfect work. So that the new Paul was found in Christ as he says in verse 9 of that same chapter, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. The new Paul, righteous in the sight of God for Jesus' sake. What a burden to be lifted. no longer working his tail off, we might say, in order to try to get in. But a burden lifted because Christ had ushered him in. A child of God. And therefore, Paul knew that even our best efforts are not good enough. And we are not to even begin to find confidence in our best efforts because our best efforts, beloved, only prove our inability to satisfy God and to make ourselves right with Him. Our best efforts only prove our unworthiness before the sight of God. Our best efforts only convict us even more of our sin. No longer was Paul living by his own power and effort in the Galatian believers, and you and I are not to do so either, but to live in the joy of Jesus Christ, living by Christ's power. That's what Paul enjoyed because Christ was alive. Christ was alive in him. He had given Paul new life by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit and therefore Paul received his strength from Christ. He trusted in Christ completely. He based his hope for eternity on the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ that had freely been given to him. The indestructible life of Christ that Paul enjoyed drew its power from Christ. It was swayed and directed by the will of Christ. It sought its end in Christ. It breathed the Spirit of Christ. It lived in personal communion with Christ. No longer did Paul attempt to find acceptance with God by obedience to a set of rules and laws living in fear that he wouldn't succeed or of not measuring up, never knowing if he had done enough or if he had neglected too much. But he lived for God, as he says in verse 19. Dead to the law. Lived for God. He lived gratefully as a saint, living by faith in Jesus Christ who had satisfied that law and merited every single blessing for Paul. And therefore he lived in the third place, Trusting in Christ's work alone. As Paul closes out that verse, the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Trusting in Christ's work alone in this life. You see, until we reach the glory of heaven, we're still here on this earth with flesh and blood. Not trusting in oneself, not trusting in one's own undependable, sin-filled efforts to try to draw near to God, but trusting in Jesus Christ and His work by faith. Faith in Jesus Christ who has drawn me into God's presence, by whom I am an adopted child of God. The Christian life, beloved, is not a life of sight. It's a life of faith. Not trusting in oneself, but trusting in Jesus Christ, which, of course, is then faith in God. Paul calls Him the Son of God. He reminds the Galatian believers, he reminds you and me of who Jesus is, God Himself. As if to say, if you want to talk about the law of God, then let's talk about the God who has kept His law for you and for me. Jesus Christ, God Himself. And as God, His work is flawless. It is perfect. It is complete. And therefore, we can have full confidence in His loving sacrifice. Notice that Paul points out two acts of Christ that give faith its content. Jesus is the object of our faith. But notice His two acts that make up the content. His love for us. And that He gave Himself up for us. Beloved, the supreme act of Christ's love. that love which recognized our plight and determined to relieve us and rescue us from that plight, the supreme act of Christ's love is that He gave Himself up to death, suffering the wrath of God against your sin and mine. He gave Himself all the way to death instead of you and me. He took our place. The motive, love, the deed, sacrifice, are together in Christ. And His love was not just a compassionate feeling that is temporary, that comes and goes, but His love is active. And that loving sacrifice represents all that He suffered. It represents every blessing that Christ has merited for us. Every single blessing. We don't have time to name them one by one. But full salvation, our justification, forgiven of all of our sins and given His righteousness that we might stand in God's presence. Sanctification, the gift of the Holy Spirit, living in you, living in me, working in our hearts, cleansing us more and more until that day that that work will be completed in the glory of heaven because that's part of this promise too. All the way to glorification. Every blessing that Christ merited for us. That's what we have by being crucified with Christ. You see, Paul knew that being crucified with Christ meant freedom from, listen close, freedom from, the hopelessness of striving to earn God's favor through certain works or trying to be as obedient or good as he could, freedom from the fear of wondering if he had done enough, if he had been good enough to be justified or made right with God. Crucified with Christ. Freedom from all of that burden and instead freedom to live from grace. Freedom to live from grace, being confident in Jesus Christ, belonging to God forever because of that perfect, complete, and enlivening work of Jesus. Freedom to live in obedience to God's law, not under its curse, not under its demands, but freedom to live in obedience to God's law with joy, belonging to Him. A joy that affects every situation and every reaction of life. Freedom to live in obedience to God, showing thankfulness to Him, loving to please Him, demonstrating what it means to be crucified with Christ. Living confidently that when I sin, God does not shut the door of His love on me. Have you ever felt like He does? We probably all have. But that's our confidence. God does not shut the door of His love on me, but instead He grants forgiveness for Jesus' sake and He also strengthens and helps and encourages us and cleanses us to hate sin more and more, to desire to flee from it, to delight in that which is pleasing to God. Confidence that nothing can separate me from His love and therefore all things work together for my good, even if it doesn't make sense to my eyes. And we know too that often in this life it doesn't make sense to our eyes as we face the hardships and the difficulties and the stresses of this life. Sometimes it's hard to fathom this Word of God that all things work together. But our confidence is that even then, all things work together for the good of those who love Him. Beloved, this is a call to repent and believe. If you have not yet turned away from yourself, you're spinning your wheels. Sometimes the analogy we use is trying to empty the ocean one cup full at a time. Well, you can't do it by a cup full. You can't do it by a semi-truck full. It's not going to happen. It's impossible. There's not one thing that you and I can do to earn favor with God. trust in Christ alone. It is finished in Him. The Lord's table is for those who have been crucified with Christ and that table reminds us of the past, indeed of His sacrifice and all that He has accomplished that remains effective today and will forever. That table points us to the present. The fact that we are united to Him by faith and united with one another in Christ. That table directs us to the future. as it is also a pledge of His return, that He will not forget about us. He will come again to take us to Himself in glory to that eternal feast that even now He is preparing. Now, beloved, heaven is not for good people. If it were, then it would be an empty place except for Jesus Himself. But heaven is for you and me who by the grace of God have been crucified with Christ. Those who share in His death. Those who live by His power. Those who trust in His work. That is the message of the Lord's table. For all who so believe and confess, our Lord says, Come, eat, drink, remember and believe that my body was given, my blood was shed unto a complete remission of all your sins. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, we thank You and praise You for the truth of Your Gospel. The truth that we know so well that sometimes we are tempted to take it for granted. But a truth that we ought never tire of hearing. Because we must confess that so often we do slip into thinking that what we have done is somehow endearing to You or endears us to You. Be it, Father, You call us to live the Christian life out of devotion for what You have done. Because You have given to us life in Christ Jesus, a life that will never be taken away. We thank You for that. We praise You for that. We praise You and thank You too, O Lord, that You are the one who continually nourishes that new life in us. Thank You, O Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.