For our scripture reading tonight, turn with me to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2. I had indicated in the bulletin we would begin at verse 11, but I'd like to begin at verse 1. The text tonight is verse 20 of Galatians chapter 2. This is a bit in connection with what we considered recently with Romans 12 verse 1, offering our bodies a living sacrifice to God as well as Romans 12, 2, the road map towards sacrificial living. And now once again we consider the Christian life in Galatians 2, chapter 20. In chapter 1, Paul has been defending the gospel that he has preached to the people. He has been defending the fact that he has been called by God. At the end of chapter 1, he talks about getting acquainted with Peter. And now we begin verse 1 of chapter 2 as we give our consideration to the Word of God. Fourteen years later, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. As for those who seem to be important, whatever they were makes no difference to me. God does not judge by external appearance. Those men added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Peter, and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. 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. Verse 20 again of the text. 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. Dear people of God, have you ever been asked the question, what does it mean to be a Christian? Or maybe this way, why do you call yourself a Christian? If you've ever been asked that, well, what did you say? How did you answer that question? Or in the event that someone does ask you that, how will you answer? Or will you keep the answer bottled up inside of you like some secret family recipe? If you call yourself a Christian, why do you do that? What gives you the right to claim that title? And as you think of what it means to be a Christian, is there a relationship involved here? You see, we need to have the answer, beloved, but not just any answer. We need to have the right answer. And this is necessary in order to come to the Lord's table. This morning we were called to self-examination in order to prepare to come to the Lord's table, the Lord willing, next week, having considered as well the three charges in the form that we read. And the call to self-examination is then, in essence, a call to answer the question, Am I a Christian? And why? In the past, I know that I've said from time to time that being a Christian means being a follower of Christ. And that's a true answer. It's not a wrong answer. It's a very simple answer. But it's not totally complete. It's a little bit fuzzy and unclear. So the Apostle Paul here in this text teaches us the secret of the Christian life. You see, Christianity is not just a philosophy about a good man whose ways and teachings and example are good to follow. And that's why it isn't enough to simply say being a Christian means to follow Christ. Because so many people throughout the ages have followed those with whom they could agree or those who promised something wonderful. But Christianity is identification with the one who alone delivers something wonderful. Not only does He promise it, but He also delivers it. Christianity means absolute union with Christ. And that's who the Lord's table is for. Those who are absolutely united with the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, this means so much more than just to follow Him because He was a good man and a wise teacher. He is the life and He is the only way to life. And therefore, as we consider this Word of God tonight, the secret of the Christian life, we notice, first of all, the wondrous way to life. Second, the personal power of life. And then third, the invisible instrument for life. And our prayer is then that each one of us would be more equipped as we consider these things to answer that question if and when we are ever asked. Why do you call yourself a Christian? Now the context we must understand is dealing really with the way of salvation. Again, Paul is defending the gospel message he preaches. He is defending his call by God to be a preacher because there were those who were teaching something false. There were those called Judaizers who were trying to lead the church in Galatia back to legalism, salvation, by means of keeping the law of God, especially with regard to external circumcision. And this was evident in part by the fact that the Jews would no longer associate or eat with the Gentiles and the Jews were trying to force the Gentiles who became believers, trying to force them to become outwardly Jews for example, by being circumcised. And this isn't what Paul originally taught because it wasn't the truth. And in a nutshell, by reintroducing the necessity of the law as a means to salvation, those who were teaching this were wiping out the cross of Jesus. They were saying it was of no effect. Paul says in verse 21, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. Paul gets very personal here and teaches that in his own experience, faith in Christ crucified has thoroughly replaced confidence in whatever he might have been able to accomplish by means of law works. Faith in Christ crucified for Paul wiped out any confidence that he may have had in whatever he might be able to do in order to earn even a little bit of his salvation. He makes clear what preciousness and significance came to his own life through the crucifixion of Christ. And his point is that for the Christian, there is a change in lordship from the law to Christ. And he first speaks of the wondrous way to life. Now we need to understand that the need for salvation from sin and because of sin is at the forefront here. Paul says in Ephesians 2, verse 1, that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. God gave His people His law of holiness, which they were to obey. Obedience then leading to life. But they wouldn't obey the law because they couldn't obey it. In fact, the law made things worse for sinners. As Paul says in Romans 7, that he would not have known sin except by the law. He would not have known what it means to covet. If the law had not said, thou shalt not covet, he would not have known that it was wrong. He would not have felt guilty about it if the law had not said, you shall not covet because it's wrong. God's people wouldn't obey the law because they couldn't. And therefore, they were under the curse of the law, the curse which called for punishment by death and eternal separation from God because of sinning against the law of God, violating His law. The law did not lead to life, it only led to condemnation and to death. God's people needed life and needed to escape the deadly curse of the law. And therefore Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It may seem like a strange answer to that need, but it's the most beautiful answer, the only answer to that particular need, the need for life and escape from the deadly curse of the law. I have been crucified with Christ. Now first of all, why was Christ crucified? Well, because of the curse of the law. The law that demanded punishment by death and eternal separation from God. But why for Him? Well, He was the representative for His people. And although He obeyed the law particularly in every aspect and perfectly without a flaw, yet because of our sin for which He made Himself responsible, boys and girls, when you do something wrong, you are responsible for what you have done wrong, you are responsible to make it right. In the case of our sin, Jesus Christ took our responsibility and made it His responsibility, and therefore the law demanded His death in addition to His obedience. His obedience to the law was not enough. He needed to die. In his active obedience, by which we mean his actively obeying the law of God, he was perfectly righteous and he kept the law perfectly. And in his passive obedience, by which we mean he suffered the curse of sin, he suffered at the hands of sinful men, he suffered as well the wrath and punishment of God in his passive obedience. He was perfectly obedient even unto the death of the cross in order to bear the curse of that law that we could not keep. It wasn't until Christ was crucified that He satisfied all of the demands of the law. And when He cried, It is finished, our Lord died to the law. It had no more claim over Him. It could no longer touch Him. And as well, Christ destroyed the claims of the law over His people. He delivered us from the ultimate calamity that we consider this morning as Reverend Donovan led us in worship. Why is this? Because as Paul says in Romans 6, verse 3, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are made one with Him through the Holy Spirit. Beloved, the wondrous way to life is through crucifixion with Christ. When Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ, the perfect tense of the verb tells us that he is talking about something that is a done deal. It's finished. It never has to be accomplished again. But the results are still good today. And the results will stay good. They will continue to be good forever. Of course, even the boys and girls can figure out that Christ's crucifixion and Paul's or the believer's crucifixion are not the same. Jesus Christ was physically crucified and as He was physically crucified, He suffered all the hellish agony in body and soul on the tree. His crucifixion was sacrificial. Given for something and also vicarious, which means boys and girls, He was a substitute. He took the place of Paul. He took the place of you and me who believe. But Paul's and the believer's crucifixion is not physical, but spiritual. we're not nailed to a physical cross today. Lord willing, we never will be. But those who are baptized with Christ, with the washing away of their sins, receive this through His crucifixion and death as we become one with Him. And therefore, beloved, when Christ died to the law, so did Paul. He fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf. Christ's crucifixion was Paul's only and our only escape from the law and from sin and from the dominion of both the law and sin. Through faith, Paul was crucified with Christ. And the result, he says in Colossians 2, verses 13 and 14, And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Beloved, Christ's crucifixion resulted in an amazing transformation for His people. We are no longer guilty before God because of the curse of the law against us. But we are not guilty because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We are dead to the law as a means of satisfying God's anger against our sin. It has no claim over us. its curse has been removed from us. The old man, which was a servant of sin, and in which sin was revived by the law, as Paul says in Romans 7, the old man is put to death. And salvation is only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And therefore, those who look to the law as a way of making satisfaction to God make void the cross of Christ. In other words, boys and girls, They say that the cross is not important. It's not necessary. We don't need it. But you see, this amazing transformation from death to life, from guilty to not guilty, is more than just a theory. It's not enough to know it in my head that I am crucified with Christ. I must experience that in my heart and in my life. Death is drastic. The death of the old life, the old nature, must be very real so that the passions, the lusts, the habits, and the associations of the life of sin and self and worldliness are all put to death. It must be a conscious reality to us that every day, more and more, by the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit, the old nature dies. Union with Christ in His crucifixion means that the death of the old man, the old man which works to earn its own, that death is necessary. Crucifixion was a painful death and I trust it still is today. And as Christians, beloved, we are to feel the struggle of putting away the old man with the desires of the flesh. We are to do battle against the flesh and we are to experience that indeed in the crucible of the world. Death is not easy. But as Paul makes clear, once crucified with Christ, always crucified with Christ. And that means upon death to the law as a way to salvation and life, always dead to the law as a way to salvation and life. Beloved, God calls us to be obedient to His law. Did you hear that? God calls us indeed to be obedient to His law. We're not saying that we don't have to be obedient anymore. But He calls us to be obedient not in order to be saved or get saved, but because Jesus Christ has suffered the penalty of the curse of the law on our behalf. And by doing so, He changed the nature of our relationship to the law of God. And therefore, being a Christian means being crucified with Christ and having the assurance that my salvation is not found in my own legal obedience, But in the obedience of Christ, which alone removes my guilt of sin and removes God's wrath against my sin, the secret of the Christian life begins with being crucified with Christ. But ironically, this death results in life. Now that can be confusing for us, because for us, death results in the end of life. But this death results in life. New life, as Paul discusses the personal power of life. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Paul's audience may have been confused about this talk of him being crucified because, again, physically speaking, he was very much alive. And so now he explains what he means. The old Paul, Paul the Pharisee who lived at one time by the standard of doing the good works of the law as a means of salvation had, in essence, died. Again, we know that we still struggle with temptation and doing the works of the flesh, even as Paul says in Romans 7. But the old works righteousness, Paul, no longer had dominion. But Christ had dominion. Paul had new life. There was a different king on the throne of his life. The Bible calls this regeneration. In Ephesians 2, verses 4 and 5, Paul says, But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. And in Romans 6, Paul says, now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. This means that the life the believer enjoys is life in the power of Christ's resurrection. Because He lives, we too shall live. You see, it cannot be emphasized enough that new life in Christ through the Holy Spirit is life because of Christ. 1 John 5, verse 21 says, He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Beloved, this life is eternal life. It's indestructible life. Life that will not fade away or spoil. It is absolutely secure in Christ Jesus. For Paul, all legal hope, hope from the law as a means to salvation, had rightfully died. So now his hope was only in Christ. He no longer had to depend upon his own ineffective efforts trying to draw near to God based on his own righteousness. He is now led by Christ through the Holy Spirit. Christ continued to live in Paul so that his mind and his will respond to Christ in thought, word, and deed. The ruling power in the believer is no longer himself, but it's Christ. And congregation, that's true Christianity. This new life draws its power from Christ. It is swayed by the will of Christ. It seeks its end in Christ. It breathes the Spirit of Christ. And it is lived in personal communion with Christ. You see, Christ living in me is twofold. It includes, first of all, that life of justification. Remember, that law term, that courtroom verdict, that life of justification, which is life that is declared by God to be not guilty, which includes the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Christ. And secondly, it includes that life of sanctification having been set apart from the world by Christ. Giving a new direction in life. Giving a new heart of flesh, new desires, new motives, new everything. But also that life of sanctification which involves the Spirit's continual operation of cleansing. You see, Paul, a self-righteous Pharisee who at one time based his hope for eternity on strict obedience to the law as a direct result of Christ's crucifixion has been crucified with Christ and is no longer alive. But Paul the Apostle, the forgiven sinner by grace through faith, was very much alive. Jesus Christ is the believer's personal power of life. He is the power of the new man that desires to live in obedience to God. Desiring to do that which is pleasing to God. not that the law has no effect on the born again Christian not at all completely contrary to that the opposite for the believer the law gives delight in doing the will of God as the psalmist says oh how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day but as if this mystical talk about Christ living in him was still too difficult for his hearers to comprehend Paul goes on to explain what he means as he speaks of the invisible instrument for life. The last part of verse 20 says, 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, the Christian life until we reach the gates of heaven is a life that is lived in the body, in the flesh. It is physical life. It is flesh and bones life. And that flesh, that body then is to manifest faith. Remember, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice. Paul says that Christ lives in Him by faith. Faith, that gift of the Holy Spirit. Faith, that instrument, that invisible instrument which connects the believer to Christ, just like a pipeline, and through which all of the benefits of Christ become mine. By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit of God pours into me, into my heart and into my soul all of the benefits earned and merited by Christ. Well, what is it that makes faith great? Not the fact that I exercise it or you exercise it. But it's object. The object of faith. The object of Paul's faith was the Son of God, he says. In other words, Paul is pointing to the deity of Christ and is saying, my faith is in Christ, therefore my faith is in God because He is the Son of God. He is very God of very God. And as well in the text, Paul beautifully lays forth the two acts of Christ which give faith its content. Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. It says it all right there. The whole of salvation is included right there. Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. The supreme act of Christ's love is that He gave Himself up to death. That is, instead of me being delivered unto eternal death, He took my place. He took it fully. He took it completely. You see, the motive, which is love, and the deed, giving Himself up, are together in Christ. And what I mean to say is, there was nothing we merited for Him to redeem us. Boys and girls, There was nothing even remotely good about us. Nothing worthy about us that Jesus should look at you and me and say, okay, I guess I better give myself up to help pay for them so they might be saved. There's nothing in us. In fact, it's the complete opposite. There's everything in us that says that Christ should leave us alone and cast us away forever. The whole motivation is His love. In 1 John 4, verse 10, we read, In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And beloved, the amazing thing is He did this while we were yet sinners. The love of Christ is sacrificial and it's purposeful, an awesome purpose. It is a love which sees the sinner in his doom, in his complete inability to do absolutely anything to help himself, and it determines then to deliver him. To do it all for him. You see, beloved, we cannot miss Paul's personal profession of faith here. This entire text is a personal confession. Paul is talking about himself in relation to Christ. What he is saying is he owns Christ's love and his sacrifice. Christ's love and sacrifice were true and real for Paul himself. And that's the function of faith, isn't it? True faith is not content with simply saying that Jesus died to save His people in general from their sins. That's true, of course. It's a beautiful truth. But faith says, not only for others, But me too. It's for me too. Jesus loved me. And He gave Himself up for me. Is that your confession? Is that your confession? Because that's true Christianity. Paul was at one time dominated by the works of the law, but now faith in the Son of God guides and controls him. He now lives in the blessed sphere of trust in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice alone for salvation. His confidence was that He had been recreated so that now He performs the good works of the law out of gratitude to God. He could now do that which He was created to do. And what is that? He says in Ephesians 2, verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And therefore, obedience to God's law was no longer a vain struggle of trying to satisfy God for his sins. It was now a blessed privilege of the Christian to say thank you to God for salvation. There are some who say that we have no use for the law today. It's Old Testament. We don't need the Old Testament. We live in the New Testament age. That's all past. Christ fulfilled it. It's done. Forget about it. We don't need the Ten Commandments. No, what a lie. What a dangerous lie. Christ has given to His people a deeper and richer understanding of the law of God and a greater love for the law of God. You see, obedience to the law of God is a demonstration of Christ's saving work applied to your life and my life through new life. And obedience to the law of God is not a means to righteousness. It is not a means of being justified. but it is the fruit of Christ's imputed righteousness. Obedience to the law of God is very much a part of that daily sanctification. Paul's unshakable confidence in the Lord causes him to surrender all to Christ and expect all from Christ. And through humble trust, he receives from Christ all that he needs to meet every challenge. You see, Paul was a visible demonstration that this life, the Christian, lives in the body or in the flesh is one in which we walk by faith and not by sight. He could confidently confess that if Christ loved him enough to give himself in exchange for Paul, then Christ loves him enough to live out his life through Paul. Beloved, that's the secret of the Christian life. coming to that life through the wondrous way of Christ's crucifixion, enjoying the personal power of Christ living in me, and making His life mine through the invisible instrument of faith. That describes the Christian and the Christian life. That's what it means to be united to Christ. And what blessed comfort for the Christian that once united to Christ in this life, always united to Christ in the next life. The secret of the Christian life is that God graciously leads the child of God to seek His life apart from Himself and to find it only in Christ. But those who strive to live according to their own righteousness are not fit to be called Christian and have no reason to come to the Lord's table because they live as if they have no need for His saving sacrifice. Those who find no comfort in the crucifixion of Christ in this life will not be comforted by it in the next life. Instead, they will spend eternity trying to pay the penalty for breaking the law of God. But those who have died to the law by the grace of God through the crucifixion of Christ and now live under the claim and lordship of Christ instead of under the claim and lordship of the law, they enjoy the living Christ living in them today. And theirs is the comfort that they will live with Christ for all eternity. The Lord's Table draws our attention to the secret of the Christian life. And these three points we have considered tonight. A secret that we are not to keep secret, locked up tight like a secret family recipe. But we are called to share it with the world. The Lord's table, beloved, is a visible demonstration of what it means to be a Christian. Remember that next week, Sunday night, as you join together, the Lord willing, and you see the table prepared before you. We are called to examine our lives to see if we own that very secret. Are you a Christian? Why? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed we stand in awe and in amazement as we consider this new life that we have been given by grace through faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are humbled, O Lord, in that when there was absolutely no reason as we look at ourselves that You should save us. That because of Your infinite love and mercy and grace for Your people You have sent Your Son. That indeed, our debt might be paid. That our clothes might be changed. That our filthy clothes of sin would be removed. That we have been given the glorious white robes of Christ's righteousness. And we would be called children of the Most High God. Father, we thank you. We praise you for that blessed gift. That eternal benefit. And may we desire to live as children of the King. Living in obedience to the laws of your kingdom. As an expression of gratitude and thanksgiving. for who You are and what You have done for us. Father, indeed, we pray that You would fill our lives in every part with praise. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen.