Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:07 Hi, and welcome to the unveiling. I'm Tim, one of the hosts, and along with Andrey and Mark, we are three guys discussing the one true gospel. We hope you're encouraged by this episode. Let's dive right in. Hello and welcome or welcome back to the unveiling. We are all here, and we're certainly glad you are too. This is episode 56. We are still working our way through Galatians, so this is gonna be part three of that series. Uh, and coincidentally we are starting in chapter three. So we'll be reading today from the third chapter of Galatians starting at the first verse. Guys, I'm having just a little bit of voice tr trouble tonight, so, uh, hope you can keep the conversation going with a little less input from me.
Speaker 2 00:01:00 We'll do our best, Tim. It's gonna be hard, but we'll fight through.
Speaker 1 00:01:03 All right. All right, so why don't I just dive right in and get started with some reading and we'll figure out where to go from him from there. I mentioned in the first, uh, episode of this particular series and probably was echoed again in the last one. This is Paul's harshest letter anywhere in the New Testament, he really uses some strong language and he comes right out of the gate in this chapter with you Foolish Galatians. Now, gotta say, that makes me happy I wasn't the original recipient of this letter, and I can read it and go, I can learn from this and not be foolish too. Uh, but anyway, yeah, he's, he's, uh, he's really given them what for and laying down the, the truth here. So let's start right here. Verse one, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before your very eyes.
Speaker 1 00:01:53 Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish after beginning by means of the Spirit? Are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain if it really was in vain? So again, I ask you, does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by your believing in what you heard? So also, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. That seems like a good spot to stop. Uh, mark, why don't you pick us up from there and talk about this.
Speaker 2 00:02:39 I would love to, uh, Tim, that's a great point that you made about this being one of Paul's angriest letters, and there's a good reason for that. Uh, there's really nothing else that held more of a importance and big part in his life than the, the one true gospel, the message of God's grace Christ and him crucified. In fact, he tells us in Acts 2024 that everything else in his life, he considered loss compared with finishing the task that the Lord Jesus Christ himself had given to him. Earlier in Galatians, Paul had already told us that no man taught him this gospel. He didn't receive it from any man, but he had it by direct revelation from the resurrected Christ. So when people started to mess with this, and just to finish up from Act 2024, he considered all things lost compared with testifying to the good news of God's grace.
Speaker 2 00:03:43 Now, here were these Jewish Christians, judaizers that were coming along and trying to lay the very burdens and shackles that Christ had died to release and free the Galatians from. So he was mad and he was, passion is another word. He was very passionate about defending and protecting and preserving the gospel. So, uh, one of the things I love about the beginning here, it is so relevant to our time because in my opinion, it's one of the things that the church universal, that local churches, that seminaries, that your everyday Christians struggle with the most. And Paul is asking them a rhetorical question to which he already knows the answer because he's the very one that taught them this gospel. He came and just as he told the Corinthians, he preached Christ that him crucified to them, and he's asking them, now, when I did that, you believed you received the spirit.
Speaker 2 00:04:48 Now, was that through being circumcised or keeping all these rules and regulations? Well, the answer to that is obviously no. And he says, are you so foolish? Then by beginning, by the spirit? Why are you now trying to add the flesh? And one thing I wanna point out here before I hand it off to AJ, is that this shows us clearly that by trying to add the works of the law, that's the flesh. Most Christians and most pastors, I think when they preach the the flesh, they're talking about our sinful natures, uh, you know, falling to carnal pleasures and things like that where Paul, at least 50% of the time or more, is specifically talking about the law living by the works of the flesh. And you can tell that from his wording here, that having started by the spirit, which came through nothing but faith, are you now trying to finish by means of your own flesh, keeping the law, keeping rules, which we know no man can do. And I'll just toss that over to AJ now.
Speaker 3 00:05:54 Yeah, mark, I just want to extend a little bit on what you already said, but I think there are a couple of key observations here and a couple of key contrasts. So in terms of observation, uh, you see that here he's talking about having begun in the spirit, and then he's talking about beginning and then finishing. So he's not talking about salvation anymore. In chapter two, he talked about justification. We are justified by faith and not by the works of the law. But here he's talking about, you know, in Christian life, once you have begun in the spirit, now finishing his right, you know, actually in a living this life on this earth, until we see our lodge, Jesus Christ. So he is clearly talking about living the Christian life here. And um, some people refer to it as sanctification. You know, we don't have to, um, uh, we don't have to argue with the definition of words, but, uh, in their sense, the sanctification means, uh, once you become a believer, how do you live this Christian life?
Speaker 3 00:06:56 So here is specifically saying you have begun in the spirit, and now you are finishing by the flesh. So here we see the contrast, right? There are two contrasts here. One is he's talking about, uh, the works of the law are believing what you heard are by the hearing of faith. And then he's also contrasting the spirit and the flesh. These are the two things, right? So the works of the law are done by the flesh. So whenever you point someone to the law, basically you're saying that you have to obey the law in your own energy and in your own strength. And that is nothing but the flesh. And the other thing is the hearing of faith. So either you obey the law and that you have to do by your own self, which is your flesh. Or the other option is you simply believe when you simply believe what you are doing is you're basically operating in the flesh, uh, sorry, operating in the spirit.
Speaker 3 00:07:54 So there are two options here. Either you operate in the spirit or you operate in the flesh, you begin with the spirit, and then you continue in the spirit, or you begin with the flesh and you continue in the flesh. You can't really mix spirit and flesh, and you cannot mix works of the law and the hearing of faith or believing. And the example he gives in verse six is just as Abraham believed God, right? You know, how was he justified? How was he made righteous simply by believing. And he's saying gestures, you're begun, right? You began by believing. Now you also continue your Christian wa walk by believing just as a Abraham believed. Now you believe by believing you receive the spirit. And by the same believing you continue your Christian walk, are you walk in the spirit.
Speaker 1 00:08:39 So just by listening to you two guys do some of that explanation, I I I would hazard to say that the reason why it's so difficult to live this grace out as a human being is because we are human beings. We live in flesh. We, we live in the world and God tells us we have to live in the world, but not be of the world. And there are, there are certain things that we can't avoid. We, you know, as human beings living in the planet, there are rules and, and things that we have to do or abide by, you know, uh, gravity. I can't break gravity just by thinking about it enough. I can't, uh, I I'm not gonna get ahead in my job if I don't work hard to please my bosses and, and do stuff like that. So that works mentality is of while it's of the world is pervasive in everything we do. And so when we, when we pivot to the spiritual, it's really hard not to drag that along. So I feel for these guys, because I think I understand the why and the where fors of how they got to this point.
Speaker 2 00:09:42 That's a good point, Tim. I would add on top of that, I wouldn't say it's a different reason why mankind tends to gravitate toward the flesh and doing things himself, but I also think that the flesh is the natural, okay? It's quantifiable. We as human beings need to be able to explain everything. It's our, it's our, it's the scientific nature. It's like it's living in the natural. I can explain living by rules, living by the spirit of Christ in me. Now, that's the supernatural, that's the mysterious, and we can't, it's harder to sink your teeth into that, but that is the Christian life and it's what Christ is calling us to. And um, that's why I think that, like you had mentioned, people get confused over that, starting with the Galatians here in the, in the middle, middle, uh, beginning to middle of the first century. So it's been going, it's that that struggle's been going on throughout the ages. But, um,
Speaker 3 00:10:49 Yeah, I, while I agree with you, I think, uh, I also want to make sure, you know, we don't, uh, we are not saying that, you know, living by the spirit is some kind of this a soic life and all spirituality, this and new age movement and that, not that kind of stuff. And neither living in the by the flesh is, uh, all physical. You know, we're not saying living in the flesh is just physical and uh, living in the spirit is somehow a soic. Now, that's not what we are saying. Uh, I think, uh, to double click a little bit into, uh, mark what you said, you know, flesh is the natural man. The natural man is basically Adam, right? Whatever we received from Adam when we were born into this world, Lord Jesus said in, uh, John chapter three, that which is born of the fleshes flesh.
Speaker 3 00:11:37 So if there is no such thing as a cross, if there's no such thing as a resurrection, um, and if there's no such thing as receiving a new life by believing on Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, everybody would just live like Adam did, right? We all were born from Adam. So we'll be living in the flesh and we'll be dying in the flesh, you know, this regular spirit, natural life, which is basically driven by our physical, uh, desires and passions because we didn't have a spirit inside. So we would just get up, eat and uh, drink and do whatever our physical needs are, and then we die, right? So that's a natural man without Christ. But Lord Jesus Christ came right into this world to deliver us from this fall that happened in Adam, and he went to the cross and he died for us.
Speaker 3 00:12:31 And whoever believes in him can receive a new life. It doesn't mean, you know, be then we, when we are born again, our spirits are quicker than the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us now we live inside out. We are still living in this body. We are still using this, uh, physical body and our thoughts, and we are using our mind and we are using our eyes, yes, everything. But instead of just being driven by our physical desires like Adam was, now we are driven by the spirit, right? The spirit inside now empowers us, but we are still using the physical body. We are still using our physical means. It's just that our energy and our power now is coming from the spirit. And also our, uh, whatever we do are coming from a clean heart. So before we had an evil art heart and we didn't have any good motives, but now we have a clean heart, a new heart, and a new spirit. But we still use the same physical body. So I just want to be clear on that, you know, spiritual means it's not something Oh my God, it's not physical. Even in the spiritual, we we're still living in the physical world. I just wanted to say that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:13:36 Well, I appreciate the clarification. I'll just, uh, add one more clarification on that, that I wasn't trying to make a difference between the physical and the spiritual, but the natural and the supernatural.
Speaker 3 00:13:50 Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:13:50 Yeah. Which is not exactly the same thing because the spirits in our physical bodies, it, it intersects with the physical justice. Christ God came and became a man. So
Speaker 3 00:14:02 Adam versus Christ, basically either you're living in Adam or you're living in Christ.
Speaker 2 00:14:08 And even that though has a, has that same tinge of the natural versus the supernatural. Yeah. And even right here, Paul says that, does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Yeah. So right there it's saying that faith has miracles, faith has the Holy Spirit works, that, you know, uh, what is it? Uh, where's it at here? Um, the flesh, all it has is work. Yeah. And that, that's a way that seems more, seems right to a man. Cuz as Tim mentioned, that's what we experience in the natural.
Speaker 3 00:14:47 So I think one other thing, like I think before we move on, I think the contrast is works of the law requires energy of the flesh. So if you're depending on your flesh to do something right, you're still operating in the flesh. Instead, if you simply trust God, you know, regardless, end of the day, if you boil Christian life, all we need to do is believe. That's it. As simple as that, we are born again by believing. And we walk this Christian life by believing. So either we are trusting and rushing at any point of time and expecting God to work in us and through us, or we are somehow trusting and believing in ourselves and in our self effort. And we are trying to make things happen in our, in the energy of our flesh. So the more we believe and the more we rest, the more the spirit goes to work, the more we strive and the more we exert self effort, flesh goes to work.
Speaker 2 00:15:39 And the Apostle Paul, in one of, I think I can speak for all three of us favorite chapters of the Bible is second Corinthians three. Paul gives the reason for that. And that's because the works of the law, which is the old covenant, is a ministry of death and condemnation that was only meant to be transitory, to take us to Christ who is the new pout covenant, who, which is the ministry of the Spirit and righteousness and is an everlasting ministry. That's, that's the reason why these things are true in one is because the Holy Spirit resides in faith. It resides in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in the ministry of the New Covenant.
Speaker 1 00:16:22 So it sounds a little bit, I hear, I hear you say, we don't do works, we just believe we just rest. But God isn't against effort, right? I mean, I felt, I, I felt the leading of God. I ended up in Russia because I felt led to go there and do things. I didn't do them of myself. And in fact, several times God pointed that out to me because I'd try and do something that wouldn't work. And all of a sudden coincidence or whatever you want to call it, I called it, you know, a got appointment or whatnot, what happened? And then things would break free. But for instance, I was trying to raise money for a, uh, a trip to get some supplies that we had collected over to Russia. And I'd sent out, I, you know, I was the master of the seven part mailer.
Speaker 1 00:17:12 I I put together a big mailer, put her and sent it out. And nothing was ha you know, uh, nothing was happening. And God said, do you, do you trust your mail or do you trust me? And I, so I quit pushing. And literally from that po that day forward, when I stopped pushing money came in at a regular rate to the point where we had enough to do what we were expecting to do. So I, you know, I'm just, but God isn't against effort. I still had to, you know, pack and get on a plane, uh, go to these towns and places and people that I was teaching and, and sharing with. So, uh, it's not about just sitting there and doing nothing or, uh, doing whatever the heck you feel like, cuz God's gonna forgive you anyway. Right? And I just, I'm, I just wanted to say that and see how you guys reacted to it.
Speaker 3 00:18:05 I think, uh, the way you describe Tim is it sounded like walking in the spirit to me. So instead of trust, uh, instead of relying on your self effort, your resources and your abilities, you trusted in God and he made things happen. So when we are saying walking in the spirit doesn't mean, uh, we are, um, we do nothing so easy to, I think, uh, uh, one of the preachers put it well, uh, walking in the spirit doesn't mean it's inactivity, it means spirit directed activity. I think that's what you described now.
Speaker 2 00:18:40 And I would say that God is absolutely against effort when it comes to our relationship with him. If you would've said to God, God, I'm not going to Russia. I know I feel like you want me to, but I'm not going to, you would still be his son. He would still love you. He would not reject you. You would not go from being a son to a, to a servant or a slave like the prodigal son thought he was gonna be efforts awesome. But to me, kind of like what you and AJ both said is that that effort came out of your relationship with God. It's because you had that relationship that the spirit led you to do those things. And it's a fruit really, you know? So we're not saying there's no effort in the Christian life, we're saying your effort is not gonna bring you salvation, sanctification, or greater blessing,
Speaker 1 00:19:33 Right? Uh, to quote one of my favorite pastors, God's not against effort. He is against earning. You can't get, you're not gonna get anything more special or better because you've done something that he led you to do. But it will be more effective if you're doing it because you're taking that leading and not doing it of yourself.
Speaker 2 00:19:52 Which brings up a great point. And that's because even if you try to put more effort to get more, there's no more for you to get. God gave you everything in Christ at the cross. He did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all how will not also along with him graciously give us all things. And, and, and what did the father say to the eldest brother of the prodigal son when he got mad? When the father showed the younger brother who had gone out and blown all the money sin, he didn't like grace. And the father said to him, Hey, don't you know, you're always with me and everything I have is yours. Everything God has is already ours. We don't need to work for it. We have it in his son. If he's going to give us the most valuable thing he has, which is his own precious son, we think he's gonna withhold food. Or, or like, you know, Jesus taught about the lil the field clothing or, or a home, you know, of course
Speaker 3 00:20:52 Not. Effort has a little bit of connotation of, you know, we trying to do something. I think that's not what we mean by effort. I think, uh, Tim, what you're saying is it's not sitting ideal doing nothing. But you know, even in Christian life, we go and do stuff, but the doing is basically directed by the Lord, empowered by the Lord and the Spirit working in us, prompting us and you know, putting something and he's actually God working out in and through us in Philippians, we see that, right? You know, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. It is God who works in you to both to will and do of his good pleasure. So he gives you both the willingness and the performance. So both are from the Lord. So I think there are two things, right? One is willingness and the performance.
Speaker 3 00:21:36 When we say performance, yeah, performing, doing things, I think that's what we are calling it as effort. But it doesn't mean, you know, I somehow out of my own self energy motivating myself, initiating myself, doing something for God, but rather God is the initiator, right? He's working in us. I guess one way to think about it is who is initiating it? God initiates it. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. He also finishes and he gives us energy to do things. We don't have to initiate something for God and do something for God or do something for God's blessing. We are simply registering in the finish work. And as God puts stuff on our heart, we just move right there. And uh, and we all know as believers, you know, when God is telling us to do something, we know that most of the time we may not be able to finger point what God is telling, but we do it. So, and when we know when things are of guard, when things are of not God, you know, God is loving and he just course corrects. We don't have to worry too much about it.
Speaker 2 00:22:34 That scripture you just mentioned, aj, when you think about it, that Christ being the author and finisher of our faith, that goes perfectly with Galatians. This first chapter we're reading starting in the Spirit. Christ was the author, started the work in us Fi and you know, that's why we don't try to finish in the flesh because Christ finishes in us. They really go together well, don't they?
Speaker 1 00:22:58 Well, thanks for bringing that back around, mark. I couldn't have done a better segue if I tried. So I'm gonna bring us back to the passage that we were reading and, uh, I'm gonna reread verse six because I think it, it's kind of a verse that ties the first section with this next section that's coming up. Uh, so, so also Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce to the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you. So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Someone wanna break that down for me a little bit? I think I got the gist, but,
Speaker 2 00:23:50 Uh, let me set the context and then I'll let AJ break it down. Um, so the people that are coming in that are trying to mislead the Galatians, we mentioned in the earlier podcasts that these are Jewish Christians called the Judaizers. They believed that you're saved by putting your faith in Christ, but they also believed you needed to keep the Jewish mosaic law, the Torah, basically, which was all the laws from the first five books of the Bible. So, and they considered themself from Abraham because they were from his line, the Jewish people as the children of Abraham. And instead of the reason they were chosen was for the gospel to come to all nations, okay? But they took that and used that as, hey, we're the children of Abraham. And they looked down at Gentiles and actually called them Gentile sinners. And, and they would shun them and avoid them.
Speaker 2 00:24:49 They weren't allowed. Their religion and their rules didn't allow them to eat with them or spend time with them. They couldn't touch them or they'd be ceremonially unclean, couldn't go into the synagogue. They, so, so Paul is straightening this out with the Galatian believers and saying, look, they may look down on you and say they're the children of Abraham. But the Abraham became who he was because of the faith and belief he put in God. And because of that, the promise and the gospel came to him and to us, and, and Paul's saying, Hey, wait a minute, you are the children of Abraham when you put your faith in Christ alone. So that's kind of a context that Paul is pouring this teaching into.
Speaker 3 00:25:35 Excellent, uh, context, mark. And, uh, I would like to know that context. Pull out a few, uh, nuggets again from this passage. Uh, so one thing he's saying that, you know, uh, again, like we just, uh, mentioned, um, just going back to verse six, even as AB Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So what he's saying is just as you have started in the spirit, right, just as you are justification is by faith. Just as you become righteous by faith, you also walk in the spirit by faith. And not only that, right now he's saying, how do you become the sons of God? He's talking about multiple things. How do you become righteous? It is by faith. How do you begin in the spirit? It is by faith. How do you walk in the spirit? It is by faith. Now he's saying, you know, how do you become the sons of God or sons of Abraham?
Speaker 3 00:26:26 So like, uh, like, um, mark put it right. So you are thinking, you know, your sons of Abraham, because you're born to him are born in the, uh, lineage of Abraham. No, no Notset only those who are of faith. They are the sons of Abraham, right? And also the sons of God, which he talks about later. And then he says in the scripture for saying God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham before saying, in in you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blushed with believing Abraham. Again here, you know, if you go back, you know, it says God preached the gospel to Abraham before saying he knew all the nations be blushed. It is from Genesis 22, I believe, I think it is 22. So there when he is saying, you know, when you, when uh, he knew all the nations are blushed, you may be thinking, you know, these blessings, everyone has their own idea of blessings.
Speaker 3 00:27:26 Or they might be thinking of riches, they might be thinking of good health, they might be thinking of this and that. But if you look at the context of blessing of Abraham is justification by faith. So those who are of faith are justified, right? And those are our faith are the ones that are, uh, blushed with believing Abraham. Because here it says right, for saying that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. He preached the gospel saying that in you, all the nations shall be blessed. So clearly the blessing of Abraham is justification by faith. So we, we are justified by faith and we are, we receive the blessing of Abraham by faith and we also become the sons of Abraham by faith. And then he's saying that only those who are of faith are blessed. In other words, those who are not of faith, they're cursed.
Speaker 2 00:28:20 And as we move forward, who you're gonna see Paul start to even break that down more deeply. So I'm looking forward to that. Tim, you wanna pick it up from there? Did you have something to add?
Speaker 1 00:28:31 Oh, go forward from here.
Speaker 2 00:28:33 Alrighty.
Speaker 1 00:28:34 So we are going to pick back up on verse 10. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse as it is written. Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God because the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, it says the person who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus. So that by faith we might receive the promise of the spirit. Another good place to stop.
Speaker 2 00:29:26 Yep. Well Paul does such a great job of coming back around full circle. Yep. You know, he's talking about starting and finishing in the spirit. Then he goes into Adam, who was the first person that that believed that it was credit credited his righteousness to him.
Speaker 3 00:29:46 It's Abraham, you mean? Uh, mark. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:29:48 I'm sorry, what did I say?
Speaker 3 00:29:49 Yeah, you said Adam.
Speaker 2 00:29:50 Oh, I'm sorry Abraham. Yeah. Yeah. So Abraham was the first man of faith that God completely credited righteousness to him by faith alone. And then he goes into it deep and then he's bringing it all the way back to Christ to show that all that stuff. And you know, we know the Old Testament is just filled with shadows of Christ and the realities in Christ that were to come. And this is just the great one here and, uh, where God really for the first time gave the promise of, and you're gonna see it even more as we continue to go on. He breaks it down. But the first preaching of the gospel to a man in, in a linear time fashion, because we know that the gospel was for, was before the beginning of the world, before the creation and beginning of time, this is the first time God announces it to Abraham because of his faith that it was going to be by faith. Not just a coincidence, Abraham believed. And so it was credited as faith, but God already had the plan that I'm going to save all these people. It's always gonna be about faith. That's the only way to get righteousness. And it's just such a perfect circle how he says he redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus. So that by faith we might receive the promise of the spirit.
Speaker 3 00:31:18 Yeah, if you read, uh, Paul's letters, uh, there are, he used a lot of contrast like Romans five. You know, here there are so many contrasts we are saying, uh, even like, uh, in the second Corinthians chapter three, um, mark your favorite chapter right there is so much of contrast between the old and the new here also, we see so many contrast, right? So we just read in verse nine, everyone who is of faith are blushed with, uh, believing Abraham. And now he says, you know, he's also contrasting the blessing and the curse. How are we blushed? We are blushed because of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And if you are not the one you know, who is uh, uh, of faith, then he says, you know, you're under a curse. Like how do you fall under the curse instead of believing in the finished work of Lord Jesus Christ instead of relying on your faith?
Speaker 3 00:32:10 I think, uh, the rely is a key word here. Uh, I am reading in an ik now, uh, in, uh, verse nine. So those who rely on faith are blushed along with Abraham, the man of faith, but those who rely on the works of the law. So there are only two choices here if you break it down. Uh, even I think the other day we talked about it, uh, even a mixed gospel is not really mixed gospel. It's basically law. So either you are entirely relying on the finished work of Lord Jesus Christ or you are relying on yourself to keep the law. So if you rely on the works of the law, you are under a curse. Why? Because if you want to be blessed by the law, you have to continue. Look at this. It says, curse is everyone who does not continue to do everything.
Speaker 3 00:32:59 Return in the book of the law. You have to continue to do everything. Return in the book of the law, all your life from the day you are born until the last breath, you have to continue to do everything that is written, not so things or one thing only then you will not be cursed, otherwise you'll be cursed. So clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God because the righteous will live by faith. And it says the law is not based on faith. On the contrary says, the person who does these things will live by them. So basically what it's saying, right? You know, if you want to live by the law, if you want to be blessed by the law, you have to continue to do everything written in the book of the law from the day you are born until the day you die.
Speaker 3 00:33:47 Otherwise you're cursed. So basically what it is saying is basically everyone is cursed because nobody could do that. And we needed someone to redeem us from that curse. And lodge is cursed it exactly the same. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by how did he redeem us? He became a curse for us because it says cursed is everyone who is hung on a poll. He redeemed in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. Again. We say, you know what the blessing of Abraham is? It is a justification by faith. When we are justified by faith, then we receive the Holy Spirit. So, and then once we receive the Holy Spirit, we are dead to the law. We are dead to the flesh. And now we operate in the Spirit. We don't go back to the law or we don't go back to the works of the flesh again.
Speaker 2 00:34:35 Yeah. What's interesting is in chapter one, I think I'm gonna point it all before Paul, when he's getting in the face of the Galatians and saying, Hey, here's what the gospel is living in the grace of Christ. If anybody perverts it by adding anything, let them be cursed. He said, I don't care if it's an angel from heaven or if I change my mind and preach a different gospel, let them be cursed. So he's actually calling down a curse, but this is telling us right here, he doesn't have to call down some special curse because when you add the law back in, you're, you're cursed The minute the Galatians start adding things in, that comes with the curse of the law. Because if you don't do every single thing from birth to death perfectly, you're under that curse. And there's only one way to be redeemed from that curse. And it's not by, from this point forward doing it really well, it's not by having a scale on the stained glass windows. And the good works have to be more than the bad works. One way he redeemed us, Christ redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles, the only way to be redeemed. And once you're redeemed, why in the world would you wanna go back into the curse of the law? I don't know why.
Speaker 3 00:35:56 Yeah, I think I want to clarify one thing I think we talked about several times. Uh, I don't think Mark you meant that, but you know, once you're a believer, that's it, right? So if you try to keep the law, it's not that you are going to become an believer, but the thing is, you will not be able to live the life of Christ or that you'll not be able to take advantage of the blessing in Christ. I think if you go back to the law, you know, the kind of the curse kind of operates in this life and you do not really walk in the spirit or walk in the blessings of Lord Jesus Christ. So in order to walk in the blessings, you know, you want to go back again to faith, right? You know, most of the Christians I think do this mistake when they're saved. You know, they're saved by faith. But you know, when it comes to Christian walk, they try to keep the law and thereby they want to earn blessings by keeping the law. But the result of trying to keep the law is always a curse. So you can never obtain the blessings of God before salvation or after salvation through the law. It has to be by faith before or after.
Speaker 1 00:36:55 This has been a great discussion, guys, uh, but we do have time limits. So I think I'm gonna call for wrap-ups right now. So AJ why don't we start with you tonight?
Speaker 3 00:37:04 Yeah, Tim, you know, like we always say, right? You know, even this passage is clear. We are saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and is finished work by grace through faith. And we also live this Christian life the same way by grace through faith. Once we are saved, suddenly the formula doesn't change. What people do is, uh, most people they are saved by simply putting their faith in lodge, Jesus Christ. But you know, once they join a church, I think their faith gets corrupted and they start trying to obey the law in order to, uh, get the blessings of God. But, uh, here the passage is clear, right? You cannot get the blessings of God or you cannot walk in the spirit, or you cannot finish what the spirit began in you by the works of the law. So you have to completely, again, go back to the faith and completely rely on the finish work of Lord Jesus Christ in order to walk in the spirit and in order to live this Christian life.
Speaker 3 00:38:01 So we simply, I think it's a beginning. It's from faith from first to last. And when we say faith, you know, we are not talking about just, you know, believing hard enough that something will happen. That's not the faith we are talking about. We are talking about completely relying and rushing in the finished work of logic is Christed Lodge crashed when we, when he died, you know, he not only shut his blood to take away our sins and remove us from the curse of the law, but on the cross, the old man was also crucified. So when we are born again, the old man is dead and gone. And we have the privilege of receiving Christ himself into our lives. And we have the privilege of participating in the life of Christ. And this participating in the life of Christ is again, by faith. We don't try to work hard to have the, to qualify ourselves to participate in this Christ life. But simply believing, simply resting in the fact that, you know, I'm already in Christ and Christ life is flowing in me. And by that faith, we simply live this Christian life.
Speaker 2 00:39:04 I should have went first. I knew I should have because AJ just stole my scripture. But I'm <laugh>. I'm going to read it Anyway, this is, this is Paul and Romans one 17. He says, for in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. So another way of saying start in the spirit, finish in the spirit, faith from the beginning, faith till the end. And one of the very interesting things is Jesus uses many names for himself in scripture, but three of them he uses are, he calls himself the first and the last, the beginning and the end, and the alpha and the omega, which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. So it's just very powerful here. Then the righteous will live by faith from first to last. You could just translate. And the righteous will live by faith in Jesus who is the first and the last.
Speaker 3 00:40:10 Amen.
Speaker 1 00:40:10 Amen. Thanks guys very much. I think I will only add this one small thought at the end here. And that is that I am glad, I'm still glad I'm not a Galatian because I wouldn't want Paul angry with me, but we certainly understand his passion for the gospel. We have the same passion, but we'll try not to call anybody too many names. So I expect that next time we get together, we're gonna pick up from where we left off there. We hope that you will all come back and listen to us at that point, and we look forward to being here and having you hear this. So we will talk to you again the next time.
Speaker 1 00:40:52 Tim, again, thanks for listening today. We hope you were blessed by today's message. If so, we encourage you to subscribe and share our podcast with your friends and family. Our entire catalog of episodes can be found on our website at www.theunveiledgospel.com. Or you can listen and subscribe on most popular podcast apps. If you have any feedback or questions, you can send us an email to the unveiled gospel@yahoo.com. You can reach out to us on our Facebook page, the Unveiling Podcast, or you can leave a question or comment on our listener line at 3 5 2 3 9 8 0 0 8 9. Maybe you'll hear yourself on a future episode. That's it for today. As always, God bless and we will talk to you the next time.
