Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Are you trying to live by the law in the hope you'll attain a right standing with God in the end? Pastor Ed says that is a futile endeavor.

Pastor Ed Taylor: You know your own inadequacies, I know my own inadequacies. So to think that going back to the law will somehow justify you before God doesn't make any sense at all. Trying to achieve salvation through obedience to the law is a no-win situation because no one can perfectly observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.

Guest (Male): Have you ever tried to do something that was totally outside your ability and you simply couldn't do it? Maybe it was trying to bench press a few hundred pounds or running a marathon and you fell way short of the mark. Today on Abounding Grace, we learn that none of us can become righteous in our own effort. Simply put, it's impossible.

Instead, we ought by faith believe in and live by the grace of Jesus. Really, the law of God has no power to prevent sin or redeem the sinner. Only grace can do that. Let's head over to Galatians chapter 3 verse 10 and meet up with our teacher now, Pastor Ed Taylor.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Open your Bibles, would you, to Galatians chapter 3. We're going to pick up where we left off last time, studying verse by verse through the Bible, Galatians chapter 3. I've entitled our Bible study "The Just Shall Live by Faith." Say it with me, church: "The just shall live by faith." This is so important because today you that are born again are the just. You have been justified in Christ.

In your life, the life that we live, we learn in Galatians 2:20, remember? Go back to Galatians 2:20. It says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh," mark that phrase, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Now as we fast forward into chapter 3, Paul is going to remind the believers in Galatia, as he's building this argument of why would you think it's okay to leave grace, he emphasizes this fundamental truth that the just shall live by faith. The message of the gospel is very simple. Or you could even reduce the message of God to you and me as very simple. This is what he wants you to believe and receive personally for you and your relationship with him.

God's message is simple. It's like God would be here today saying, "I love you and I want you to trust my love. I love you. I want you to trust me on that." God would say, "I want you to believe in my love that I will do for you what you cannot do for yourself. I'm for you, not against you." The grace of God demonstrating his love on the cross, proving it from the resurrection, reaches down to us in his mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ.

His finished work on the cross is sufficient for you. It's not partial. It doesn't need to be finished. It is complete. Jesus displayed God's love for us on the cross. If you ever have any doubts, you look to the cross. It's empty. You look to the grave. It's empty. Jesus Christ rose again from the dead and has promised to return. This is the reminder that Paul gives to the believers. The decision you've made is worth it.

The life you've chosen is worth it. You have responded to the love of God, his true care. Of all the imperfect examples you've been given in life, all the imperfect love or lack of love that you have received and not received, God says, "I love you. I want you to trust me. Your whole life will change if you will just believe what I say to you." Now notice in verse 10, Paul is writing to the Galatians and it's almost like he pauses and says, "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

He says, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith." Remember, we're seeing the significance and learning the significance of the grace of God. His work. His finished work. The life of the great exchange.

When you and I were born again, there was a tremendous exchange that took place. God's perfect righteousness in Christ now becomes our righteousness and our imperfection is done away with. Our sins are forgiven by Christ's perfection. As for the keeping of the law, which you and I could never do and have never done, Jesus did. The only human ever to ever live to keep the complete law is God in human flesh.

When you place your faith in him, the law is fulfilled because he fulfilled it. It is like Paul's telling the believers in Galatia, you want to go back to the law? Do you know what that means? What a poor, unwise choice you are making. In Deuteronomy chapter 27 and verse 26, it says, "Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them." And all the people will say, "Amen."

When you don't keep the whole law, you live under a curse. Going back to the law will only condemn you. You're placing yourself under the curse under which Jesus has delivered you. You're going backwards. All who rely on the works of law are under a curse because no one can obey the law perfectly and because breaking even one commandment brings a person under condemnation.

You learned your inability to keep the law at a very young age. The very first time you looked at your parents and said, "No, I will not do that," you revealed that you were a little sinner right then and there. That failure that your memory can think back to revealed your inability to live a perfect life from a very young age. And of course, that's only been ratified and affirmed as you've grown older.

This is not something I need to convince you of. You know your own inadequacies. I know my own inadequacies. So to think that going back to the law will somehow justify you before God doesn't make any sense at all. Trying to achieve salvation through obedience to the law is a no-win situation because no one can perfectly observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.

This is a very distressing passage of scripture to those churches and those man-made religions that require the keeping of any law, keeping of any rule, keeping of any regulation in order to be saved. Like for those churches that say, "Hey, if you want to be saved, you must worship on the Sabbath on Saturday." No, that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that the just shall live by faith, not by rules.

The Bible teaches just the opposite. We can worship on any day. Even more so, we worship on every day and no day is required to worship. Or I think of those churches that would say you must be water baptized in order to be saved. No. Think about the thief on the cross. Jesus tells him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Except we would have a problem. You need to get down off the cross, find somebody to water baptize you, get back up and nail yourself back to the cross.

Of course not. He is a great example of someone that expressed faith in an instant in the finished work of Christ right there. He's watching with his own eyes, seeing it all unfold right before him. And the work that God was doing is complete as Jesus died on the cross and was buried and rose again from the dead. It doesn't matter whatever rule is placed upon you. Do this, give that. If you want to be saved, you need to follow.

It is all taking your eyes off of Jesus and putting them on a man, on a religious system, and it's not good. This is a devastating passage to every believer individually that places undue pressure on themselves trying to earn God's favor by keeping the law. It is not so much keeping the law today, actually. It is just a few rules and regulations. The man or woman doesn't feel like they do enough and lives under the perpetual condemnation of failure.

Wrestling with trying to keep a man-made list or even a personal list, the Bible says that if that's the path you want to go, then you need to do it perfectly. If you don't do it perfectly, then you live under the condemnation of failure. Apart from Christ, nobody has ever kept the law perfectly. Even James said in James chapter 2 verse 10, "For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he's guilty of it all."

Let me just ask aloud, no need for hands, but how many of you have stumbled lately? All of us. For those of you that said nothing, you just stumbled, so you're with us. Of course. It is not like you completely follow, and he uses the word stumble in the context of your mouth. How many of you made mistakes with your mouth, said something you didn't like? Obviously, we all stumble, so if you can admit right now that you've stumbled, then this truth is for you.

If you stumble in one, you're guilty of it all. You have become a lawbreaker because you've broken the law. It's impossible for you to earn God's love. He loves you supremely right now. He loved you in your worst condition. He loved you when you were a rebel, when you were fighting against him. It's impossible to create a list whereby you will be righteous. For example, you get stirred by a Bible study like this, and you're so confident you're just going to go for it.

You want to live a righteous life that honors and pleases God, so you start. Tomorrow morning, you're going to wake up and you're just going to give this affirmation: "Today I will keep the Ten Commandments and God will use me." Before your feet even hit the floor, you have problems because inside of you, the problem is inside, not outside. A list of rules and regulations always deals with the outside. The problem is inside you, called your flesh.

Think of the significance of the first commandment: worship of the Lord your God, have no gods before me. But then there's something that you're worshiping so much, something that is so important to you that it is taking the place of God. You're already thinking about it before you get out of bed. You fail before you even get out of bed. Maybe a self-imposed "Today I'm going to do it for you, Lord, and I'm just going to be a nice person."

I know I haven't been nice last week, but today I'm going to be nice. Then you turn over and there she is, or there he is. You didn't resolve the argument and you're already mad again in your head. There you go. You're not even you still have morning breath. It doesn't work that way. You have no power to be nice in and of yourself. But as a born-again believer, the Holy Spirit dwells in you. You're a different person.

Victory is yours, new life is yours, new direction is yours. You're a new creation in Christ. You've been crucified with Christ. You have the power to live the Christian life. Christianity is not something you do. Christianity is someone you are. You have a relationship with a person. Let's go on. Notice with me now in verse 11. "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith."

None of us can keep the law, so we can't be justified by it. Verse 12, "The law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." The just shall live by faith. The life that you and I live now, we live by faith. This is the way.

It is not by morning affirmations, it's not by trying harder, it's not by creating a list or going to a church and asking them, "What do I need to do?" It is by living by faith, and living by faith means trusting God. You trust God. The just, the born-again believer, now lives a life trusting God in what he says. That's why it is so important to read your Bible every day and pray every day, because that's how you'll learn the heart of God.

That's how you'll learn the character of God. That's how you'll grow in your relationship. Like any other relationship, how do relationships grow? Time and testing. The time that you spend with one another talking, learning, growing, and the tests of life, they build relationships. The just shall live by faith is very important. It takes us back to a time in the life of a man by the name of Habakkuk. There's a Bible book in the Old Testament called Habakkuk.

It is actually the name of the man who wrote it. He was a prophet or a messenger of God. He was living in a time of moral decline and religious decline in the nation of Israel. He was upset about it. Even as many look at the condition of our country today and get upset about it, that's where Habakkuk was on a spiritual level. He looked at the leaders and he looked at the people in the country and he's like, "God, don't you understand? Why have you abandoned us?"

"Don't you see the decay? Don't you see they're a bunch of liars? Don't you see the corruption? Don't you see what's happening in the leadership? God, you know it's bad and you're not doing anything about it. You don't seem to care. You don't care about us anymore. You've abandoned us." God was so gracious. He didn't have to, but he did. He answered that. Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 5, God tells him, "Look among the nations. Look among the nations and watch. Be utterly astounded."

"For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you." God is basically telling him, "I know exactly what's happening. I'm going to take care of it. You don't need anything to worry, just trust me. I'm working something that if I told you, you wouldn't even get it. You wouldn't even understand it." God was very gracious to give him the plan. God was going to use the nation of Babylon as a tool of judgment against the nation of Israel.

He told Habakkuk, "This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to send Babylon and they're going to be judged." You would think that's what was on Habakkuk's heart, right? He wanted to know. Well, now that he knows, guess what? He's upset about it. You can read it for yourself. He's upset. "I can't believe it. You're going to use Babylon. They're worse than us. Why would you use them to judge us? They're worse than us."

Then he goes off to a tower and he sits there and waits. It is while he's waiting for what God's going to do that God speaks to him and the understanding and revelation comes. Habakkuk, here's what you're supposed to do. The just shall live by faith. There is nothing you can do about this. You're just going to have to trust me, God says. This is a word from the Lord because we carry these things in our own hearts.

Sometimes we believe falsely that God doesn't care or believe falsely that God isn't going to act or he's abandoned us. So we cry out, "What's going on, God? Don't you know? Don't you see?" And we have these lapses of faith. I had one yesterday. I've got an ongoing thing in my life that's been going on for 12 years now that the Lord's given us strength, I'm walking in faith on it. I was listening to a song on my way to church.

Sometimes I choose songs, sometimes I let my playlist play. I've heard that song hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. I love it, it's a beautiful one. I'm listening, and I don't know where I was exactly on my way in, but this phrase just jumped out. God used this song to show me my Habakkuk unbelief in some ways. I didn't even know I was dealing with it in the moment. I thought I was in a good space.

This is how good God is. He'll reveal these things to us as we're seeking him, even though I'm not sitting down in my car going, "Okay God, I'm seeking you because I'm going to church and I'm going to teach." This is my life. I want my car to be filled with the Lord. I want to listen to songs that are going to build me up. Listen to this phrase. It's a great song, but here's the phrase: "Far be it from me to not believe when my eyes can't see."

Far be it from me not to believe. I have to say in the last maybe a couple weeks, I just know this situation and I just think, "It's not going to happen. It's just not going to happen." I'm not really complaining about it. We've gone through ups and downs of this for so long. But I just came to this: it's just not going to happen and I'm just going to have to learn. Really what God was saying is, "No, no, no. What's happening, Ed, is that you don't believe me."

On the other hand, God has given us promises. Me and my family, he's given us promises. I believe those promises. But for a moment, isn't that the Lord? Pastor Ed heading to church, ready to teach a Bible study on faith. At the corner of Smoky Hill and Reservoir, he's the most faithless man on the corner. Why would God do that? Because he lives inside me. That's the power you have. He lives inside of you.

You don't need an external list of, "God, you know all my problems, you know all these difficulties." No, God said in my car very simple way. He told me, "Ed, the just shall live by faith." And he used that song to remind me, the just shall live by faith. Trust me, Ed. Go back to a place of trust. You're not in a place of trust in your heart right now. Go back to a place of trust.

Not striving. You don't need to do anything. You don't need to make any phone calls. You don't need to take things into your own hands. You don't need to do anything. Just trust me. It was subtle. It was good. Encouraging, faith-affirming. The Lord knows you. This verse is revolutionary. If you'll just believe this truth, it'll revolutionize your life. It's what it did to a man by the name of Martin Luther.

Very faithful Roman Catholic priest, dedicated to living his life for God. Going the extra mile. He would beat himself. He would strive. He would read extra, pray extra, do extra. And he was empty. Something was missing. He was one of the few that could read and had access to the Bible. He began reading the book of Galatians. Imagine that. He's reading Galatians in his own life and he comes to this verse and it hit him.

It is a life of faith, not works. And it revolutionized his heart. It started in the heart of Martin Luther what we know today as the great Reformation. Martin Luther went with these reforms to say, "This is wrong." He nailed them up on the Wittenberg door. "This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong." And the reward of religion is they kicked him out. wanted to kill him. But there were many people that were set free by the truth of the Bible.

The just shall live by what, church? Faith. Faith. It's very important. This truth can revolutionize your life. It's not just for Martin Luther three or four hundred years ago. It's for you today.

Guest (Male): Today on Abounding Grace, we've listened in to a portion of Pastor Ed Taylor's study in Galatians. If you joined us late or would just like to give this a second listen, go online to aboundinggraceradio.com or look for our program wherever you get your podcasts.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Hey, this is Pastor Ed. I want to let you know about my brand new book, "Letting Go of Your Past." It's only a few months old, but it is being used in wonderful ways in so many lives. When we gave it to the publishers for their editing, they said, "Pastor, you need to add a couple of chapters." When I was praying about what chapters to add, there's such a warfare that's attached to moving forward and receiving the healing and forgiveness of the Lord in dealing with things like anger, resentment, bitterness.

There's such a battle. So you know the two chapters we added? The first one was "Eight Ways the Devil Attacks You." And then the next chapter was "Eight Ways to Defeat the Devil." And those two go together and they fit so well in this book on how to help you move forward. God doesn't want you stuck. And whether that's for you, whether that's for now or the future or even a friend or a family member, be sure to get a copy. Get one for you, get one for someone else.

It's great for small groups, there's a little study guide involved. It's great for one-on-one discipleship. We're really blessed. I'm very happy with how this came out and I'd love to get it in your hands. You can get it at our store here at the church, calvarystore.com, or you can get it wherever you get books. It's available everywhere. All the net proceeds go to missionaries. Isn't that cool? It's a double win.

There's an audiobook. Thanks for supporting us and praying for us. All the resources here just continue to go out in the word, in worship, and so many lives are changed. What an honor to be a part of it all.

Guest (Male): Again, that's "Letting Go of Your Past" by Pastor Ed. To order it today, call us at 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE. Be sure to join Pastor Ed next time for more teaching from Galatians. That's right here on Abounding Grace. Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church Colorado here in Aurora.