Truth That Changes Lives

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor of biblical studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Galatians. Let's listen in as JP gives part two of the 3 Cs of Grace.

JP Jones: Grace is a life principle that not only governs how we come to God, it also governs how we live after we've come to God. Grace is a life principle. It not only affects how we cross the line, it affects how we walk after we cross the line. And Paul says in Romans chapter five, that where sin did abound, grace did much more abound, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace is to reign in our lives as Christ followers. Did you know that? Grace is to reign in our lives. Grace is to be the principle that we live every day. Grace is to be the principle by which we have personal relationships. Grace is to be the principle by which we seek to know God. Grace is to be the principle by which we speak to one another. Ephesians 4:29, let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only such a word that is good for edification, that it might give grace to those who hear.

Grace is the basis by which we're to grow. Titus 2 says the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men and instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age. That's how we grow spiritually and are sanctified and become more holy and more godly and more righteous, by grace.

And Paul says by way of personal story, Peter lost sight of that. Peter went back to the law. Peter was led by fear. Peter's more concerned about what people thought than what God thought, and it began to affect everyone else in the church. And so commensurate with the offense, Peter was rebuked by Paul. That's really important. If this was a private matter between Paul and Peter, Paul would have talked to him privately. If it was a matter of just the small group that they were in, they would have dealt with it in the terms of their small group.

But the offense, you see, was public. Everybody knew about it and everybody was affected by it. So for Peter's correction and for the correction of the whole church, the rebuke was public. And the rebuke was about an essential. There was not over some piddly little church issue that some people think this way and other people think this way, but the Bible doesn't really say about anyway, so you can make up your own mind and just live with it. It wasn't about that stuff. It was about the gospel and it was about how we live once we've believed the gospel. It demanded confrontation.

Grace is so important that we got to make a stand for it. We got to make a stand for it in terms of our own belief system. We got to make a stand for it in terms of what we share with others. We got to make a stand for it in terms of what our church believes about it. There is a confrontive aspect to this awesome, unbelievable truth of grace.

Because what's at stake? Well, that's what Paul's going to tell us. Paul kind of in this passage moves from what he actually said to Peter to kind of the teaching principle, and it's not really clear when he stops telling us what he actually said to Peter and he's transitioning into what he's actually writing to the church at Galatia. Probably around verse 14, 15, 16, it shifts from what he was actually saying to Peter to now the principle he's teaching about it, telling us kind of why he had this explanation and discussion.

He says this in verse 16: 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 seeking 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 once destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. Drop down to 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 is talking here about the doctrine of justification. This is the most powerful truth of the gospel.

The gospel of Christ is based upon two dynamic truths. One, what Christ accomplished on the cross, and two, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Here's a whole semester's worth of the doctrine of salvation. I teach this at Biola University, the doctrine of salvation. Here's a whole semester's worth in like two minutes.

Based upon what Christ did on the cross, the Bible says we have justification, redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation. Based upon the gift of the Holy Spirit that every believer receives at the very moment they cross the line and become a Christian, we have regeneration, adoption, sealing, indwelling, and baptism. Those nine truths make up what the Bible teaches about salvation. It's based upon what Christ did on the cross and it's based upon the gift of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.

Paul is dealing with here in Galatians as he does in the book of Romans with this fundamental issue of how to get right with God. You see, because of sin we're not right with God. Because of sin we're separated from God. Because of sin there's a gulf between us and God. So how do we get right with God? Come back to the two ways that Paul's talking about. There's good news and there's bad news.

The bad news is you try to get right with God through something you do. It's bad news because you can never do enough, and you can never do it perfectly, and you can never do it all the time, so it's always bad news because it doesn't work. Or you can follow the good news, which is you can't do it. You can't get right with God, but God makes you right with himself through Jesus Christ.

Justification is the biblical truth of how God does that and on what basis does God do that. It's a law term. It's built on several words in the Greek text. The first is dikē, which is righteous. Then the next word is dikaiosunē, which is righteousness. And then the other word is dikaiōo, which means to make righteous or declare righteous. It is the act of a judge.

A judge is sitting in the courtroom and all the proceedings are brought before him. He listens to the attorney, prosecuting attorney, he listens to the defense attorney, he weighs all the evidence. He renders a verdict: guilty or not guilty. Not guilty is to be justified. Not guilty is to be declared righteous. It's the verdict of the judge and it stands because the judge renders the verdict.

Now here's the dynamic truth about this biblical principle, just like it is applied in any civil court. You know, judges can be wrong. A judge could render a verdict not guilty and the guy jumps up and goes, "I did it! Suckers! I did it!" Well, the judge can't go, "Okay, arrest him again and I'm going to declare him guilty." Because what's the law that we have in our court system? Double jeopardy. Once you've been acquitted, you might even be guilty, but in terms of your status, your legal status, you're not guilty.

Well, guess what? Don't make any mistake about it. You're guilty before God. I'm guilty before God. Every person is guilty before God. Paul was guilty before God. Peter was guilty before God. Barnabas was guilty before God. All the Gentiles were guilty before God. All the Judaizers that came in were guilty before God. Every person is guilty before God.

But the doctrine of justification is this: If we will put our faith in Jesus Christ and in Christ alone, God the judge declares us not guilty. God the judge declares us not guilty. That's the gospel, putting your faith in Jesus, and because of that, God the righteous judge declares you not guilty, justified. And what Paul says here in Galatians, he goes, a man is justified by faith and not by works of the law, Galatians 2:16.

And then he says, even we—now he's talking about himself, Barnabas, Peter, all the believers at Antioch—even we who've put our faith in Jesus Christ are justified by faith and not by works of the law. And then he says, in fact, anyone, everyone, all people are justified not by works of the law, but by faith. He goes from a hypothetical person to himself to a general teaching that covers everybody.

So you can't make any mistake about understanding what the Bible teaches about grace and about justification and about being right with God. It is on the principle of faith. God offers this gift of Christ's death for your sins and you receive it by faith. And when you receive it by faith, God declares you not guilty, justified.

That's so important. That's so important that Paul confronted Peter over it publicly. And he said, Peter, when you withdraw—because here's a principle that's coming out of this, this is why it's the controversy—when you withdraw from those Gentiles, even though you're a saved man and even though you're a man who's justified by faith and even though you are right with God because of your position, when you revert back to living by works rather than living by grace, your action repudiates that principle.

And you make it hard for other people to try to understand, well, how is a person saved? Because Peter kind of isn't hanging out with the Gentiles, so maybe it's not by faith, maybe it is by works, you see. That's why it's so important. So what's the idea? Not only is grace a life principle by which we cross the line and come into a relationship with God, it's the principle by which we continue to live the Christian life.

And we make decisions like who we hang out with and what we eat and what we don't eat and what movies we watch and how we involve ourselves in the culture and what decisions we will make in terms of how we raise our kids. You see, everything about life is to be decided upon the principle of grace. Everything. Why? Because because of God's grace, we are justified, declared righteous, when in faith we believe in Jesus Christ.

So Paul says, this is the truth. This is what I'm trying to teach. This is why I confronted Peter, and this is what I'm passing on to you Galatians. And this truth, Paul says in Galatians 2, is not a license to sin. This truth is not a license to sin. The truth is not get saved by grace, and now because you're saved, you can do whatever you feel like doing, you're covered. You see, you're declared righteous.

Because that was the very issue that the Judaizers reacted against. This is why they said you got to keep the law. Because they said if you start telling people that they're saved before God all because of what Christ did, not because of what they do, then they'll just do anything they feel like doing and just say, "Hey, I'm saved. I'm covered by grace, so leave me alone."

And Paul says, you don't get it. If you think that that's the case, you don't understand what really happens when you express that faith in Jesus Christ. Because what happens when you put your faith in Jesus Christ is you fundamentally become a new person. You die to the law. You are born again into a life with God. You are crucified with Christ. Christ now lives in you and you now live by faith.

It's exactly what Paul discussed in the book of Romans in Romans chapter six when Paul says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace might increase? And then he says, may it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead, we too might live a new life.

If we've been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died, he's freed from sin. For we know that if we've been united with his death, we will also be united with him in his resurrection.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. Consider yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Paul is telling us in Romans and Galatians that this unbelievable act of justification that is an expression of God's grace and we receive it by faith, not only permanently puts us right with God, it changes us on the inside. It makes us new people and forever connects us to Jesus Christ.

So there is a confrontation over grace and there's a controversy about grace, and lastly there are conditions for living by grace. Paul tells us those conditions in Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

The conditions for living by grace first of all is understanding that we've been crucified with Christ. This is on the one hand one of the most difficult concepts to grasp and on the other hand one of the most important concepts to grasp. Because in Romans 5, 6, 7, 8, Colossians 2 and 3, Galatians 2, these great theological doctrinal places in the Bible that tell us about what God has done for us and how we become Christians and how we live the Christian life, the critical analogy to understand is our identification with Christ.

How we've been connected to Christ. We've died with Christ. We've been raised up with Christ. We've ascended with Christ. We're seated with Christ. Our life is in Christ. In fact, over 150 times in the letters of the Apostle Paul, that phrase in Christ is used. It's the best description of who you are as a Christian. Who are you? You are in Christ.

So once you cross the line because of grace and receiving Christ because of your faith, you're now in Christ. That's your new spiritual identity. It's the truest thing about you because it's what God says is true. And here in Galatians 2:20 he says, I've been crucified with Christ. Every believer can say that, in fact, must say that if they're going to move on to live in grace. They must understand I've been crucified with Christ.

See, I couldn't do it on my own. And if I kept trying to do it on my own, I'd always fail. So what God did is he killed me so that he might raise me to new life. I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the second prerequisite, precondition for living by grace is understanding that Christ lives in me. Christ is in you. Christ is in me. Christ is in every Christian. Christ lives in us. We're in Christ and he's in us.

I mean, you can't get any better than that. It's Christ in me. You see, that's why we can say with the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I remember when my daughter Ashlynn, she's 13 now, she was maybe about three or four years old and I was praying with her and she said, "Daddy, how can Jesus be in my heart and in heaven at the same time?" That's a good question. I'll go get your mother.

You know what? Romans chapter 8 says this in Romans 8:9-11: But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in us. There's not a little miniature Jesus who lives in us. That's kind of a childlike concrete way of trying to think about it, right? But the Spirit of Jesus lives in us. The Spirit of Jesus lives in every Christian, and he is the Spirit of resurrection.

He is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. He's the Spirit who will give life to our bodies. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, it's Christ who lives in me. The Christ who lives in me is the Christ of resurrection. The Christ who lives in you is the Christ of resurrection. That's living, you see. I've been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the body, so now I'm—I've crossed the line because of faith in Jesus Christ, God has declared me righteous, declared me not guilty, I'm justified.

He sent his Spirit, the Spirit of Christ in me. I'm in Christ, Christ is in me. And the life which I now live, I live by works? No, it doesn't say that. I live by faith. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Live by faith. I believe God is who he says he is. I believe God has done what he says he's done. I believe God's going to do what he's promised to do. I live by faith.

Those are the three prerequisites for a life of grace. We come to God by grace, we live the Christian life by grace. Well, what does that mean? I need to understand I've been crucified with Christ. I need to understand that Christ now lives in me. And I need to live by faith. Trust, reliance, dependence, hope, surrender, obedience. Faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.

Paul in Galatians 2:11-21 gives us by way of his own personal experience and then by way of inspired teaching, not only what is the most fundamental truth of the gospel, but what is the most fundamental truth for living the Christian life. By grace through faith. Period.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch with us and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250.

For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a minute, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. You know, the great truth of salvation, which is also the great truth of sanctification, is this: It is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You see, those three concepts are powerful. They are the means by which God changes us. When we are lost and dead in sin, God changes us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

As new believers in Jesus Christ, God changes us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. As people who are growing in the Christian life, God empowers us to be servants by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. As those who are seeking to give our lives away and advance God's kingdom and share our faith, God empowers us to do that by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

You see, grace is the means by which God does everything in our lives. We contribute nothing to the Christian life. We contribute nothing to our salvation. We contribute nothing but by God's grace. It is God and his grace alone that works, empowers, changes, perfects, sanctifies, and ultimately saves all of us. It's by grace alone.

And it's by faith alone. We receive that grace by faith. We humbly accept God's provision. With a surrendered attitude, receive what God has done for us. With an acknowledgment that we can do nothing but that he does everything by faith, we accept God's work for us. And it is all accomplished and provided and made available through Jesus Christ.

He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the true vine and we're the branches connected to him, abiding in him for all of our spiritual life. This is the fundamental truth of the Bible. It's what Paul's talking about in the book of Galatians. It's what he's contrasting with every other system. You see, every other approach to God, every other approach to God for salvation, every other approach to God for living life is ultimately based on rules, regulations, laws, religion, what we do.

Only in Jesus Christ is it based on what God has done for us. And Paul says in Romans chapter 8 what we could not do, weak as we were through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Wherever you are right now in your spiritual journey, that's the message of life to you. If you don't know God, salvation's by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, your next step spiritually as a disciple is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Receive that truth and let it transform your life today. God, thank you that the truth of your word is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We accept that in Jesus' name, Amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.