(Read Galatians 1:3, 4; 2:15-21; 4:4-7.)
THERE is much in the Epistle to the Galatians that reminds you of that to the Romans. In Romans you have the great foundation truths of the gospel unfolded in all their breadth and beauty, the truth of the total ruin of man, and then the truth of the redemption which Christ has accomplished, so that man is brought to God, perfectly justified, through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It answers Job’s question, “But how should man be just with God?” (9:2) by showing that the sin you had Christ has died for, and the righteousness which you had not, and never could have by any work of your own, is conferred on you by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Romans teaches, while Galatians is a recalling of the soul to these simple truths. The Galatians had been turned aside by false teachers, who taught them that while Christ had done a great deal, yet they also had a great deal to do before they could be “just with God.” Now, though the Galatians, to whom the Epistle was written, lived in the days of the apostle Paul, yet there are many Galatians in this day, who, while they believe that Christ has done a wonderful work, yet think that they have something left to do for their salvation, and consequently they have not peace with God.
Now, what is the first thing the apostle starts with? No less than this, that our Lord Jesus Christ “gave himself for our sins.” These people had been thinking that they must do something to affect the blotting out of their sins. But Christ “gave himself for our sins.” What a wonderful thing! what marvelous tidings for sinners! that the Lord Jesus Christ “gave himself for our sins.”
But why did Christ give Himself? What was the need of this wondrous act? The reason is not far to seek. Your state and mine, dear reader, could be met in no other way. In proof of this I wish to draw your attention to two very solemn conclusions that the Holy Ghost presents in Scripture. The first is, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Gal. 3:22). Thus, you see, you are under sin, my reader, if you have not Christ. You may say, “I do not conclude that,” but the Scripture does. You have a dominant master, sin; and if you are honest, you will own it.
“The scripture hath concluded all under sin.” Who gets out of that? The man that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. What are the wages of sin? Death; and after death, eternal damnation. You may say, “I do not believe it.” That does not alter the fact; “the wages of sin is death,” and after death the judgment. O do not put it from you, my reader the Holy Ghost has penned this solemn statement as to your condition. You are under sin. Do you say, “I am trying to get out?” That you will never do by trying, but only go on sinning the more; for as long as you try, you do not get the right way out. While you are trying you are not believing.
The second conclusion is this, “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all” (Rom. 11:32). Not only, then, are you a sinner, but you are an unbeliever. God concludes all in unbelief. Why? That He may judge all? Nay, but “that he might have mercy upon all.” Then, if God concludes you in sin and in unbelief, ―and God knows it, and the Holy Ghost comes and testifies it to your conscience, ― do not you, I beseech you, refuse to bow to what God says about you.
Do you ask, “What will bring me out of this terrible condition?” Listen to what God has to say to you, that will bring you out. Galatians 1:4 gives the answer. The Lord Jesus Christ “crave himself for our sins.” You are thoroughly under the power of sin, and, if God does not intervene, there is no help for you, and hell must be your portion forever.
You may think, “I will turn over a new leaf and amend my life.” Yes, but what about all the pages of life’s book that have already been blotted? If from this hour to the end of your history you went on without committing one sin, you would be none the better off. There are years of sin already lying at your door. How, then, are you going to escape God’s judgment? Ah, this lovely truth comes in, “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” He “gave himself for our sins.”
Do you say, “How can I get quit of my sins?” The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the living God, gave Himself for them. Think of the majesty of His person, think of His glory, think of who He was, and whence He came, and then think He “gave himself for our sins.”
Can I have a doubt or a misgiving? Suppose the devil comes and says, “What a sinner you are!”
Quite true, I reply, but He “gave himself for our sins.” It was not merely that Christ gave what He had, He gave Himself. Then what ought I to do? say you. Why, first of all believe it, and then give yourself to Him.
Blessed be His name, He gave Himself. Faith says, “for my sins.” Then where are my sins? Gone forever, put away by Christ. He poured out His blood upon the cross; but as that blood flowed forth, it washed every one of my sins away. On the cross He bore every one of my sins. Man had forsaken Him, He was betrayed by a false friend, and denied even by true ones; and when He was alone in His sorrow, and alone in His grief, when all had forsaken Him, and He looked for some to take pity, and there was none, and for comforters but found none, ―then God forsook Him too. Then He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Amazing truth! Here is a righteous man in the deepest depths of woe, and, you would think, God would stand by and comfort Him. But no, God forsakes Him. Why? Because He was bearing our sins, and God and sin never can meet except in judgment. He cannot look upon it, though it be on the person of His Son—and that sin not His own ―without utterly judging it. Every saint of God had had the Lord standing by him and strengthening him, but Jesus was alone and forsaken.
On the cross He bore my sins, and put them away. When He went on to the cross, there was not a sin upon Him; and when He came down from that tree, there was not a sin upon Him. While on the cross, He bore sins, and His blood rolled them all away. If now my sins could be found anywhere, they must be found on Christ, and that, you know, is impossible. He took them, and therefore, if they are anywhere, they are on Him, not on me. We know they are not on Him, ―His resurrection was the proof of that.
But not only has Christ put away my sins, does this Epistle teach me, but I am justified by faith in Him “who loved me and gave himself for me.” We read in chapter 2:16, ― “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Here the contrast is between the works of the law and the hearing of faith, i.e., between what I do, and my believing on Him who has done something for me. What you and I can do can never clear us before God. How, then, can we be justified? By what Christ has done. When you justify God, ―bow down to what God says about you, and believe what He says about His blessed Son, ―then God justifies you. God is now looking about to see whom He can justify. He justifies everyone who condemns himself.
The value of the law is this, that it shows you that you are downright wrong, but it can never put you right. God knew that your heart and mine were deceitful to the very core, but the law exposes these hearts to our own gaze. There is not one thing in you or me that can suit God. “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,” and the law makes this manifest. How, then, can I be justified by keeping it? Never! It can condemn, but cannot clear me.
Knowing, then, that I cannot be justified by what I can do, as Paul says, “We have believed.” There is the turning point, my reader. Now, have you believed? If so, we may go farther, as the Apostle does, saying, “The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.” It is not only my sins that are gone, but I myself am gone, ―the man that sinned. Where, then, is my life now? Blessed answer, ― “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life, which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Yes, Christ is my life, ―I live in Him, and He in me. I should not be satisfied with knowing that Christ gave Himself for my sins. I want something for my heart; I want to know that He loves me. “Dost Thou love me, Lord? “I look up and say. “I loved thee, ―I gave Myself for thee,” is His sweet answer. “Ah! then,” the Christian says, “my heart is His, now and forever; my sins are forgiven; God justifies me; Christ is my life; I am a child of God; and more, I possess the Holy Ghost, because I am a son and heir of God.”
These last truths we get in chapter 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”; and in chapters 4:4-7, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
A “child” gives the thought of intimacy, but it is the eldest son who knows that he is to get the title and property. He can enter into his father’s mind, and he says, “I must comport myself with the dignity that becomes my station.” And so, my reader, from this day, if you really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will surely lead an entirely new life. You will not alter your ways to get life, but, because you have it, your ways will be altered to suit Him who has so richly blessed you.
W. T. P. W.