The law then was given to us to show God had a standard we couldn't reach. Therefore, it demonstrated the need for God's grace through the promise that he gave which would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford Jr, senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. I'm Steve Hiller, and I'm glad that you're with us today as we begin a message called Live Consecrated to God's Word. And, pastor, I love the fact that we're going to spend some time looking at the law today because I think so often, um, we tend to have people who want structure and rigidity and rules and tell me what I have to do to follow this and
to be a good Christian. And the apostle Paul said, no, if you really want to live by that standard, you're going to see how far you are from Christ. You're going to see the fact that you truly do need him. The law is not bad, but man, what you need is so much more than just a list of rules, right?
We need the grace of God. And because the law says, uh, do this and live. And Grace says, live and do this totally opposite. And so what happens when you put yourself under the law? You actually put chains on yourself because no one can keep it. Well, you can't keep the law. So when we talk about the law for our purposes today, let's just use the Ten Commandments. Yeah. Can't keep them. And the Bible says if you break one,
you've broken them all. And so, you know, I don't know about you, but I broken 1 or 2 and have broken them all consistently. And so I realize that it's the grace of God. What is grace? Uh, I like this acronym, God's riches at Christ's expense, or God's redemption at Christ's expense, or God's resources at Christ's expense. Pick the one you like because he provides everything I need.
He fulfilled the law, and now he fulfills it not just for me, but he fulfills it in me, and he fulfills it through me so that wow, I have to learn how. John 15 to abide in the vine. Yeah.
Yeah. And I think that's something that we all are going to struggle to learn throughout our lives. And hopefully as we mature and we begin to experience that mercy and that grace of God in our lives, we begin to find the joy and the freedom that comes in that. But that's one of the things that I think many of us may struggle with, especially as new believers, to to really grasp this truth. And if that's you, I'm
glad you tuned in today. Hope you open your Bible and join us in Galatians chapter three as we begin a message entitled Live Consecrated to God's Word. Here is Pastor Ford.
Now there are a lot of us. Uh, we're not completely saved. Uh, some of us, uh, are. Right foot needs redemption. Oh, everybody know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Because there's a clear sign. It says speed limit 55 miles an hour. That's the law. As a matter of fact, behind that is the entire state of Illinois. All the power and authority of Illinois is in that sign. And it says, if you do 56, you're breaking the law. I was going to ask it, but I'm not. Is
there anybody in here who drives, who's never broken the law? Yeah. And so the sign then it tells this is the standard do not exceed this. And so my right foot just ain't saved yet. But you know what? I notice that whenever I saw, uh, this officer with a blue uniform and a black and white checkered hat sitting in a patrol car, all of a sudden my foot came from his backslidden state, and it eased off of the pedal, and the car slowed down. And as I passed him,
I looked out and I smiled. See, the person did what the sign could not. That's Paul's argument now as he begins to talk about, uh, what was the purpose of the law? It is, it is, uh, just like I repented and conform to the sign. The person did what the sign could not do caused me to conform to the sign. Don't forget that, because I'm going to use that argument all the way through verses 19 through 25, because that's Paul's argument in the next section, Galatians chapter
319 through 25. Now he's just talked about the superiority of the promise. Now he's going to tell us about the inferiority of the law. So the promise is superior. Now, here's what Paul does that I love. He anticipates the question that his explanation or his interpretation will cause. So he anticipates their questions or the Judaizers rebuttal because they have a rebuttal and they're going to come in and say he's talking about the promise. He's saying the law
was subservient to the promise. And so he anticipates their question. Uh, the rebuttal and and listen, listen, Paul did this all the time. Let me give you one example before I move on. I remember going in it was about 1999. I went to that great metropolis, Bayfield, Wisconsin. Uh, at that time, population 487 people. And when I got there, you know, I always try to get some kind of introduction to loosen up. This is what I said to him.
I said, I'm from the great city of Chicago, and I bring you greetings where there are only two kinds of people. Uh, in the city of Chicago, when you cross the street, the quick and the dead. Uh, and then I said, you know, I'm from the Windy City, and I'm so glad to be in Bayfield. Uh, you know, the city where it gets so cold, uh, that some people have even seen local politicians with their hands in
their own pockets. And then I ended it up by saying, yes, I bring you greetings from the city of Chicago, where there is more grace in Chicago than there is in Bayfield, Wisconsin. I say, now, you you don't believe me. But I got Scripture. The Bible says where sin did abounded, grace did much more abound. And so we have more sin in Chicago. So we have more grace than you have in Bayfield. But we have more sin because we have
more people. And, uh, that was my introduction and was based on what Paul said in the book of Romans, Romans six one and two. Now, now, just turn there. Let me show you what Paul does. And if you're familiar with his writings, you know he does it all the time. So he finishes and he lets us know, uh, that where sin reigned to death. Now grace reigns through righteousness. Verse 21 of chapter five. Unto eternal life by Jesus
Christ our Lord. So he's saying, listen, where there was abundant sin, there's abundant grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now here's what he anticipates. Somebody's going to say, oh, since I have grace, it's okay to sin because the more I sin, the more grace I get. Now notice how he responds to that. He says God has forbid that we who are delivered from sin should live in sin any longer. What's he saying? Grace doesn't give us
the right to live like yard dogs. You see that? Now, if you're familiar with Paul's writings, he does that all the time. Look at verse 14 and 15 of the same chapter, Romans chapter six, 14 and 15. Notice what he does. He does the same thing. He anticipates somebody saying something against what he just said. That makes the most sense. So in verse 14 he says, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. What shall we say then?
Shall we sin, because we're not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. So over and over again he's trying to dispel. Now. Now apply it. This truth. Where do I understand this truth in what is being taught today about eternal security? That there are those who say, if we teach eternal security, we're saying, as a Christian, you can do anything and everything you want to do and still maintain your salvation, no matter how evil it is.
And Paul says, that's because you don't understand grace. Grace does not have a person say, well, since I can get away with it, let me do it. That's like somebody who's married, who's faithful to their spouse because their spouse trusts them. And they say, well, since she trusts me, I might as well just go ahead. Give me a chick on the side. So he anticipates the question in Galatians. Now notice what he. Notice how he starts it off.
He's anticipating what the other side or what these believers who have been duped by these Judaizers, he says, I want to answer the question before you ask it. What's he going to do? Listen, we live in a day when we need these four things he's going to do. What's he going to do? He's going to give clarity about God's word so that they can have comprehension of God's Word so that they'll be confident in God's Word and live consecrated by God's Word. Let me say it again.
I'm going to play that back, that in this section. What he's going to do is he's going to give them some clarity about God's Word so that they can have comprehension of God's Word so that they will be confident in God's Word and live consecrated to God's Word. Everybody with me, so that they'll say, this is the roadmap. You say, are we living in a day? We're living in a day when this is more than necessary. Barnum did some research about Christians. These are professing Christians. These
are not people who say they're atheists. These are not people who say they are agnostics. These are not people who say they're not church goers. These are people he polled who are church goers. And here's what they said. Here's what they said, that, uh, people are inherently good. And our primary purpose from God is to enjoy life. Our most important responsibility is to take care of our family. Listen to this. 81% said they believed. The Bible teaches
that God helps those who help themselves. 77% believe that people are blessed by God so they can enjoy life as much as possible. 60% said that Satan is not a living being, but just a symbol of evil. Christians now 55% said, if a person is generally good and does enough good for others, they will earn a place in heaven. 44% believe that Jesus committed sins while he walked on this earth. 61% believe that the Holy Spirit is not a living entity, but a symbol of God's
presence and power. 40% believe that after Jesus was crucified, he did not physically return to life. And 34% said that there are some sins that even God himself cannot forgive. That's the state. Now remember, this is dated. It's worse now, not better.
You're listening to Treasure Truth, a message called live Consecrated to God's Word. And we're going to get back to this message in just one moment. I want to let you know if you ever miss a broadcast, or you happen to be traveling, and you want to make sure that you don't miss one, come to our website. It's Treasure Truth Radio org. you can listen to every program online. You can sign up to begin podcasting this program, or you can download the Moody Radio app. It's free and
available for Apple and Android products. You'll find all those links and a lot more at Treasure Truth radio.org. Again, here's Pastor Ford.
And so, you know, what do we need to do? So here's what he says. Let me tell you the purpose of the law. The law. If you take a note, you won't take it. The law had three basic primary responsibilities. The law was a guide to direct us. The law was a guardian to protect us. And the law was a governor. Kept us. Yeah. Direct us, protect us and kept us. That's what the law does. So here's what we're going to see. Let's break it down and let's
look at it. So here now Paul, I want to I want to answer the question, and I want you to know what the law was all about. Why? Because there are people today. Aren't there Aren't there people today who say that you have to keep the law in order to be saved? Okay, let's take one branch of of of what they call Adventism. Uh, all of it's not the same. I'm not coloring all with the same brush. Uh, but there are those who say that if you are worshiping on Sunday and not on Saturday, you cannot be
saved because you are a law breaker. And of course, we know that's not true. How do we know it? Uh, because of what we have in, uh, Colossians chapter two that tells us, uh, that one man esteems one day greater than the other. And so don't let anyone judge you on the day that you worship. That's Colossians 216 through 23. Romans 14 uh five and six Paul said the same thing. Both of these are Pauline epistles, and he says the same thing. He says, listen, don't let
people judge you about what day you worship. So then, now there are those in our day, like right up on 75th Street who say you have to be a Sabbath keeper and a Sabbath worshipper, or you don't know God at all. And so, you know, Paul says, look, I dispel that myth and I tell you that's not true. So then what was the purpose of the law? Verse 19. It exposes our sin. Verse 19 A it exposes our sin. Paul, what do you. What do you mean? It exposes our sin?
Listen to it. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions. Stop! So the word parabasis, it literally means the same thing as the other word. We looked at earlier to step over a line. He said it was added because it helped you to understand. You stepped over the line Before there was a consciousness of sin based on an internal witness. Your conscience. But we violate our conscience. And so God said, now you have
to know my standard. So then the law was given so that we could see the standard of God, and that we cannot attain that standard. So then remember. Now remember, let me say it once again. So you understand, the Judaizers told people that the law can save you. Attitude. Attitude. Your gospel message. And Paul was saying the law was never intended to save us. So they are trying to get the law to do the opposite of what it was intended to do. Okay. Let me let me see
if I can make it plain. Uh, anybody ever had an x ray? What did the x ray do if there was something wrong? It showed. It revealed. Did it help you heal? So all the x ray could do is just show you what was wrong? That's the law. All the law does is expose what's wrong. Look at Romans chapter five, verse 20. Look at Romans 520. Paul says in his writings in Romans chapter five and verse 20, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. So why did he give the law that the offense might abound, that we would be X-rayed and see that we can't do anything about it? Turn to Romans seven five. Listen to what he says. He says, for when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. You know what he's saying there. The law can't save you. Want to know why? It instigates you to sin. Okay, okay.
I know I'm the only one. When I was a matriculating Moody Bible Institute, we used to go out witnessing. And so we had a little park that was right on. Um, I can't remember the name of the street. Uh, but it was, uh, LaSalle. And then as you go east, the next street, they got a little park there, and they went in and, uh, we went over and we were witnessing there were four of us and, uh, uh,
we went in different directions to get different people. There weren't very many people there because you had to stand up because all the benches had been painted. And so as we were getting ready to go back, I said, man, did anybody do what I did? Look at that. All four of us had green paint on our fingers. The sign said, don't touch the paint. Why would you touch it?
To see if it was still wet? That's it.
I like what I like. What, uh, what's his name? Doctor Phil Williams. Here's what he says. He says the law is a great mirror, but a terrible washcloth. He said the law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is. Not the broom that sweeps it clean so that we understand that. Then we know that our Christianity is not based on obeying a set of rules and regulations. And how many churches are in bondage because they're given a set of rules and regulations. Don't do
this and don't do that and don't do this. That's not what the gospel is all about. Remember, we already saw it. The law says, do this and live. And Grace says, what? Live and do this. And so he says, listen, you need to understand that and notice what he says, that we are those it was added because of transgression. Uh, and and that's why the law was given. Here's a second one. Here's a second one. Here's a second one. Uh, it not only exposes our sin, it exalts our promise.
Verse 19 B and 20, it exalts our promise. So he's saying, when you look at what the law has done, the promise is superior to the law. So notice what he says. Let me read it. He says, till the seed. Who's that? Jesus. How do we know that? Because he just told us that earlier in the chapter he said, verse 16, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. So he's telling us then what was the job of
the law? The law was a guide to direct us. What did the law do? Let me read some things. Don't try to take notes on this. Just let me read some things here. Here's here's here's what he wants us to understand. That the law then was given to us to show God had a standard we couldn't reach. Therefore, it demonstrated or showed to us the need for God's grace through the promise that he gave, which would be
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So the law then was designed to put on us guilt and shame, and to have an external witness that would would activate that internal witness that had been silenced because there was no sign that said how fast you could go.
Well, we're going to have to pause the teaching right there. But we're going to pick up this message live consecrated to God's Word next time. Here on treasure truth. We are in Galatians chapter three. And if you want to make sure that you don't miss Pastor Ford's teaching going forward, come to the website right now. Sign up to begin podcasting the program. Our website address is Treasure Truth radio.org.
That's treasure Truth Radio dot. Well, Pastor Ford is hanging out with me in the studio for a little bit here. And pastor, you know, this radio ministry is listener supported and we need both the single gifts and the ongoing monthly gifts, don't we?
Yeah, we certainly do. Well, you know what, Steve? I've heard so many listeners and gotten emails. Amy sent me quite a few emails of people who said when I needed Moody to hear a word, it was there. Okay, so now we need you to be there. Yeah. And we need monthly supporters so that whenever you need to hear us, we'll Will be able to respond without monthly supporters. That can't happen because all of us have one time
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