Died to, Lives to

Today we're in verses 19 and 21, looking at the outside of the sandwich, if you will. One of the things, last week I made available a special handout. And we had a short fall on that. I printed up some more. So those are available on the right as you exit this room. So feel free, if you'd like to get a hold of one of those, to take those. And if we run out again, please let me know. We'll make sure you get one.

Now, here we are in this passage, Galatians 2, 19 through 21. And one of the things that stands out as we looked at the center verse of the three verses in the passage last week, is that we were identified with Christ. Specifically and explicitly, the passage speaks of having been identified with Him in His death, His crucifixion on the cross. It is implied in there that we have been raised with Him and therefore are alive to God. Other scriptures make these other identification truths very clear, that in total, Scripture teaches we have been crucified, buried, raised, ascended, and seated with Christ.

Now, here's how we're going to approach the verses here. Last Sunday we looked more at verse 20, and that's certainly a great thing to have done. It talks about who died and who lives, and then with capital letters, who, capital who died and capital who lives. Today, we'll talk about verses 19 and 21, the verses that surround each part of that. And in verse 19 here, it addresses our relationship to the law and to God. Verse 21 speaks of the exclusivity of the principle of law and the principle of grace. Now, we have a handout here that We have been making available in the Sermon on the Mount. We've been making available here.

It's also available on the Holly Hills website. If you go to the website and click under Materials, you'll see it listed there, Law versus Grace. And so if you would like a copy, and we would like you to have one, feel free to go ahead and download it there. I will also make it available otherwise. And if it comes to it, just ask me, and we'll make sure you get a copy that way. All right.

Now, here we are looking at verses 19 and 21. As we look at these verses, why are we looking at these together? Because both these verses address the subject of the law or law. We're not talking about law like the codes and ordinances that the city of Denver has or that the state of Colorado has or the federal government has in place. This is talking about law as a means of righteousness with God. Some observations that we're going to make here, because we've made some reference to Romans, and we'll continue to do so. Galatians often expresses briefly the same truths that Romans has, and it explains it in often more detail, and oftentimes repeating the truth. Not just restating it, but stating it more than one time. died to the law, for example, is in this passage here.

It's the first part of Galatians 2.19. It's explained more fully for us in Romans 7, the first six verses.

Galatians 2.19, the last half, talks about to live to God. And in Romans 6, 8-13, that's stated as well and repeated several times and expressed in different ways.

Galatians 2.20, says that we're crucified with Christ, Romans 6, 3, about through verse 13, again repeats that truth and explains it. So what we're seeing in Galatians is the very concentrated truth. The truth reduced it down in many cases to its basic minimum truth. Last week we had some of these Romans passages I just referenced included in the handout, and so if you want to refer to that to study it more carefully or just simply take it down and look at it on your own, that would be great.

Now, here in Galatians 2.19, For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. Now, in this passage here, what can Paul mean by, through the law, I died to the law? Is that double speak or what? Well, first of all, the point that he makes here, the law has no power to convey life. No power to convey life. It does have the power, however, of condemnation and to sentence me to death. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3, it's a ministry. The law is a ministry of condemnation, a ministry of death. How about that? Anybody volunteer for that ministry? A little rough.

Okay. Secondly, however, the condemnation and sentence of death handed down by the law has already took place, if you're a believer here. Okay? If you're a believer here this morning, that death that the law calls for has already happened. Done deal. Paul started the very next verse off with, I have been crucified with Christ. We pointed out when we studied that last week, it was in a verb form in the Greek that meant it's a done deal, implying permanence, ongoing results into the future. The death sentence has already been carried out. I died. You died. What if that was all there was to it? You know what that would mean? We're done. There's nothing more to it, because I died and you died.

If that were all there were to it, it wouldn't be all that great a news. But fortunately, that's not all there is to it. We were justly condemned, sentenced to death, exactly as the law called for, and that part's done. But the reality is that's not all there is to it, is there? We didn't just die with Christ and that's the end of the story. It's not all over. My joint history with Christ, and yours too, doesn't end there.

I died to the law means that I died in relationship to. That's the expanded sense of it. I died to the law means I died in relationship to the law. Key point. One of the things to look at when you look at the New Testament scriptures, particularly the epistles of Paul, but elsewhere as well, being dead, being dead means separation. When you talk about death in a spiritual sense, even a physical sense, there's a separation. But being dead means separation.

Here's Ephesians 2.12, Paul writes to the believers at Ephesus, and he says, you were at that time, that is before you believed, separate from Christ, being aliens, without God. And by that way, that without God is one word, atheos, atheistic, in the world.

Ephesians 4.18, excluded from the life of God, outside of it. The life of God is here. You're outside of it. You're excluded from the life of God. Colossians 121, you are formerly alienated. We have the Greek words there. The full sense here is separated apart from the life of God. Death is separation. That's the message of scripture. Now, death as separation is also taught in other passages.

Here are some. We pointed out these verses in Romans 6 and 7. And we can look at those. 2 Corinthians 5 also has an additional reference. Here in Galatians 2, 19, and 20, we have a death as separation principle laid out. And in Colossians 2 and 3, a couple of passages as well. It is a thread throughout scripture that death is separation.

Even in the physical body, when my physical body dies, are we just done? That's not true. There is a separation between the physical and the spiritual. Death is really always separation. First Peter, as we studied in the First Peter elective just previously here, and he himself, that is Christ, bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, die in relationship to sin and live in relationship to righteousness. Even Peter taught this outcome from the identification truths. So here's the principle. Spiritual death in scripture is about separation of relationship, not about termination, cessation, or annihilation. So when we say, I died to the law, did the law die? Did the law end? No. It continued. I died to the law. Did I end? Did I terminate? Was I annihilated? No. If I died to the law, there is a separation between me and the law.

That's the intent. Separation, a change of relationship. That's what it's talking about. Spiritual life is about establishment of relationship. Spiritual death separates. Spiritual life joins together. Key point. Key principle in scripture. Here is a diagram that's on page two of your handout, and it starts out like this.

The unbeliever that is before faith in Christ, the unbeliever is joined to the law. He is separated from Christ. And so we show that gap there. Joined to the law, separated from Christ. Then, by faith, what do we mean by that? Salvation is faith in Christ dying for our sins, that He was buried, that He was raised again. That's what must be believed in order for someone to be saved. Christ died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again. Faith in those truths and in Christ, the one who provided those things, who did the work for us, That's salvation. That person who believes that is joined to Christ. That person who believes that is joined to Christ and separated from the law.

There's a reversal there, isn't there? We see this pattern. That's what Paul is telling us. I have been separated from the law. I have died in relationship to the law. Death is separation. That's what he's talking about. Separated from the law. The law no longer can hand out any further condemnations against me. Once I've died, the law can no longer hand out any more death sentences.

We've had some sad instances here in Colorado where there's been school shootings and then the shooter then takes their own life. Sad instance, no doubt. But notice that they don't hold the shooter on trial. Awful is what they have done. They don't hold the shooter on trial. He's dead. The law no longer applies to them. The law can't hand out any more death sentences.

Why? I died that day on the cross with Christ. I'm done with the law and the law is done with me. There's a fork in the road. The law has gone one direction. I've gone another. But we're still not done here with what Paul has to say. As simple as it is. There are a couple of critical words here we want to take a look at. And we'll see what Paul has to say here. So let's look at the rest of the story.

It says that I also arose from the dead with Christ when He arose from the dead. Christ arose and I was there. When the nails were driven The day that Christ was crucified, I was there. When the burial took place, I was there. And this day, when He arose from the dead, I was there. Isn't that amazing? If you're a believer here this morning, you were there too. Boy, that place is crowded. Now, this is actually getting interesting.

Because instead of just being dead to the law, now I find out I'm alive. Hey, now we can do something with this. Or the Lord can. That death that I went through with Christ means I died in relationship to the law, but the intended outcome is so that I am alive to God. Alive in relationship to Him. Done deal. That I might live to God, that I might live in relationship to Him. So what does this part mean?

Romans 6.4 spells out some of the details. Remember we said that Romans often explains what Galatians says very succinctly. That I might walk in newness of life, and that particular word means a new kind of life. It's not just I had a life before and now I got a new one that's newer in sequence. It is a new kind, not just newer in sequence. A new kind of life.

Christ's life. Christ's resurrection life. Romans 6, 8. To live not just in relationship to Him, but to live with Him. With Him. Here we have a profound, unfathomable truth that's come out of my death with Christ, and now that I'm alive again with Him. Everything about my new kind of life is centered on my relationship to and fellowship with God. Everything about it.

Ephesians 2.4 steps us through some of these truths and I'd like to have us walk through this quickly, but I think very meaningfully.

Ephesians 2.4 starts out like this.

But God being rich in mercy, and by the way, that's a wealth of mercy. That's not skimpy mercy. It's not wimpy mercy. A wealth of mercy. And notice when he says love, he doesn't just leave it. It's not just nominal love. It's just not kind of, sort of love a little bit. Great love. There's wealth of mercy. Great love with which he loved us.

Even when we were dead in our transgressions. What does that dead mean? Even when we were separated. That's what it means by dead. Even when it means we were spiritually separated in our transgressions. The transgressions are a falling off the... God made us alive together with Christ. Isn't that amazing?

There on that day, when the stone was rolled away. And by the way, Christ didn't need to have the stone rolled away to get out. That was so people could see that it was empty. But there that day when the stone was rolled away, when Christ came out of that tomb, there when the grave clothes were empty, that day you were there.

You and I as believers were raised with Him. raised to new life, a new kind of life, resurrection life, that kind of life. He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You may think you're sitting in a pew right now, but that's not where you're at really. It says you've been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. And that's not someday you will be. It says you are now seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

So that, ah, there's a purpose for this. So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing, here's this word, riches, a wealth, a wealth of grace. Paul repeatedly uses this word riches, but notice surpassing riches. This word surpassing means overthrown, way, way out. Imagine going to a Rockies game and the guy hits the ball. I think it's Helton, right? He hits the ball and instead of just going beyond the fence, it all of a sudden becomes NASA's concern. That's the kind of riches, we're talking overblown, overthrown, way over the top riches of His grace. Massive mountains and fountains, rivers and oceans of grace. Huge quantities. A wealth of grace. That's the grace.

Now, Ephesians 2.21. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly.

So we look at this passage here. This Greek word that's translated nullify, as I looked in other passages, it is used for rejecting the law. So this is real interesting. It's used for rejecting the law. Now, here is a turnabout that Paul pulls off here. He turns the word around and he uses it to deny that he is rejecting God's grace. Now, why would that be of import?

Even the law said that God was gracious. I gave you a couple of examples out of Exodus 22 and 34. But I could give more. But the point being, even the law said God is gracious. Paul saying, I don't reject the grace of God that the law talks about. Now, how about this grace of God? Grace is a word that oftentimes we have a hard time getting our minds and hearts around.

In fact, I think we've got a whole elective that is going on about that topic. As a matter of fact, talking to Mike just before we got in here, he says he's really wondering how we're going to fit it all into one quarter. But anyway, it's amazing you have this one word and it's so massive. And it's also something we're not accustomed to. Something we're not accustomed to.

It was a word that in the pagan culture, the Greek word is charis, in the pagan culture it meant that one does a favor for relatives or friends and you don't expect some kind of a compensation or payback or anything like that. You just do it with no expectation of return, but that's for relatives and friends. So what happens here?

In the New Testament, when they use this word grace, and that certainly includes Paul, they stretch the meaning of the word in the pagan culture. And they said, we'll use that word, but you need to understand it's got a lot bigger meaning than everybody uses it for. They stretched it by saying God does favors, and favors is, boy, a hardly adequate word. God does favors. He blesses us while we were yet sinners, while we were enemies.

No expectation of return. Matter of fact, not even a chance of return. In grace, as it was used in the pagan culture, there was a chance of paying somebody back. It was not expected, but there was an opportunity for that. In the way it's used in the New Testament, there is not the slightest chance or even any expectation that we will ever pay God back.

We're talking about grace that's huge, massive grace, surpassing riches of His grace. That Ephesians 2, 7 passage says it'll take rolling ages into eternity for God to show, and that word show means to demonstrate His grace, This word grace, which was just a favor you do for friends and relatives, is now stretched into something so massive that it is blessing, rolling upon blessing, rolling upon blessing for endless ages. We will be gasping at the immensity of it, surpassing wealth of grace, huge grace, unfathomably large grace. That's what he's talking about. Grace from a God who has no limit of it. Infinite grace. And when you think you can't gasp anymore, He says, you haven't seen anything yet. Okay? Amazing, astounding grace. Why we're yet enemies. That grace was shown to us. And He's not done.

Hey, do you think We can have an elective on grace. Do you think that after that elective is done, that everything about grace will be understood? Even as well as it might be taught. Do you think everything is going to be understood? No. Because it will take God rolling ages upon rolling ages to show His grace. We will still be amazed. We will be astounded at the immensity of His grace. One million, one billion, one trillion years from now. If years have any meaning at all. We will be amazed, beyond amazement, at His grace.

While we were enemies, favors we cannot even hope, and God doesn't expect. As a matter of fact, God doesn't even want that we should bring Him back. All he's looking for is that we have thankful hearts. Thank you. That's all we can say. It doesn't merit us anything, but it's the perfect response. Grateful. Thankful.

Now, I do not nullify the grace of God, the grace that is part of God's character, for if righteousness comes through the law... So, does righteousness come through the law? Can you get there? Paul is going to answer that question here by telling us the simple, and it's absurd, and it's a devastating conclusion, if righteousness comes through the law and through our efforts to carry out the law. And it's just simple logic, but it's logic to the point of absurdity. So prepare yourself here. Here are some truths just ahead in the next chapter of Galatians. Galatians 3. Now that no one is justified by the law before God. How many? No one, okay? It's not like, oh, there's a few. Yeah, it works for a couple of us. We got a few people here that are really good at that justification by law. I mean, they're really, no, it doesn't work that way, does it?

No one is justified by the law before God. It just doesn't get there. You cannot nail Jell-O to the wall, okay? You cannot. Get blood out of a turnip. Okay? And you cannot squeeze righteousness and justification out of the law. Okay? Can't happen. Now, so we have a question before us here, sitting in our laps. The number of laws which are able to impart life. Now, can you guess? Let's come up with a number. Maybe we'll come up with a game show here. No, let's not.

Galatians 3.21, for if a law, how many? If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. If a law. Okay?

So the conclusion from Galatians 3.21, no single law has been given which is able to impart life. None, zilch, nada, nada one. Okay? So the number of laws which are able to impart life, the correct answer is zip. Zero. Goose egg. There are none of them which are able to impart life. You can't get there from here.

In Philippians 3, 7-11, you have this on page 4 of your handout, Paul had just gotten through listing the seven qualifications that he had under the system of Judaism, four of them were things that he was born into and raised into, and the other three were things that were his own accomplishment. But seven, of course seven is the number of perfection, right? So yeah, I'm perfect according to the law. He said that doesn't cut it.

He gets into here, But whatever things were gained for me, all that lost stuff, all the qualifications I had under Judaism, those things I have counted as loss. That's a write-off, a counting term. That's a write-off for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be a write-off, loss, in view of the surpassing value. Here's that surpassing word again. Value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish.

That word there is, well, it means sewage. Count them as refuse, sewage, the stuff that yuck. That's what he calls it. So that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law. The law doesn't get there. It's all junk. Knowing Christ. Now, that's of value. Everything else is a write-off.

In Galatians 2.21, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly. What a thing to say!

When we study through scripture, we often go through scripture a little bit at a time, and we do that here. There are times, however, when our chapter and verse breaks occasionally put things so we don't really see the full picture of what's being said. Well, it was about 800 years ago that we got our chapter breaks, and it's 450 years ago this year that we got our verse breaks in the English Bible. Let's see what happens if we drop out the chapter breaks and connect up with the verses in the next chapter. All right, let's try that.

Here's Galatians 2.21 through 3.4. Notice a pattern here.

He has this Christ died needlessly, and that word needlessly means for nothing. Christ died for nothing. That's the case. The next verse, he's going to use this word foolish, and it's going to crop up again in 3, and it means no thought. Okay, no thought, thoughtless, without thinking.

It's the what were you thinking question, right? Bewitched, which doesn't have to do with parapsychology, but it has more to do with illusion, making something disappear. We'll talk about that more when we get there. And then in vain, in vain, twice at the last part.

These are all words that talk about absurdities, thoughtless, crazy, Things that don't make any sense. And so, at the last part of chapter 2, where he says, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly. A crazy thought. Foolishness. He says, that's nuts. That's the collection of words that he is using here. Let's take a look at that. This is a cluster of similar extreme words that mean without any meaning. No thought. For nothing. Useless. Vain.

I ask you this question. When Christ was on the cross and when He was done, did He say, it is finished? Or this was stupid? Did He say Christ died for sins once for all, in Scripture, or Christ died for nothing at all. That's the logic on the right-hand side that Paul is saying here. If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ should not have said, it's finished, but I'm finished. And this was dumb. You see the ridiculousness of what Paul is trying to point out. The logic that I can get any righteousness out of the law makes Christ's actions on our behalf on the cross. Nonsense. What a waste of time.

We've shown before that the law of Moses even itself makes reference to the graciousness of God. And it even included the grace of God in some limited aspects. We showed here on page 3 here. You'll find it. We in the church, and here in the body of Christ, live under this principle of grace. Entirely and totally under that principle of grace. So we have this handout that we've been bringing to your attention, which, of course, you can download yourself. As believers, we, and I'm using this as figurative language, but certainly to illustrate, we breathe in an atmosphere of 100% grace. 100% grace. That's what we, as believers, are designed to breathe in our spiritual life.

The principle of grace includes no amount of law at all, because law is of no effect. None, zip, zero. God's intent for all of us is all grace, all of the time, for every single one, no exceptions, for all time and when there isn't any time anymore, beyond time. All grace, all the time.

Here is Galatians 2.19 and 21 expanded and explained. This is our way of kind of bringing together what is the message that this passage says. Let's spell it out. Let me read through it with you. For by means of the ability of the law to condemn and sentence me to death, I died in relationship to the law so that I was eternally separated from it. Got that? Eternally separated from it.

But this death with Christ and my subsequent resurrection with him also had its eternal purpose in order that I would live in relationship to God forever. In saying these things, I do not reject the grace, which is an essential part of God's own infinite and eternal character. Because if being declared righteous by God comes by means of the law, then I must conclude, and this is just absurd, that Christ died for absolutely nothing.

So we look at this, and this passage is telling us we've been identified with Christ. It's all by grace. By the way, I didn't get identified with Christ, and neither did any of you, because we worked for it. Or because God looked at us and said, boy, now there's a worthy person. That one, he deserves it. No. It is all by grace.

All by grace be made alive to God. Always to live by grace. Always. In fellowship with Him. That's God's design and intent. The God of all grace. is totally adequate for us now and forever. There's plenty of grace, infinite supply, surpassing riches, a grace that, I'm glad we're doing it, but one quarter elective won't get it all across. God himself will take rolling ages to get it across to us, to demonstrate, to show us. massive grace, all by grace.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look at how you have remarkably, unbelievably, and yet it's because of belief, you have saved us by grace, not just from, but also to. We have died in relationship to the law, taking us away from that. But we are in relationship to you to have fellowship with you and life with you, a new kind of life for all eternity. We give you thanks for it because that's all we can do. Nothing more. But how could we do less? We thank you in Jesus name. Amen.