Christ set us free

Good morning. Before we move into the passage here this morning, just want to remind you, we've got two weeks here before the next set of electives starts. And so the principle and principles of grace will continue. And that, if you would like to join it, you'll have to do some catching up. First Thessalonians and How to Study the Bible are the two new electives. And I'd like to have you sign up for those if you would like to take one of those two. It's that bulletin board with just a whole ream of sign-up sheets. That's the one that has that. The real challenge will be, am I signing on the right sheet? Anyway, make your choices there.

All right, in this passage here, we're resuming with Galatians 5, and this will be the first six verses. We're actually going to kind of slow down the pace after this for a little bit because we have some verses we want to take a sort of a focused look at. And one of the things we're going to do a little bit differently, for last time and this time, we've got the expanded and explained. Some of you maybe become familiar with what that typically looks like.

We've got that on a separate single sheet in the cabinet on the right as you exit this room. Just for the last time we taught, and this time we will be going through Galatians. After that, we'll go back on to the handout as we had before. So, if you want the expanded explain for two Sundays ago and for today, it's in that supplemental handout on the cabinet. All right.

Now, as we step into this here, we've got verse 1. As Wayne read it for us here, a key thing here, I just want to make clear that this yoke, it's not this yoke, okay? It's this other yoke, right? It's a yoke of slavery that Paul's talking about. And the first line in verse 1 here goes like this.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free. That should be viewed as following immediately after the end of chapter 4. As you may recall, when we studied the last verses, roughly 11, 12 verses out of chapter 4, it ended up telling us that we were born of the free woman, Sarah. We were born to freedom. So that's his reference here. We were born to freedom. It is by Christ's doing that we're born to freedom.

He says, remain free. That's his message here. See, Paul didn't know that they were going to put a chapter divider in there 1100 years later. But with that in mind, we could expand the first line like this. It would go along these lines. It was for spiritual freedom that Christ has set us free from the slavery of living under the law. For spiritual freedom. Very deliberately for that. The next thing is we look at a couple of things that are in contrast there. These two lines here introduce us to something that we're going to see more of in this chapter, chapter five, and in chapter six to follow.

Imperatives. Imperatives. So this is the way it is with imperatives. We need to address the question, well, if it's imperative, how imperative is it? Do I have to? So let's talk about that. We're going to be seeing a series of verbs that in the Greek are in this form called imperatives. They oftentimes, and especially in the letters of Paul, relate to action. But sometimes they are verbs of being. These verbs here have the idea of, when they're an imperative, they have the idea of you must do something.

Well, some folks read that and they say, well, wait a minute. Didn't we just read four chapters of, you know, we're not under law, how come I must do something? Well, that does take some thinking, doesn't it? Paul has been saying here for these first four chapters and certainly is continuing that theme, we're not under law, but we're under grace.

Grace entirely. Grace completely. And you know grace is something that's tough to get a handle on. That's one reason why we've got this elective where we're going on for one quarter and then the next just to address this issue of grace. The world does not understand it and you won't get it except from the Word of God. Grace is a phenomenally unique thing and this world knows nothing of it. It's of the Lord's character. So how is it, if that's the case, that Paul starts to tell us that we must do something if we're under grace and no longer under law?

Well, we've been having this handout available. We've been including it sometimes in the handout that's been given to you. We've added it as a supplement that you can take with you. It's also downloadable on the Hollyhillsbiblechurch.org website. Click on materials and you can download it. My recollection, it's the first one on the list. So, fairly easy to find.

And I won't go through the whole thing, but let's step through some examples of the contrast between law and grace here. Under the principle of law, you are joined to the law. Under the principle of grace, you are joined to Christ. Under law, the key person is you. It's up to you. You're going to do it. Under grace, the key person is Christ.

The principle of law threatens death, condemnation, with the hope that you might still end up living in this life. Maybe. It's an I hope so kind of hope, isn't it? The principle of grace says that you already were condemned and died, but ended up with a certain and fixed hope in his life. How about that? Instead of worrying about being condemned, sorry, it's already done. When you're identified with Christ on the cross, the condemnation issue is behind you. No longer do you have to deal with it.

Under the principle of law, you behold the law in yourself. Like beholding yourself? You behold the law in yourself under a fading glory. That's the way Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 3. There's a fading glory. The principle of grace has you beholding the Lord and made to grow from glory to glory as a work of the Spirit.

The principle of law calls for everything from us and nothing from God. All you get is the tablets. Here, take two tablets and call me in the morning, right? Okay? The principle of grace, on the other hand, calls for everything from God and nothing from us.

Radical difference. Radical difference. Anyway, this chart brings forward the key insights, and if you don't have that, you can certainly download it, and we'll additionally make it available as the weeks go by here. But it shows up the sharp contrast between the imperatives.

When grace says that you must do something, It's not for you of yourself to do. It's for the Lord to do in and through you. Okay? Key thing. Now, we need to talk about motive, means, and opportunity. And you're saying, what? Wasn't that on CSI or something like that? Well, not that. Not that kind. You got this kind.

Imperatives tell us to do this and don't do that. and how, under grace, the imperatives tell us do this and don't do that on the basis of our untouchable, eternal, and graciously given position that we have in Christ. On the basis of that position. God's grace is the believer's motive. Motive for doing or not doing whatever it says. It's by grace that we're motivated, not by do this or else. Here's also something else we pointed out, that the imperatives are often connected up with words of logic. Paul frequently, himself being a logician, uses these words.

Romans 15.7, which I think the Romans elective is passed up a little while back here. But, therefore, there's one of those logic words, except one another, and I'm going to make this distinction, in your daily condition, just as Christ also accepted us in our eternal position.

Isn't that something? In your position in Christ, you are accepted. Do you know that your acceptance before the Lord is never at issue? How about that? We're always concerned. Boy, does the Lord accept? Yeah, that's not an issue. Nancy and I were talking to some people over the phone about a week ago, and they were astounded to find out that they didn't have to go ask the Lord for forgiveness. What? No. In Him, Ephesians 1, verse 7, in Him we have the forgiveness of sins.

You can also find it in Colossians 1.14. Christ also accepts us in our eternal position to the glory of God. You know, it glorifies God that we're accepted. Isn't that something? He's the one who receives the glory.

Here's 1 Thessalonians 5.8. But since we are of the day, that's our eternal position in Christ. You know you're of the day? That's who you are in Christ. Let us be sober in our daily condition. In our daily condition, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

Anyway, those are examples. You can find numerous examples, because Paul says, therefore, and since, and just as, and as, and for, and those kinds of words. Now, let's get back to motive, means, and opportunity here. Ephesians 4.32, Paul told the believers in Ephesus, forgive one another because they'd already been forgiven. Forgive one another even as God in Christ has forgiven you. Has forgiven you. But not to forgive one another in order to be forgiven.

That's principle of law. Now, we move from motive to means, okay? None of the imperatives in the New Testament were ever given to believers with the idea that you are supposed to carry out the action. None. Okay? None. It isn't, okay, here's some that the Lord does, and here's some that you do. Believe. That's our part. And it's not a work. Through the Holy Spirit's work within us and through us, the Lord empowers and enables us to carry out the imperative into action. The Lord's doing His work.

Ephesians 2.10 says the Lord has prepared good works that we should walk in them. So are there any good works out there that we have to go and do that the Lord hasn't prepared? No. He's prepared every single one.

And guess what? The working of those works, the doing of them, is also His to-do. There isn't any work that you have to do that He hasn't prepared, and there isn't any work that you have to do that He has not enabled and empowered you to pull off. There is nothing that you yourself, by yourself, of your own self, are called to do.

Yeah. The Holy Spirit is the means. So we've got motive, grace. We've got means, okay? The Holy Spirit. It's the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us. We'll be talking about that more in the weeks to come. Now, I know this is kind of a scary looking road, but we need to ask you to excuse the detour. I want to jump for a brief moment here to Ephesians chapter 3, and we've got verses 14 through 19 on the screen. That's just for context. I want to zero in on the last part of verse 16. Essentially what this is, is Paul's prayer for the Ephesian believers. You know, it's interesting.

The disciples asked the Lord, you know, how shall we pray? And the Lord gave them a prayer that was fitting for the Jews in Israel looking forward to the kingdom and that sort of thing. Here, Paul prays for the believers in the church, and he prays this, that the Lord would grant you according to the riches of His glory, and you can put in there riches, wealth. How wealthy is the Lord? Immensely wealthy, unfathomably wealthy in His glory.

He's praying that you be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. Isn't it interesting? Here's these believers. What do you pray for other believers about? He says this, I pray that you may be strengthened with His power in the inner man.

His power for little things. How about tying your shoes? His power for driving down a highway. His power for interacting with the people you love and care about. His power for dealing with that nasty guy in the next lane. His power for all these things. He prays that they be strengthened with power. This is dunamis. It's the word that has been brought over into English with dynamite. Now he doesn't want us to blow up. That's the good news. But this has the idea of ability.

Have you ever felt inadequate for the task? Ever say, oh boy, I don't have what this requires? Well, good. That's perfect. That's just exactly the way it ought to be. Being inadequate for the task is the very best place to start. Because then we're realizing, ah, He is totally adequate. He is sufficient. Paul himself even asked the question, who's sufficient for these things? And he doesn't say, I am, I am. The Lord is. The Lord is sufficient. The other thing that comes through is through His Spirit.

That's something else, you know, a number of times the elders will be approached with, you know, sort of, hey, can you give me a how-to on this and that? And one of the things that is difficult, you know, you can't just come, okay, here's your little Christian cookbook, you know. Here's how you walk in the spirit. You go and you switch, you know, switch A, and you flip that up, and then you press buttons B and C. No, okay? Why? It's personal. The how-to doesn't come aside from relationship and fellowship with the Lord. It's personal. It's fellowship with Him that is integral to the how-to. There's no just flip the switch and push the button. It's personal.

It's His doing. It's by means of Him. He is the means. Okay. So we make the connection here. We have, as we've been saying here, and we'll continue to say, we have an eternal position in Christ. God is the one who has done it. He's accomplished it. We have this daily condition. How do I live that out? How does that get lived out? How do I translate? That's great to know I'm in Christ. What does that mean in daily life? How do I make the connection between the two? How does that get into my shoes and into my clothes? So that's the big question, isn't it? How do we get from here to here? God is the one, as Paul repeatedly lays it out, is the one to energize us so that he gets us from here to here.

It happens not because we flip a switch. Not because we look it up in the manual, here's the how-to, but because of relationship and fellowship. The relationship is established in eternity. The fellowship is right now. It's intimacy with him. It's personal from here to here. All right, back onto the track now.

Means, motive, and the third one, opportunity. Given that we have the grace motive for living out these imperatives, these things that come across as a must-do. Given that the Holy Spirit is empowering and energizing and enabling as the means for living those things out. Now, this is cool. We have a mind-boggling phenomenal opportunity to be the Lord's instrument. By his doing.

As Paul put it, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. It's not what this crack pot does and looks like. It's what's inside. It's that treasure in this earthen vessel. This earthen vessel has less hair than it did several decades ago. This earthen vessel is getting less and less adequate. I take it to the doctor and to different people to try to fix different things, but in the end, this outside part here, it's not doing as good as it used to.

But what's inside is a treasure that isn't subject to the same laws and rules and principles. We have this treasure in this earthen vessel. That's how God intends that we understand These imperatives. Grace motive. Holy Spirit means. Phenomenal opportunity. The imperative is an opportunity, not a threat. The resource? God's infinite grace. Infinite. So what does he say?

Keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. We have in the form of do this, not this. And that's one of the things you'll notice, especially as you go through Paul's letters. He'll have a this, not this, this, not this. Don't be fools, but be wise. Don't get drunk, but be filled with the spirit. This, not this, a common pattern. He follows that here. Notice something else. Keep standing firm.

We don't have to fight for our freedom. We don't have to fight for our freedom. He says you're free. All you gotta do is stay there. All we have to do is stay there. Stand firm. Keep standing firm. Christ having set us free, it's a done deal. He did it. It's not ours to do. As part of our position, all we have to do is to stay there in our daily condition. We're not fighting for our freedom. He already won it. He did it all. As a matter of fact, there's not a little bit that we have left to do. He said, it's finished. It's done.

Do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Here's the negative imperative, the flip side. Negative one, telling the believers not to put themselves under bondage. Do you notice that word? Again. There's this word again. Hmm. Now that's curious. Why again?

They were in bondage to sin and to these false gods before they were saved. They lived under a principle of law under the false gods. You've got to do this or the gods won't be happy with you. You've got to do this and this and this, or the gods won't show you any favor and won't bless you.

They were under that principle before. Then, as they became believers, they were free, just like he said. If they placed themselves under law, as he has challenged them not to do, they would be in bondage again. There's the word again. even after Christ had set them free. Here's the way it looks. Like this guy. It feels so good to have this load back on top of me. Again. Is that what you want? He's asking. You want to go back with that load on top of your head? Is that what you have in mind? He's saying, come on. You can't want that.

Let's look at verses 2-4. Now, there's something I've got to tell you. Before we step into this, I just I got a policy decision. OK, this is a policy decision. I won't use PowerPoint slides to explain circumcision. We've got all kinds of pictures here. OK, I just I'm not going to do that. But if that somehow baffles you, come up and talk to me about it. But I just we're not going there. OK, now, if you receive circumcision, he says Christ will be of no benefit to you.

You see, the Jews saw circumcision as the first step to following the law. Why? They typically did it to the little babies at eight dates. And so that was the first thing. They even had a prayer among the Jews in Jesus' time, in Jesus' time, where they said, the men would pray, thank God that I was not born a slave or a woman. Why? Because I'm a male, I get to follow more laws. And I get to start with circumcision. Isn't that mind-boggling? Yes. Whoopee, right? Okay.

Paul warned them that if they took this first introductory step, and by the way, these people are now adults and not eight-day-old children. They were counting on their own works. Counting on what you do. He says, if you take the first step into this thing, You're biting into the whole thing. You're buying into the whole thing.

If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. So the question is, will the Galatian believers lose their salvation if they have circumcision? I mean, it sounds intense the way he writes this, right? So, will they be lost if they have the circumcision? So, we ask that question. lose their salvation?

In a word, no. Real simple answer. But, Paul had pointed out two chapters prior in Galatians 3.3 that under law, spiritual growth comes to a grinding halt. Spiritual growth does not happen under law. The law does not grow you. It is stunted growth. Stunted growth. You can check out 2 Corinthians 3, verses 1-18. That's the whole chapter. There the law is characterized. It's a ministry of death. How do you like that? How do you like a ministry of condemnation? Wouldn't that be nice?

A fading glory. Spiritual growth, growing from glory to glory, only happens as a work of the Holy Spirit, as we behold the Lord. Growing is His to do. Okay? His to do. Trying to live by the law sets aside what Christ has done. Sets aside the... Remember, we've got means or motive, means, and opportunity. Sets aside the opportunity in front of us.

You may have read or heard about someone who proposes the idea, oh, we've still got some laws we've got to keep. They might say something like, oh, we've still got the Ten Commandments. We've got to keep those. Or, no, we've got to keep them all, except just not the ones in the temple, or the dietary laws, or something like that. And so certain parts of the law, of course, we've got to have that. And a lot of pastors just love the one on tithing. And so they've got to keep that one in there. They don't like the one right before it about don't eat lobster and shrimp, but anyway. Now, the thing is that what Paul's saying here in verse 3 is if you're going to bite the camel, you better be prepared to eat the whole camel. Right? That's the deal. You're going to bite it, you're going to eat the whole thing.

So anyway, there's an additional handout. Boy, I tell you, we've got handouts. There's an additional handout, one page, that addresses this, are we still under some kind of law? a little bit, kind of, sort of. I've even heard, oh, we're still under all the laws except the ones having to do with the temple and diet, but we're free from all the condemnation. And he says, no, you're obligated to keep the whole thing. So there's a supplemental handout.

James 2.10, whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all of it. One of the things we pointed out previously here With the law, you've got this principle in place. If at first you don't succeed, you're sunk. That's the way the law works. If at first you don't succeed, you know that try, try again thing?

Forget it. You're already down the tubes. Now, this one, you've been severed from Christ. I mean, that's intense. Paul is getting real serious here. Now, those believers who turn to the law have cut themselves loose from the daily advantage of being in Christ. Have they changed the fact that they're in Christ if they're a believer? No. They haven't changed it at all. Were they identified with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding? Yes, they were. And most graciously so. But all that will be of no advantage at all if they step into law. Even, as Paul puts it here, even one. Even one is all it takes. Take the rope and just snip it, okay?

Because you've now put yourself under obligation to the whole law. Those who are seeking to be justified by law. Now, interesting, he's been telling them, you have been justified by faith. Have been, past tense, justified by faith. This is a seeking which looks to a future justification as if the past one never happened.

Have you ever found yourself looking around for something that's on you? Yeah, where are my glasses? Aren't those the ones right on top of your head? Right? That's what he's pointing out here. You guys have already been justified. What are you trying to do? Be justified again? You've already got it.

Under grace, if you believe in Christ for salvation, that salvation includes being 100% justified already entirely by grace. Totally, completely, nothing short. Nothing missing. Nothing left to do. It says you have fallen from grace. For we who have placed our faith in Christ for salvation, grace is a matter of standing. And some of you say, well, I hope you keep standing on this thing. But anyway, grace is a matter of standing. Standing where you're already free. Stay there. Stay there.

Romans 5.2 and Galatians 5.1 both underscore that. You'll see that again in Ephesians chapter 6. If after that you want law, you'll have to fall for it, though. Grace? Just stand there. Law? Sorry, you're going to have to fall for that one. Going to fall for a law? Even one? Well, you'll have to stop standing and fall.

That's what he says. The last couple of verses, for we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love. So why does Paul say these words here? Why does he put these words out in front of him? These words are the sharp contrast to us attempting to be in right standing with God by any means that constitutes law.

Whether you got one rule or a whole bunch of them. Under the law, it's all yours to do. Remember? It's everything from you and nothing from God. God just gives you the rules. under law. Otherwise, it's yours to do. Under grace, it's the work of the Spirit. It's the Spirit's work. Under law, you trust in yourself. Good time to get cross-eyed. Under grace, you walk by faith in what God has done in the past, is doing now, and will do in the future. You depend upon that. Notice that faith is connected to grace, law isn't. Under law, you're waiting to be justified, seeking to be justified, pursuing justification. But under grace, you're justified already, anticipating something else, the blessed hope. And it's not an I hope so hope, it's a certain hope.

In Titus 2.13, Paul talks about looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.

The hope of righteousness here in Galatians 5.5 is a righteousness we already have. Remember, he's already said multiple times we've been justified, that is, declared righteous. We already have the righteousness, so we're not waiting for that. The hope, however, is a certain and future hope. It's a righteousness we already have and a hope that is just as certain as if it were already done. Absolutely certain. Not an I hope so hope. A certain hope. Then in verse 6, for in Christ Jesus, the words in Christ, or as you see it variously, in Christ Jesus, in Him, in the Beloved, in whom, are simple words but oh so profound.

How many believers today, how many believers today think of themselves as still being in Adam and somehow saved? I'm still in Adam and I'm trying to work my way towards being in Christ. How many believers think that way? You know that The marvelous thing here is in Christ is already a done deal and it's not your doing. All we did was believe. God did the rest. We are in Christ and not by percentages. Being in Christ isn't something you can work towards. We can't mark its progress and say we're getting there or working hard at it. No. Being in Christ is God's doing by faith. And we're there, believers. He's saying, stand in it. We come into a situation where we say, boy, I've stumbled here, Lord. I've wrestled with this. I've stumbled in that way. And the Lord looks at us and says, I see you in Christ.

His righteousness. His righteousness. I don't have to work really hard to get that stain out. Instead, it's His righteousness. Paul says, just stand there. Stand there where you are in Christ. That's the answer. By His doing, you're in Christ Jesus. It's that simple. 1 Corinthians 1, the very first part of verse 30. By His doing, you're in Christ. There's no working for it.

There's no saying, boy, I hope I can get there. A few weeks ago, I had an interesting experience. I was in an elevator and there was a fellow who I didn't know very well, but somehow he knew I was a pastor. It's amazing what happens when you just go in between a few floors. And he said, boy, I'm not a very good Christian. Well, I hate to tell him, but I'm not a very good Christian either.

You know? It's Christ. He's the one. I'm in Him. And that's the only reason that we can be a good Christian. It's not our doing. It's not our efforts. If you have believed, you are in Christ. It's that simple. That's how God sees you. That's how you see you. You're in Christ. You're in Him.

He says that neither circumcision or uncircumcision means anything. If a person thinks that they can do something to make themselves more righteous or be on the road to righteousness, then that's tragic. Because it doesn't mean anything. The point that Paul has here is that circumcision is just skin. That's just external. really accomplish anything. The distinction in biblical times, the Jews would say, well, we're of the circumcision. And they'd point to the Gentiles, they're of the uncircumcision. They'd make this big distinction.

But in Christ, all superficial distinctions melt away. Because it's not what we are here in earthly terms that matters. We're in Christ. That's a distinction that is far and away more valuable and important and eternal and durable than anything about this body. Then we have the last line there. This brief set of words tells us several very important things about faith working through love. First, our faith isn't ethereal, hypothetical, or ineffective. Notice that faith works. Faith works. The kinds of works that God has in mind are not our own best efforts. There's a hymn, I don't know if it's in our hymn book, but I hope we never sing it.

Give of your best to the master. That's not what he wants. It's not what he wants. He wants to do it, not us. The work of God that He has enabled and energized and empowered is because of faith in Him. Faith works because of His doing. It's faith in Him, not faith in myself or anything else. His doing. Notice here also, faith has a defined mode of expression. What's that? Through love. Through love. Faith works through love. Genuine biblical faith isn't something we just check off.

Oh, all right, I did that righteous thing. Dink. All right, I do this other righteous thing. One of the things that I've used as an example with folks is, Nancy and I have this relationship. Nancy would feel quite unsatisfied if I reduced it to a checklist. All right, five kisses before noon. Okay, one, two, three, four, five.

Okay, get the... There we go. All right. Did I say I love you yet? Oh, I got the alarm went off. I love you. Okay? Get the point? After a while, that gets pretty nasty. You know, the Lord doesn't want to live that way with us either. The Lord doesn't want that. Oh, my alarm just went off. I've got to say a five-minute prayer. What? Okay?

The Lord doesn't want a check-the-checklist kind of relationship with us. Faith is the effective working based on the motivation at a response. At a response. for his infinite and awesome grace and love, relationship, fellowship. That's what he's talking about, not the checklist. We're grateful, but we're not indebted. Isn't that something? You're not indebted, it's free. That's what grace is. You don't have to pay it back, and God doesn't want you to pay it back.

It was never anything he had in mind. We live by love, not by dread of a looming condemnation. Ever go through a time or experience in life where you have this sense of vague dread, or maybe it's even specific? It just says, in my relationship with you, the Lord says, that's not what I'm aiming for at all. Perfect love casts out fear.

Now, he's given a lot of warnings in this passage. A lot of, you know, be careful about this. If you so much as do this, then you've fallen from grace. I'd like us to just kind of, for the last shot here, take a look at some of the positive statements. that come out. Let's look at this first one.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore keep standing firm. You have been set free in Christ. There is no freedom to fight for. You are now, if you are a believer in Christ, you are free. Stand there. It's that simple. Stay there. You ever see a tree up walking around? That gets disconcerting. The tree is planted. It's there where it's planted. That's what we're called to stay there. Don't be like a tree walking around and get everybody upset. You'd be upset if the tree started walking around away from your yard, wouldn't you? The Lord says, stay where you're planted. Just stand there. You're free.

We, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. It's the Spirit's doing. Ever feel labored? Like, oh, man, this is so much to do, or I can't pull this off. I'm going to try real hard to be a good Christian. He says, eh. That's not what I had in mind. The Spirit is to do this. It's His to pull off, not mine. By faith. We believe Him. Believing Him. We believe in His works, not ask Him to believe in ours. We believe in His works, not ask Him to believe in ours. We're waiting for the hope of righteousness. A righteousness that we already have. A hope that is certain. Our anticipation is entirely based on certainty.

Entirely. because He is certain. Finally, for in Christ Jesus, these other things don't mean anything, but what does mean something is faith working through love. Faith, a faith that works. A faith that works because He works. Because He empowers. Because He enables. Expressing a self in love.

Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Lord, as we look at these words here, we see a phenomenal message and what a relief. It's all of your doing and none of ours. And the only thing that we can do is believe. And even that's not a work. All it is is trusting on what you do and what you work and what you have worked. And so, Lord, we look to you now and ask that you would sink these truths deep into our hearts and minds, depending upon all that you've done and are doing and ever will do. Jesus' name, amen.