Galatians
Chapter Five
The Galatians,
both Jews and Greeks, were people who were in the
'commonwealth of Israel,' and they were in the synagogues of the Jews
and they had both been taught the law of Moses, James
says in Acts 15 'of a long time.' The law of Moses was read in every
synagogue every Sabbath day. But Paul had preached salvation and
justification by faith alone. In Acts 13 you can read the entire speech
Paul made in the synagogue of the Jews. So in chapter five he
says:
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
The
yoke of bondage is a reference to the Law of Moses. Paul said, back in
chapter three that Christ had redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us.
Galatians 5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing.
Galatians
5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised,
that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you
are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Now in all likelihood the majority of Jews would have
been physically circumcised eight days after they were born, as Jesus
Christ was, and as all Jews were who followed the law. In Acts chapter
16 Timothy was a half Jew, his mother being Jewish and his father being
a Greek, and Timothy was not circumcised until the time of Acts chapter
sixteen. Paul circumcised him 'because of the Jews in that
quarter.' In other words, Paul became as a Jew around the Jews
and as one under the law to those under the law. He said that he
became all things to all men so that, if, by any means he might win
some.
But the point here is that the gospel OF
the circumcision doesn't mean the same thing as saying 'the gospel TO
the circumcision.' The majority of all Jews, probably, were physically
circumcised. But the term OF the circumcision implies the gospel that
Peter preached, in other words, the JEWISH gospel of the Kingdom.
Galatians 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the
uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision
was unto Peter;
Let's look at a verse in 1 Corinthians that will help to demonstrate
this:
1 Corinthians 7:18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not
become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be
circumcised.
Now a man who was physically uncircumcised could become physically
circumcised, but how could a man who was physically circumcised become
uncircumcised? Physical circumcision involves a cutting which could not
be physically UNCUT. It seems that there were some Kingdom saints
at Corinth who had
believed the doctrine of the circumcision gospel. As a matter of fact,
in chapter one of 1 Corinthians there are some who say 'I follow
Cephas.' Evidently there were some at Corinth who had been
involved in Peter's ministry. But twice in 1 Corinthians Paul says "be
ye followers of me" and that would be a reference to following Paul's
doctrine, not necessarily his physical actions or activities.
We know
that
those Gentiles Paul wrote to in the Roman letter were Jewish
proselytes. They were in an 'olive tree,' and the olive tree represents
Israel. So they would be those who were standing by faith, but who
could be 'cut off.' In other words they had faith in some form of
doctrine and they had that standing. Every indication seems to be that
they would have been the 'strangers from Rome,' who were proselytes
mentioned in Acts 2:10. You can't be cut off from the body
of Christ. So the whole point of Paul writing the letter to the Romans
was to establish them in their faith. He did that with body of Christ
doctrine, which is what the whole Roman letter is about. It was to
establish them. So it seems that there are Kingdom saints at Corinth.
Twice in the 1
Corinthian letter Paul says 'be ye followers of me, as I also am of
Christ.'
The whole point being, that the gospel OF the circumcision is not that
it means that
Peter went to the Jews and Paul went to the Gentiles. But it is a whole
DOCTRINE, and it would be Peter's doctrine, the same doctrine Peter
preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, and the same
doctrine he preached to an UNcircumcized Gentile, Cornelius, the
Roman Centurian, in Acts chapter ten. So in the same way, the
gospel OF the uncircumcision is a DOCTRINE. It is the doctrine of total
justification in the fact that Christ died for ALL our sins, was raised
for our justification and we are complete in him. The two different
gospels are two different doctrinal systems. The verse in Galatians
does not mean what religion tries to make it mean, that Peter went to
the Jews and Paul went to the Gentiles, because we know that Paul
preached the gospel of Christ all the way through the book of Acts, to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek. There are two different gospels
in the verse, and neither of them are a FALSE gospel. They are real
gospels.
Galatians 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the
uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision
was unto Peter;
Now the gospel of the circumcision is basically the same message as the
gospel of the Kingdom. The only difference seems to be that the gospel
of the circumcision, being about the second coming of Christ, doesn't
have a date associated with it. In other words, when Peter preaches the
second coming of Christ, he doesn't say that the 'kingdom of Heaven is
at hand.' Because he doesn't know WHEN the Lord will come again. The
Lord had told Peter and the 12 in Acts chapter one that it was 'not for
them to know the times and the seasons.' So when Peter preaches he says
repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the
times of refreshing come, and Jesus Christ comes again. (Acts 3:19-21)
He doesn't say
his coming, or the Kingdom, is AT HAND. Basically, that's the
difference between the gospel of the Kingdom and the gospel of
the circumcision.
So we can see that the gospel OF the circumcision is
basically the same message as the gospel of the Kingdom which was
preached in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The same message is preached
by Peter right on up to the time of Acts chapter twelve. Then Peter's
message 'fades away,' and Peter disappears from the pages of the book
of Acts and the account is all about Paul's ministry and message.
Paul's message is the gospel OF the uncircumcision and it's about
justification by faith alone, apart from the works of the law. Peter's
message, which is the same as that of James and John, is very much
involved with the law. They are keeping the law and zealous of the law.
Notice what James told Paul:
Acts
21:20 And when they heard it,
they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how
many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all
zealous of the law:
So
Paul tells the Galatians to stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ had made them free. He tells them to not be entangled AGAIN with
the yoke of bondage. When he says 'if any man be circumcised and to
every man that is circumcised,' it doesn't mean that those Jews who
heard Paul preach, or the Gentiles too, for that matter, if they had
been proselytes and had been PHYSICALLY circumcised, that they were a
debtor to do the law. He means don't go back to the DOCTRINE of the
circumcision gospel. He says to do that is to be fallen from grace.
To
'fall from grace' means that a believer is trying to be justified by
keeping the law, and in that
condition he can't be following the leadership of the Holy Spirit
because the Holy Spirit does not lead people 'according to the law'
today. "Fallen from grace' is a reference to
putting yourself under the law, and not the fact that you have
committed some sin or other, as many in religion teach. The Holy Spirit
was not given to help you keep the
law but to lead you in the love of God. God gave you grace and it is
the GRACE that teaches you, not the law. The love of God is shed abroad
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
The love of God, peace with God and the peace of God is much better for
the believer than to try to perform the works of the law. The law
cannot justify it can only condemn. Paul says that it is "weak through
the flesh" So now to continue:
Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not
obey the truth?
Galatians 5:8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
When he says 'ye did run well,' it is as if you are in a race but it is
yourself you are competing with. You are not trying to win against
somebody else.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize' So run, that ye may obtain.
The 'one' who will obtain the 'prize' as in the reward at the Judgment
Seat of Christ, is the one who follows the leadership of the Holy
Spirit and not the works of the law. So this persuasion was not of Him
that calleth you. Now him who called you is God, he called you by His
grace, through the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and you
trusted the Lord. So the persuasion was deceptive. It was not of God:
Galatians
1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you,
and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Millions
of people in the denominational religious system are deceived
into trusting
their own physical efforts and not trusting in the fact that Christ
died for our sins, all of our sins and that the very bodily
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the living proof that our
sins are buried and gone forever and that God has forgiven us not part,
not some, not just those in the past, not just those up to yesterday or
this morning, but ALL trespasses. A little leaven leaveneth the whole
lump.
Leaven, in the bible, is evil. It is sin. Look at what Paul says about
leaven:
1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little
leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1
Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a
new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is
sacrificed for us:
1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Leaven is like yeast that is used to make bread. In order for it to
work you mix it in the dough and let it sit there. It takes time but
over a period of time it ferments. In other words you mix a little
error into the message, get it stirred up real good in an assembly or
group of believers, and pretty soon it has leavened the whole lump. You
cannot
mix law with grace and call yourself a 'grace believer,' because when
you do, you are not teaching grace any more but a confused, mixed
message. God is not the author of the
confusion in the churches today.
Galatians
5:10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will
be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his
judgment, whosoever he be.
Paul says he has confidence in them through the Lord. In other words
these people were called into the grace of Christ and through the Lord
grace teaches us. We are not taught by the law but by grace, as Paul
later writes:
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men,
Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
So
Paul had confidence
in the grace message. Grace comes from God and living and
walking in grace builds confidence. It causes you to truly trust the
Lord. So the confidence Paul has here is ON the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at what he later told the elders of the church at Ephesus:
Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of
his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an
inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
So grace instructs us, it teaches us, it will build you up and give you
confidence. Trying to perform under the law inthis age tears
down.The law cannot save
you it can only condemn you.
Galatians 5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I
yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
The preaching of the cross was an offense to the Jews and it is no
different today to religious people. How many times have you ever
heard, 'Oh, I believe that Christ died on the cross but there's more
to it than that.' In other words, walk the aisle for Jesus, repent of
your sins, pray through at the alter, join the 'church,' he that
believeth and is saved must be baptized, and on and on. The cross is
offensive to religious people.
Galatians
5:12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been
called unto liberty; only
use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another.
Now you know what happens when you talk about salvation by grace alone
through faith alone. The answer you get is 'well, if I believed like
you do I would just go out and rob a bank, commit adultery and live
like hell,' and so on. In other words if I believed that I would just
do what I want to. The answer to that is you already do what you want
to whether you admit it or not. You do what you want to do and you
rationalize it religiously, or else you repent of it and confess it,
trying to claim the truth of 1 John 1:9 which is not even about the
body of Christ. Paul refers to the same problem about the same thing in
Romans:
Romans 3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some
affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose
damnation is just.
Grace is liberty and Paul says all things are lawful to me but all
things are not expedient. Just because I am at liberty it doesn't mean
that I am going to take the liberty to just go out and rape and pillage
and rob and murder, because grace teaches us. When you understand grace
then you understand that grace is your teacher, not the old
schoolmaster of the law.
The main ingredient is love, the love of God. Paul said in 1
Corinthians that the abiding gifts were faith, hope and charity. Paul
wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy and said the END of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart and of faith unfeigned. We are under grace,
not under law. But just because we are under grace doesn't mean we have
a license to sin. Grace doesn't teach you to sin. Grace teaches you
about the love of God. Love overlooks faults. Love is longsuffering.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. I would be working ill to my
neighbor if I told him to repent and be baptized for the remission of
sins instead of telling him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. There again, repent and be baptized was Peter's
message and was Jewish and water baptism is positively Jewish.
Galatians
5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Galatians 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye
be not consumed one of another.
If you love your neighbor you will tell him the truth. Especially the
truth of the gospel. Now the 'biting and devouring' one
another' has a lot to do with what Paul says in the next few verses,
and
what we will do is just read the entire passage all the way down to the
end of the chapter and then come back and look at some individual
things in the verses. Paul is making a plain contrast here between law
and grace. The law was given to Israel about 1500 years before Christ.
Paul says it was 'added because of transgressions.' Those
transgressions had to do with the lusts of the flesh:
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not
fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Galatians
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Galatians 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Galatians 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such
like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with
the affections and lusts.
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians
5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one
another, envying one another.
So Paul has made a direct contrast between the works of the flesh and
the fruit of the Spirit. And there is quite a contrast. He has listed
about 17 works of the flesh and then he adds 'and such like.' In other
words, he says, the works of the flesh are manifest, they are plain,
here are 17 of them and there are a whole lot more, 'and such like,' he
says. But he says 'they which do such things shall not inherit the
Kingdom of God.'
Most all
of the preaching
that you hear on this subject says that what this passage means is that
a saved person won't 'habitually' do these things and that if you see a
person habitually doing these things that it is a sign that they are
not really saved. That kind of thinking has spawned a whole new office
in the body of Christ that the bible never mentions: Fruit Inspectors.
There is no such thing in your bible as a fruit inspector.
The bible says' ye shall know them by their fruits,' and John the
Baptist said, 'bring forth fruits.' But what are fruits? Religion has
it that fruits are a person's physical actions and activities. That is
SO not true. Fruits are words, not physical actions. There are no
fruits of the flesh. The bible never talks about fruits of the flesh.
There are nine FRUITS mentioned in the passage but they are fruit of
the Spirit not fruit of the flesh. Fruits are WORDS. They are things
that come out of the mouth. Look at this. John the Baptist is baptizing:
Matthew
3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to
his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come?
Matthew 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Matthew 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to
our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to
raise up children unto Abraham.
You say
things with words that come out of your mouth. Now look at what James
says in the book of James:
James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great
things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the
tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth
on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
So what John the Baptist is talking about that are fruits meet for
repentance are words that come out of your mouth. What James is talking
about that defileth the whole body are words that come out of your
mouth. Jesus Christ said:
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else
make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by
his fruit.
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak
good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
You
cannot know what a person believes by watching what they do.. The only
way you can know a person's heart is by the words that come out of his
mouth.
So fruits are words, the things that you say, not physical actions. The
things that you do are the works of the flesh. Now Paul says THEY which
do such things cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Well, what is it
about you that cannot inherit the Kingdom of God? It is your flesh:
1
Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption.
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Before you can get to where God is, your flesh has got to go. It cannot
go where God is. Flesh and blood cannot go there. And neither can the
WORKS of the flesh. Now Paul says that the works of the flesh are
MANIFEST. In other words, they are plain. They are visible. We all know
what they are. In case we were not sure about it Paul spelled out a
sample list of them.
Did you notice some of the things on that list? Adultery. Fornication.
Murder. Now the good ole fruit inspector wouldn't dare commit adultery.
He wouldn't commit murder. He wouldn't rob a bank, or rape and
pillage and plunder. But have you ever noticed how fruit
inspectors can HATE with a passion? They hate the new song leader and
they hate the new carpet and they ENVY the person who got picked for
the position
and they didn't, and they have STRIFE and they have JELEOUSY and on and
on. Every one of those things are on the list. It is not a list of
people who are not going to heaven, it is a list of the works of the
flesh and that's all of us. Look here:
1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves
with mankind,
1 Corinthians 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Now look at the verse again. What does it say? That the UNRIGHTEOUS
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. It DOES NOT SAY that if a
righteous man sin that he will not inherit the kingdom of God. Read on:
1
Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
by the Spirit of our God.
If you are saved, you are IN CHRIST and you are washed, sanctified and
JUSTIFIED and there is no condemnation:
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
If you are in Christ you are not in
the flesh. There is condemnation in the flesh. The flesh is condemned
already. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But a saved
person is not in the flesh he is in Christ. A lost person is in the
flesh. He is not in the Spirit and for him there is condemnation
because he is yet dead in his trespasses and sins. He needs a Saviour.
Romans
8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his.
Now that's exactly what Paul is talking about in Galatians chapter
five. It is a contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of
the Spirit. The whole point in the book of Galatians is don't put
yourself under the law in an attemt to get the flesh to perform. Not
that the law
is weak and not that the law is wrong. The law is right, the law is
holy, but I am carnal sold unto sin. The good that I would I do not and
the evil that I would not that I do. So it is no longer I that do it
but sin that dwelleth in me. I know that in me, that is, in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. (As in Romans 7)Then what is the answer.
I know the works of the flesh, they are manifest. I've got them. You've
got them and the fruit inspector has them too. So what is the
answer? Well the answer is not to put yourself under the law and try to
reform the flesh through the law, because the flesh is unreformable.
You can spend your life trying to reform the flesh and you will never
get it done. The answer is not to change the flesh, it is to EXCHANGE
IT.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not
fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with
the affections and lusts.
Notice that he says that they that are Christ's HAVE CRUCIFIED the
flesh. Not to 'crucify the flesh,' not 'I die daily to the flesh.' In
order to have the flesh die daily you would have to resurrect the thing
so that you could spend the day trying to crucify it all over again. He
says you HAVE CRUCIFED the flesh. How? By one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body. Know ye not that so many of us as have been
baptized into Christ have been baptized INTO HIS DEATH?
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: neverthless 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.
Now that is a judicial, spiritual condition and position. That's the
way God sees it. God sees you as crucified with Christ, buried with
Christ and risen with Christ. Everything that went on at the cross in
the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is put to your account by
faith. That's the way God reckoned it. You reckon it to be so, BY
FAITH. If we live in the Spirit, and we do, if you are saved, let us
also walk in the Spirit. Here's where to start:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man
that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man
the measure of faith.
What
Paul says here in chapter five is not at all that a believer
can lose his salvation. People who claim you
can lose your salvation also claim that you gain your salvation or
maintain your salvation by good works, and they will always,
consistently pervert the gospel of Christ by adding doctrine to the
grace message from OUTSIDE the books of Romans through Philemon and
THAT is the only place you can find the grace message, salvation by
grace alone without works of any kind through faith alone in the
finished work of Christ. Stay with the doctrine committed to the
church, the wholesome words of the RISEN and glorified Lord Jesus
Christ committed to Paul.
When
Paul refers to the law he is referring specifically to the law of
Moses.
He does not mean that a believer is outside the realm of
law. He says in Galatians 6:2 to fulfill the law of
Christ:
Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the
law of Christ.
Well, then, if you are bearing one another's burdens what are you
doing? You are loving one another. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor.
Love is the fulfilling of the law. The END of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience and faith
unfeigned. So we fulfill the law of Christ which is love. God is love
and he so loved us that when we were yet without strength, in due time,
Christ died for us. We had no strength to do good enough to get to God,
we needed a Saviour. Now the love of Christ constraneth us, and Romans
chapter 13 teaches us
to obey the law of the land as well:
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there
is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Romans 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation.
So the
doctrine that you can lose your salvation is false. The doctrine
that a believer is without law is false. And there is no such thing in
the body of Christ as a fruit inspector.
There is an entire religious system with a form of godliness but
denying the power thereof. Now we know what the power of God is, unto
salvation. It's the gospel of Christ. We know where the righteousness
of God is revealed. The Law of Moses witnessed the righteousness of God
but it is REVEALED in the gospel of Christ. Christ died for our sins
and was raised again for our justification. This passage in
Colossians
spells out the believer's position in Christ:
Colossians 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power:
Colossians 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by
the circumcision of Christ:
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen
with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him
from the dead.
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses;
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a
shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or
in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians
2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is
of Christ.
Colossians 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary
humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which
he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Colossians 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by
joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together,
increaseth with the increase of God.