Title: The Offense of the Cross
Text: Galatians 5: 11
Date: April 10, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Our subject tonight: The Offense of the Cross
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 gospel
of Christ and him crucified is the “gospel of peace.” It is the message of
“glad tidings of good things.” For this
reason, those who our God uses to preach the gospel, are received by God’s
children with great joy.
Romans 10:15:…As it is written, How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things!
But it
is not so to all men who claim to believe the gospel declared in this
book. Christ said,
Matthew 10: 34: Think not that I am come to send peace on
earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35: For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the
daughter in law against her mother in law. 36: And a man’s foes shall be
they of his own household.
Proposition:
Men and women will not persecute the preacher who gives them—just one
thing—that they can do for salvation. The apostle Paul was not one of those
preachers. He declared that there was
nothing sinners can do to be saved. Proof of it was that Paul was persecuted.
He said,
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.
Let’s
go back to verse 1 and work our way down to this verse and see why the gospel is
offensive to the natural man.
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.
“Stand
fast”—highly esteem, maintain, and defend—“the liberty wherewith Christ has made
us free.” By
God’s effectual grace, we have been called into the liberty of grace, of salvation,
and eternal life in Christ Jesus. Therefore,
every believer—chosen, redeemed and called to faith in Christ—is free in
Christ.
Free
From Sin
Christ has made believers free from sin. Sin still dwells in us, we are still tempted
by sin and we still sin. But Christ has made us free from the guilt of sin in
our conscience. God wrote his word in
our hearts, so we now know that God receives us in Christ and there is no more
offering for sins. The old covenant law never did this.
Hebrews 10:2: For then
would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3: But in those sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year [so it is with men’s legal
works under the gospel, they are never free from the conscience of sins, they
must do more]…14: For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified. 15: Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that
he had said before, 16: This is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them; 17: And their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more.
Also, Christ made us free from the dominating
power that sin once held over us.
Romans 6:14: For sin shall
not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15: What then? shall we sin, because we are not under
the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of
sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17: But God be thanked,
that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered you. 18: Being then made free from sin, ye
became the servants of righteousness….22: But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting
life.
Christ set us free from the wages of sin
which is death. Our flesh will die because of sin but the new man will never
die.
Romans 6: 23: For the wages
of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Christ made us free from sin’s 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. 2 For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit.
Free From Ceremonial Law
Also, Christ made us free from the ceremonial
law: from circumcision, sabbath
days, feast days, sacrifices, and all the burdensome, carnal rites and
ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation. Those things pictured Christ; now we
have Christ and we are free from the ceremony.
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: 17: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is
of Christ. 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, 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. 20: Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ
from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye
subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not;
taste not; handle not; 22 Which all are
to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23: Which
things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and [false] humility, and neglecting
of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
Those
things do not have the honor of subduing the sin of the fleshly man; just the
opposite, they puff up the pride of the fleshly man. Christ alone through the
Holy Spirit has the honor of subduing the fleshly man. So we are free from the
ceremonial law.
Free From Moral Law
And be
sure to hear me well: Christ also has made us free from the moral law. The only
reason I speak of it separately from the ceremonial law is because legalist
divide the law into two, in an attempt to use the ten commandments as yoke of
bondage.
That in no way means that believers are free
to violate God’s law. Such teaching is contrary to scripture. But the Word of
God teaches that all who are born of God to faith in Christ, are free from the
yoke, bondage, curse, and legal rule of all the law. We read repeatedly, “the
just shall live by faith.”
In fact, God the Holy Spirit uses Paul to
illustrate our freedom from all the law, using one of the ten commandments to
do so.
Romans 7: 1: Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them
that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he
liveth? 2: For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her
husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from
the law of her husband. 3: So then if, while her husband liveth,
she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her
husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man. 4: Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are
become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to
another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring
forth fruit unto God.
Illustration: Just
as a wife brings forth a child by her husband’s seed within her, so the
believer’s fruit is brought forth, not by law, not by our fleshly will and
power, but by Christ our Husband, whose incorruptible Seed—the gospel word—abides
in us forever. Christ has established the law for his people and that perfect
righteousness is ours through faith in Christ.
Romans 3: 21: But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law
and the prophets; 22: Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:… 27: Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By
what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith…[he says this is true of Jew
and Gentile]…31:
Do we then make void the law through faith? [as we be falsely accused by those
who call us antinomians] God forbid: yea, we establish the law. [through faith]
He goes on to say in Romans 4, even as
Abraham established the law through faith. And look at this, Abraham did so 430
years before the law was given at Mt. Sinai.
Galatians 3: 17: And this I
say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law,
which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should
make the promise of none effect. 18: For if the inheritance be of the law, it
is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Other
Freedom
In addition, Christ has given us freedom to
approach his throne of grace, freedom to use the gospel ordinances of baptism
and the Lord’s Table, and freedom to use all things he has given us for his
glory—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.
Galatians 5: 2: Behold, I Paul say unto you,
that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
“Circumcision”
was the thing being added by those who perverted the gospel amongst the
Galatians, but you can put anything in its place which men say is necessary for
salvation in addition to Christ. Those
false teachers in Galatia insisted they had to add this one thing to Christ. God
the Holy Spirit says through Paul, “if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing.” We must believe on Christ, trusting that he is the one thing
needful.
Colossians 2: 9: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily. 10: And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power:
Note: The words, “all fullness” and “complete” are translated
from the exact same word. As completely as Christ is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, so the believer is complete in Christ.
If we
add anything to Christ, to his obedience unto the death of the cross—be it our
will or our works, be it true gospel privileges given to believers such as baptism
or the Lord’s table, church attendance, praying or reading of scriptures. If we
turn these gospel privileges that Christ has given believers into a necessity
for salvation—Christ shall profit you nothing.
The
moment we make any other thing but Christ necessary for salvation or add any
old covenant law to the obedience and blood of Christ, Christ shall profit you
nothing. This is true whether it be to obtain God’s favor, to improve our
standing in God’s favor or to keep God’s favor—Christ shall profit you nothing.
The moment we require any other thing but Christ alone, we cease submitting to
God’s righteousness and go about to establish our own righteousness.
Galatians 5: 3: For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Any person who seeks to be made righteous or
holy, to any degree, by something he himself has done in the flesh, then he must
himself keep the whole law of God. Paul
says, “I testify again” because he had said before,
Galatians 3:10: For as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
James 2:10: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Note: I included sanctification by the fleshly works of the
law because the Galatians were being taught that by their law obedience they
could make themselves more holy. Paul said,
Galatians 3: 2: This only would I learn of you, Received
ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3: Are ye so
foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Of God
is Christ made unto us both righteousness and sanctification. All growth in the
believer’s inward man, in the state of holiness, is not by our flesh, but by
the Holy Spirit, through the hearing of faith, the same way as we were
sanctified in the first place.
Galatians 5: 4: Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Whether
using the law to justify yourselves for righteousness or holiness before God or
men—Christ is become of no effect unto you,…ye are fallen from grace. The Holy Spirit is not saying that
sinners can be saved then lost. Christ said of all his sheep:
John 10: 27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: 28: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The Holy Spirit is saying that, though a man
may publicly profess that he believes salvation is by grace alone, through
faith alone, by Christ alone, yet by adding one work of his own, he is
altogether lost. He has turned to another gospel. The Holy Spirit moved Paul to
write…
Galatians 1: 6: [that is]
another gospel: 7: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you,
and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Galatians 5: 5: For we through the Spirit
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Those
truly saved by grace alone, by Christ alone, are taught by God the Holy Spirit.
He said, “we through the Spirit…”
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.
And
being taught by God the Holy Spirit we “wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith.”
We wait with eagerness for the
fulfillment of the hope of eternal glory, for that day when we shall be
perfectly conformed to the image of Christ our Righteousness, made totally
righteous in body and spirit. And we wait for that hope “by faith.”
The believers
hope before God is God’s grace, not our graces; Christ’s obedience, not our
obedience; Christ’s blood, not our benevolence; Christ’s righteousness, not our
righteousness; the Holy Spirit’s
power and guiding, not our fleshly power and understanding.
Galatians 5: 6: For in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by
love.
In
Jesus Christ it does not matter if you are circumcised or uncircumcised. You
can apply that to any other thing that deceivers say you must do in your flesh
to make yourself righteous or holy—or more so.
Example: Peter was a circumcised Jew, born in Israel under the law;
his Gentile brethren were uncircumcised, born outside of Israel, and never were
under the law.
When
men tried to make his Gentile brethren add to Christ, the Holy Spirit moved
Peter to make this remarkable statement.
Acts 15: 10: Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a
yoke upon the neck of the disciples, [Gentiles, uncircumcised, who were never
under the law of Mt. Sinai] which neither our fathers nor we [Jews] were able
to bear? 11: But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we [Jews
who were once under the law] shall be saved, even as they. [Gentiles who never
were under the law.]
For in
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision. But here
is what matters—here is the law that every true believer is under—this is our
rule of life—but faith which worketh by love. Am
I in Christ? Am I a new creature, made new by grace? That is what matters.
Galatians 6: 15: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16: And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be
on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
True
faith works—indeed—but our works are not performed from a motive of legal
requirements—but by love.
Galatians 6: 2: Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so
fulfil the law of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5: 14: For the love of Christ constraineth
us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15:
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Galatians 5: 7: Ye did run well; who did
hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
“Running
well” is to be determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
But here is what Paul feared:
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. [Christ is the one thing needful!]
Galatians 5: 8: This persuasion cometh
not of him that calleth you.
It did not
come from God the Father, God the Son, Christ our Head, nor God the Holy Spirit, not from Paul who Christ sent to
preach the gospel to them. It came
from satan and his messengers who would pervert the gospel. (2 Corinthians 11: 13-15)
Why was
Paul so worked up over this? As long a person is sincere is this error all that
big a deal? Here is why
Galatians 5: 9: A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump.
Illustration: It only
takes a little. Rat poison is 99% good food. It is only the 1% of poison that
kills. If you had a loaf of bread with only 1% poison in it, would you eat
if? Will you eat a gospel with poison in
it?
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
spoke plainly and truthfully, though it with dogmatism, but that is what you do
when you are constrained by the love of Christ.
Acts 4: 19: But Peter and John answered and said unto them,
Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God,
judge ye. 20: For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
Yet,
Paul was confident that those whom God had truly called, God would make them to
stand fast and to put those false teachers away from them at once and be none
otherwise minded. But he had nothing
good to say of the perverted liars—but
he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
Now of
those men—of Satan’s preachers who wanted Christ’s glory by what they
constrained other men to do, Paul knew they would speak evil of him. Paul was accused of being “against the law” and of being “an evil doer”—same as all God’s true
preachers are accused of by will-workers on our day. So Paul says this…
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.
If I am
preaching the same gospel as they preach, why do they persecute me with their
hateful accusations. “They bear witness that our gospel is not the same.” All who preach the will and works of the
flesh for righteousness and sanctification have taken the offense out of the
cross—then is the offense of the cross ceased.
The gospel
is offensive because:
1) It makes
God’s word to be true and all men liars.
Illustration: I
don’t care what it says
2) It
makes all human wisdom to be utter foolishness.
3) It rejects
all human ability—men say Christ only put men in a savable condition and they
exercise their will to make it effectual. No offense! No, our first head did
not put his people in a depravable condition if they would just sin and make it
effectual—by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners; So by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous.
4) The
gospel is offensive because it declares Christ died for a particular people
chosen of God and successfully redeemed them; so that each one shall receive
the spirit of adoption and cry out Abba, Father. All shall! Al shall be kept
and none lost! Do this offend you? Why? To
say otherwise is to take the offense out.
5) It
is offensive because it declares there is no merit in any sinner, that even
man’s best righteousness is as filthy rags.
6) It
recognizes no distinctions between mankind. All have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. From the palace to the brothel all sinners are the very same
worms
7) Here
is the chief offense: men do
not object to Christ being a partial Savior. The offense of the cross is that
the gospel declares Christ alone is Savior. Men do not object to Christ being a
Savior. The offense of the cross is that the gospel insists Christ is the only
Savior!
There is no middle ground. There is no room
for compromise, lest the offense of the cross ceases.
What
about Satan and all those preachers who teach free will and works salvation?
God the Holy Spirit of God moved Paul to write, Galatians 5: 12: I would they were even cut off which trouble you.
Amen!