Galatians 3:10-14

Order of Service

• Catechism Reading — Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 73–75 (Eighth Commandment)
• Hymn — For All the Saints (#358)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Galatians 3:10-14
• Prayer of Illumination
• Sermon
• Hymn — And Can It Be (#455)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: Is the Work of Christ Enough

Scripture: Galatians 3:10-14

I. Why Works of the Law Do Not Justify

A. The law demands perfect, complete obedience

1. Relying on the law for justification requires keeping every part of it perfectly — Deuteronomy 27:26 ("Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law")
2. There is no grading on a curve; one failure brings the full curse — the wrath of God and spiritual death

B. No fallen person can keep the whole law

1. The curse is the just wrath of God, the spiritual deadness imputed to us in Adam
2. Breaking even one commandment in thought, word, or deed places a person under condemnation

C. The witness of the Old Testament confirms this

1. Habakkuk 2:4 — "The righteous shall live by faith" — contrasts the way of law with the way of faith
2. The law as a means of justification is a dead end; it cannot be enough

II. How the Work of Christ Alone Justifies

A. Christ redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13)

1. Paul moves abruptly from the law to Christ — Christ is the centerpiece and answer
2. "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" — drawn from Deuteronomy 21:23

B. The penal substitutionary atonement of Christ

1. Penal — Christ took the penalty we deserved; the full, holy wrath of God was poured out on him
2. Atonement — by taking the curse he satisfied divine justice; he redeems us
3. Substitutionary — he became a curse for us; he, the sinless one, bore what belonged to us

C. Christ's active and passive obedience

1. Active obedience: Christ perfectly kept the whole law — "the one who does them shall live by them" (Galatians 3:12) is fulfilled in Christ alone
2. Passive obedience: the one who earned life was hanged on a tree, taking death for us
3. His righteousness is imputed to believers by faith, exchanging the curse of Adam for the righteousness of Christ — 2 Corinthians 5:21

III. What Faith Does — The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

A. Faith in Christ is the only way to justification

1. Habakkuk 2:4 read through the lens of Abraham (Genesis 15:6) — Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness
2. Paul draws out trust and belief from the Hebrew concept of faithfulness; the two are inseparable

B. Justifying faith is persevering faith

1. Abraham's faith was not a single moment but a lifetime of holding on to the promise
2. Perseverance is not what makes faith justifying — it describes the nature of faith that has already justified
3. Faith is the characteristic of the long, plodding life: clinging to Christ on good days and bad

C. Faith is also the way of sanctification

1. Galatians 3:14 — "that we might receive the promised Spirit" — the Spirit who sanctifies
2. The Spirit works increasing love for God's law, hatred of sin, and conformity to Christ
3. Works do not justify, but justifying faith, by the Spirit's help, does work — producing faithfulness

D. Faith holds the promise of glorification — "shall live"

1. Abraham had eschatological life and looked forward to life in a better country — Hebrews 11
2. The promise of eternal life is the principal reward of the life of faith
3. Ephesians 2:4-5 — even when dead in trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ
4. Justification, sanctification, and glorification are all wrapped up in faith in the whole work of Christ