"Christ Shall Profit You Nothing"    

Galatians 5:2

 

     Be certain that you understand Paul's doctrine. He has told us to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." The yoke of bondage to which he refers is the law of God set forth in the Mosaic dispensation, of which circumcision was an emblem. Christ has set us free from the law. In the language of scripture, "We are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:15). We are, in Christ, "dead to the law" (Rom. 7:4). And we must not allow anyone to bring us back under the yoke of bondage to the law. We must not seek to live under the law for justification (Gal. 2:16), or for sanctification (Gal. 3:3), or as a rule of life (Gal. 3:10). In Christ we are free from the law! We are free from its curse, its ceremonies, its covenant, and its constraints, entirely, eternally free! Any preacher who attempts to put you back under the law is not the servant of Christ.

     Let me be clear. That man who makes sabbath keeping, tithing, set times of prayer, church attendance, Bible reading, or any form of personal obedience on your part to the law of God which Christ fulfilled, or obedience to the religious laws of men, to be a condition of justification, sanctification, or glorification is a legalist and must not be heard or followed - (Please read that last sentence again and seek to digest it). "If ye be circumcised" - That is to say, if you do anything to win, maintain, or improve God's favor - "Christ shall profit you nothing."

     Do you understand Paul's doctrine? Any mixture of grace and works is damning to your soul. Christ plus anything is not salvation, but damnation. You must be saved entirely by grace, or entirely by works (Rom. 11:6). Since the best works we can produce are only filthy rags in God's sight (Isa. 64:6), we must be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Christ alone is our Savior. His precious blood is our only atonement for sin. His perfect obedience to God is our only robe of righteousness. His holy nature, imparted to us by the Spirit of grace in regeneration, is our holiness, cleansing, and sanctification. And his entrance into heaven is our only claim to glorification.

 

Don Fortner