All right, if you have your Bibles, would you turn with me once again to the second chapter of the book of Galatians? Galatians and chapter number two, we are finally at the end of chapter two. And I say finally, not in a sense that I'm relieved, but finally in a sense that we have spent an awful lot of time in the first two chapters of the book of Galatians, and I hope and pray that it's been encouraging to you and instructing to us. I hope most of all that you will be able to articulate the doctrine of justification by faith alone. That's really, truly at the heart of my desire to see that in you, that you would be able to express that, that you would be able to understand it, and then also to share it. And so this morning, as we look at Galatians 2, we're going to look at verses 20 and 21, And for sake of context, once again, we will read verses 14 through 21. So if you're willing and able, let's stand together this morning for the reading of God's word. Galatians chapter number two, beginning to read in verse 14, the word of God says, but when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to see if this before them all, if you, though a Jew live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. By works of the law, no one will be justified. But if our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners. Is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law, I died to the law, so that I might live to God. And here's our text for today. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. This is God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you once again for your grace and your mercy, your kindness, and God, we pray for your help today as we study your word, that Father, we just ask for your spirit to lead us into all truth, that God, you would clarify things that are unclear, that God, you would make simple things that are complicated, And Father, I pray that you would just help me as your servant today, cleanse me of sin, empty me of self, and fill me with your spirit. Help me, Lord, to preach your word, nothing more and certainly nothing less. And for it all, God, we'll give you thanks and praise in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you for standing. The title of the message this morning is Crucified with Christ. Crucified with Christ. And we understand that we interpret Scripture with Scripture. It is the very thing that is principle, it's primary in us understanding what the Word of God is teaching. And so the principle of interpreting Scripture with Scripture is essential for us as we study anywhere in the Bible itself. It doesn't mean that we're against the use of of external sources such as commentaries, but those are not our primary source for understanding the Word of God. There's certainly been much that's been written that is super helpful and clarifying, especially when it comes to articulating doctrinal statements. Nevertheless, that when we want to understand something, again, the first place that we need to look is the Bible itself. And so as we look at verse 20 and 21 of Galatians chapter 2, probably many of you have heard some sensationalized Preaching on specifically verse 20 of chapter 2. It's it's a verse that I know people who Will call it their life verse and and there's a lot of things that have been said about this verse That just maybe simply are not true or or at the very least they've not been helpful and so we want to understand what it is exactly that the Apostle Paul is saying here in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20 and And as we've stated before, Romans is a parallel epistle to the book of Galatians. Paul spends 11 chapters in the book of Romans in establishing biblical doctrine, Christian doctrine, New Testament, New Covenant doctrine. And in the book of Galatians here, he's really focused upon this one doctrine of justification by faith, touching on others certainly, because they're all tied together eternally. But nevertheless, he spends basically four chapters, the first four chapters, establishing the doctrine, and then we get to chapters 5 and 6, and Paul really applies it there. But nevertheless, in studying the book of Romans, in comparison, we have the fullest discourse of justification by faith alone in chapter 3 of the book of Romans. However in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 the Apostle Paul says this Romans 1 verses 16 and 17 you can turn there and look at it if you like It says for I am NOT ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek for in it that is the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed to from faith for faith or from faith to faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. So in these two verses, Paul makes some clarifying statements concerning the gospel itself, justification by faith alone, and also the way one who is justified now lives. Okay. So based upon those three principles, statements, the clarifying statements of the pots of Paul, We see again, and just, this is for foundation sake to what we're going to study today. Number one, the gospel is God's power for salvation. It is God's plan. It is God's purposes. It is God's means God's ways. The gospel originated with God. The gospel originated in God and the gospel is for. God. Okay. And secondly, the salvation of God's gospel is for everyone who believes in the gospel, whether they be Jew or Greek or Gentile. So this is a, an all encompassing of all tribe, tongue, and nation. This is the gift of the gospel to all who will believe. And then thirdly, the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. The gospel reveals to us the righteousness of God. Now we know that God is holy, right? We know that God is righteous and His holiness is infinitely and eternally bound to His righteousness. This truth is revealed to us in the fact that God has demanded a blood penalty or blood sacrifice for transgression of His righteous created order and law. The means by which God has satisfied this demand I'm sorry, the means by which God has satisfied the demands of his own law and justice was through the incarnation of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. He was born sinlessly. He lived sinlessly and he died as a sacrifice for the sins of his people. This is what it means to, to reveal to us the righteousness of God. And fourthly, the righteousness of God in the gospel is revealed from faith to, or from faith to faith, or from faith for faith, as it is written. Here's the correlation. It says the righteous shall live by faith. And that's a quote directly taken from Habakkuk chapter two in verse four, or another way, another way that we could say that Is the righteous by faith shall live. Did you catch that? The righteous shall live by faith. And it's argued, and I believe accurately, that you could interpret that in its original language, the righteous by faith shall live. We've been studying these things. The righteousness that we receive through faith in Christ is the righteousness by which God actually merits us or declares us righteous through Christ. Then again, God both created faith and he also commands man to exercise faith in him. And therein is the righteousness of God revealed. And God is the one who receives all the glory for this gospel. When we connect this to what Paul had previously written to the Galatians, so Galatians was written prior to the book of Romans, we should better understand what the text is explaining to us. Paul starts with the gospel. I am crucified with Christ. Why was Christ crucified? He was crucified to reveal the righteousness of God, that God would take the life of His one and only begotten Son. Why? Because Jesus was made the sin bearer, the atoning sacrifice, the curse of the law in order to redeem those under the curse of sin to the law. And in this, we remember that in Adam, we've all sinned. That is, we've inherited, but we've also all sinned. in practice as well. And in Christ, I am crucified with Christ. So this takes us right to verse 20 of Galatians chapter two. And I want you to note in this not phrase. I have been crucified with Christ. Paul is he is expressing something here and we want to understand it. But I titled the the the point itself. Paul's best day was Christ's worst. Paul's best day was Christ's worst. What do I mean by that? Well, first of all, let's recognize and remember the reality of the crucifixion of Christ, the death of Christ himself. Now, in 1912, there was a famous hymn written by a man by the name of George Bernard. And the song that George Bernard wrote in 1912 was The Old Rugged Cross. Um, one of the phrases he uses in the song is that the old rugged cross is the emblem of suffering and shame. Okay. Now I don't want to spoil this song for anybody, but I also want to be faithful to the scriptures. Truthfully, the cross is the emblem, not primarily of suffering and shame, but the cross is the symbol of the depravity of man. The cross is the reminder of just how wicked man truly is. Now, there was certainly suffering and shame that went with the cross, amen? That's real, for sure. But at the heart of it, it was the sinless Son of God that was crucified upon the cross. He was crucified, mind you, by the people whom He gave life and breath and being. They were created to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever, but instead, they crucified Him. The cross is a reminder that all mankind are sinners, and that Christ was truly crucified, not just by sinners, but He was crucified for sinners. Paul is making an association with this reality. He says, I am crucified with Christ. So there's a recognition of Paul's portion with Christ, his portion being crucified with Christ, and we could even say in Christ. What exactly does he mean by this? Is Paul saying that he was physically present? when Jesus was crucified? Is Paul claiming to be one of the men on either side of Jesus Christ being crucified? Is that what he means by this? Another thing that we have to think about is this phrase. In the ESV, it's translated, have been. In the King James, it's translated, I am crucified with Christ. I have been, I am. Are they the same? No. The difference is this. One's in the perfect tense and one's in the middle passive tense. I don't care which translation translates either. Well, I do care, but we got to know what was it in the original language, right? That's the question. And in the original language, this phrase have been is translated from a middle passive tense. And what does that mean? Well, it's talking about something that's been done and being done no more. Okay. I'm not trying to pick on the King James. You know that I just want to be faithful to language, to words. But the way that the King James translates this is, I am crucified with Christ. It's suggesting a perfect tense, meaning it's present continuous, it's ongoing. The problem with that is this. Christ was once for all crucified. He's not being crucified anymore. Why is it so offensive to us when we see Jesus on a crucifix? Today yet because he's no longer there. He's no longer being crucified He he was crucified and he came down off of that tomb and he went to the grave and and can I just tell you this way the cross and the tomb are just as empty one as the other and because Christ is alive forevermore. He's not being crucified anymore, but he has been crucified. And Paul says when he was crucified, I have been crucified with him. And so it's not a physical reality, right? He's making a statement though, of a spiritual reality. It's a spiritual reality. When Christ suffered and bore the shame of the cross, Paul declares that he was there with Christ. And can I just say this? all who past, present, or future look to Christ for salvation, you also, they were, and you are, and will be, you were there with Him as well. And so here we have a doctrine. We have a doctrine that we understand that's been articulated as penal substitutionary atonement. Penal substitutionary atonement. What does that mean? Penal substitutionary atonement. Well, penal means it was punitive, it was punishment. That Jesus Christ was really, truly punished Right? He was bearing the wrath of God the Father upon the cross. It was a punishing death. Now, liberal theologians today, they reject this very idea and they say that penal substitutionary atonement is cosmic child abuse. That God the Father was abusing the Son by punishing Him for things, for crimes, for sins that He did not commit. The Bible tells us that it pleased the father to crush the son. And it also tells us that the son was willing and he was readily doing the obedience of life, and also the obedience of laying down his life in death. And child abuse could be... It's preposterous. It's anti-biblical. It's wrong. And furthermore, it robs completely the meaning of Christ's death. It absolutely, positively was a punishing death. God punished the sin of the world in His Son. But it wasn't just punitive. It wasn't just punishment. It wasn't just penal, right? It was also substitutionary, substitutionary in a definite manner. OK, not in some obscure general means, but there were literally people who Jesus was dying for as their substitute. You say, well, who are they? Well, the Bible describes them in a number of different ways. We could call them the elect of God. We call them the chosen of God. We could also call them those who exercise faith in Christ. That's what that means. You say election chosen and faith are the same thing. They're the same thing. I love it when people say to me, well, uh, we're a whosoever church. Well, so are we praise the Lord. We are too, but let's keep going. Right. We're a whosoever believes whosoever believes. Yes. Anybody whosoever shall come and take of the water of life freely. Let them come. Let them come. But I wanna tell you that if Jesus suffered and bore the punishment of sin in a substitutionary manner, anybody who does not receive Christ as Lord and Savior, they are going to pay for their own sin. You understand that? Now that's a comfort to us, it should be, and it should scare the hell out of them, amen? That was a sanctified use, okay? Preach it. It should. Why? Because listen, if God was willing to punish his own son for crimes, for sins that he didn't commit, and you want to think for a second that he's not going to punish you for yours? Could it be that maybe you don't believe in the God of the Bible? Yeah, that's more like it. But this is also a comfort to us because if we were crucified with Christ, you can never experience the punishment for your sin, ever. It's already been done. Amen. Hallelujah. You should get a little snap of charismatic in you when you hear that. because man, that is good news. Substitutionary, penal substitutionary atonement. Notice Paul is making a confession. He says, I have been, he makes it personal. He makes it, he's saying that God's grace was efficacious. It did something. And Paul's best day was Christ's worst day because Christ literally died for his sins because through faith in Christ, Paul's sins have already been punished. Which leads us to the second phrase there in this verse 20. Paul's new life, Paul's life now belongs to Christ. Notice he says, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Paul is saying that he's dead, right? He's crucified, but Christ is alive in Paul. In other words, Christ's resurrection was Paul's redemption. Christ's resurrection was Paul's redemption, and Paul says, I no longer live. I'm dead. He's explained this to us now in two different ways. He said back in verse 19, he was declared, he declares that through the law, I died to the law. That's death one. Then immediately following. And what we just looked at in verse 20, he says, I have been crucified with Christ. It's, it's the same reality under a different category, but in both instances, It is pointing to a death, the death of the apostle Paul. But this is no ordinary death. This is a death that leads to life. This is being dead to the law, being crucified with Christ, but it produces new life. It's a life that flows out of the law's death and the crucifixion's death. And now Paul says, Christ lives in me. It's no longer I who are, who is living. I'm dead. Paul's dead. But Christ is now living inside of me. What is this? Well, here we come to another doctrine. It's the doctrine of regeneration, the doctrine of the new birth. This is the doctrine of being born again. It's the, it's the doctrine of being born from above. I don't care how you want to say it. It's all the same thing. And it literally means that that Paul's life now belongs to Christ. The old Paul is dead. The new Paul is. is born, he's reborn, and the new Paul, although he looks the same on the outside, he's very much a new man on the inside, and he has a new direction, he has new affections, he has new passions, and he has new desires. Why? Because of the next phrase. Notice what he says next. He says, and the life I now live, In the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. We'll just pause there. So Paul's new life is coming to fruition here. He's unfolding the reality of who he is, what has happened to him, and who he's now become. He says, now this new life, the life I'm now living in the flesh, it's not talking of flesh in a carnal or sinful way, but it's talking about his physical life. The life that I'm now living In this physical body, in this flesh, he says, I live by faith. Now, probably all of us here, we use this phrase, right? We live by faith. We walk not by sight, we live by faith. But what does it mean? What does it really mean to live by faith? What does it actually look like? for a person, a man, woman, boy or girl to live by faith. Well, the key to understanding how to live by faith is through the interpretation or the definition of the word faith itself, right? So the word faith in the Greek language here is paistes, which is belief in the truth. Now, most people have some degree of faith. Everybody has a degree of faith. However, the object of their faith is what makes the difference as to whether or not their faith is actually purposeful, meaningful, or just genuine. If faith is belief in the truth, you will have atheists say things like this. Well, I don't have faith. I have confidence, right? I have confidence. Confidence that there's no God. That's what an atheist will tell you. But you know what's interesting is if you look at the entomology, that is the construction, the root of the word confidence, you know what you find? Confidence is in faith. That's what they're saying. So their faith is a faith that is not built on reality. It's not built on truth. And the truth is that Jesus Christ, this is the truth that Paul is living his life in, is in the Son of God. Jesus came, as the Apostle John writes in his gospel in chapter 1, that Jesus came full of grace, truth. He is, he is truth personified. Jesus is living, breathing truth. So when Paul says that his new life with Christ living in Christ is lived on the basis of faith, he's saying essentially that he no longer is living by lies. He now lives by the truth. You realize that that is what it means to live in faith in Christ is living with the truth, the truth about our sinfulness, the truth about the humanity and divinity of Christ, the truth about the judgment of God, the truth concerning all things concerning what God has declared to us. That is the truth, the faith that now Paul lives by. He says this in chapter one of verse and verse four of Galatians. We've already studied this. of Jesus, he says he gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and father, that to deliver us from the lies of the present evil age. He's, he has saved us from the lies that we were living. Now think about the lies that the apostle Paul was living. a Pharisee of Pharisees circumcised the eighth day right a Jew of Jews This was if somebody needed a list of credentials the Apostle Paul had the best but you realize that in that in his list of credentials in his list of Accomplishments and activity Paul says it was all a lie at the heart of hearts. I was a wretched miserable sinner, right? He said he was the he was the chief of of sinners. And he stopped living by the lie that he was somehow achieving a righteousness by works of the law. And he started to believe the truth that Jesus died for his sins because he could never accomplish the righteousness that the law demands. And he started living by faith. in Jesus Christ, the truth, the son of God, in this present evil age that Christ has has given himself for to save us from is it's delivering us from the lies of this present evil age. Why do they lie when you turn your television on? Because that's what they do. That's the present evil age that we're living in. And we don't want to live by lies. We want to live by the truth. Jesus is the truth the same old tactics the same old Temptations that that Satan has used back in the garden. They're still alive and well today He tell he tempts us through the lust of the eye the lust of the flesh and the pride of life the tactics have not changed but praise God when we reject the lies and believe and trust in the truth the Son of God is He saves, God saves us from those lies. But notice, notice also that Paul's new life is driven by something. It's driven by something particular. And I want to make a big deal about this because there's a, I had somebody tell me one time, why don't preachers talk about the love of God? They talk about all this other stuff and they don't talk about the love of God nearly enough. Well, there's there's probably preachers that that's all they preach about and and we are we tend to be ditch jumpers Right where we go from one extreme to the other so I want to emphasize here the the love of God This is the motivation. What is it? That's going to to keep you Committed to walking and living by faith in the Son of God while Paul says I live my and now the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself For me Paul the the fuel for his life to to live in the flesh by faith in Christ Was that Jesus Christ loved Paul? How do you know Paul that Jesus Christ loves you? That's a good question, right? It's a good question to say how do I know that Jesus Christ loves me? Well Paul answers that question. He says he gave himself up for me. Notice how personal he is with that. I know that Jesus loves me because he gave himself for me. Greater love knows no man than one would lay down his life for another, right? What is the greatest demonstration of love? What is the greatest example of love? Right now in our class, we're studying the passage of Ephesians chapter five, verses 22 through 33. And if you know anything about that, It's the relationship between husbands and wives, right? Chapter five, verse 22 through 24. We have instructions to wives to be submissive to their husbands as under the Lord. And then in verse 25 says, husbands beat your wives. No, it does not say that. Husbands lead your wives. No, it does not say that either. It says, husbands love your wives. How do you love your wife? He says, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, so that he might sanctify her, having washed her with the word of God, the regenerating work of the word of God, that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, right? What is love? Love is living like Christ, giving yourself for the good of another, regardless of if they were worth it or not, right? That's the, that's the reality. That's the profundity of God's love that, that Paul can say, he loves me. And I know this because this gave itself for me. And it's not because Paul has, again, a whole list of things that made him lovable. But the reality was, it was in spite of the fact that he wasn't lovable. Hey, can I just burst some bubbles here today? God doesn't love you because you're all that great. He loves you in spite of the lack of greatness. Amen. But that's a comfort, right? Amen. That's a motivating factor in our lives. How do we live our life for God? How do we walk by faith? It's because he loves us. And we know this because he has given himself for us. Praise God. Praise God. But notice how Paul ends this chapter. Verse 21. He says, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Now you would think at this point in time, Paul has emphasized this enough, right? He has stated it three times. three different ways, three different orders saying the same thing back in verse 16. And now he gets to the end and just like, he has to add it one more time. Listen, if this is what he sets up a contrast, right? And the contrast he lays out here is no doubt in response to one group of people. those wretched old Judaizers. All they wanted to do was somehow some way get in and undermine the gospel itself. Justification by faith. That's too easy. You're nullifying the grace of God. Now think about that. Think about this for a moment. Does faith or righteousness nullify grace or make it void? Does faith or righteousness do away with grace. No, it absolutely doesn't. As a matter of fact, justification by faith alone only makes sense in light of grace. It is by grace through faith that you are saved. And both of these things are the gift of God, right? That's, that's what we, uh, we quoted off in Ephesians two, eight, nine, eight through 10. Let's go there. For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. That's the reality. We cannot be saved apart from the gift of God's grace. We cannot be saved apart from faith, and the faith itself, and the grace that merits that faith, they both come from God. They originate with God, and they go back to God. We cannot create faith in ourselves. Here's a newsflash folks. That's that person that you love and care so deeply about. You cannot make them believe only God can. And can I just tell you, he would do a far better job at it than you anyway. Amen. He can open the eyes of their hearts and breathe new life into them. And then suddenly they see that it is God's grace. So listen, here's, here's a thought for you. a gift of God given to you on the merits and actions of someone else. That's what justification is. We are justified by grace through faith. Now I'm going to throw you a curveball. You ready? But salvation is on the basis of works. We say that again. We are justified by grace Through faith, however, however, salvation is absolutely positively on the basis of works. The question is whose works, right? What's point number four? What's the title over point number four? Paul's works or Christ's? That's the question. Do you want to stand before God today based upon your works and obedience to the law of God? I don't think any of us would have the boldness to raise our hands. And if we do, we're either mentally incapable of comprehending the question or we are completely delusional to reality, right? Paul's works or Christ? That's the question. Whose works are we talking about? Salvation is based on the works of Christ. We need righteousness to stand before God. We cannot stand in the presence of Almighty God without righteousness. And the Judaizers understood this, and so did Paul. The difference was, though, the contrast that Paul is emphasizing here. If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. In other words, it was absolutely positively pointless that Jesus would come, and that He would live, and that He would die. The conclusion to the Judaizer's doctrine is simply this. If you could actually accomplish the righteousness that God demands through works of the law, then why in the world would have Jesus Christ needed to come and die? The gospel is completely robbed of the very power and the purpose for which it was established. It just does not make sense. But make no mistake about it, sinners must have their sins forgiven, and they also must have a righteousness to be satisfactory in the judgment hall of Almighty God. And by the gift of God's grace, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes both on our behalf, and you receive Listen, you receive the full benefit of His life, death, and resurrection through faith in Him. Praise the Lord. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful reality. Now, we've had a little bit of application as we've gone through here, but I saved the main emphasis of application for what we've just looked at in its entirety for last. This is, Paul is talking about our union with Christ, what it means to really truly be a Christian, and what it truly means to be united by faith to Christ. There's four things specifically from this text, and we're not going to go into great detail, we've already done that. Number one. Am and listen, let me just back up if you have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior of your life You've come to him as the songwriter put it nothing in my hands. I bring simply to thy cross I cling, right? Coming empty handed to God and embracing fully righteousness by Christ or through Christ by faith in Christ. If that's the case for you, this is what the truths that are concerning all who are in Christ. One, I am one with Christ in his crucifixion and his death. When Christ died, I died. When Christ was crucified, I was crucified with Christ. The penalty of my sin in Christ has been paid for past, present, and future eternally. Hallelujah. Amen. Number one, number two, I am one with Christ in His life. That is to say, the sinless perfections of Christ's life in obedience to the law of God are fully mine through faith in Christ. Do you understand this? Your life is one with Christ's life. When Christ obeyed, In Christ, you have obeyed. God recognizes your obedience, your salvation, your justification and your righteousness based upon the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, yes, indeed. We are called to walk in truth and and in love and obedience to the word and the will of God. But listen, that's not what your justification is based upon. Your justification is not based upon your sanctification. Practically speaking in other words when you mess up. God doesn't go back and say take his his cosmic pencil and Erase your name out. Oh that they messed up again. Oh, I guess now they don't pretty good today It's a lot of people think about their relationship with God like that What a terrible, what a dreadful thought, right? That every single time you mess up, that God is scribbling or erasing your name from his book. If you are in Christ, you are one with his life. The sinless perfections of Christ's life in obedience to the law of God are fully yours through faith in Christ. Thirdly, I am one with Christ because of His sacrificial life and death as a demonstration of His love for me. I am one with Christ because of His sacrificial life and death and His demonstration of love for me. Four, I am one with Christ because of the grace of God. I have done absolutely nothing to earn this or to deserve this union with Christ. I am one with Christ because of grace. It's all of grace. Now, I want you to think about this. We're almost done. So hang with me six times, six times in verses 20 and 21. The apostle Paul uses the word I. Three times in the same verses, Paul uses the word me. That's a combined nine times the apostle Paul speaks in the first person in two verses. There's no other text in the Bible that is so meticulously personal. The emphasis is this. Paul is emphasizing the embracing of this truth for himself. Praise God that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. But can I tell you, the world is not in union with Christ. Are you? Are you in union with Christ? Can you insert your name in the way that the Apostle Paul does? Let me ask you these questions. Have you believed in your heart that Christ has loved you and gave himself for you? Have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father? Have you associated the crucifixion of Christ with your sin? Have you renounced your works as insufficient to save you and instead look to Christ for righteousness through faith? And finally, have you died unto the law so that you can live unto God? Paul says he did. And you know, the truth is right here, right now, never to be gathered in the same way ever again. I can't answer that question for anybody but me. I can't answer that question for anyone but me. Are you in union with Christ? Because can I just again state it this way? If you're not, if you're not in Christ, if you have not died to the law, if you've not died to works accomplished by obedience to the law, which is kind of an oxymoron or whatever, it doesn't happen. You need to have your sins forgiven. And you need to have the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ. And here's the good news. All who come to Him by faith, He will save you. He will wash you and cleanse you white as snow. Can I tell you, He'll give you a new heart, a new desire, a new life, a new name, no longer a child of perdition, but a son, a daughter, a child of God. In your inheritance, and your eternity is sure and secure in Christ Jesus. Amen. Is that you? Do you need to trust in Him today? Trust in Christ today and live, because if you will not reject Christ, you're already dead and you're gonna continue to die forever, forever. Believe in the gospel. and be saved, draw near to Christ. Praise the Lord, the word says, and he will draw near to you. Amen, let's pray. Father, thank you so much. Thank you so much, Lord, for what our eyes have seen, our ears have heard. God, what your word says. We're so thankful and grateful, Lord, for this gift of salvation. Lord, by it, we have our life and breath and being. We've been given new life. We were dead in our sins, but now by the grace of God, you have breathed into us your spirit and have awakened us to reality so that we would no longer live by lies, that we would walk in truth, that God, that truth is that you loved us so much that you gave your son for us. So Lord, I pray for every single person that's here today, that God, you would help them to embrace this truth, that you would bring them to that place of faith. God, that you would save them. And Lord, you would seal them with the spirit of your kind presence upon our lives. Father, we love you. We praise you. We thank you. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.