In Him – Part 1
Matthew 22:1-14; Galatians 3:23-29
March 18, 2018
As you know we’ve been talking recently about SOLUS CHRISTUS,
Which is the belief that salvation is IN CHRIST ALONE.
It is not the study of what Christ does IN us, but what Christ does FOR us.
And even though we haven’t really discussed this aspect yet,
I think it’s important to distinguish.
A heavy emphasis is placed today on the concept of Jesus being “IN US”.
• Common evangelical lingo is to speak of “Asking Jesus into your heart”
• And there is a heavy focus especially in charismatic circles about having Christ in you, namely in reference to His power.
Now certainly Christ “IN US” is a Biblical concept.
Paul referred to it as a mystery now revealed.
Colossians 1:26-27 “that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Jesus spoke of it to the disciples:
John 14:17 “that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
Paul spoke of it:
Romans 8:10 “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
And again:
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”
Certainly it is important then to understand the distinction.
When we speak of Christ IN us,
We are talking about the concept and process of sanctification.
It is the Spirit of Christ who dwells within us
To sanctify us and to make us holy.
That is in fact the primary function of the Holy Spirit who is in us.
He makes us more like Christ.
BUT THAT DEALS WITH SANCTIFICATION, NOT JUSTIFICATION.
SOLUS CHRISTUS is about justification.
And justification DOES NOT occur
With Christ coming in us and making us righteous.
That is sanctification and that will never be completed in this life.
JUSTIFICATION IS NOT ABOUT CHRIST GETTING INTO US.
JUSTIFICATION IS ABOUT US GETTING INTO CHRIST.
WHY?
Because the only way we can be justified in the sight of God is if we are hidden in Christ.
Ever sing “Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee”?
That’s what we’re talking about.
The evangelistic strategy that tells people to “Ask Jesus into their heart”
Is a bad strategy built on faulty doctrine.
Our goal as evangelists
• Is to convince people of their danger before God as a result of their sin
• Then show them that there is but one hiding place and that is “in Christ”
I think that’s an important distinction that we have yet to make .
We are talking about not what Christ does IN us,
But what Christ does FOR us.
And again we mention that
Jesus Christ did not come to make me righteous,
He came to be my righteousness.
This, as we have said, is the heart of SOLUS CHRISTUS
We have also discussed in this
• That Christ is the ONLY Savior available,
• And that His IMPUTATION is certainly viable since His work is similar to that of Adam’s only more powerful.
That has been the discussion thus far of SOLUS CHRISTUS
Tonight we want to move forward and talk a little bit about
This absolutely essential understanding of what it means to be “In Him”
There are several passages to look at,
And when we get finished with one, we’ll move on to the next.
But I first want to start with this passage in Matthew 22.
And our first point is this:
#1 BEING IN CHRIST IS ESSENTIAL
Matthew 22:1-14
You already recognize this as the parable of the wedding feast.
From the standpoint of Matthew’s gospel I can simply tell you that
This parable is the 3rd in the group that Matthew records
In order to emphasize the importance of submission to Christ.
At this point Jesus had entered the temple and
He has not only cleared the temple, but He is preaching with fierce zeal.
This prompted the religious leaders to ask:
Matthew 21:23 “When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”
Jesus gives three parables to answer the question.
• The first is the man who had two sons who were told to work in the
vineyard. One said he would and then didn’t, one said he wouldn’t and
then did.
• The next parable was of the vineyard in which Jesus revealed the wicked
tenants who had rented the vineyard and defied the authority of the
vineyard owner and who deserved punishment as a result.
So in regard to the authority of Christ Jesus reveals 3 parables.
1) The Disrespected Father
2) The Disrespected Land Owner
3) The Disrespected King (here)
That’s just some background.
Obviously Jesus is addressing the unsubmissive
And unacceptable attitude of Israel to refuse to submit to Him.
Also revealed is the fact that
They remain disrespectful based on a bad miscalculation.
They think they are fine the way they are,
And they don’t fear the retribution of the Father,
Or the Land Owner, or the King.
If they did fear them, then they’d be much more compliant.
But let’s revisit this parable quickly tonight,
As it makes a very important point
About the importance of being clothed in Christ.
3 Quick things about this parable.
1) THE REJECTED INVITATION (1-7)
If you are familiar with the parables of Jesus
Then you know that it is not uncommon for Him
To use stories that are shocking in their nature.
For example:
• A father who would welcome back a degenerate son after enduring so much embarrassment at his hand.
• A Samaritan who would help a man after a priest and a Levite pass him by.
This parable has the same shock factor as those.
Because we have here a story that is unfathomable to think about.
• There is a wedding banquet being thrown by the king on behalf of his son.
• Usually weeks long
• Without a doubt the party of the year
• No one deserved to come, but gracious in receiving and invitation
• No one invited would dare miss this party for fear of retribution
• Obviously God is the King, Christ is the Son, and party is heaven
• At this point the king would have already sent out wedding announcements letting the people know that the party was coming and expecting that the people would make preparations to attend.
And now it is time so he sends out the slaves to tell the people,
IT’S TIME TO COME. (read verses 1-3)
The unthinkable thing is that the people refuse.
(The crowd would have gasped in disbelief – who could be that stupid?)
We don’t have to dwell on why they were “unwilling”,
Other gospel accounts make it clear that
They were preoccupied with the world.
In that is a testimony to what we have said all along.
• It’s not that man does not have “free will” in the sense of freedom to choose.
• Obviously these people made the choice.
• It’s that their “will” is fallen and not free and because they are enslaved to their
passions and lusts they don’t come.
THAT’S THE FIRST SHOCKING THING.
The second shocking thing is that instead of slaying them immediately the king graciously gives them A SECOND CHANCE. (verses 4-6)
No king would have done this,
But there is no doubt that we are dealing with a very gracious king.
He asks again and again they refuse, only this time they actually work to provoke the king by mistreating and killing his messengers.
AT THIS POINT the rejecters get what they deserve and the king annihilates them.
(read verse 7)
It is harsh, but it certainly would have made sense to the crowd.
This is what any just and righteous King should have done.
(What they don’t realize is that these first people being invited were Israel,
And the servants were the apostles)
It is a tragedy
2) THE RECEIVED INVITATION (7-10)
Again we have a point that is a little shocking.
• Since none of the first invited come, the king seemingly lowers his standards and goes out into the slums and pulls in every bum he can find.
• He even tells his slaves to bring in the “evil” and the “good” and the purpose was to fill the wedding hall “with dinner guests”.
The point to be made is that QUANTITY here
Was more important to the king than QUALITY.
He would accept the evil if it resulted in a full hall.
This based on two realities.
1. The wedding is about the glory of the son and it is important to have a massive celebration in His honor.
2. Worthiness wasn’t an issue since the king had plans to clean up every one who attended and make them worthy.
This king was going to provide wedding clothes to all who attended
So that this wedding was beautiful and perfectly honored his son.
3) THE REVOKED INVITATION (11-14)
Here we find our main point regarding how essential it is to be “in Christ.”
So we finally have a full wedding hall, but then look what happened.
“the king came in to look over the dinner guests”
NOW WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?
Because this is for the glory of the Son, and He wants it perfect.
This is actually the judgment.
The king may have graciously allowed whosoever to enter,
But that doesn’t mean he has lowered his standard.
He will let them come, but they must still look the part.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SON!!!
And “when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,”
Earlier we saw some who were unwilling to get ready
And so they were unwilling to come.
Well, here is a man who didn’t get ready,
But who decided to come to the wedding anyway.
And he “was not dressed in wedding clothes”
He hadn’t cleaned up.
(12) “and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.”
The king isn’t asking “how” so much as “why” here.
He’s not curious how this man snuck past his guards,
He’s curious why attending this wedding in filth was acceptable.
How is it that you did this?
Who do you think you are to do this?
And you will notice that the man has no answer.
(In the judgment when God declares your guilt there are no excuses)
(13) “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
The king wasn’t messing around.
• All were welcome, but you were expected to live up to the standard.
• By coming dressed in his rags he was actually an insult to the Son.
• He came, but he didn’t honor the Son.
NOW WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Well, in Scripture garments always speak of character.
Dirty garments = wicked character
Clean garments = righteous character
Zechariah 3:1-5 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.”
There Joshua was being accused and he really was wicked,
But the Lord justified him by changing his garments.
So this man in the wedding has come, but not in righteousness.
• He’s tried to come without righteousness.
• He’s tried to come in his own wedding clothes, not those supplied by the king.
And the king will not stand for it.
In fact, the king is so upset he instantly has the man bound
And cast out of the wedding hall.
You don’t go to the wedding in your own clothes.
But this was a man thought he was good enough,
What a startling reality when he learned otherwise.
The King wanted people to come who honored the Son,
This man dishonored him.
So do all who think they are good enough.
Throughout Scripture those who think they are good enough fail to enter.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
All of their own goodness meant nothing.
That’s what Jesus meant in the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Those who think they are good enough do not please the king.
When you come in your own righteousness you dishonor the Son
And up being bound and cast outside.
That is why Scripture says:
Psalms 96:9 “Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”
Psalms 29:1-2 “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.”
And we obviously aren’t talking about outer clothes here,
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A RIGHTEOUS HEART.
And so we see that because this man did not come in the king’s perfect righteousness, his invitation was actually revoked.
And then Jesus SUMS UP this whole parable with a sobering statement.
(14) “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
And we won’t get back into this as we discussed it
When talking about God’s sovereign election.
We’ll just point out again that
• Everyone was called, but their sinful will caused them to reject the invitation.
• The ones who came where the ones who were chosen,
• Indicating God’s sovereign prerogative, not only to call them, but to change them, and to make them come.
But the point we are making here tonight is regarding
How essential it is that you stand before God “in Him”.
Isaiah makes the pointed revelation
Regarding what our best works look like to God.
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
I don’t care how impressive you think your wardrobe is,
If you try to wear that before God you won’t like the outcome.
Your only hope is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
YOUR ONLY HOPE IS TO BE HIDDEN IN HIM.
It is righteousness which the king supplies.
And rejecting that righteousness in favor of your own clearly brings the wrath of the king.
And let me make again a point we have referenced a few times recently.
TURN TO: PSALMS 1
• You notice the very clear distinction between the CHARACTER of the
righteous and the character of the wicked.
• You also notice the very clear distinction between the FATE of the righteous
and the fate of the wicked.
TURN TO: PSALMS 14
• You see it again about God’s disdain for the wicked but how God dwells with
the righteous.
TURN TO: PSALMS 15
• And there we answer that pivotal question as to who is righteous and who can
stand before God.
And as I’ve told you before I’ll tell you again now.
If you can read any of those Psalms and then look in the mirror
And convince yourself that you are the righteous referred to there
Then you have listened far too much to your momma and your grandma.
Would you really say that:
• You have never walked in the counsel of the wicked?
• You have always delighted in God’s Law day and night?
• You have never defied the authority of God?
• You have always sought after God?
• You have never failed to do good?
• You have always walked with integrity and spoken truth in your heart?
• You have never slandered or done evil or reproached your friend?
• You have always despised a reprobate?
• You have always honored those who fear God?
• You have always kept your word?
• You have never cheated anyone or taken a bribe?
You can say that about yourself?
OF COURSE NOT!
Then you are not the righteous the psalmist is referring to,
YOU ARE THE WICKED.
AND IF YOU TRY TO WEAR THOSE CLOTHES TO THE JUDGMENT, I can tell you what will happen. You’re getting kicked out!
The only one who is the righteous in those Psalms is Christ.
And the only way we get to stay is if we are hidden in Him;
If we are clothed in His righteous deeds.
Being “in Him” is absolutely essential.
That is the first point to make.
Here’s the second point.
#2 BEING IN CHRIST IS POSSIBLE
Galatians 3:23-29
Now again this is a passage that must be understood in some context,
But that we can do it quickly.
You already know that
• Galatians is written as a fiery response of Paul to the Galatians who are considering circumcision as a means of becoming more pleasing to God.
• They have been hoodwinked by the Judaizers into believing that strict obedience to the Law is the only way to please God.
• Paul is battling that throughout the letter.
In chapter 3 he is explaining the purpose of the Law,
And in order to sum up and not to have work through it,
Let me just put it to you like this.
The Law had one main purpose – to drive you to Jesus.
• The Law came to expose sin
• The Law came to expose condemnation
• The Law came to produce a sickening and helpless condition
• So that when the Savior came you would want Him badly.
In a sense, the Law made you thirsty,
So that when Christ offered water you’d take a drink.
Galatians 3:19 “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”
So that was the Law’s purpose.
From there Paul began to explain how miserable it was to be under the Law before Christ arrived.
And he used 2 analogies to which to compare it.
1) A PRISON WHICH INCARCERATES (22-23)
• All it ever did was enslave us.
• It condemned us and forced us through ritual after ritual and requirement after requirement.
• There was no freedom there, only a prison.
2) A TUTOR TO GUIDE (24-26)
• Just as we said, the Law really had the purpose of driving us to Christ.
• It showed us our need.
• It showed us His glory.
Anyone who truly loves and obeys the Law of God ends up with Jesus.
If they claim to love God’s Law but don’t end up trusting Jesus,
It only shows that they don’t have a clue what God’s Law is about.
But the point is seen.
Don’t use the Law as a means of obtaining God’s favor,
Let the Law drive you to trust in Christ.
AND THEN COMES THE VERSE I WANT YOU TO FOCUS ON.
(27) “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
This is a great verse, and one that deserves some explanation.
We have been talking about how essential it is to be in Christ.
But this verse answers the question, “HOW DOES ONE GET IN CHRIST?”
And the answer “you were baptized into Christ”
Now you can already hear them can’t you?
Ah ha! See I told you that water baptism was required for a person to be saved.
Now hold on for just a second.
Think for just a moment what this entire chapter has been about.
This whole chapter has been about obtaining the blessing of God
And Paul has said repeatedly that the promise is obtained by faith.
To spend this whole chapter down playing works and promoting faith and then all of a sudden to introduce a work like baptism as a necessary requirement for salvation would obviously blow his whole chapter apart.
We have to ask the question
“WHAT IS THIS BAPTISM PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT?”
Or which baptism is Paul referring to?
Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
John actually mentioned 3 different baptisms right there.
• Baptism in water – (which John tells us the purpose of – repentance)
• Baptism in the Holy Spirit
• Baptism in fire
The next verse explains the fire baptism:
Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Obviously in the context of the passage, fire is judgment.
So we have water baptism which equals repentance
And we have fire baptism which equals judgment
The only one left is Holy Spirit baptism.
This must be salvation.
1 Peter 3:21 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”
There Peter also says that baptism saves you
(similar to what Paul is saying here in Galatians)
But Peter also qualifies the statement.
“not the removal of dirt from the flesh” – (i.e. the water)
No, the baptism Peter is talking about is
“an appeal to God for a good conscience”
Why would someone appeal to God for a good conscience?
Because they have been under the prison of the Law remember,
And they are condemned.
And under that condemnation that appeal to God for forgiveness.
So obviously being “baptized into Christ”
Is much more than getting in the water.
Romans 6:3-7 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”
Now look at that passage for just a second.
Any mention of water at all? No
What was mentioned?
Death – burial – resurrection
To the extent that sin might be done away with in our lives.
What Paul is referring to there is FAR SUPERIOR
To anything you can accomplish by getting in the water.
• Paul is talking about complete death to self
• Paul is talking about complete denial of self
• Paul is talking about that appeal for a good conscience
And this is what it means to be “baptized into Christ”
You don’t get into Christ by getting in the water
You don’t get into Christ by walking an aisle
You don’t get into Christ by praying a prayer
You get into Christ
• When you die to self
• When you trust in His death on your account
• When you are raised by His new life (i.e. the Holy Spirit)
That is baptism of the Holy Spirit and that is how you get in Christ.
And when that happens you are “clothed” with Christ.
In other words, you are covered by Him.
His righteousness is credited to you,
And when God looks on you, He sees Him.
But this passage makes our point.
IT IS POSSIBLE FOR EVEN THE MOST SINFUL OF MEN
TO BE IN CHRIST.
This happens when they deny themselves
• That is they turn their back on their own worth
• They turn their back on their own achievements
• They turn their back on their own goodness
• The acknowledge their pathetic state
And then they run to Christ for the righteousness He provides
• This is done through faith
• It is to believe in the righteousness of Christ
• It is to trust in the atoning work of Christ
• It is to accept by faith that doctrine of imputation
That is what it means to be “baptized into Christ”
And to subsequently “have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
It is the conscious decision to take off your garments
And to decide to stand before God in Christ’s garments.
And not only does that bring justification, but Paul speaks of the OTHER BENEFITS.
(28-29) “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”
Which is to say that nothing matters but Christ.
• Come judgment there is no benefit in being Jew or Greek
• There is no benefit in being male or female
• All that matters is Christ and being clothed in Him.
And this is possible when you die to self and are raised in Him.
NEXT TIME we will begin to look at the benefits of being in Christ.
Tonight just understand the importance.
Regarding justification, it’s not about getting Christ in you,
It’s about you getting in Christ.
• He is our ark
• He is our salvation
• He is our hiding place
• He is our refuge
• He is our strong tower
• He is our cleft in the rock
• He saves us from the wrath to come
It is that picture of the Passover,
• When the death angel came about.
• He would kill all who were not safely hidden behind the blood.
Don’t just ask Jesus into your heart.
You have to forsake everything to hide in Him.
AND WHEN YOU SHARE THE GOSPEL
Don’t just encourage people to ask Jesus into their heart.
You must tell people that hiding in Him is their only hope.
And that the only way to hide in Him
Is to totally forsake all that they are and have done.
This is the gospel.
