This four part study of the book of Ruth was preached at Trinity Bible Church in Richardson Texas in 2012.

The book of Ruth is a timeless drama of God's faithfulness in a time of loss and how He uses His people to restore one another. Naomi and her family fled to the country of Moab to escape a famine in their hometown of Bethlehem, but the land that was to be a place of refuge became a graveyard. Death robbed Naomi of her family. Broken and ruined, she returned home but did not go back alone. Her ever faithful daughter-in-law, Ruth, returned with her to face an uncertain future. But the God of Israel had not abandoned them. He brought one of their kinsman, the noble Boaz, into their lives and began unfolding a grand plan of restoration. God demonstrated His loyal love, and in turn the three of them demonstrated loyal love to one another. Their simple faithfulness led to events that changed the world.

In the final act, Ruth is restored as a wife and Naomi becomes a mother again. Though they have still lost their loved ones, they find comfort and consolation in the new people the Lord gives them. But though they don't know it, their story doesn't end here. Their demonstration of faithfulness impacts generations. The faithfulness of two ordinary women played a key role in God's extraordinary plan.

The subject of the cross is central to the structure of all four Gospels. Everything is arranged to lead up to this climax. They are Gospels, good news of what God has done in Christ to bring about our salvation. The way that the Gospels are put together shows that the means of our salvation is the cross.

The cross is also central to the apostolic commission to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk. 16:15). Scripture assures us that “¹³ everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But that raises the question, “¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:13-15). Preaching the gospel is the means of making known God’s provision by which people can be saved. The gospel does not ask us to save ourselves: it does not tell us to do something that will save us. Rather, it says that it is done. The cross event is what saves us; that is why Paul glories in it and why he preached it.

The subject of our passage is “The work and will of God in salvation,” and the teaching in summary is that the plan and the praise for our salvation belongs to God alone. In the opening salutation to the epistle to the Galatians, Paul makes a very carefully balanced theological statement about the cross and about the whole work of salvation. In one short sentence, he deals with…

I. The Source of our Salvation.

II. The Scope of our Salvation.

III. The Splendor of our Salvation.

I. The Source Of Our Salvation (1:3)

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3). What we notice in this short statement is that…

1. Our salvation is rooted in grace and results in peace (1:3a). Grace is God’s free and sovereign favor granted to undeserving sinners who believe. For Paul, God’s grace lies at the foundation of the gospel of our salvation. The call of God is a call of grace. Grace is the reason for the good news. The gospel of God is the gospel of grace. Grace is synonymous with Jesus Christ – there is no grace apart from Him, “for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). Indeed, “according to the purpose of his will” our redemption (our election, our holiness of life, our adoptions as God’s sons and daughters through Jesus Christ) ought to cause us to declare “the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:5-6).

For sinners who believe, the wonderful truth is that our sin can never exceed God’s grace, for “²⁰ where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:20-21). Now, by grace, we no longer live under the control and tyranny of sin and the law but under the freedom of the redemption that we have in Christ (Rom. 6:13-14), because it was “for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). Grace, then, is God’s free and sovereign favor granted to undeserving sinners who believe, and…

Peace is the result which grace has achieved – namely, reconciliation with God. Peace is that spiritual well-being that comes from a right relationship with God. It is the result of the gospel at work in the human heart. Not only did grace come to us by Jesus Christ but also, having been justified by faith, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). For Christians, peace involves not only the absence of hostility between people but also the absence of hostility between us and God, having been brought into a right relationship with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s precisely why Christians, who were previously “enemies” of God but who have now been “reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:10), can live in peace with each other and with God.

Grace and peace, then, express comprehensively the essence of the gospel. Our salvation is rooted in grace and results in peace. Grace is the source of salvation and relates to our standing before God. Peace is the result of our salvation and relates to our state. The present result of Christ’s death on the cross, then, is grace and peace.

2. Grace and peace emanate from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ (1:3b). Grace and peace never come to man through man - only “from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3b). Grace and peace come from “God the Father.” They find their origin, their source in him because God is a God of grace and those who receive his grace also enjoy “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7).

Grace and peace also come from “our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the most comprehensive of all the names given to our Saviour because it embraces his past, present, and future. He is Lord from all eternity; he became Jesus of Nazareth at his incarnation; and he is the Christ, the Messiah, the coming One, before whom every knee one day will bow.

He is “our Lord” because of his deity, and his deity gave him his authority in what he did and said. Those who addressed him as Lord recognized that in him was a power that was not otherwise available to them. Hence, those who came for healing or the exorcism of demons called him Lord. His disciples related to him as Lord and it was in his name that they acted. As Lord, he is the exalted One. He is the all-powerful One, whose power and authority have been manifested to us by God’s resurrection of him from the dead to God’s right hand, so that, Paul says, “¹⁸you may know…¹⁹ what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (Eph. 1:19-21).

He is “Jesus” because He is the Saviour, the One who “will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21) and of whom even the Samaritans testified, “this is indeed the Savior of the world” (Jn. 4:42).

He is the “Christ” because He is the Messiah, the anointed One, the Redeemer, the promised One, who will deliver His people from their enemies and establish his kingdom on earth. It’s his identity as the Christ about which the gospel writers testified. They leave us in no doubt about this truth – that’s why they wrote their Gospels.

Salvation, then, is a co-operative effort between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace come from “God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Christ is so closely linked with the Father that the grace and peace of Christ are indistinguishable from the grace and peace of God. At the cross the grace of God is manifested in all its fullness, and by the cross the Lord Jesus Christ brought peace to “you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Eph. 2:17), having “broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile believers. Thus, Paul can say, “he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). Through the person of Christ all distinctions are broken down, whether racial, social, or religious, so that we can live together in the new community of faith in peace. By him, therefore, an otherwise hostile relationship is made peaceful. This is the grace and peace of God.

So then, the source of our salvation is God’s grace which results in peace. Now Paul turns to…

II. The Scope Of Our Salvation (1:4)

Within the scope of salvation, Paul addresses (1) the price, (2) the provision, (3) the purpose, and (4) the plan of salvation.

1. The price of salvation is Christ’s self-sacrifice (1:4a). He “gave himself.” He delivered himself up for a specific purpose. This concept of Christ’s mission is fundamental to Paul’s message. Christ’s death was self-sacrificial - “he gave himself.” It is the death of Christ as a voluntary, sacrificial act that is in view. He “gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6). This was the nature of his self-sacrifice - a ransom. This is the term that is sed to describe the payment of the price for the release of a slave.

Among the Aztecs of ancient Mexico more than 20,000 human beings were slaughtered every year on their altars to their gods, to appease them and to purge themselves of guilt. But such sacrifices would never appease the one true God, just as all the blood of bulls and goats offered on Jewish altars could never take away sin or make the worshippers perfect (Heb. 10:1-4). Only the willing sacrifice of God’s Son was sufficient (a) to appease God’s wrath; (b) to pay the penalty for our sins; and thus (c) to make it possible for “God to be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

The first element in the scope of our salvation, then, is the price – Christ’s sacrifice of himself. The second element in the scope of our salvation is the provision...

2. The provision of salvation is for us (1:4b), specifically “for our sins.” Sin and death are integrally related throughout Scripture as cause and effect. Usually the one who sins and the one who dies for their sins is the same person. But here, the sin is ours and the death is Christ’s. He died “for our sins,” bearing the penalty in our place.

It is a substitutionary atonement “on behalf of” (υπερ) our sins. This is the most fundamental feature of the early gospel, that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). The apostle Peter puts it this way: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24). To take the place of another person is to be a substitute. That’s the ultimate test of suffering – to suffer in someone’s else’s place. And that’s the nature of Christ’s suffering. Notice that his substitutionary suffering was personal – “he himself.” It was vicarious – “our sins.” It was physical – “in his own body.” And it was shameful – “on the tree.”

Christ’s work is inseparably connected with sin: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). And again, “For our sake he (God the Father) made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Thus, to say that Christ died for our sins is to confess our infinite indebtedness to Him for what He has done for us.

The third element in the scope of our salvation is the purpose…

3. The purpose of salvation is our deliverance (1:4c). The purpose and object of Christ’s self-sacrifice was to “deliver us.” To deliver has the sense of rescuing us from danger. Our salvation was first and foremost a rescue operation - to rescue us from the power of another; to save us from this doomed world and from eternal death. John Stott puts it this way: “Salvation is a rescue operation undertaken for people whose plight is so desperate that they cannot save themselves.” That’s why we needed a Savior who died the death we deserved as our substitute.

Specifically, Christ’s death was to deliver us “from the present evil age.” There is a distinction between the ages - the past, the present and future. The past age was the age of the law and its curse. The present age is the age in which we now live and it is evil. It is evil because (a) it is in rebellion against God – the people of this age have transgressed God’s righteous standards; (b) it is under the temporary, usurped power of the evil one; and (c) it is under the influence of corrupt spiritual powers. The future age is “the age to come” (Matt. 12:32), when Christ will have his rightful place and reign in power and glory; when all his enemies will be consigned to their eternal destiny and his redeemed people will be ultimately delivered from this present age.

Christ died to rescue us from the old age, the age of the law and its curse, and to secure our transfer to the new age, the age of salvation and grace, so that even now we might live the life of the age to come. The purpose of Christ’s death was to transfer Christians from one age to the other - from the sphere of Satan’s power to God’s - so that, while we still live physically in the present age, yet we already enjoy the life of the age to come.

This deliverance was, for Paul, the victory of the cross. The picture is of Christ as a victor who has conducted a successful rescue operation. It isn’t a removal from this present age but deliverance from it by triumphing over it: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them by it (the cross)” (Col. 2:15). Believers are rescued from this evil age through Christ’s triumphant, redemptive work. As a result, though we are in this present evil age, we do not belong to it (Jn. 17:11, 14-18; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Jn. 5:5).

The fourth element in the scope of our salvation is the plan…

4. The plan of salvation is God’s will (1:4d) – “according to the will of our God and Father.”

On the one hand the self-sacrifice of Christ was voluntary. He “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness” (Tit. 2:14). The Son of God “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Christ loved the church and “gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5: 25). It was a freewill sacrifice.

On the other hand, the origin of Christ’s death was rooted in the Father’s plan. God the Father had purposed and willed the death of his Son as foretold in the O.T. Christ’s death was eternally planned, predetermined. It was “according to the will of our God and Father.”

There is no tension between the Father’s plan and the Son’s willing sacrifice because Jesus embraced the Father’s purpose of his own accord. He set his will to do his Father’s will. He came to fulfill the Father’s will. Jesus said: ‘I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (Jn. 6:38). “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (Jn. 4:34). In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fully submitted to the Father’s will, saying: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42). It was not the Father’s will to remove the “cup” of wrath from the Lord Jesus, because it was his will that his Son should die so that we could live. The work of salvation is rooted in the heart and the sovereign will of God. God’s heart was bursting with love for the world, so much so that “he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).

It was God’s eternal plan to provide the means of redemption and his Son was the willing sacrifice. This excludes the notion that what happened to Christ was in any way accidental. It was all part of a plan to overthrow evil and to deliver human beings from it. And the plan was based fully on the finished work of God’s Son, Jesus, at the cross. Nothing else needs to be added or needs to be done. To bring human achievement into that work would be to bring corruption, weakness, and pollution to the gospel. Any such addition is heresy or legalism.

Indeed, the will of God is behind every facet of the Christian gospel. Salvation is outside the scope of the will of man and buried deep in the sovereign decree of God. It was never the will of God that human beings should be in bondage. Hence, our deliverance through the work of Christ was “according to the will of God.”

That, then, is the scope of our salvation – the price, the provision, the purpose, and the plan of God. Now, in response to God for the source and scope of our salvation, Paul concludes with…

III. The Splendor Of Our Salvation (1:5)

This marvelous, succinct statement as to the source and scope of our salvation ends with this powerfully spontaneous doxology: “To whom be the glory for ever and ever (for the ages of ages). Amen.” (Gal. 1:5).

1. The glory of our salvation belongs to God alone (1:5a). Grace and glory go together. Grace comes from God and glory is due to God. This is the whole of Christian theology.

“To whom be the glory.” Such a blessing was very normal for a Jew after mentioning the divine name. Just as the name of Yahweh with its association of salvation from Egyptian bondage stirred a Jew to praise, so now the name of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ stirs Paul to a similar response. This glory (δοξα) is not empty, human praise but the unutterable splendor of the divine glory. It is “the” glory – the glory that belongs particularly to God and to God alone.

Not only does the glory of our salvation belong to God alone, but also…

2. The glory of our salvation belongs to God for ever and ever (1:5b). The eternal result of Christ’s death is that God will be glorified for ever. This is an undefinable duration of time, an appropriate idiom in an ascription of praise to God. The glory of God has an enduring quality in contrast to the fading splendor of man’s greatest glory.

Final Remarks

The subject of the passage we have just studied is “The work and will of God in salvation,” and its overall teaching is that the plan and the praise for our salvation belongs to God alone. From this short passage we have learned that…

1. Christ’s willing sacrifice of himself is the heart of the gospel. It is the central part of the plan of redemption. Christ not only revealed God to us and God’s plan to redeem us, but he carried out the plan in the sacrifice of himself. In this way, we not only know God, but we are reconciled to him.

2. The will and the work of the Father and the Son are one (Jn. 5:30; 6:38; 10:30). Grace and peace come from both. Together they planned, provided, announced and grant salvation too all who come to them by faith.

As the Westminster confession states: “The chief end of man is to glorify God.” God is worthy of glory forevermore. May we, along with the apostle Paul say: “Amen” (γενοιτο). This is a truly fitting conclusion to such a statement about our salvation: “So let it be; let it come to pass; may all the glory be to God; may God’s name be praised forever.” In the words of the Psalmist: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name for ever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen, and Amen!” (Ps. 72:18-19).

Paul’s mission was to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Rom. 15:16), the gospel of the sovereign grace of God, the gospel that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ’s atoning work alone. The Galatian believers along with many others had accepted this gospel but now they were in danger of drifting away from it. They were being duped into believing a false gospel that required keeping the law, which has no power at all to save.

Satan never stops trying to distort God's way of salvation. He does this by substituting a false “salvation” through human works. Often these false gospels have an element of truth in them. That’s what makes them so insidious. Sometimes they look so genuine that its hard to separate them from the real thing. In the case of the Galatian deceivers they didn’t deny that Jesus was the Christ, nor did they deny that faith binds us to Christ. It wasn’t anything that they overtly denied that was the problem. The problem was that they added to the work of Christ. They said that, in order to be saved, you needed to keep the requirements of the law as well as trust Christ.

It is these half-truths that cause so much confusion in Christianity today. That’s why we must know the fundamental doctrines of the Bible to be able to differentiate between truth and error. What current teachings do you think have the same flavor - those who teach that you need to be baptized in order to be saved, or those who teach that only the church can impart saving grace?

It is the emphasis on outward rites that detracts from the simple gospel, so that the sole basis of salvation through grace alone by faith alone is clouded. The centre is shifted from personal union with a personal Saviour by personal faith to participation in external ordinances in order to be saved.

This is the third article in this series, “The Centrality of the Cross in Galatians.” Previously we have studied Galatians 1:3-5, “The Cross and Salvation,” and Galatians 2:20, “The Cross and the Exchanged life.” In this article we are studying Galatians 3:1, “The Cross and Preaching.” The subject of this text is “The public declaration of the one true gospel” and the central theological principle we learn from it is that Christ’s crucifixion is the paramount theme in preaching.

Up to this point in this letter, the apostle Paul has been defending the gospel from the point of view of his own experience and calling. Gradually he has been working the argument around to the topic of the gospel itself. Now he is set for a defense of the gospel as it had been presented to them. He is amazed that the Galatians had so quickly defected from the gospel (1:6-7). They had turned back from grace to law, from faith to works, from Calvary to ceremony, from freedom to bondage. He is dumbfounded that after their conversion experience under his preaching they could be so easily persuaded otherwise. He could hardly believe that they were actually heeding this false doctrine.

All of this causes Paul to cry out: “O foolish Galatians!” (3:1a). They were “foolish,” not stupid, inasmuch as they had the intellectual ability but weren’t using it. They were being irrational. They failed to use their spiritual intelligence when faced with unscriptural teaching. This is the same word Jesus used with the two on the road to Emmaus: “²⁵ O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk. 24:25-26). Those disciples’ problem wasn’t mental but spiritual.

Similarly, the Galatians had a spiritual problem. They were adopting this doctrine of salvation by works (2:16). They were foolishly denying the necessity of grace, bringing into doubt the necessity of the death of Christ, forsaking the truth of salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ alone, following impulses rather than truth. Such a doctrine is irrational and foolish, yet that was what the Galatians were leaning towards. They were being intellectually inconsistent and self-contradictory as Paul will point out to them later in this chapter.

There are many false teachers who want to deceive us. They preach a message that appeals to our nature and our emotions, such as being able to please God based on a certain behavior, such as appealing to our ego and self-glorification. But feelings are unpredictable – they don’t form a solid foundation for belief. Faith and obedience are established through the mind, through the pursuit of truth as revealed in God’s Word and our conformity to it, the result of which is joy unspeakable. True happiness is derived from knowing and obeying God’s truth not from performing certain rituals.

How could such a reversal by them to believe such a false doctrine be explained? Paul asks the question: “Who has bewitched you?” (3:1b). This is Paul’s perhaps facetious attempt to explain what was happening to them. This is the best explanation he can come up with – that they must have been “bewitched” by someone. It’s like they had been brought under someone else’s spellbinding, charismatic charm. He is saying, “Who has brought you under their spell? This is so outrageous it smacks of utter Satanic deception. Who tickled your fancy through a false doctrine that has beguiled you into believing that you can gain merit with God through your own works?” After hearing and responding positively to his clear, accurate, and convicting presentation of the gospel, someone must have now pulled the wool over their eyes, causing them to turn away from the one true gospel that they had previously embraced - salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone.

Such charmers can only hurt us if we take our focus off Christ and the truth of his word. That’s what these deceivers try to do – turn away our gaze from Christ; distract us from the only One who is worthy of our undivided attention and affection. And so our best defense is an offense, by keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Him, “looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).

The Galatians were ignoring the clear gospel that had been preached by Paul even though they had been the recipients of that life-transforming gospel of Christ, a gospel that had not been obscured by non-essentials, a gospel that proclaims the person and work of Christ – Christ and him crucified.

Our preaching of the gospel must always be “Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23). We must make a conscious decision, as Paul did: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). That’s the essence of the gospel, that Christ died for our sins, rose again for our justification (Rom. 4:25), and is coming again for our glorification. Anything that takes away from the simplicity, reality and efficacy of this message is not the true gospel – its phony and deceitful.

What was happening was some sort of insanity which evoked absolute amazement. It was sin that deserved rebuke. To think that those who had been so carefully and fully taught now were turning away is beyond comprehension, especially since the gospel which had been preached to them was an open, real, and timeless declaration.

I. The Preaching Of The Cross Is An Open Declaration

1. It’s a declaration that is visual: “Before your eyes…” (3:1c). They had seen with their own eyes the visual portrayal of the gospel by and in Paul’s preaching and life. They saw its meaning and by faith had believed and received it. In other words, they hadn’t heard this report from some third party. It had been visibly presented before them in Paul’s ministry.

Paul’s preaching had been so demonstrative that the gospel was as visually clear as though they had actually been present at the crucifixion themselves. They could hear the sounds, see the sights so clearly that they were convinced of the truth of Christ’s atoning death and by grace they believed through faith in Christ’s work alone.

2. It’s a declaration that is public: “Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed” (3:1d). This refers to the ancient practice of announcing news items in a public place on a placard or billboard for all to see. Applying this to his proclamation of the gospel to the Galatians, Paul is saying, “Through my preaching of the gospel, Jesus Christ has been figuratively placarded before you, set forth for all to see, publicly proclaimed, conspicuously displayed.” Paul’s preaching of Christ’s crucifixion was done in such a public way.

It was as public as though it had been placed on a billboard alongside the highway for all to see. It was publicly displayed just like some retail stores promote their products and prices on a placard paraded up and down on the sidewalk to entice passersby to respond. Paul’s preaching and the Galatians’ reception of its truth had all been done publicly. It wasn’t hidden in a corner – this was not some secret message to a privileged few.

Further, it was public in that the believers were witnesses to each other’s salvation. The Christian movement was public and their acceptance of it was public. And yet now, through some inexplicable enchantment, they were turning away their eyes from the One whom they had once seen so clearly, and in so doing they were denying the truth that they had publicly confessed.

Those who have looked upon the cross should be free from adverse influences. It is an anomaly that any who have understood the significance of the event should ever be beguiled. Indeed, it’s the preacher’s task to proclaim the gospel publicly and visibly. The gospel is to be placarded by preachers in language that is simple and plain, but in language that is demonstrative and clear as though the event is happening “before our eyes.” Like a public announcement, it must be authoritative, urgent, and understandable. We must be placard carriers, parading the gospel before those who need it, putting up verbal (and perhaps visual) billboards all over the place for all to see and know.

Not only is the preaching of the cross an open declaration, but also…

II. The Preaching Of The Cross Is A Real Declaration

1. It’s a declaration about a real person, “Jesus Christ” (3:1d). It’s about “Jesus,” the One that they knew in the flesh, same One who had been born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, “a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs” (Acts 2:22).

Not only was he a real person whom they knew or about whom others testified, but He was a man whose life was publicly verified by God himself. This was not a fictitious character that had been written about by ancient philosophers. This was a real man, with a real family and friends. God chose to reveal himself to us in the “biography of a man” (Alexander Maclaren, Galatians, 103). He chose real flesh and blood to manifest himself to us.

It's about “Jesus” the One who is the “Christ.” It’s about the Messiah, the anointed one, the deliverer and redeemer, whom the O.T. believers knew would come but they didn’t know when or how or who. But we know him – the sent one from God.

The preaching of the cross is a declaration about a real person and…

2. It’s a declaration about a real event: “Jesus Christ… crucified” (3:1e). Christ’s death by crucifixion was a real event, which was followed by his resurrection which was also a real event. It isn’t simply that the “placard” depicts a man, but that the placard depicts Jesus Christ, the Son of God, undergoing a real crucifixion.

The picture is of Christ crucified, not of Christ in any other attitude or situation. It isn’t the upper room scene that Paul is portraying here, great as that is. It isn’t the Gethsemane scene, moving as that is. It isn’t the calming of the storm scene, powerful as that is. The picture is that of the Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the cross, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, paying the price for our sin and depravity, satisfying the claims of a holy God on account of our sins.

And this event we know is real…

(1) Because it was witnessed by the apostles – “¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you” (1 John 1:1-2).

(2) Because it has been recorded in history and never been disproved. Even His enemies could not prove that it didn’t happen.

(3) Because it was witnessed by many people over many days, including individuals, groups, and crowds. Paul affirms this: “⁵ He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (1 Cor. 15:5-8).

The reality of the crucifixion is the heartbeat of the gospel message. It is the vital point from which the Christian faith derives its power and truth.

First, then, the preaching of the cross is an open declaration that is visual and public. Second, the preaching of the cross is a real declaration about a real person and a real event. Third…

III. The Preaching Of The Cross Is A Timeless Declaration

1. It’s a declaration about a present reality: “Jesus Christ…crucified” (3:1e). This is a perfect passive participle (“having been crucified”), indicating an historical event with continuing results into the present - a past event with lasting, contemporary consequences. What the cross accomplished it continues to accomplish. It never leaves off. It is the continuing and eternal payment for all sin. And every sinner who trusts Christ’s atoning work is forever and continually being forgiven.

If the work of the cross were not a present reality we would be lost. For we cannot stay saved by anything else. Works will not keep us saved anymore than they could save us in the first place.

The preaching of the cross is a declaration of a present reality, also…

2. It’s a declaration about a permanent reality: “Jesus Christ…having been crucified” (3:1e). Again, this perfect passive participle indicates not just an historical event but an event of permanent significance. What the cross accomplished and continues to accomplish, it will forever do. It’s significance and efficacy are permanent. “The cross keeps on moving powerfully and relentlessly through history and it will stand forever as living proof that men cannot redeem themselves” (John MacArthur).

Final Remarks

In this study of Galatians 3:1, “The cross and preaching,” we have discovered that the subject of the text is “The public declaration of the one true gospel” and that the central theological principle is that Christ’s crucifixion is the paramount theme in preaching.

Here then, in summary, is the structure and thrust of Galatians 3:1, concerning the centrality of the cross in preaching:

I. The preaching of the cross is an open declaration that is visual and public.

II. The preaching of the cross is a real declaration about a real person and a real event.

III. The preaching of the cross is a timeless declaration about a present and a permanent reality.

The gospel is still openly declared through preaching and the cross is still its central theme. We thank God for the enduring truth of the cross of Christ and the freedom we have to publicize it. Many antichristian authorities in other parts of the world are restricting Christians today from the open, public preaching of the cross. But that is the very means which God has ordained for the gospel to be declared, explained, and applied. What a privilege we have, here in the west, to preach the gospel freely and openly. And every time we hear it preached with clarity, accuracy, and conviction, the cross of Christ is once more being visibly portrayed before our eyes.

You might claim that you don’t have the gift of preaching and so you are unable to participate in this great declaration. But remember, that proclamation of the gospel takes place in many different ways. Yes, the public preaching of the gospel is the primary means that God has ordained for its proclamation, but there are ways in which every Christian can participate in this great privilege. You can explain the gospel and its central theme of Christ and him crucified in your personal conversations with others who are not Christians. You can distribute it in written form. You can invite non-believers to come to your church and hear the truth.

Furthermore, the centrality of the cross is publicly proclaimed every time we gather as Christians to remember the Lord in his death, “for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). This is why the remembrance of the Lord, as he established it, is so important. The Lord’s supper, as we call it, is a public, visual, and audible proclamation of the gospel. It’s public in that anyone present can witness what Christ has done on the cross. It’s visual in that the symbols of bread and cup represent Christ’s atoning work, the bread representing the body of the Lord Jesus given in death for us and the cup representing the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for us. Through these symbols, the remembrance of the Lord is a real declaration of the gospel, picturing a real person who died and a real event that happened. The remembrance of the Lord is also an audible declaration of the gospel in that relevant Scriptures are read and usually commented on.

So, let as many of us as are truly born again Christians and have clear consciences before God (i.e. no known, unjudged sin in our lives) take every opportunity to gather around the table of the Lord to respond to his request, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19), and in so doing, to proclaim the Lord’s death “until he comes.” Let us keep this timeless testimony alive through this symbolic service. Let us openly declare before the eyes of all observers that the work of Christ is still effective today in the lives of all believers and that the cross is our central theme for time and for eternity: “⁵ To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5-6).