Fishkill Baptist Church
Sunday, July 26

      • Isaiah 1:18ESV

      • Psalm 96:1–4ESV

  • Majestic
  • Your Name

      • 1 Corinthians 15:1–2ESV

      • 1 John 3:1–2ESV

  • It Was Finished Upon That Cross
  • Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
  • Doxology
  • Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
    Have you ever gotten one of those offers that sounds too good to be true? You know the ones.
    "Free vacation — all expenses paid!" And you think, that sounds amazing. But then you think, wait a minute. So you flip it over. You scan to the bottom. You look for the asterisk. And sure enough, there it is — the fine print. "Free vacation... contingent upon attending a four-hour timeshare presentation." There it is. There's the catch.
    And we've been trained to think this way, haven't we? Nothing is really free. There's always a "but." There's always something else you have to do.
    We've learned the hard way that the bigger the promise, the longer the fine print.
    And I think that instinct follows some of us right into how we try to follow Jesus.
    We hear the gospel — That God saves sinners by grace through faith in Jesus Christ — and something in us thinks, that sounds amazing.
    But then something else in us thinks, wait a minute. So we start flipping pages. And when we come across commands — love your neighbor, flee sexual immorality, be holy as I am holy, forgive as you've been forgiven — And we think, there it is. There's the fine print. There's what I really have to do to make this thing work.
    Church remember that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was not written to pagans…it was written to churches. And addresses a serious error we are vulnerable to.
    As your pastor, after nearly twenty-four years of preaching grace, this pull never fully goes away. The gravitational pull to add something to faith —
    to believe that my obedience, my disciplines, my ministry output moves the needle on how God sees me —
    That pull is relentless. And if your pastor feels it, I promise you, you feel it too.
    So here's the question that's underneath all of that:

    Is there fine print in the gospel?

    We've been told that salvation is by faith. But is there fine print we're missing? Is faith the beginning, and then the rules kick in to finish the job?
    That's not a new question, either. It's the exact question that was tearing apart the churches in Galatia nearly two thousand years ago.
    And the Apostle Paul answers it in our text today.
    Scripture
    So, grab your Bibles and turn with me to Galatians 3:10-14. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s beginning on the bottom of page 1155. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
    Galatians 3:10–14 ESV
    For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
    This God’s Word!
    Prayer
    God, thank you that all Scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, reproving, correcting, and training righteousness. May Your Word be our teacher in these moments and may we see more of the wonders of Jesus in it. We ask this in Jesus’ name — AMEN!
    Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
    Now remember back to last week. In verses 6-9, Paul has just made the case that Abraham was justified by faith.
    He said, look — even Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." And everyone who shares Abraham's faith shares Abraham's blessing.
    Case closed, right?
    Not so fast.
    Because Paul brilliantly anticipates a question from the false teachers in Galatia. And it would have sounded pretty convincing. Their question might have gone something like this:
    "Okay Paul, we'll give you Abraham. Abraham believed. Fine. But Abraham lived before the law was given.
    But then God spoke to Moses at Sinai and gave his people the law. Doesn't that change things? Doesn't the law add requirements on top of faith? You can't just skip over Moses and go back to Abraham as if the law was never given."
    You hear what they're doing? They're pointing to the fine print. They're saying, "Sure, the headline is faith. But then God added conditions. Read the fine print, Paul."
    And here's what's so brilliant about Paul's response. He doesn't dodge Moses. He doesn't skip over the law. He says, in effect,
    "You want to read the fine print? Good. Let's read the fine print. Let's look carefully at what the law actually says."
    And when you actually read the fine print — when you look at what the law of Moses says about your standing before God — it doesn't say what those in Galatia thought it says.
    It doesn't add conditions to faith that make you more acceptable to God. It does something else entirely.
    And this is my main idea for this sermon…
    When you actually read the fine print, you discover that

    God's commands were never meant to be added to faith to make you more acceptable to Him — they were meant to drive you to the only one who can.

    That's what this passage teaches. And Paul is going to show us three things from the law and the prophets to prove it.
    The Path You Can't Walk. (10-12):
    The Price He Paid. (13):
    The Blessing You Receive. (14):
    Let's look at each one of these.

    The Path You Can’t Walk

    So Paul reads the fine print. And the first thing he pulls out is Deuteronomy 27:26.
    And this takes us back to one of the most dramatic scenes in the Old Testament. Moses and Israel are on the edge of the Promised Land, standing before two mountains: Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
    And the people of God, divided between the mountain of blessing and the mountain of curse. — and the Levites stand in the valley between them, pronouncing a series of curses on anyone who breaks God's law. And after each curse, all the people respond: "Amen" — "Let it be so."
    And the words Paul quotes from Deuteronomy are the final, summarizing curse pronounced over them all:
    Galatians 3:10 ESV
    “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
    Two words in that verse should stop us cold: all things and do them.
    This doesn’t say “most things” and it’s not asking for your “best effort. The standard is “All things” — Continuously!
    Church the law doesn’t grade on a curve.
    And that standard isn't new. Go all the way back to the beginning. God gave one command in the garden — and Adam and Eve broke it — and the curse fell.
    Exile from God's presence. And death entered the world.
    If just one act of disobedience was enough to curse the entire human race, what does that tell you about God’s standard?
    The law demands perfection… And one failure is enough to trigger the curse.
    Now some of you might be thinking: “But, I’m not a Jew and I’m not trying to keep the Mosaic law. So, what’s this got to do with me?”
    Look at Romans 2:14-15 with me:
    Romans 2:14–15 ESV
    For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
    Here’s what this means: God, in his grace, has written the work of the law on every human heart.
    We all have a moral conscience — an innate sense that certain things are right and wrong.
    You don't need Moses to tell you
    that lying is wrong. That cruelty is wrong. That betrayal is wrong.
    God has written it on your heart.
    And here’s the thing: Forget the 613 Mosaic laws — You can’t even live up to you own moral standards…
    You know you should be more patient with your kids. More honest at work. More generous with your money… More pure in your thought life… More loving toward the people closest to you.
    But you aren’t — Not perfectly — Not exhaustively — Not continuously.
    And the law written on your conscience operates in the same way as the Mosaic Law: DO & LIVE!
    But you know you haven’t.
    And for those of us in the church — we have our own version of this. We live like Jesus got us in the door, but now we need to work to stay in the room.
    Your attendance… How much you give… How many hours you volunteer.
    We stack these things up and quietly believe they move the needle of God's approval of us.
    And this is the same error the Galatians were being pulled into!
    So, when the false teachers in Galatia pointed to the law and said, “Here’s the fine print — here’s what you need to add to faith.”
    Paul says, “Did you actually read it? Because the fine print doesn’t say ‘do your best.’ It says,
    Do everything Perfectly Always Or you’re cursed!
    And before God, that standard applies not just to the Jewish law, but to whatever moral code you are relying on —
    Whether it’s from Moses, your church, or your own conscience.
    And that’s not fine print that helps you… That’s fine print that curses you!
    Next Paul, stacks a second Scripture on here — this time not from the law but from the prophets. He quotes from Habakkuk in verse 11:
    Galatians 3:11 ESV
    Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
    Paul isn’t saying this is obvious in a general sense, He’s saying that when you read the fine print—
    When you read the Scriptures carefully — They make this crystal clear.
    The prophet Habakkuk reminds us that it is by faith that anyone is declared right before God. And that faith is how we have eternal life and not death.
    And Paul's point is that even for Old Testament Jews, the path to life was not by law-keeping or moral performance. It was by faith. It was always by faith.
    This was never a secret — it was in the fine print all along.
    And then Paul stacks on one more Scripture. And this one seals the argument! He quotes from Leviticus 18:5 in verse 12 saying…
    Galatians 3:12 ESV
    But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
    Church here’s the heart of it: Paul is contrasting two paths:
    Faith says, “Trust and Receive” Relying on the law says, “Do and Earn.”
    And these are not compatible — You can’t walk down two different paths at the same time!
    You’re either trusting what Christ did… Or you’re relying on what you can do. There’s no hybrid path.
    So here's what the fine print actually says when you read it carefully:
    It doesn't say "faith plus effort." It says "faith or effort." And if you choose effort, You'd better be perfect.
    Now, Paul isn't saying the law is bad or that obedience doesn't matter — he'll get to that later in this letter. But for now, he's simply saying the law was never designed to be what you rely on to make you right with God.
    And when you use it that way, it will break you — it will curse you.
    Not because the commands are bad, but because you can’t keep them…
    Not perfectly… Not exhaustively… Not continuously… No one can.
    So, if the fine print tells us the law will curse anyone who tries to stand on it —
    Then what hope is there for us to go from curse to blessing and from death to life?
    That’s where Paul takes us next. Because someone did walk this path. And it cost Him everything.

    The Price He Paid

    The solution to the problem Paul vividly paints in verses 10-12 is answered in the very first word of verse 13 — CHRIST!
    Paul says:
    Galatians 3:13 ESV
    Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
    In one sentence Paul gives us the most stunning exchange in the history of the world! And there are two words we need to slow down on here — Redeemed and Curse.
    The Greek word for “Redeemed” is a marketplace word. It means to buy something back by paying a price.
    This word carries echoes of the slave market. The idea is that someone is in bondage and someone else pays what it costs to set them free.
    One of the most powerful pictures of redemption in modern history is the story of Oskar Schindler.
    During the Holocaust, Jewish men, women, and children were being sent to death camps under a sentence they couldn’t escape.
    They couldn’t negotiate their release… They couldn’t earn their way off the trains…
    And Schindler, a German industrialist, began to bribe Nazi officials to buy Jewish workers to keep them off those death camp trains.
    He literally purchased people out of a death sentence.
    By the end of the war, he had saved over 1,000 lives, and he had nothing left…His entire fortune was spent.
    Those were real men, women, and children — real lives saved at an enormous cost.
    But the reason a story like this moves us so deeply is because it echoes the deeper reality of what Christ did for us.
    Like those on Schindler’s list, we are under a sentence we cannot escape — The curse of the law hangs over the entire human race and we cannot buy our own freedom.
    Our only hope is for someone to intervene. Someone with the resources we don’t have. — This is what Christ did for us…
    He paid the price to redeem us from the curse.
    But here's where even the most heroic human story falls short of what Christ did.
    Jesus didn’t buy us with money — He gave His body and blood — His own life as the price of our redemption!
    Schindler rescued people by keeping them off the trains and out of the camps.
    Jesus redeemed us not by keeping us away from the curse but by stepping into the curse Himself!
    He bore it… He absorbed it… He died under it!
    He didn’t shield us from a safe distance — He took the full blast!
    And maybe the biggest difference of all is this…
    The people on Schindler’s list were innocent and being treated unjustly — They did nothing to deserve their death sentence.
    But Paul has just spent 3 verses showing that our sentence is not unjust…
    We’re not innocent victims of a corrupt system… We’re law breakers standing under the righteous verdict of a holy God!
    And Christ looked at guilty people who deserved the curse — and paid to free them anyway!
    That’s not just heroism. That’s radical grace!
    Romans 5:8 says:
    Romans 5:8 ESV
    but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
    Christ laid down His life not for people who loved Him — but for people who wanted nothing to do with Him!
    So, Christ paid to free guilty people. But how did He pay? This is where the word “curse” takes us somewhere unexpected…
    Paul doesn’t say that Jesus experienced some of the effects of the curse. No — He says Jesus became the curse itself.
    Jesus completely identified Himself with us. He took what we deserved so we wouldn't have to.
    Those two small words are so powerful — FOR US…
    Jesus did this in our place, as our substitute, and for our benefit!
    And here’s what made this exchange possible…
    Jesus is the only one who ever kept the law perfectly — the law we couldn’t come close to keeping.
    He’s the only one who’s ever read the fine print and met every condition…
    All things… Perfectly… All the time!
    Paul says this even more explicitly in 2 Corinthians 5:21
    2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
    For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    This is the great exchange!
    God treated Christ as we deserved…
    Cursed… Condemned… Abandoned!
    So, that we could be treated as Christ deserves…
    Blessed… Righteous… Accepted!
    He took our curse so we could receive His blessing! He took our death so we could receive His life!
    And Paul proves it by quoting Deuteronomy 21:23 here in verse 13 is the evidence.
    In Deuteronomy 21, when an executed criminal's body was hung on a tree, it was the visible sign that this person bore God's judicial curse. It wasn't just human punishment — it was a display of divine judgment.
    And Paul sees in that an arrow pointing straight to the cross.
    The cross didn’t curse Jesus… The cross showed that He was bearing the divine curse.
    What the Roman soldiers saw as execution — What the crowds saw as shame — What the disciples saw as defeat —
    Was actually the moment God’s curse against our sin was absorbed by the only one who never deserved it!
    Jesus read the fine print of the law… He knew what it demanded… And He paid it all!
    Not because you earned it… Not because you deserved it… But because He loved you…
    Even in your sin… Even in your rebellion… And your brokenness… He loved you!
    Christ bore the curse. He paid it in full. But Paul isn't done — because redemption isn't just rescue from something. It's rescue for something. Christ didn't just remove the curse — He opened the way for the blessing.

    The Blessing You Receive

    Look with me at verse 14:
    Galatians 3:14 ESV
    so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
    For the first time in this passage, the word "blessing" appears. The curse is gone. And now Paul shows us what takes its place.
    Not what the law demands but what God gives.
    Remember back to last week in verses 6-9, Paul showed how Abraham’s blessing would come to all nations by faith!
    Well, here in verse 14, Paul explains how God made this possible.
    The blessing of Abraham reaches us not through law-keeping but through the cross of Christ!
    The curse had to be removed so that the blessing could flow —
    And not just for one ethnic group… Not for the morally elite… But for everyone who believes!
    And this is why our church has such a heart for global missions — because every time the gospel crosses an ethnic boundary, a cultural barrier, a social divide — That’s the blessing of Abraham flowing through Christ who bore the curse for us — This is the engine of global missions!
    Church marvel with me: If you are in Christ by faith, you are part of a story far bigger than your own life! — A story that stretches from God’s promise to Abraham and is still expanding to every tribe, tongue and nation of the world!
    But the blessing doesn't stop there. Paul points to something even more personal.
    “So that we might receive the promised Spirit.”
    This points us back to what God promised through the prophets. We see this clearly in Ezekiel 36:26-27
    Ezekiel 36:26–27 ESV
    And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
    Think about what the curse did and how this promise reverses it:
    In Eden the curse meant exile — Driven from God’s presence!
    Under the law the curse meant separation — Falling short of God’s standards and standing condemned before Him!
    But now, through Christ, instead of being rejected by God, we are welcomed in!
    God doesn’t just remove the curse and leave us on our own… No! He moves in — Gives us His Spirit — His very presence — to dwell within us!
    And now it's His Spirit within us that produces in us what the law demanded but could never give us the power to do.
    Remember: God’s commands were never meant to be added to faith to make you more acceptable to Him — They were meant to drive you to the only one who can.
    And now we can see how God intended for His people to actually live godly lives…
    Not by self-reliant law-keeping Not by trying harder… But by the Spirit’s power working within you!
    Here’s the difference:
    The law told you what to do but couldn’t give you any power to do it…
    It’s the Spirit that gives what the law never could — The desire and the power to live for God from the inside out! That’s not performance that’s transformation!
    And this is exactly what the Galatians had already experienced. Back in verses 2-5 — remember last week? —
    Paul asked them: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
    They knew the answer. So why would you ever go back to the law to finish what the Spirit started?
    Now notice the last words of Paul’s argument here: Through Faith!
    This is no accident. These words put an exclamation point on what Paul has been arguing…
    The righteous shall live by faith — No one is justified before God — except by faith — The blessing of Abraham comes — through faith The Spirit is received — through faith!
    Faith, Faith, Faith — Not performance… Not law-keeping — Not moral effort — FAITH!
    And faith is not a work you perform… Not an item on a checklist… It’s not the fine print in disguise.
    Faith is simply trusting Christ to do what you never could do for yourself.
    It’s open hands, not clenched fists. It’s receiving, not achieving.
    So, if you’re here this morning and you’ve been adding to faith…
    Stacking your obedience… Your attendance… Your moral track record — on top of what Christ has already done, as if He needed your help…
    Paul is saying “STOP!” Not because those things don’t matter but because they were never meant to carry that weight —
    Christ carried it — The Spirit empowers it — And you receive it — all of it — Through faith!
    Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
    At the beginning of this sermon we stood between two mountains — Blessing and Curse.
    We read the fine print and it condemned us — we saw the curse fall on us
    But now we’ve seen something else… We’ve seen Christ become that curse and bear it in our place And we’ve seen the blessing flow to everyone who believes!
    At the end of that dramatic scene between the mountains of blessing and curse, Moses stands before the people and says these words:
    Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV
    I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life…
    Today Moses’ call echoes into this room… Blessing and Curse — Life and Death
    Maybe you're here today and you've never trusted Christ. You've been carrying the weight of your own moral standard — whatever that standard is — And you know you've fallen short. You feel the curse even if you've never called it that.
    The guilt. The shame. The quiet knowledge that you're not who you're supposed to be.
    Today the gospel says you don't have to carry that. Christ already carried it. The blessing God promised is offered to you freely — not because of anything you've done but because of everything He's done.
    And it's received one way — through faith. Not cleaning up your life first. Not becoming religious first. Just trusting that what Christ did on that cross is enough. Because it is.
    And maybe you're here today and you do know Christ — but somewhere along the way you started adding to faith. Stacking your obedience, your attendance, your moral track record on top of what Christ has already done. Living like He got you in the door but now it's on you to stay in the room.
    Today Paul is saying — stop. Come back to where you started. Come back to faith.
    Friends now we know how the blessing comes —
    Not through our performance But through faith in Christ who bought us back by absorbing the curse for us
    And now we know how life comes —
    Choose life. Choose Christ Stop trying to add to what He’s already finished for you.
    Rest in the only one who read the fine print, Met every condition, Bore the curse you deserved, And freely offers you the blessing you could never earn.
    There is no fine print in the gospel.
    There's just Christ — and He is enough.
    Let's pray.
    Prayer
    Father, thank you that there is no fine print in the gospel. Thank you that what your law demanded, Christ fulfilled. What your justice required, Christ paid. And what we could never earn, you freely give.
    For those in this room who have been carrying the weight of their own performance — trying to add to what Christ has already finished — would You give them rest today by Your Spirit. True rest, that comes not from trying harder but from trusting deeper.
    And for anyone here who has never put their faith in Christ — who has been feeling the weight of the curse for far too long — would you open their eyes to see that forgiveness and blessing are offered freely and received simply — through faith in your Son.
    We choose life today. We choose Christ. Not because we are worthy but because He is enough.
    We ask this in Jesus’ name — Amen.
    Closing Song: In Christ Alone
    Closing Words:
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    Final Gospel Appeal:
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    Next Steps:
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    Missional Charge:
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    Benediction:
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      • Galatians 3:10–14ESV

      • Galatians 3:10ESV

      • Romans 2:14–15ESV

      • Galatians 3:11ESV

      • Galatians 3:12ESV

      • Galatians 3:13ESV

      • Romans 5:8ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 5:21ESV

      • Galatians 3:14ESV

      • Ezekiel 36:26–27ESV

      • Deuteronomy 30:19ESV

  • In Christ Alone
Fishkill Baptist Church
lori@fishkillbaptist.org
845-896-9386
http://fishkillbaptist.net
15 members