Understanding The Law

^"15 Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. ¹⁷ What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

¹⁹ Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰ Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one. ²¹ Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. ²² But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."

Galatians 3:15-22

 

Good Morning Beloved,

 

Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!

We're so glad you're here.

 
The Christian gospel is that everybody sins. Everybody sins and breaks God’s law, every human being who’s ever lived, except for Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. Therefore, we are all under divine judgment, we are all cursed by God. In other words, we are all on our way to eternal hell. However, God, is not only a judge, He is also gracious, and loving Father. He is, therefore, willing to forgive and eager to forgive. And, because of His grace, His love, His willingness to forgive our sin, we are able to escape the consequences of our sin, by putting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who took our place on the cross and bore the punishment that we should have received. Those who believe in Christ, who have placed their trust in Him, have their sins covered, because Christ paid in full, the penalty for sin. That's the Gospel.

 

Paul teaches us in Romans 10:8-9, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Yet, there are many today, even in Christian circles, who speak and act as though believers should not be expected to live godly lives and to struggle against their sins.

 

Let us bow our heads in prayer,

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, we thank You for Your Word for us today, for the clarity that Your Holy Spirit provides to us, in understanding the truth. We thank You for the gathering of the those who are with us, for the wonderful fellowship You have blessed us with. We thank You for the time we have been given to study Your Word, to worship You and offer up our feeble praise.

Lord, we thank You that we are the recipients of Your grace, the incredible gift of salvation, the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom. We are so grateful, that we have been delivered from darkness, for Christ, who bore the punishment for our sin and Your righteousness imputed to us.

We just pray for those are yet in darkness, who remain unsaved, uncovered for their sin, that You would reach down and touch those hardened hearts, that today might be that day, they would repent, turn from their sin and receive Christ's atonement.

This we pray in His precious name

Amen

Today's Message: Understanding The Law

I am sure you have heard me say many times, it's imperative, that those of us who teach the Word of God, get the gospel right. In every generation we must always strive earnestly, contend against the false teaching, standing firm, for the truth of the gospel. Because it is the truth alone that saves, and it is that truth alone, that must be proclaimed by the church. And, if the church is confused about the gospel, if the church gets caught up in falsehood, then the church damnably fails in its mission in the world. I say

damnably, because Scripture teaches, that anyone who preaches another gospel, adds or subtracts from God's Word, is accursed, he is to be damned. False gospels are damned because false gospels are damning gospels. That message is pretty clear.

I am astonished by those, who proclaim to be preachers of the Word, to have studied the Holy Bible, who have the audacity to stand in the pulpit and teach anything but the Word of God.

I'm sure, well, I hope that you are aware, that we have been working our way through the book of Galatians, In our continuing study of chapter 3, we come to the verses 15 through 22. When we teach the Word of God, if you’re a Bible expositor is you end up having to preach what’s next in the text, and since we take it as it comes, and some portions of Scripture, are often very clear, straightforward message, while others, are a bit more intellectually challenging. Beginning with verse 15, many find this is one of the more challenging portions of this book, and it’s going to demand your attention. However, I think we have discovered over the years, that the most precious treasures in Scripture, are not often found on the surface, but by digging deeper into the text, uncovering them one at a time. I believe that in doing so, we are so richly blessed, with a greater understanding of the doctrines.

 

Open with me your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3, I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you from this marvelous epistle, Galatians 3:15-22

"Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? Far from it! For if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."

 

There was a time, not so long ago, when a man’s word and a handshake was as good as a written contract. Sadly in our day, there are some people will look you straight in the eye, make you a promise, without any intentions of honoring that promise, or their obligations. Even those who are honorable and possess a certain degree of integrity, may still, from time to time, let you down. There have been times in my life as a result of certain circumstances beyond my control, where I have failed to follow through on promises that I had previously made. In other words, even with the best of intentions, sometimes we let people down, we fail them. I am thankful, that as we read the Word of God, we find some promises will endure! Not one time has God ever made a promise that He did not or will not keep!

 

To sort of bring everyone up to date, in Galatians chapter 3, Paul has confronted the foolish actions of the Galatian believers. He has declared that they have been “bewitched” or deceived by the Judaizers. In verses 6-13 Paul revealed the fact that we are justified by faith alone. And that the "righteous shall live by faith" in verse 11. Then in verse 14 he states that "God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessings that He promised to Abraham"

 

In other words, because of our faith in Christ, we are heirs to the promises of God. And you can rest assured that those promises will endure! For us to fully comprehend the privilege of being "heirs to the promise" we must take some time and examine at those things that God promised Abraham so long ago. In doing this, we will see several things about this promise.

 

Turn with me to Genesis chapter 12, so we can take a look at the origin of God's enduring promise.

"Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you into a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; so they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him."

 

In these verses, as well as the following chapters of Genesis, we find that God made several promises to Abraham.

He promised him that he would become a great nation. The Lord would make Abraham’s name great. God would bless those that bless him. God would curse those that curse him. In Abraham ALL the nations of the world would be blessed. God promised Abraham children.

 

Over the years, I have had a number of people ask "why is this relevant to us?" The answer to that question is found in Galatians verse 8, "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you." This is relevant because we are "justified by faith" and as a result "heirs to the promise." Paul describes this promise as "The Gospel." 

 

God first establish a covenant relationship with Abraham. Since the Abrahamic covenant was ratified and in force, it was not superceded or set aside by the law which came much later. This covenant or promise is also superior to the law because it came directly to Abraham while the law was given indirectly. If God would go to such lengths to fulfill His promise to Abraham, shouldn’t that give us more than enough reason to trust in the promises He has made to us?

 

The covenant with Abraham represents God’s holy and irrevocable will. Verse 15 asks us to consider a solemn agreement or contract between two human parties. "Brothers and sisters, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it."

 

The argument begins with an illustration from everyday life in order to help the listening Galatians understand better. Notice he calls the Galatians brothers and sisters, indicating, despite all his rebuking, they were of the household of the faith. It was common knowledge that a last will or testament, legally ratified or established, cannot be nullified, added to or amplified. Only by the consent of both parties involved can it be changed, and if one has died it is no longer possible. This is certainly all the more true of the covenant, promise which the unchanging God made to Abraham and his Seed and then reaffirmed to Isaac and Jacob. 

 

After confirming the irrevocable nature of the Abrahamic covenant, verse 16 states the true recipient. 

"Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ."

 

When Abraham made his venture of faith, God made His great promises to and with him. God’s promises had been given to Abraham and ratified by his acts of faith. The bases of the covenant and its ratifications was based on faith. It was faith which set Abraham right with God. The word seed can be a collective or singular noun. Our text argues for it being a singular noun. Certainly many other Scriptures indicate the blessings would come from one great person, the Messiah.  In Him and Him alone that the many are blessed in and through the One descendent.

Having shown that the promises made to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ, the text again returns to the thought that a covenant once ratified by God cannot later be invalidated in verse 17. "What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise."

Though the Judaizers recognized Jesus as the Christ, they saw God’s full and final revelation not in Jesus but in the Mosaic Law. Therefore, they insisted that while Gentiles should believe in Christ, they must first be circumcised and live as Jews in keeping the law. 

 

Paul amplifies the thought of verse 15 here with reference to 430 years. God repeated His promise that He gave to Abraham, 215 years earlier, to Jacob. Then the tribes sojourn in Egypt for 400 years. It was after this experience, while Israel was in the wilderness, that God handed down the law. The Mosaic law, which came hundreds of years later, did not set aside the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The prior covenant of salvation or blessings for all nations was ratified. The covenant of law did not nullify God’s covenant of blessings extended to all people through the Seed. More over, during these hundreds of years before the law, God justified men only by faith.

 

God kept His covenant promise to Abraham, in Genesis 17:8-9, and He has not revoked it, though thousands of years have passed. He saved Abraham through his faith, and He blessed the world through Abraham by sending the Messiah as one of Abraham’s descendants. Circumstances may change, however, God remains constant and never break His promises. He has promised to forgive our sins through Jesus Christ, therefore, we can be assured, that He will do so.

 

The conclusion in verse 18 is that Abraham’s promised inheritance is not received by law but by faith. "For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise."

 

The promised blessing or salvation is an "inheritance" The inheritance, is the Greek word klēronomia, of becoming acceptable before God is based on promise. An inheritance can be based of fulfilling the law but thank God the inheritance of salvation is based on a promise given to Abraham and Christ.

 

The Abrahamic inheritance of those who believe in Christ is the gift of salvation which is based on faith in a promise. Note that it is freely bestowed by God. God granted it to Abraham. He did not have to work for it. It was a gift. Has granted renders a Greek verb, kecharistai, which is related to the Greek word charis, meaning grace.  It was not bought with money, earned by sweat of toil, nor won by conquest or attained by keeping the law, it was a gracious gift, given to Abraham.

Up until now Paul’s treatment of the law has been negative. One may even wonder about why we even have law. That very question is asked in verse 19. "Why the Law then? It was added on account of the violations, having been ordered through angels at the hand of a mediator, until the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made."

If the law given at Sinai was unable to impart righteousness, or bring about the promised salvation, then what possible good was it? The law has two primary functions. On the positive side, it reveals the nature and will of God and shows people how to live. And, on the negative side, it points out people’s sins and shows them it is impossible to please God by trying to obey all His Laws, since you don’t. It was given to man to help awaken in his mind and heart the sense of sin. A vague awareness of sinfulness will not drive man to a Savior in search of mercy and forgiveness. In fact, specific commandments show how we are transgressing, proving us sinners, in need of salvation.

 

The law acts as a magnifying glass, it does not increase the number of filthy spots, however, it certainly does make them more visible. When God tells us, "Don’t do that!" something in our fallen nature, makes that more attractive than what isn't forbidden. So the law not only defines sin, it has a way of exciting sin in us. However, the law does more than that, the law declares that sin is wrong because of what it does to us and what it does to other people. Once we begin to recognize that not only is sin bad, because of what effect it has on me, but also the devastating effects it has on those around me. Then, we begin to realize something far more significant, what it does to God!

 

In Psalm 51:4-5, David says "Against You, You only, I have sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak, and blameless when You judge."

 

Beloved, like or not, God will hold you accountable. And, believe it or not, there is a Judge! God is the Judge. And, if you're resolve to live in the manner in which we see those in the news, on social media outlets, whether you believe in God or not, there is a God! He has rules and standards, and if you choose to live your life violating them, you will be punished. You may get by with it in this life, but the day will soon come, when all who are not in Christ will be condemned!

The inferiority of the law to the promise is shown in that it came through angels or indirectly from God but the Promise came directly from God. The law required a mediator. Moses stood in between the people and God. The gospel was fulfilled directly by God, in nothing less than Christ's agonizing death for humanity.

The temporary role of the law is seen in the phrases "it was added" subsequently, o the promise, and "until the Seed should come." Christ was the Seed to whom the promise was made, perfect tense, past action with present results, indicating the promise is still in effect. It is obvious that a temporary law cannot be greater than a permanent covenant. By the life, death and resurrection of Christ, the righteous demands of the law were fulfilled and those in Christ are freed to walk by the Law of the Spirit.

 

In verse 20, Paul says "Now a mediator is not for one party only; but God is only one."

That's pretty obvious, isn't it? God didn't require a mediator to bring His promise to us, it's a divine covenant, He made with Himself. You don't need a mediator if it's only you. You only need a mediator, if it a contract or a deal between two. And the law was God through the angels, to Moses, to the people. And you’d better keep this law. All these mediators telling you for God, you had better keep this law or you will die. Moses served as a human link between God and the people. Such an intermediary lacks independent authority. That is inferior to the promise, because the promise is unconditional, divine, eternal and the gracious promise of salvation. Therefore, the promise is far better than the law.

 

God is One, in His manifestation and promises, be they from the Father or from Jesus Christ. When He made His promises to Abraham and enacted them in Christ Jesus, He did so of His own sovereignty, directly and personally.

 

The Judaizers were impressed by the incidentals of the Law; the glory, thunder, lightning, angels, and other externals. We must look beyond incidentals to the essentials. The Law is temporary, and required a mediator. The covenant of promise is permanent and did not require a mediator. The only conclusion is that the covenant is greater than the law.

 

The law and the promise are not opposed to each other but work together. The law’s objective is to lead the sinner to Christ and His gracious promise, and forsake trusting one’s own goodness. The promise’s objective to save the repentant law breaker. They are not in conflict but work together.

If a law could have made men alive again spiritually, then God’s righteousness would originate in legalism. This if clause in the Greek has the force of if and it doesn’t. Certainly the law of Moses regulated the lives of the Jewish people, but it did not, it could not, provide spiritual life to the people. The law can never make man spiritually alive nor regenerate him. If the law could give life then justification would be by law and Jesus Christ would never have died on the cross. But this is not the case for Christ did die to justify man.

The purpose of the law is not to justify but show man’s condemnation as verse 22 indicates. "But the Scripture has confined everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Did the law ever justify anyone? Did it ever set anyone free? Absolutely Not! The Scripture has confined everyone under sin. The Greek verb translated confined means to imprison. The human race as a whole is put in prison under sin. Sin is the dungeon and it has been closed and locked with all men under a sentence of eternal condemnation. These men are chained as prisoners with iron bands around their legs, bands that are fastened to chains that are cemented into the walls of their cells. They are guilty convicts unable to break their fetters. 

In Closing....

Men should through the help of the Holy Spirit yearn for a Divine Deliverer to set them free and shout for joy at the sound of His footsteps heard in His promise of freedom. God has imprisoned all under sin so that the promise out of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to all who believe in Him. This wonderful rescuing Redeemer does something for sinners the law is not able to do. He sets the prisoner free delivering them from the curse, by taking it upon Himself through their faith in the promise He speaks into their hearts.

There is a lawful use of the law and there is an unlawful use of the law. Its lawful use is to reveal sin and cause men to see their need of a Savior. Its unlawful use is to try to achieve approval or salvation by the keeping of the law. When people say they are going to Heaven because they have obeyed God’s law, they reveal their misunderstanding of the law. The law places all men under sin, Jew and Gentile alike. But since all are under sin, then all maybe saved by grace! Faith based on grace is the key to all God’s promises. God does not have two ways that lead to salvation, He has just one- saving faith in Jesus Christ alone.

I have no doubt that there are some here today who are trusting in the wrong things to get you to Heaven. No matter what you believe, no matter what you have been taught, regardless of any traditions, rules or rituals that you may observe, if you die without a personal relationship with Jesus, there is one thing for certain, you will spend an eternity in the Lake of Fire.

I want you to think about the promise of blessing that God has made to you. God always keeps His promises.

Trust embraces all the promises of God, when it embraces faith in Jesus Christ.

May it be so..

 

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

Copyright © 2019-2020 All Rights Reserved