009 How the Law Secured the Promise

Galatians 3:15-22

May 4, 2014

I know it has been a few weeks since we have been in Galatians,

And I apologize for that.

(Especially for the section of Galatians we are in. This section deserves to have uninterrupted attention given to it so that it might be fully understood)

But none the less, let me pull your minds back to this dilemma

We have going on in Galatia.

The Galatians, you will remember, had been hood winked.

Paul had endured much opposition to take the gospel to this area of the world, and he had successfully planted churches there.

However, there was such a militant Jewish presence in that region

That Paul’s work was coming under heavy attack.

Now it is important to note that the physical attacks on those churches

Had really failed to deter them at all.

· Pisidian Antioch saw Paul rejected, but they stood strong.

· Iconium saw Paul survive a death threat, but the endured.

· Lystra saw Paul stoned, and yet they remained.

· Derbe also remained true to the Lord.

This region was handling the physical violence that was thrown at them.

What they were not handling was the theological attack thrown at them.

The Judaizers had shown up in Galatia.

And the Judaizers were legalistic Jewish zealots who fancied themselves to be Christian, yet who thought salvation was achieved through works of the Law.

It was them, you will remember:

Acts 15:1 “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

And it is those people who have infiltrated Galatia.

The result of their heresy was that they were succeeding

In convincing the Gentiles in Galatia

That they had to be circumcised in order to be saved.

And because the Galatians loved God…

And because the Galatians wanted to please God…

And because the Galatians were young in their faith…

THEY WERE CONSENTING

And when Paul found this out, he was livid,

And wrote the letter of Galatians.

Galatians 1:6 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;”

THAT IS THE BACKDROP

(Paul is fighting a spiritual battle against the heresy of the Judaizers,

For the soul of the Galatians)

Most recently we have been in chapter 3 where Paul has begun to ask the Galatians to examine the lie they’ve been told and to discern the truth.

This chapter has been filled with questions,

Prompting the Galatians to do a little thinking.

Galatians 3:2 “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”

Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Galatians 3:5 “So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”

Paul was doing everything he could to point out to them that it was never works that prompted the working of God in your life, it was always faith.

And that is true, especially in regard to receiving the blessing of God.

This is where we got to last time.

The Galatians wanted the blessing of God – don’t you?

They wanted to be blessed.

The question is: how does that happen?

And to answer that Paul appealed to two Old Testament passages.

(Genesis 15:6 and Genesis 12:8)

Paul brought the father of the Jews into the debate; Abraham.

And Paul wanted to know what did Abraham have that God desired?

Genesis 15:6 “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

And secondly, what did God do for this man of faith?

Genesis 12:3 “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."

God promised blessing to Abraham because of Abraham’s faith.

And that was your answer.

You receive the blessing of God by faith.

Galatians 3:9 “So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

Furthermore Paul went one step further to remind us that

The blessing does not come through the Law.

Galatians 3:10 “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM."

And finally Paul introduced that the blessing comes to us

IN CHRIST.

Galatians 3:13-14 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE" — in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

SO TO SORT OF BRING IT ALL UP TO OUR CURRENT PLACE:

It is faith that ushers in the blessing of God through the work of Christ.

It is not our works or obedience to the Law that accomplishes that.

That has been Paul’s statement.

Now it is time to defend it.

See, you don’t just come in and say, “The Law doesn’t work”

And leave it at that.

Paul knows he has some explaining to do.

So the purpose of the text we study tonight is to show you

How the Law worked in accordance with the promise of God.

The Law had a purpose, but when you misunderstand that purpose,

You misunderstand the salvation of God.

Paul is writing to make sure the Galatians understand the purpose.

Now there are four things in our text you need to see:

#1 A MODERN ILLUSTRATION

Galatians 3:15

You will notice right off the bat Paul’s mode of conversation.

“Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations:”

He is about to use an example from every day life.

It is a natural, everyday occurance.

“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.”

We understand a covenant.

Marriage is a good illustration.

Conditions are given, they both agree, and then it is ratified by a preacher.

Once it has been put into effect,

Paul says there are two things YOU CANNOT DO.

1) “no one sets it aside”

2) “or adds conditions to it”

It cannot be legally ignored as though it does not exist,

Nor can you change it by adding stipulations.

WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT

A marriage must be legally broken, and no stipulations can be added.

(Ladies should learn that, after we say “I do” they no longer have the right to try and change us, they should have put it in the contract.)

And notice, that is true just for a human covenant.

“even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets aside or adds conditions to it.”

That modern day legal stuff.

Modern Illustration

#2 A HISTORICAL OBSERVATION

Galatians 3:16

Paul now asks us to travel back to a covenant that was ratified over 2,000 years prior to his writing of this letter.

He is referring to the promises spoken to Abraham.

And he will now introduce another important text.

(Write in your margin: Genesis 15:17-21

Genesis 15:17-21 “It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."

My translation says “To your descendants”, but literally that is “seed”

Now God made a promise “to Abraham and to his seed.”

And that was just one of several.

Genesis 17:7-8 "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. "I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

Genesis 22:18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

But now notice what Paul does here.

“He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.”

Now that means, thanks to Paul, we have an explanation

That would be otherwise hidden from us.

Look back at Genesis 15:18, and if your Bible uses the word “descendants” scratch it out and replace it with the word “seed”.

For Paul is making a very important theological point.

That promise was not given to a whole bunch of people,

It was only given to two people.

WHO?

Abraham, and Christ.

That promise of blessing,

At that point was only guaranteed to two people.

Abraham, because of his great faith which he had just exhibited,

And Christ who is the Messiah to come.

Those are the only two people God made that promise with.

And so the only way we share in the blessing is by being in Christ.

TURN TO: EPHESIANS 1:3-14

I love all the references to “in Him”

All of the promises and blessings of God don’t come to you because of something you do, they come to you because of something He did.

They are promises made to Him,

And you share in them when you are “in Him”

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

But mostly understand Paul’s line of thought.

When a covenant is made, it is permanent and can’t be changed.

God also made a covenant to Abraham and Christ.

A Modern Illustration A Historical Observation

#3 A LOGICAL CLARIFICATION

Galatians 3:17-18

“What I am saying is this:”

(Here is my point)

“the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.”

EXPLAIN THAT TO ME?

This new covenant that came about, does not do away with a previous one.

WHY?

Because of what Paul said in verse 15.

A covenant cannot be set aside.

God made a covenant to Abraham and to Christ, and then God ratified it.

HOW DID GOD RATIFY IT?

Genesis 15:17 “It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.”

You’ll remember this from out study.

God did it all.

Abraham did nothing.

God passed through the pieces signifying, “May it be done to Me, if I do not keep My word”

And since that covenant was binding,

You cannot undo it for any reason at all.

In other words, that original promise to Abraham (and Christ)

Has never been nullified, it has never been undone,

It has never been set aside.

And that was one of Paul’s original points.

Not only could it not be set aside, but

NO ONE COULD ADD CONDITIONS TO IT EITHER.

And notice what Paul says next.

(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.”

“if the inheritance is based on law”

Then that would mean that somewhere down the line

God changed the covenant by adding stipulations to it.

“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 original covenant is clearly stated, that it is a promise,

And Abraham has to do nothing.

Therefore, a later covenant could not undo it or change it.

If God had changed the covenant later to law,

Then it would have been by works, not a promise,

And that can’t happen because the covenant was already ratified.

Remember you can’t change a covenant (even a human one)

A Modern Illustration A Historical Observation A Logical Clarification

#4 A DOCTRINAL EXPLANATION

Galatians 3:19-22

As you just noticed, Paul has proven that the Law did not set aside,

Or change the existing covenant.

However that brings about a good question.

“Why the Law then?”

If God wasn’t getting rid of the old covenant, and if God was giving new stipulations to it, then why did the Law come about?

Obviously God gave the Law, if it wasn’t for salvation,

Then you have to help me see what it was for.

“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.”

Now let’s work through this for a second.

There are three main things you need to see here.

1) THE LAW HAD A SPECIFIC PURPOSE (19a)

The initial and obvious reason for the coming of the Law is what?

“It was added because of transgressions,”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Romans 7:7-8 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.”

Man had a tendency to live in “never-never land”.

They looked at that promise to Abraham, and thought,

It was theirs regardless of how they lived.

We can do whatever we want, and that land is still ours.

BUT THAT WASN’T TRUE?

WHY?

GOD NEVER PROMISED THE LAND TO THEM.

WHO DID HE PROMISE IT TO? (Paul says it again in verse 19)

And therefore the people were not beneficiaries of that promise.

It wasn’t made to them, and they were not inheriting it.

Just because you were born to Abraham,

Did not mean you were automatically saved.

Romans 9:6-13 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: "AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON." And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

If people were going to be saved like Abraham was,

They were going to have to give God

The same faith that Abraham gave Him.

BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM

The people didn’t realize that.

They thought they were ok, they thought they were righteous.

And so they were not placing their faith in God for righteousness.

GOD NEEDED SOMETHING TO PROVE TO THE PEOPLE

THAT THEY WERE NOT RIGHTEOUS,

AND THAT THAT THEY NEEDED TO GIVE GOD FAITH.

In steps the Law.

“It was added because of transgressions,”

It was given for a specific purpose – to show sinners their sin.

Romans 7:13 “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”

2) THE LAW HAD A SHORT PERIOD (19b)

“having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”

It was the angels who brought the Law in at Sinai.

Acts 7:53 “you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."

They preached the Law until Jesus got here.

WHY DID IT STOP THEN?

Because the purpose of the Law was to prepare you for Jesus.

The Law was meant to show you how sinful you were

So that you would be eager to run to the Savior.

We say it all the time, but in America it is often harder to get someone lost than it is to get someone saved.

I love to talk to a filthy sinner who knows they are a filthy sinner.

Jesus is good news to those people.

The frustrating ones are the filthy sinners who think they are just fine.

What they need is a dose of Law to show them what they look like to God.

The Law came for a short period, to prepare men for the Savior.

And once men found the Savior, the no longer needed the Law.

This was the whole basis behind the New Covenant

That Jeremiah talked about.

Hebrews 8:7-13 “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, "BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. "AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, 'KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." When He said, " A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

Now I hear you.

WAIT A SECOND PREACHER

You just said that once a covenant is ratified it cannot be set aside.

Why can we not set aside the covenant to Abraham,

But we can set aside the covenant of the Law?

Because the covenant of the Law has been fulfilled.

Matthew 5:17-18 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Christ fulfilled the Law.

Christ finished it.

Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

And so it, having been fulfilled, could now be set aside.

The Law came for a specific period, and for a short time

3) THE LAW WAS FOR SINFUL PEOPLE (20)

(20) “Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one.”

AND THIS IS ANOTHER GREAT POINT.

When stipulations come in the midst of a covenant,

They are never one sided.

To assume that conditions were added to our side of the covenant,

Would also assume there were conditions added to God’s side.

But of course that is not the case.

God didn’t need the Law, we did.

He sent it to show that there was a separation from Him.

The law wasn’t given for righteous people, but for sinners.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”

SO UNDERSTAND THE LAW

· It came for a specific purpose

· It came for a short period

· It came for sinful people

IT DID NOT COME TO BRING SALVATION,

IT CAME TO SHOW SINNERS THEIR SIN.

IT DID NOT LEAVE MEN SAVED, IT LEFT THEM CONDEMNED

AND AWARE OF THAT CONDEMNATION.

BUT PAUL IS NOT FINISHED

(21) “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God?”

If the Law didn’t save, but rather condemned, is the Law actually working against God?

NOT AT ALL

“May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would have indeed been based on law.”

If the Law could have saved, then we would have a problem.

If the Law could have saved, then salvation would be by works, not grace.

THAT WOULD HAVE NULLIFIED THE PROMISE OF GOD

That would have changed salvation to works, not grace.

THE LAW CAME IN TO SECURE THE PROMISE, NOT REPLACE IT.

(22) “but the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”

EXPLAIN TO ME?

The Law came to condemn you so you would look to

The only one who is a true heir to the promise of God.

And when you trust in Him, then you are a partaker of the promise.

The Law never came to save,

And it most certainly did not undo God’s promise.

Salvation is, has been, and always will be, by faith alone.

The Judaizers had completely missed the point,

And so do people who push works today.

Salvation has only ever been through Christ.

He is the recipient of all the blessings and promises of God

We partake in those blessings and promises through Him.

The purpose of the Law and all those hard commands

Was merely to show you that you needed Christ,

Because on your own you were not going to obtain them.

Later Paul will say it like this:

Galatians 3:24 “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

The Galatians were being led away from Christ

To try and earn the blessing through a means that could not give it.

No wonder Paul was so angry.

They had already found the way, now they were abandoning it.

The Law has a purpose, but salvation is NOT one of them.

THE LAW CAME TO DRIVE MEN TO JESUS

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”