Here's our text, Galatians 3
verse 19, opens a very important question and Paul will deal with
it. Galatians 3, 19 and following. Wherefore then serveth the law? And he answers, it was added
because of transgression, till the seed should come to whom
the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator is not of one,
but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been given a law which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture has concluded
all understand that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should afterward
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after
that faith is come, we're no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ, There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time
appointed of the father. Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons,
God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a
servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Now again, that text was Galatians
3, 19 through chapter 4 and verse 7. It may well be, I think, from
experience, that the subject of the law is one of the hardest
things in the scripture for us to rightly divide. Owing to the fact, I think, that
the law is brought before us in scripture in so many ways. And therefore, we ask whether
it refers to the moral law, whether to the mosaic law or the ceremonial
law, as we call it, or to the word of God, as it is sometimes
used. It is difficult, and that it
is so can be proven by the different views there are of commentators
concerning the law in the scripture. And perhaps this accounts for
some of the confusion with regard unto the law. So we are indebted,
greatly indebted to the Apostle Paul for all of his help that
he has given us in the scripture in dealing with the law. And
that is especially true in the epistle of Romans and again of
Galatians. And he not only deals with the
law, theologically in his writing, but he uses comparison and he
uses illustration to help us understand the nature and the
function of the law. He draws us mental picture with
which we are familiar, and then he likens the law under them
to illustrate the purpose, the work, and the nature of the law. Now, this morning, we have put
our vessels in at midstream, not at the fountainhead. And so we need to get our contextual
bearings with regard to the place that we began to read in the
book of Galatians. Paul here is not raising a new
subject, as we saw, only dealing with another or a further aspect
of the subject that he is already discussing. And that is the law
and the relationship of that unto the Jew and unto the human
family. Now, the text beginning there
in verse 19 begins with a question, as we noted, which Paul feels
is a legitimate one. It is a legitimate one and it
is deserving of an answer and of a right answer. Now, the question
is, in verse 19, Why then the law? Why did it come? Why was it given? In other words,
what purpose is the law serving? And even if the question is not
that of an objector, Yet Paul, discerning, knows that it is
an objection that can, that might, and that certainly will be raised
in regard to what he has already said or has already written about
the law. Paul knows because he was a master
at anticipating the objections that might be brought against
his doctrine and against his writing. He knows that in the
light of what he has said, what he is about to say, that this
is a legitimate question and that it deserves an answer. Now
the question is this, what purpose has the law? What could be its
purpose in view of the way that God has dealt with men and has
dealt with the Jew by and through the purpose of Abraham? So what has Paul written that
he is sure will call forth this objection? Why then was the law
ever given at all are in the first place. Now the answer,
for one thing, that the law is impotent to justify. Paul has clearly written that
in the third chapter, that it is impotent to justify. Yea, rather than justifying one,
the law actually curses and condemns for any and every disobedient. So that if one is under the law
and is a sinner, he will not be helped by that law. He will
be cursed and will be condemned by it. Now the question can be
asked also, what aspect of the law does Paul have in mind? For now, I am agreed with a writer,
John Brown, of olden times, who wrote, and I'm quoting, it is
obviously the Mosaic institution viewed as a whole. It is the whole arrangement or
covenant under which the people of Israel were placed at that
time, and for some time," unquote. Now reading in Calvin, Calvin
wrote, Paul does not speak of the moral law only, but of the
whole ministry of Moses. And Paul especially focuses in
chapter 3 upon the situation with Abraham. You'll see it in
verse 6, in verse 7, and in verse 8, We won't read them now. And
you'll see it again in verse 14 through verse 18 of the third
chapter of Galatians. We won't read it now. Now, for
the case of Abraham, his relation to God carried a great weight
with the Jew of that day. They considered him to be their
patriarchal father, their spiritual and their physical head of their
race. And indeed he would, and was. And so Paul brings in Abraham
as the example and model of justification by faith and of imputed righteousness. Abraham believed God, it was
imputed unto him for righteousness. Now he does the same thing again
in the fourth chapter of the book of Romans by asking how
Abraham stood justified before God. Romans 4 and 1 asks the
question, what shall we say then that our father Abraham has found
pertaining unto the flesh. And again in Galatians 3 and
verse 6, even as Abraham believed God and it was reckoned, counted,
or imputed unto him for righteousness. Then in Galatians 3 and 14 through
18, he plural times, more than one, refers to the promise that
God made unto Abraham. And we ask then, what was the
essence of that which God promised unto father Abraham? Or again in Romans 4 and 13,
the promise was that he should be heir of the world. In Romans 9 and verse 9, this
is the word of promise. I will come, that is, I will
visit, and Sarah shall have a son. And in Galatians 3 and verse
18, he speaks of the promise of the inheritance, which was
Canaan, which typified the spiritual inheritance that we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in Galatians chapter 3 and
verse 15, Paul illustrates the nature of a covenant made by
man. That when it is made, when it
is ratified, when it is agreed to, there cannot be an unknowing
of that covenant. nor can there be any additions
that are made to it. Once it has been ratified, it
must stand in its original form. It cannot be disannulled and
it cannot be ratified. So the covenant and the promise
to Abraham is not altered, and this is important, it is not
disannulled by the coming or the giving of the law. The promise
made to Abraham stood long before the law ever came in along beside
it. The promise to Abraham, therefore,
predates the law, and that, according to verse 17 of chapter 3 of Galatians,
by 430 years. The promise was given to Abraham
that long before the law ever came in alongside. So, that being
the case, why then did the law come? What purpose had it in
God giving it? Yes, it has a purpose, but its
purpose is not to justify and it is not to replace or annul
or bring an end under the promise. Paul says, it was added there
in Galatians chapter 3, which by the very words mean it was
not in existence at the first, but was added at a later time
subsequent unto the giving of the promise. It was added. But did not Paul say in verse
15, no man addeth thereto? Remember in Romans 5 20, I think
we used it last week, but the law entered, the law came in
alongside of the sin or the transgression of Adam. The law was added or
came in later. Now, this adding of the law in
Galatians 3 and verse 4, as John Brown wrote, was not an alteration
of or an addition to the original arrangement, unquote. It was
not an addition unto the promise. Why then was it added is the
question. And Galatians 3.19 said, on account
of transgression, Romans 5.20, that the offense might abound. Now the coming of the law The
moral law, the ceremonial law, or the mosaic law, as you prefer,
did not supersede the promise, nor did it alter the promise
God had made unto Abraham, and above all, it did not justify. And J.B. Lightfoot thinks that
Paul, in Romans chapter 4, He sees four, Galatians chapter
four, excuse me, he sees four ways in which the law is inferior
under the promise. That instead of it being able
to justify, it condemns and it curses sinners. Instead of life,
it produces or bring death. It cannot give life, therefore
neither can it bring righteousness to an individual who is a sinner. So instead of it being able to
justify, it curses and condemns. Secondly, it was meant to be
temporary. It was never meant to be perpetual
or continual. It was given notice till the
seed come in verse 19. Till the seed should come. It
ended with the realization of the promise and the seed which
Paul said came or was fulfilled in the redemption of Christ.
Thirdly, the law was not as full or as direct a revelation as
was the gospel. And the law was given by the
angels in the hand of a mediator, by angels and by Moses, but the
gospel came fully manifested in the Son of God incarnate in
the flesh. And number four, the law was
a covenant between God and the people of Israel, and they broke
it. Which my covenant they broke,
God said. So this raises another question,
whether In verse 21 of chapter 3, the law, is it against the
promises of God? Does it stand directly against
or in opposition to the promises of God? Is the law at odds with
a promise of God given or made to Abraham? This brings Paul's
classic reply, which he so often uses in his writings, God forbid,
especially in Romans and in Galatia. For he said, had there been such
a law given as could give life, being able to make alive, then
in that case, righteousness should have been or should have come
by the law. For in order to bestow life,
the law must also be able to supply righteousness and vice
versa. But in verse 22 of the third
chapter, there is no such law as is able to impart life. In fact, scripture has shut up
all mankind Under sin and you need to pay careful attention
under that the law in Romans 3 I think it's verse 21 has stopped
every mouth and that everyone may become guilty before the
Lord God shutting up the sinner in sin and is telling. That is, it is done with a purpose. It is done to a certain end,
which Paul then defines that end as being that the promise
might be realized not through the law, but by believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now comes the first aspect of
our study. Number one, that of the stern
pedagogue. Verses 23, 24, 25 of the third
chapter. But first, let us notice that
Paul, in explaining the nature and the function and the purpose
of the law, gives us some good examples of that law and how
it works. For example, example A, in Romans
chapter 7 and 1 through 4, he likens the law to a first husband
from which we must be set free in order that we might be married
or joined unto Christ. Example B, In James, it is likened
unto a mirror, chapter 1 and verse 23, a looking glass in
which one looks and he can behold himself and he can see there
the reflection of the work of the law. And then example C in
Galatians 3, 23 through 25 and over into chapter 4 and 1 through
3, he likens the law unto a pedagogue, also called a tutor or a governor
in chapter four and verse two. Now, first of all, in chapter
323, shut up under the law, as Paul here likens the law unto
a prison are a guardhouse, and they as the nation were held
under. The words are to the effect,
under law we were guarded, being guarded under law. And then secondly,
verse 24, verse 25, Galatians 3, wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster under Christ, that in order that we might be justified
by faith. Now, he comes back to this metaphor
in chapter 4 and verses 1 through 3. But first, we must consider
a matter which is pertinent under this example and this issue and
examine the words that devote or denote a certain period of
time. Chapter 3 23 this was said to
be watch before faith came before Faith came now he's speaking
of a definite period of time and this contrast then with verse
25 After that faith is come so before faith came in and after
faith is come. So Paul deals with before and
after. Now, what does he say? Before
faith came, we were held prisoners under the law. It was our schoolmaster,
or I think the word is pedagogue. But after that faith is come,
we are no more or no longer under a pedagogue. Then the question
is this, what does Paul mean by faith? before faith came and
after faith came. Now some take it to be the personal
grace of faith in the individual or the grace of faith as some
understand it. Or as Gill said, there was this
under the old economy. There was the grace of faith
under the old economy for Abraham believed He had faith in God. Others take it to be the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, as in 3 and 19, till the seed should
come to whom the promise was made. And of course, this has
the closest connection unto Christ. And some consider it to be the
dispensation of the gospel, the gospel fully and clearly revealed,
the full revelation of such things as were but in types and shadows
under the old economy. Now another thing is, in using
the personal pronoun we, Paul puts himself in the same class
with those that he is instructing. Those who were once but no more
garrisoned about and under a schoolmaster or a potentate. When he says
we in verse 23, our in verse 24, and we again in verse 25,
he speaks of the Jew and that economy from Moses unto Christ,
which was a period and a condition that needed the redemption of
Christ to bring them out from under their nonage or their minority
into the full privilege of sonship. Now, let's look, if we might,
at the word in chapter three and verse 24 rendered schoolmaster
in the King James Version. But it has no reference to a
classroom teacher as we might think of them in our day. who
greets the pupil in the morning, dismisses him in the evening,
and repeats the process again the next day. Instead, the image
is borrowed. Schoolmaster, pedagogue, tutor,
or governor is borrowed, and that from a custom of the wealthier
Romans and the Jewish family, Roman and Greek families of that
day. And these did put their children
under a pedagogue for a certain or specified time. And the purpose
of that pedagogue was to exercise a strict supervision and discipline
over that child. Call it a tutor, a trainer, for
the word literally means a child trainer. And of such, Lightfoot
wrote, the main idea is that of strict supervision, of discipline
them, of keeping them back, and of holding them under. John Eadie,
in his commentary, wrote that the function of a pedagogue was,
quote, rigid discipline and imperious severity and known for his sourness."
And this pedagogue was not friendly and he was not lax. in his supervision
and oversight. Paul gives us a good example
or picture of this pedagogue, chapter 4, verses 1 through 3,
by the practice that he refers to of a child who is under an
heir, the son of a well-to-do parent or family. And yet, though
he was an heir and was of a well-to-do family, was put under tutors
and governors, guardians and stewards, and was literally treated
like a slave or a servant, and that in relation to two things.
A, so long as he is a child in minor hood, and B, according
to the time appointed by the father. And so long as these
things are in force, he is not put in possession of the inheritance. Instead, he awaits the day of
his emancipation from that sour and strict pedagogue when he
will be elevated by the Father's time and commandment to full
mature adult sonship as an heir. Now, see how Paul applies this
to the Jew, chapter 4 and verse 3. Even so we, when we were children,
by the time appointed by God who put them under, were in bondage. We could say literally were enslaved,
held under the elements of the world. Some prefer the word ordinance
or rudiments here in this particular place. Still others prefer elementary
teaching when we were under the elementary teaching. But the
point is that for centuries the people of God were under the
law as a pedagogue and that in preparation for the coming of
Christ. And so now, at long last, we
have arrived at the second aspect of our study, number two, the
adoption of sons. And this takes us to chapter
four of Galatians, and verses four through verse seven. Please
note, in verse three through five of chapter four, one long
sentence here in our English. wherein Paul theologizes the
image and the metaphors that are used before and applies them
to the situation when the fullness of time arrived and when the
blessing of adoption are fully enacted and fully bestowed and
realized by the heirs of Prometh. We see in these verses mentions
made of adoption and of sonship. For example, look at verse 5,
that we might receive the adoption of son. And verse 6, because
ye are son. And verse 7, you are no more
a slave, but a son. Now please listen and listen
up now and carefully as we consider this passage and especially focusing
upon the adoption of sons as declared here by Paul. Again, I can find an agreement
with the old time writer John Brown. that this adoption differs
from other adoption that are mentioned such as in Ephesians
1 5 and Romans 8 and verse 15 of taking one of foreign birth
one outside of the family and putting them in the family placing
them among the son who for natural ability have no claim or right
unto the family and membership in it. But the sonship that Paul
speaks of here in Galatians chapter 4 and 1 through 7 is of one born in the family, albeit for
a time, put under tutors and governors, and then after that
time brought into full sonship and privileges and rights and
so on. Not one brought from outside
the family, but one of, as John Brown said, a member of the family
raised to a higher station in the family of which they are
a part. So that this adoption is of one
who, though an heir, has been for a time differing nothing
from a servant or a slave, who at the time appointed of the
father, then receives the adoption of son, which is in keeping with
the image and the metaphors used by Paul. And it denotes the state
of mature sons as opposed to infants, or young children or
children under age as to the heir. The oversight of a schoolmaster,
the tutor, or the guide is not intended to continue ever on
and on, only until A set time that is set by the Father has
arrived, and then that tutorship will be lifted, and they will
come to the full privilege of sonship. Therefore, Paul again,
and overemphasizes the temporary nature of this arrangement, 3
and 19 of Galatians, till the seed should come. 3 and 25, after faith is come,
no longer under a schoolmaster. Chapter 4 and verse 2, until
the time appointed by the Father. Chapter 4 and verse 7, thank
God, no more a servant but a son in the fullest strictest sense
of the word. What Paul says, has a special
uniqueness to the case of the Jew and one function and purpose
of the law that as E.D. wrote in his good exposition
of Galatians, quote, the law was an institute of intermediate
temporary guard and bonded but it had a blessed purpose and
was a peculiar and a unique nature to the Jew being in force not
from freedom to Christ but from freedom but from Moses unto Christ
and it was added. John Ede unquote. And the provisions
were introduced between the Abrahamic promise and between the coming
of the seed, which Paul said in chapter 3, is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, its purpose, or one of its
purposes, I'll say, being to prepare them for Christ. to prepare them for the appearing
of the seed. J.B. Lightfoot made a good argument
that the Gentiles also had a system of elementary training themselves. things that were different as
it were in nature from the Jew, but he mentions this on further
in Galatians chapter 4 concerning the Gentile. So let us consider
the means of their receiving the adoption of son. Now here in the metaphor of It
is simply when the heir child reaches the appointed age of
the father, then he is freed from the stern pedagogues oversight
and discipline. When at the set time, the tutorship
comes unto an end and the mature son is given access to the inheritance
of the father. But freedom from the law as a
tutor or guide or governor requires redemption from it in the incarnation
of the Son of the living God, in becoming incarnate, in becoming
man, and redeeming them from under the curse of the law. Redeeming them at the time God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, as we read
in Galatians. And Galatians 4, 5, to redeem
them that were under the law, so that we might, in order that,
to this particular end, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. Now let's be sure that we view
the whole running thought and overall thought of Paul in verses
3 through verse 5 together. The two things in verse 4, made
of a woman, made under the law, so that his true humanity in
being made under the law can redeem them from their situation
and secure their freedom from the condemnation and the rigorous
oversight and restriction of the law that they might receive
the full adoption of sons in verse 6 and in verse 7. And in those two verses, because
you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your
heart. He calls it the spirit of adoption,
whereby you cry, Abba, Father. You will find the expositor jousting
with one another. where Paul intends this as proof
of sonship or result of sonship in the sending of the Spirit
into them, if possible, it might be decided contextually. If we were right, that Paul describes
the Jew brought from under the tutor of the law, then we can
see the nature of the blessing. And the spirit in full measure
is a part of their emancipation from the tutor. And after mature
sonship have been formed in them feelings of sonship and of adoption. that they feel themselves the
spiritual sons and daughters of God, which means that they
are no longer slaves, they are no longer servants, they are
no longer as children under a tutor, but have realized heirship, becoming
sons, being sons, heirs, which is better than to be a child
in subjection to a stern pedagogue, an unyielding pedagogue, or to
liberty as mature son. Which one of them is the better
state or condition? Well, the application and we're
done. If the law be a part of the covenant
and promise to Abraham, it could not be removed. But the promise
to Abraham predates the law so that it cannot be a part of the
covenant since no man addeth thereto. And why do so many,
why do so many in Christendom today desire to be again under
the law. Why do so many desire and try
to put themselves under the law, under again the stern pedagogue,
instead of in that wonderful liberty of the gospel of Jesus
Christ our Lord? We have received the adoption
of sons Wherefore, you are no more servant, but sons, fully
adopted, fully enjoying the manifestation and the privilege of sonship. Thank God for that. brought out
from under our former condition of bondage into the liberty of
the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. If you would
stand again before Mount Sinai You will be knee-deep in lava,
but to stand before the cross and before Christ, you are full
of grace and full of truth. And which of them is the better?