All right, if you take your Bibles
now and turn me to Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three. I've
entitled this message the purpose of the law. The purpose of the
law begin our reading in verse 19, Paul said, wherefore. Then
serveth the law. It was added because of transgressions. 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 a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promise
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But, here's the reason, but the
scriptures have concluded all under sin, 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 unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after the faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster, for you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you has been baptized
into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek,
There's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ,
then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to what? Promise. Heirs according to the
promise. Now, we have been going over
this chapter very detailed. The apostle before this sets
forth a clear distinction, a clear distinction of two different
covenants, two different covenants, the law, the covenant of the
law, and the covenant of grace, the will and testament of God. Now, the covenant of the law
is a contractual covenant where two parties are engaged in one
goal. both must accomplish their part
in order for that contract to be valid. So the law was given by God to
man, it promises life. To who? Only those who obey the
law. Only those who are perfectly
obedient to the law. And it curses everyone that does
not continue constantly in obedience to the law. Verse 10. Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things. All things written
in the book of the law to do them. Not just to give lip service
as the Pharisees did. Not just to do them outwardly,
but those things were the thoughts, the motives, the intents of the
heart were to be obeyed constantly. And the law then demands that
if you fail in this contract, eternal death is the promise
of the law. The second kind of covenant was
the covenant of a will or testament. Now, all the gifts that were
purposed of the testator. Paul uses that analogy of a man
who writes a last will and testament. If a man decides to freely give
his inheritance to whomever he will, he writes it out. It's
based on no merit of the beneficiaries. The testator then is fully responsible
for all the covenant promises. And the beneficiary, what is
the, in this contract, what is the responsibility of a beneficiary
in a last will and testament? Simply just receiving it. That's
it. There's no work to be done for
it. There's no merit to have it. Even so, God's testament,
God's will and testament decreed that we should have all the blessings
of Abraham. That we should come through only
Jesus Christ. That he would obtain it, he would
purchase it by his own faith and then by the power and grace
of God Those who are beneficiaries, you and me, we receive it. We
receive it. So in verse 16 through 18, Paul
testifies that the promises that are in the testament of God are
made to the seed. Look at that. Now to Abraham
and to his seed were the promises made. He doesn't say seeds as
many but one. As of one, the seed which is
Christ. So to whom were these promises
made? To whom were these promises given? They were given to Christ. They were given to the seed.
And why were these promises given to the seed? because he alone
was to be responsible to obtain these promises. All the promises
of God, eternal life, righteousness, peace, justification, sanctification,
wisdom, all of these things, Christ must accomplish these
things. That's what it means. The promise was made to the seed.
He became responsible. Responsible. So he is responsible not only
to obtain the promises, but to apply it. You see, the beneficiaries,
we had no we had no power in ourselves to receive it. And
so this is part of the promise. The promise also included power
to receive it. The grace of God in the new birth
was part of the promise, Jesus said this, all that the father
giveth me. What are they going to do? They
are going to come to me. And when they come to me, I'm
not going to cast them out. Why? Because I came to do the
will of the Father and I'm not going to lose one of them, he
said. So then, just as a last will
and testament, when a man writes that last will and testament
and he seals it, nothing can be added to it and nothing can
be taken from it. even so with the will and testament
of God. It has been sealed. God has sealed
this testament and nothing can add to or take away from this
covenant. It is an eternal covenant. It
is an eternal will and testament of God. So the law, the covenant
of merit, that contractual law being 430 years after the promise
was given or revealed, That's what Paul says in verse
17, he says, Now this I say, that the covenant which was confirmed
before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and
thirty years after, it cannot disannul it. It cannot disannul
it. His promise can by no means,
the law is by no means added to or subtracted from the will
and testament of God. What effect then does the law
have on the promise? What effect does the law have
on the promise? What part does the law play in this covenant
promise? The answer is nothing. The promise
was made in eternity. It was given in revelation 430
years before the law. When the law came in, what did
that do? Nothing. It added nothing to
the promise. It affected the promise in no
way. It did not disannul it. God didn't
say, well, that's not, you know, that was a covenant I made and
now I'm changing it. No, that's not what God did.
So the only reasonable question Paul's going to ask and he's
going to answer. If the law has nothing to do
with the promise, what's its purpose? Why did God give the
law? Look at verse 19, our text. Wherefore,
because the law has no purpose in our salvation, wherefore then
serveth the law? If law has no place in justification,
then why did God give the law? What was its purpose? He even
answers it. Scripture is wonderful. You don't
have to guess. We don't get, wherefore then
serveth the law? And there's a blank page. No,
we got an answer. We have an answer. Look at it. It was added because of what? Transgression. Transgression. It was superimposed not to the
covenant of grace. It was not added to the work
of Christ. As some supposed in order to
sanctify us, that's not what the purpose of the law is to
sanctify us. No, as much as Christ is my righteousness,
He's my sanctification. As much as Christ is my wisdom
and my redemption, Christ is my sanctification. The law was
not added to sanctify us. Otherwise, Abraham was not sanctified. The law has nothing to do with
our sanctification. Throw that out. You cannot add
the law or superimpose the law on the covenant of grace. That's
not what it's for. It doesn't have that purpose.
It's not the rule of the believer's life. Because we're naturally prone
to try to obey it. We're just the natural man in
us. is prone to try to look for some
evidence by our own obedience. And what do we turn to? The law
is perfect, so why not turn to that? Because it wasn't meant
for that. Not meant for your sanctification
or rule of a believer's life. It was added because of transgression.
It was given for the express purpose of this, that sin might
appear exceeding sinful. Now, sin was sinful before the
law, but when the law was given, it magnified what sin really
is. That's all it did. Go to Romans chapter 7. Paul
uses his own experience, his own experience to testify of
this. Look at verse 9. Paul says, I was alive without
the law once. Now was he really alive? Did
he have spiritual life? No. He perceived he had life. He said, I thought I was alive
once. But what happened? When the commandment came, Sin
revived and I died. When the law came in power, when
the law came in full revelation of what it was intended to do,
which was what? To revive sin, to expose it. He said, then what? I was dead.
I died. I realized I wasn't alive. I
was dead. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, what did he find? I found to be dead. When you read the law, is that
what you find? I find nothing but death there.
I have not obeyed that law at all. In my experience in my life,
I have not obeyed any of those commandments to perfection. Even
when I didn't lie, I didn't love the Lord my God with all my heart,
with all my soul, with all my strength. So what would that
do? If you don't tell a lie your
whole life, what does that do? Nothing, because you didn't love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength,
with all your mind, with all your soul. You didn't love your neighbors
yourself. You just didn't tell a lie. Big deal. You were still
guilty. And he found it to be death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and
by it slew me. The law, because of sin, slew
him. That's what the law's purpose.
There's the purpose. Death, slaying men. That's the law's purpose. Why? Is something wrong with the law?
No. He says this, that wherefore the law is holy and the commandment
holy and just and good. There's nothing wrong with the
law. We're not speaking evil of the law. The law is perfect
in every way. So Paul asked this, was that
which is good made death an enemy? God forbid. What was the problem,
Paul? If it wasn't the law, but sin. Sin. That it might appear sin. working death in me by that which
is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. You see? Why was the law transposed? Why was it added? That sin might
become exceeding sinful. That we might see the full extent
of our guilt before God. The law is useful when it's used
lawfully. which is that sin should be seen
as it really is exceedingly grotesque and sinful. I am corrupt. By the law I see
that I am corrupt. I am incapable of obedience.
And that because of sin I can never be justified by works. You see the purpose of the law?
The purpose of the law can only condemn It cannot help. It can only judge. It can only
expose sin. Now, look back at your text. And get back over there. I was
wondering where it was. I'm still in Romans. You're not going to
find it there. I got to go back. Romans, go
back to Galatians 3. It says, Wherefore then, servant,
the law is added because of the transgression. Notice the duration.
He says this law has a duration till the seed should come to
whom the promises were made. The duration of the law was until
Christ should come. And the law served when the law
was given under Moses. It served that purpose for all
those many hundreds and hundreds of years until what? When Christ
came. When Christ came. The law is
now no more in effect. All of its sacrifices, its ordinances,
and its commandments are now forever removed. Why? Because the seed has come. Because
Christ has come, to whom all the promises were made. And you
remember in the early church, they were arguing about circumcision. That was a big deal in Galatians
and the church of Galatia, as well as the church in Jerusalem. Remember Paul and I believe Silas,
they came back and there was much conflict about this and
they were arguing. And this is what Peter said in
Acts chapter 15. He says, now, wherefore tempt
ye God? Listen, you want to go back under
the law? What are you doing? You're tempting God. to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear. But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. Those who are serving under that
dispensation of the law, how will they say? They were saved
the same way we are. Peter said, we were saved the
same way they are, by grace, through the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. When they were performing this law, what were
they doing? They were simply preaching the gospel. They were
declaring that Christ was going to come and die for our sins. The law exposed our sins, but
it showed also that Christ was to come and offer for us a sacrifice. And now that Christ has come,
that law is no longer necessary. It had a purpose. It had a purpose. It's no longer necessary. Over in Romans chapter 10, that's
what it is, Romans chapter 10. Now Paul, he's desiring his brethren
of Israel that they might be saved. He says, I bear them record,
they got a zeal. Man, ain't nobody try to obey the law more than
they do. I mean, they had a zeal. But
they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For
they being ignorant of God's righteousness, what do they do?
They go about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God for Christ. The righteousness
of God. Christ is the righteousness of
God. For Christ, the righteousness
of God is the end of the law for righteousness. To everyone
that believe it. To you that believe on Christ.
He is the end of the law. He is the fulfillment of the
law. You remember he said that, he
said, not one jot or one tittle of the law shall pass away till
what? All shall be fulfilled. And he, the promised seed, fulfilled
the law. He fulfilled the law. And so then, how then was this
law given? We see that this law had a purpose. to expose transgression. We see
that this law has a duration until Christ comes and fulfills
it. But notice how it was given.
It says, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Now the mediator of that covenant A mediator. A mediator is not
a mediator of one. In other words, there's got to
be two parties to mediate, right? If you have a mediator and he's
only one other party, he's not a mediator. But you have to have
two parties in disagreement and one to mediate in between them. That's what a mediator is. He
is an arbitrator. that stands between two parties.
So in the law, God is one of those parties. He is one of those
parties. He is the offended party. which stands to testify that
no man is reconciled to God by the law because none of us are
able to meet its demands. Moses mediated that law. But
you remember, when he came down from the mountain, he had to
veil his face. They were not able to look on
him. He was not a sufficient mediator of that covenant. So another question in verse
21, is the law against the promises of God? Is the law against the promise
of life? Is the law the cause of our death? Is the law the
obstacle to the promise? Is the law the obstacle to the
promises of God? He says, God forbid. It's not
an obstacle. Remember, it was just added to
expose the transgression. It had nothing to do with that
promise. It was not an obstacle. Matter
of fact, it was to show us that Christ was going to overcome
this law. He was going to fulfill it. God
forbid, for if there had been a law given, which should have
given life, verily righteousness should have come by the law.
In other words, if it was possible. If it was possible, God would
not have sent his son to die. If there was a law some way,
If there was somebody that could do that, then God would surely
not have sent his son into the world. But this was not possible. Why? Because of verse 22. The scripture
hath concluded this, all under sin. This is why it was not possible
for the law to help. It was not possible for us to
come to God by law. God is in no way contradicting
himself to give the promise and then to give the law. Because
they are completely different covenants, because we are all
under sin, the law was never purposed of God to give life. And by this, I want us to see
the absolute ruin then of man. This exposes the absolute ruin
that it was not possible that we should ever come to God by
our works. We were not only all under sin,
but all our being is under sin. Can you get a hold of that? You
know, the old Puritans used to divide the man into body, soul,
and spirit. Man has a body, a soul, and a
spirit. He also has a mind, a will, and affections, a heart. as a heart, a mind, and a will.
So then we know this, that the body, the soul, the spirit, the
mind, the will, and the heart are all under sin. This is what the law exposes,
that we are completely all under sin. The whole man is under sin. Now what it says in Isaiah chapter
1, it says the whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even
to the head there is no soundness, but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores that have not been closed, neither bound up nor mollified
with ointment." In other words, from head to toe we are full
of sin. This is why there's no way a
law could save us. Listen to the language. Before
the flood, God destroyed the entire world because of the weakness
of man. Listen what he said. This is
before the flood. God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth that every imagination of the thought. In other words, before it even
became a thought. Was only evil. Continually. That's what God said before the
flood. Well, preacher, those people, those people were really
bad. We got better since then. You know, Noah and his family,
they were the choicest ones, right? They were chosen. They
were saved. Eight people left on the face
of the earth. You know what God said after
the flood? Listen to this in Genesis 8,
21, after Noah had offered a sacrifice, which is picturing of Christ.
It was a sweet savor unto the Lord. And he said, the Lord said
in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for
man's sake. Why? Because the imaginations of man
harness evil from his youth. He said, I'm not going to do
it anymore because that's all they are. That's all they were
before the flood. That's all they're going to be
after the flood. Therefore, we cannot be justified
by the law. Even our righteousnesses are
corrupt. Isaiah said in Isaiah 64 6 that
all our righteousnesses, just lump them all together. Take
everything, peel off all the bad of something you've done
and just try to find that good little kernel and pile them all
together. You know what he says? All our
righteousnesses are his menstrual cloths. That's all good. I went to West Virginia, Scott
Richardson used to preach at that church, and that reminded
me of that saying that he said one time. He said, all our righteousnesses
are about as worthless as a warm bucket of spit. That's true. That's just who
we are. This is what the law is intended to do, to show us
that our righteousnesses are not sufficient. They're not sufficient. So why did God give the law saying
it cannot justify, it cannot mediate, it cannot reconcile
us to God? What can it do? By exposing our
sin and guilt. Look at verse 22. There's a law
against the promise of God, forbid. There been a law, surely that's
the way it should have been. But all, but the scripture included
all under sin for this purpose, that. You see, there's a purpose. There's a reason. There's no
hope by the law, well then why did he give it? Why does he just
expose sin? That the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Now you pay
attention to those prepositional phrases, of and in. Very important. You see the promise is by the
faith of Jesus Christ. It's his faith. It's his faithfulness. It's his righteousness. The promises
come by his work alone. That the promise might come by
the faith of Jesus Christ and then it's given to us who what? Believe. Now it's talking about
our faith. That's the evidence that it was ours. Is he gave
a faith. in order that the promise by
the faith of Jesus Christ should be given to them that believe.
By the revelation of God's grace, we see our sin and that the law
is by no means our help or deliverer. So the only means of salvation
and eternal life, which was the promise of God, was ordained
to be by the faith of Jesus Christ, by his obedience to the law alone. My friends, I'm going to heaven
because I have obeyed the law. in him as my federal head and
representative, just like Adam. Adam sinned, and the whole race
sinned in him. When Adam died, the whole race
died in him. Could you change that? People
don't like it. They hate it. They don't like
to hear it. But their hating it doesn't change the fact that
they weren't Adam. God put us in Adam. We all died in him. Even so, of God's elect, we were
all put in Christ by God. Now, what can change that? Did
you earn it? No. It was a free gift of God's mercy. He put us in Christ. But of God,
are you in Christ, Jesus? who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Why? He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. That's why. That all the
glory should belong to God. Christ, our substitute, obeyed
the law and are instead freely and without merit, without works,
without obedience. It is given to us who believe. The righteousness of God is given
to us. God forbid that any man should
think or teach that our believing has anything to do with fulfilling
this covenant. Our faith adds nothing to the
righteousness Christ merited. Faith is a gift of God itself. It's a gift of grace. Why do you still believe? You
that believe, why do you still believe? Because it is a gift
of God's grace. It is part of his covenant promises. So our faith has nothing to do
with that covenant. How often do we lean on our faith? And then wonder why we're so
anxious and fearful. Because our faith fluctuates. Our faith is constantly up and
down, just let the wind blow in the wrong direction and watch
your faith plummet to the ground. I'm so ashamed of my faith. I
dare not name it as any part of my merit before God. But I'm thankful for it. I'm
thankful he gives it. I'm thankful he supplies it.
The promise is given to those who believe. But it was fulfilled
and comes to us by the faith of Jesus Christ. It was Christ
who was made surety, made mediator of the better covenant than that
of Moses, an everlasting eternal covenant. And it was fully and
completely conditioned upon his obedience and death. Go to Hebrews
chapter 10. I think this is the clearest
revelation of that, that how Christ, being our high priest,
our representative, has perfectly fulfilled all that was required
of us. Hebrews 10 and verse 5, he said,
Wherefore, when he cometh, who is this? The seed. Christ, the
one to whom the promises were made. When he, the surety, the
mediator of a better covenant should come into the world. He
saith this, sacrificing, sacrifice, and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body thou hast prepared for me, and burnt offerings and
sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. What he's talking
about? He's talking about the law. He said, look, God, I know
you have had no pleasure in these sacrifices. I confess that there is not one
sin that has ever been removed by the sacrifices of blood of
bulls and goats. You're not pleased with that,
but a body you have prepared for me. So what for? That I might make a sacrifice.
That's why Christ was given a body, so that he might make a sacrifice.
Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written
of me. That's a powerful statement. In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. Man, if we read anything in this
book that's not of Christ, we misread it. You can get a lot
of history out of this book. You can get a lot of wisdom out
of this book. And that's not what it's for. It's a volume of the book is
written of him. Every time a lamb was slain, it was pointing to
him. Every time an offering was made, every ritual, every ceremony,
every sacrifice in the law was ordained to picture him. The tabernacle, the furniture
in the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the priests, all of it speak
of him. The volume of the book is written
of me. And this is the volume of the
book. To do thy will, O God. That's what he came for. To do
the will of God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and burn, offering and offering for sin, thou wouldst not neither
add pleasure therein which were offered by the law. Then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. What does he do? He takes
away the first, that he may establish the second. That's what we just
read in our text. Till the seed should come. There
was a covenant that was ordained, sacrifices in order to picture
his sacrifice. But when he came, what do you
need that for? Often, when I was separated from
Cheryl when we were young, I carried a picture. Carried a picture
in my wallet. Every time I wanted to see her,
I would pull out the picture. But when she came, what do I
need the picture for? Christ has come, what do you
need the picture for? It's done away with. Establishes that second
covenant. By the which will we are what?
sanctified, sanctified through our obedience of the law. Is
that what it says? That's what men wanted to say.
That's not what it says. I was sanctified through the
offering of the body of Christ. How often? How often did I need
to be sanctified? Once for all. When were you sanctified? When were you sanctified? You
were sanctified when he died. Your sins were forever put away,
never to be mentioned in the sight of God again. Astounding. Absolutely amazing. Scripture says in that day and
at that time the sins of Israel, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for and there shall be none. None. How many sins do you see? How many sins do you see? All the mountains of sin that
I see. How many does God see? Because
that's really the only one that matters, doesn't it? Scripture says, I see none. For I pardoned them that I reserved. Pardoned. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Christ once for all. Every priest in
the daily ministering, oftentimes the same sacrifices. and never
take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, sat down on the right hand of God. That's
so wonderful in the law. There was never a chair inside
the tabernacle. There's never a place for the
man to sit. He was never finished. His work was never done. But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice of himself to God,
he sat down forever Done. It's complete. It's finished.
The work is done. No more work to do. Yeah, what does our flesh want
to do? Wants to work. Wants to have some kind of merit,
something to set ourselves above others. Or give ourselves some
comfort that we belong to God. The only comfort I have, I belong
to God as I was in Christ. That's the only comfort I have.
That I was sanctified in Christ. My sins were removed in Christ. My righteousness is in Christ. He sat down on the right hand
of God henceforth expecting till his enemies made his footstool
for by his one offering he had perfected forever. Them that
are sanctified. Sanctified once for all set apart
by the Holy Father in election set apart by the Holy Spirit
in the new birth and set apart for the service of God, we are
sanctified. And what do you do to sanctify
yourself? What do you do? Do you have any part? So when we see that the fulfillment
of righteousness, redemption, sanctification, eternal life,
peace with God is by the faith of Christ. By the faith of Christ,
verse 23. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up until the faith which should afterwards
be revealed." Now whose faith is Paul speaking of? Ours? Is he talking about the grace
of faith by which we receive the promise? No. He's talking
about the faith of Christ. He's still on that subject. I
want you to get that. The faith of Christ is the subject. It's the premise of the whole
covenant. It hinges on the faith of Christ. There's all the promises
of God hinge on the faith of Christ. And he said we were kept
under the law until the faith of Christ has been revealed. So before Christ came and by
his faith accomplished justification of the heirs of promise, Paul
says we were kept under the law, the Jews, the nation of Israel.
before Christ came were kept under that law. The word kept
refers to as a guard in prison. You know, it was like they couldn't
see the whole. They only saw small glimpses. It's like being in a prison.
You just have one little window, one little window of light, and
it's not much. I tell you what they had, they
were given of God and they believed in Christ. But look what happens
now. When Christ came, the sail was
open. The light flooded the dungeon
room. The day star has arisen and the
shadows are now fled away. The faith of Christ, when he
came and revealed it by his obedience and by his death, we are no longer
under that law. We were enslaved. This is true
of us in our natural condition and spiritual sense. We were
kept under that law in condemnation. But when God in grace revealed
the faith of Christ to our hearts, we know this. When God commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, He has shined in our hearts to
give us the light and the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. We were like Paul, we thought
we were alive once. We thought we were doing well.
We thought we were making, we were trying to make our peace
with God. But when the law came, when it served its purpose, what
happened? Sin revived and we died. That instrument we thought,
that religion we thought was helping us was our death. But
then Christ was revealed to us, and now we have been set free. The light of his countenance,
it exposed our filth and our guilt, and we have fled to Christ
for refuge. I like that picture of Lazarus.
What a picture that is of us. Lazarus was dead. wrapped in
his grave clothes until Christ said, Lazarus, come forth. And what could Lazarus do? You know, do you suppose that
Christ was asking a question, Lazarus, come forth? Lazarus,
will you please, if you will? It was a command, wasn't it?
It was a command accompanied by power. And then when you know
it was power because Lazarus came forth. Now, I'm telling
you, they wrapped him up like a mummy. They had that linen
cloth all wrapped up around his grave clothes. He's been dead
for four days. I don't know how he came out
of that tomb. His feet were bound. How did
he? He must have floated. I don't
know. But he did. He came forth. It was a miracle.
And then what'd Christ say? What did Christ say after he
was alive? Loosen, let him go. You know, he says to the heirs
of promise, loosen and let him go. Free from the law, O happy
condition. Jesus is bled and there's remission. Cursed by the law and bruised
by the fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Once for all. So we see that
the purpose of the law. What is it? That sin might be
exceedingly sinful. That Christ used as a schoolmaster
until Christ reveals himself. And then when Christ reveals
himself, Paul said we're no longer under schoolmaster. You know,
this has the idea of children in that day. They were under
a tutor, right? These children, if you were a
wealthy family, you were raised under a tutor. You were heir
of everything. You owned it all, but yet you
were still subject to that tutor, that schoolmaster, until you
came of age. And when you came of age, you
were no longer under that master. Matter of fact, he was under
you. You're no longer under that. That's what it is for the law.
We're no longer under the law, friends. Not that the law is
evil, the law is good, but the law is not intended to save you.
It's not intended to sanctify you. It's not intended to redeem
you. It only exposes guilt. Which
leads us where? To Christ. And once we're there,
We don't go put on the grave clothes anymore. I see, I see believers trying
to pick up the grave clothes. Trying to put them on. Why? When he told Lazarus, loose him
and let him go. Where'd he go? You know where
Lazarus went? Next time we read Lazarus, he's
sitting right next to Christ. When God says loose him and let
him go, where do you want to go? You want to go back to the
old way? Sit by Christ. Stay right here. That's where you want to go. This is, Paul says this, you
are, you're heirs, you're heirs. Wherefore then, wherefore the
law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith. Now, justified by whose faith?
Again, what are we talking about? The faith of who? Your faith? Faith of Christ. Remember, that's
the subject. We're justified by the faith
of Christ. But after the faith has come,
We are no longer under school master. For you are all the children
of God by faith. Now listen, in Jesus Christ. See that? Now he's saying, what's
the evidence of all this being yours? Faith in Jesus Christ. You believe in Christ. You trust
in Christ. You rest on Christ. That means this. You're an heir
of all things. Everything God promised in that
testament that covenant is yours What the law have to do with
it What works have to do with it By the faith of Christ and our
faith is in Christ Your heir I pray to God help
us and keep us from these foolish ideologies of trying to put us
back under the bondage of the law in any, listen, in any measure. Why do you think we do not mention
tithing in this place? Where's that belong? That's a
law. That's a law. Don't mention anything
about tithing to me. Might as well get, might as well
start circumcising your sons. My will start getting an offering
and trying to make sacrifices. It's all under the law. We don't
do any of that. God, keep us from falling for
any of that garbage. And don't think we're above it.
Peter fell. Peter, an apostle of Christ,
he was eating that ham sandwich and ran over there to those other
guys because he was ashamed. He said, man, I wasn't obeying
the law. What does that have to do with
it? Nothing. Nothing. Christ is all. Christ is all. I don't think I can say it enough.
Christ is all. He's all. Stay and be dismissed in prayer.