It is good to be back with you all again Let's look this morning Our Bible study in the book of Galatians Galatians chapter 3 Galatians chapter 3 We'll begin in verse 1 Oh foolish Galatians. I who hath bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. This only would I learn of you, received ye the spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. Are ye so foolish, having begun in the spirit? Are ye now made perfect by the flesh, having suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain. He, therefore, that ministereth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Ye know, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, for seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, so it be but a man's covenant Yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and to his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was 430 years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, so the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now I want to look at the question that Paul asked the Galatians in this third chapter in verse 19. And the question is this, wherefore then serveth the law? What is the purpose of God's holy law? Why was it given to mankind? Now, when we speak of the law, we're referring to the commandments, the specific commandments that God gave to the nation of Israel concerning how to obtain righteousness and how to be seen as perfectly holy before that law and before the all-seeing eye of a triune God. And in order to achieve that level of righteousness, we know that the law must be kept in every way. in word and thought and in deed. Turn over with me, hold your place here in Galatians. Turn over with me to the book of Leviticus, chapter 26. The book of Leviticus, chapter 26. The reason I want to look at this is it is a, it tells us how God deals with sin and disobedience. He gave this to the nation of Israel. in Leviticus 26, if I can find it here. Starting in verse, well actually, let me see here. Yeah, Leviticus 26. In the first 13 verses, God gives his commandments to Israel. First 13 verses of 26. But then starting in verse 14, This is what I want to read. God warns them of the dire consequences of disobedience to his word, disobedience to his law. And starting in verse 14, we read this. But if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments, and if you shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that you will not do all my commandments, but that you break my covenant. I also will do this unto you. I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning of goo that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of the heart. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you, and ye shall flee when none pursueth. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your haven as iron, your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass. And your strength shall be spent in vain, and your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if you are contraried unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. And as we read through this, the Lord promises terrible, terrible judgments on Israel. And all the way through verse 33 of this chapter. Now God warned them what would happen in plain language if they disobeyed him, and it's a terrifying picture indeed. These verses serve as a warning. of how God will deal with rebellion and unbelief. And there is not even a hint of mercy in any of these verses, only judgment and wrath. But despite these, these warnings that we find God gave to Israel, we find them again and again and again throughout the scriptures, failing to keep these commandments, willfully disobeying. And we know the reason why they did that, because the scriptures are clear. The keeping of the law is an impossibility for any son of Adam. We know this. The scriptures tell us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It tells us there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no not one. And James warned us that if you offend in a single issue of the law, you're guilty of breaking the entire law of God, every single commandment. But there is a means, thankfully, whereby wayward sinners can attain this perfection that is demanded by the law. Turn over with me to the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews, chapter eight. Now Hebrews has much to say concerning the old and the new covenants that God made with his people. And in Hebrews chapter eight, starting in verse eight, we read this, we'll read through verse 14. For finding fault with them, he said, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts, And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities. will I remember no more. In that he saith the new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Verse 12 of this chapter, to me, is one of the most astonishing verses in all of scripture. And there's a reason I say that. Here we find the Lord God, after what we read in Leviticus, of the pure punishments that would come upon Israel, we read here in verse 12, that the Lord God will be merciful to our unrighteousness. not our good works, not that we have any, but he promises to be merciful to our unrighteousness. How can that possibly be after what we just read in Leviticus? Paul told the Galatians how this comes about in the third chapter of Galatians. Turn back there a second if you'd like. Third chapter of Galatians. In verse 16, this is how Paul said this comes about. how our God can be merciful to our unrighteousness. Paul told them, knowing, in verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. The scriptures tell us that we're justified by faith, that we are saved by faith, but only if that faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith must be grounded in the one man who ever kept God's law perfectly. And he was able to do so because he was the very God who gave that law to Israel. We know Christ is God, always has been. And this is what is involved in what we call the blessed doctrine of substitution. The Lord told his disciples in Matthew 5, verse 17, he said, think not that I am come to destroy the law of the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill, he said. For I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Fulfilled by the only one capable of doing so, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now had Christ not kept the law perfectly, had he not fulfilled it perfectly, he could not be that perfect sacrifice to take away our sin. What did God tell Moses concerning any sacrifice that was offered to him? It said this, it must be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish in it. Christ Jesus is called the spotless Lamb of God. He's described as being holy, harmless, and undefiled. He was the perfect sacrifice to God. But even though our Lord Jesus Christ was a perfect sacrifice, we knew nothing of any of this until God put us under the preaching of the gospel, the true gospel of Christ and Him crucified. The scriptures are clear. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, the preached word of God. spoken by a sinful man to other sinful men. Scott Richardson, I don't know how many of you knew Scott, he said this, and it's good, he said, I'm just a nobody who wants to tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody. And that is the means that Scott's chosen method of spreading the gospel. through the preaching of Christ crucified, through what Paul called the foolishness of preaching. It's looked upon as foolishness by this world. But how is it that the law comes into play in the salvation of an awakened sinner? Paul wrote to the Romans, starting in verse 19 in chapter three, he said, now we know that what things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore, Paul wrote, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Before God saves us, he teaches us what sin is and shows us that we are eager practitioners thereof. Paul made it clear in the sixth chapter of Romans that we are not among those who are under the law when he wrote in verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you. And why is that? For ye are not under the law, but under grace, under the new covenant where God will have mercy on our unrighteousness. He told the Ephesians, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, not by the keeping of the law. Now Paul addresses this issue of the law and the believer in depth in this book of Galatians. And he goes into great detail concerning the lost sinner and the law of God, and as I just mentioned, he told them that a man is not justified by the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. He further said in verse 21, if you're still in Galatians 3, if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. There was no need for Christ to die if man could attain righteousness by keeping the law. None whatsoever. But the law cannot save, we know this, it only shines a bright spotlight on our shortcomings and shows us that we are under a curse from God. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. When it comes to trying to earn merit by our works, the law of God only brings one thing, a curse. that Paul doesn't leave us in this hopelessness, for then he writes in verse 13 of chapter three in this book of Galatians, for Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made, by the Father, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. And then Paul asks this question that we read at the beginning of this in verse 19. Wherefore serveth the law? Why was it given to men? To what end? To what purpose? And he answers that in verse 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. that we might be justified by faith. Now, these three words, justified by faith, are also found in two verses that you're probably very familiar with in Romans 3.28, which reads, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And Romans 1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Some believe that that verse also could be read, therefore being justified, comma, by faith, we have peace with God our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this word schoolmaster where Paul says the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. This word schoolmaster is pretty much just another word for teacher. And a teacher is one who instructs others in matters not previously known. One who reveals things to and instructs others. This is what the law does for the awakened sinner. It instructs him of two critical facts. Number one, that he is unable to keep the law and is therefore condemned by that very law. And number two, that there is one who kept that law perfectly and is able to impute his righteousness to elect sinners, those chosen to be vessels of his mercy and grace. Now, when God begins a work of grace in the heart of a lost sinner, he shows that sinner that he has nothing in and of himself to recommend him to God. He is shown by the schoolmaster, the law, that everything in which he previously placed his hope of salvation is worthless. He is taught, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. He is taught that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he has saved us. How? By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. He is taught this. We are all as an unclean thing. That's hard to learn when you used to depend on your goodness, supposed goodness, and righteousness, and then the Lord teaches you we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We do all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. taking us away from anything good or righteous, anything holy, taking us away to a place where we had nothing to look forward to but wrath and judgment, to a place devoid of any hope whatsoever of being saved from the wrath that God taught us now that we so richly deserve. But thank God he does not leave his chosen people in that place forever. He comes to where we are, polluted in our own blood, and tenderly embraces us and gives us saving faith, that gift of God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He shows us that there is hope to be had. And that hope is found in our great substitute, that Lamb of God who perfectly kept and fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law. His spirit comes to us and shows us that there is a way to escape condemnation and that we are sure that that justification and that escape from condemnation is in the man called Christ Jesus. Turn over to Ezekiel with me. I want to read this. The book of Ezekiel. Right after Jeremiah. The book of Ezekiel chapter 16. This tender, loving kindness of our God is described in this 16th chapter of Ezekiel, starting in verse 6. And when I pass by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased, and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breast are fashioned, and thy hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I pass by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Verse 14, and thy renown went forth among the heathens for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. Through his comeliness, we are made pure in the sight of the law, made to be fit to become heirs of God and join heirs with Christ. God's Spirit then shows us that blessed truth that we find in Romans 10, verse four. For Christ is the E-N-D, end of the law. for righteousness to everyone that believeth. This word end, it means the point in time when an action or event ceases or is completed. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. What a perfect description of what our blessed savior has done for his people, concerning the hold of the law on those people. He has brought the dominion of the law over his people to an end. It has ceased to have any effect whatsoever on our eternal fate because he perfectly kept all its statutes and thought were indeed. His perfection becomes our perfection. His comeliness becomes our comeliness. His obedience to the law becomes our obedience to the law. His perfect righteousness becomes our perfect righteousness. Wherefore serveth the law? It has served its purpose in the life of every redeemed sinner. It has shown us our sin and how far we fall short of keeping it, keeping the demands of the law. And it has served as our schoolmaster to bring us to the feet of Christ. where we find all that is required for full and free salvation, teaching us this marvelous truth that we just read, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Thank you for your attention.