How about seeing if you can find
a book in the New Testament in your Bible called Galatians?
Okay? Book of Galatians. And I know we've been here recently,
I mean real recently, Galatians chapter 3. There are some wonderful
statements in this book of Galatians, but there are also some awful
ones. that would condemn the vast majority
of what is called the Christian religion in the year of 2013. So what I propose to do is reread
this chapter, which I did, I think. I can't keep Wednesdays and Sundays
straight anymore, so I don't know exactly when it was, but
just a very few weeks ago at that. I want to begin at verse
1 in chapter 3, and then come back and look at this from more
than one perspective to see if we understand the difference
between the gospel and the law. I think my title actually read,
The Law and the Gospel. Before we read, may we pray. Lord, God of heaven and earth, nowhere on this earth does a
poor sinner like me, understands that without divine
aid and help from heaven, nothing a man can say, no matter
how crudely or sophisticated these words might be, They are
without your Spirit and your blessing upon this precious gospel
of your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Lord, if you do not
come and take up your own cause in our own hearts and minds, we shall never learn what it
is to trust and rest in the precious Lord Jesus Christ. I bow before you this day. You can make me a fool, make
me anything you want me to be, but Lord, let me please, by your divine help, by your
Holy Spirit, help me to preach the gospel
that is all grace, the gospel that is completely finished.
Nothing can be added to it of any kind. We beg now for your presence
in our midst. You take your words in this book
and speak them as you see fit in power to our souls. We beg
in our precious Savior's name. Amen. Chapter 3, verse 1. I can't spend much time on background
and stuff like that because I'm already worried about having any time
to preach after I finish my introduction or two. The setting is this. In the province
of Galatia, there are several churches. Nobody knows how many
there were. I doubt more than you could count
on one hand, perhaps. I don't know. But Paul is writing
this letter, having been informed that Jews from Jerusalem who
claim not only to be followers of Christ, but followers of Moses
and the law. And they've come to these congregations
in this province of Galatia, and they're telling them that
you must not only believe and trust Christ for your salvation,
but you must obey the Ten Commandments. Well, this Bible everywhere tells
anybody that's got a little bit of sense that ain't a human being
on this earth right now that can keep one of these Ten Commandments,
let alone the ten. And there's a purpose for that.
Therefore, the law and the gospel do have a relationship with each
other, and we'll try to discover what that is. Here's how Paul
puts it in the third chapter of Galatians. O foolish Galatians,
who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before
whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth among you?"
How does Paul know this? Because he and Barnabas carried
the gospel to these people. This only would I learn of you. Did you receive the Spirit by
the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, he answers
his own question now, are you so foolish, having begun in the
Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Are you telling
me some physical act that I do with my outward man can change
what I am on the inside with God? Never in a million years. Have you suffered so many things
in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore that ministers to
you the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and works miracles among Does
he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Which is it? The works of the
law or the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God
and it was accounted or imputed to him for righteousness, how did Abraham become righteous?
It wasn't by keeping the law. It was by believing the revelation
of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is Abraham's righteousness. Verse 7, Know you therefore that
they who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham? You've got to catch this now.
Abraham lived a long time before Paul wrote this letter. I think
it was somewhere around 1800 years maybe. A long time. Abraham experienced this before
Moses was ever born. And yet it says that God counted
him righteous. and a righteous Redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 8, And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen, or the Gentiles, through faith
preached, God preached before. Before what? before there was
any law, before anybody had ever even heard of one of the Ten
Commandments, were all of them put together. Preach before the
gospel unto Abraham, saying, In you shall all nations be blessed. And we're going to find out how
that is possible in just a second. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful," my margin says, or believing, Abraham. For as many as are of the works
of the law," no matter if it's a person who believes they can
only keep one of them or if they keep five or ten or whatever,
look at this statement now. As many as are of the works of
the law, doesn't matter what denomination, doesn't matter
what religion, if your God is giving you his grace, his mercy,
his salvation, his Son, because of something you do, then you
better cut this verse out of your Bible. as are of the works of the law,
are under the curse." The curse? For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continues 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, no human being can be justified by the law, in the
sight of God it is evident. How come? Because the just, the
righteous, shall live by faith. Translated, that means the righteous
shall live by Christ. And this ain't the first time
that statement's in our Bibles either. It's in the book of Habakkuk
and the Old Testament for one, and I think another place even
besides that. And the law is not of faith. But the man that does them, that
attempts to meet God based on something he's done, and usually
something he's not done, he's not robbed any banks, he's not
killed anybody, and all such mess is that. The man that does them, this
is his only hope. He has hereby cut himself off
from any appeal to the Lord Jesus if he's planning to meet God
on the basis of what he's done. There ain't no hope for him.
None at all. The man that does them, our text
says, shall live in them, but I think if you could understand
my meaning spiritually, it means the man that does them shall
die in them. It's like committing suicide
of the soul. All right, verse 13. Christ has
redeemed us. Not tried to, he has. How much
redemption has he accomplished? Every last single bit of it.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? Being made a curse for us when
he went to the tree. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangs on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham,
remember what we read earlier, the blessing of Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ Boy, those Judaizers
loved that. Oh, man, they hate Gentiles worse
than they hate the devil. That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith, that is, through
Christ. Brethren, I speak after the manner
of men. Though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, if it's recorded at the courthouse and
notarized, we would say. No man, I know the King James
says, dis annulleth, but I'm telling you it means no man annulls
this agreement. It ain't up for our approval
or our rejection. Everybody in this whole wide
world can object and it ain't going to make any difference. No man annuls or adds thereto. Whatever is in this covenant
has been in there since before time ever was. And it cannot
be changed, it cannot be altered, it cannot be removed. It's there
to stay. Because God did it. Verse 16, Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises made. Now watch this statement. If you're not familiar with this,
you need to catch this. Now to Abraham and his seed,
and no S on that seeds now, just seed, the promise were the promises
made. He said not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one. And guess who that one seed of
Abraham is? It is our blessed Lord Jesus
Christ. Hallelujah. And here's what it means. Verse
17, and this I say, the reason I'm saying this, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, before what? Before we were born? We won't
even have heard of. But I'll tell you who knew us.
God knew us and He gave us to Christ if we belonged to Him
way back before this world ever was. This I say that the covenant
that was confirmed before what? Before the giving of the law. Before the Ten Commandments.
Before the laws of sacrifice. Before the laws of ceremony. Those things had never been so
much as heard of. And there were to be a lot of
centuries before they ever came to light in this world. Let me start again, verse 17.
In this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of
God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after or later, It cannot, here's that word misused,
it's not in your dictionary under dis-annul, it's in there under
annul. So I'm just trying to tell you this means that nobody
can tamper with this covenant. It is fixed and it's fixed eternally. And anybody in his right mind
don't want to touch it. We need it just like it is. All
grace. all Christ and none of my doing. The law which was 430 years later
cannot annul that it should make the promise of none effect. For
if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. You can't blend these two covenants.
They are mutually exclusive. For if Wait a minute, I have
to finish that verse. That it should make the promise
of none effect, for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more
of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore
then serves the law? What is the purpose of the law?
I'm going to try to answer that question this morning in our
opening statements. So I'll skip over it right now. Wherefore, then, serves the law.
What is the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions,
until the seed should come. Now, we've already read about
that seed, and that seed is Christ. Until the seed is come, to whom
the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the
hand of a mediator. And there's only one mediator
between God and men, and that's the man, the God-man, Christ
Jesus. Now, a mediator is not a mediator
of one. If there's only one person, what
are you going to mediate with? You've got to have some corresponding
person. A mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid! For if there had
been a law given which could have given life truly righteousness,
it would 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. Ah, preacher, I believe Muslims
are saved. I don't care what you believe. Well, I do, too.
I'm sorry to hear that if that's the case, which I don't believe
you, because I think I know you guys a little better than this.
Of course, I might be the one to turn out that you don't know.
I've only been here just a few days. It seems like yesterday. Where was I? Twenty-two. But the Scripture
has concluded all of Adam's race under sin, that the promise by
faith not in, of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, now you
remember this, you ain't that old. Before faith came, we were
kept under the law. Hey, we didn't know there was
anything but the law. We were shut up unto the faith
which should afterward be revealed. How do we find out about faith?
It's a gospel revelation. You can't figure it out. was our schoolmaster. We leave
out the three words, to bring us. They don't belong here. It only confuses the issue, and
it's confusing enough. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ. The law was intended to drive
us to Christ. Once the Lord gives us a little
bit of clear sight, we find out this law business ain't for me.
There's got to be something else. And it is. It is. To bring us, or leaving out the
to bring us, our schoolmaster unto Christ that we might be
justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
now are you listening? After faith is come, we ain't
no longer under a schoolmaster. And this schoolmaster is not
a teacher. He's like a truant officer. He enforces attendance. Believers are not under the law. But after faith has come, verse
25 again, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For you are all
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many
as you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,
and if you be Christ's, if you belong to Christ, then are you
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. My, my, my, my,
how wonderful that is. How wonderful. I want to tell you about seven
different things here in regard to enabling us to understand,
I hope, somewhat better what we've just read and some remarks
that we've made. Are you a child of God? Sometimes I don't think I am. But that ain't right now. I think
I am. A vast, how big, how large, I
don't know. If I had to guess a percentage,
I'd say 90% of the inhabitants on this globe do not know God. I hope I'm wrong. But it's so
far from the majority, it's pathetic. And all these people lay claim
to being children of God. Don't they? Sure they do. Everybody, almost. I know there
are some that don't. But the vast, vast majority call
God their Father. Now if you ask them how that
happened, you know, how did they come by having God as their Father,
they may not be able to give you any explanation whatsoever.
They would likely tell you of something they did for God and
He just, you know, returned the favor, something like that. But
that ain't it. That's not it. We have the wealthy
who live in luxury and extravagance. And when you go to Pennsylvania,
we have the Amish living in poverty and simplicity. And I do mean
simplicity. In our culture, the athlete who
worships his sports god every Sunday and the Christian Sabbath
keeper in worship both claim to be children of God. the politician in his office
of power and plenty, and the prisoner in his cell for murder.
Both of them claim to be on their way to heaven, and God is their
Father. The Catholic bishops, the cardinals,
the pope in their robes and rituals and idols, and the simple mountaineer who
sings in his church I'll fly away, O glory, I'll
fly away." They are all planning to go to heaven when they die. The freewheeler who is saved
by what he does, he believes the same thing about himself
that he is on his way to glory. And the Calvinist who is saved
by what God does, he believes the same thing. Now, believing
Calvinism is not salvation, I warn you. All we've got is the doctrine. It's who the doctrine is about.
It's about Christ. It's about Christ. The legalist
who's wrapped up in ceremony and law and rules and regulations
believes that he has God's favor and therefore he's God's child.
And the fundamentalist. who kneels and sheds tears at
his altar every Sunday. Both of them believe they find
God where they want to find Him, and they are equally sure of
His presence. And then there are those who
die in the world and those who die in the church. Both look
forward to the sweet by-and-by and to meeting the Lord in the
air. And preachers are a dime a dozen that will preach you
right into heaven for your funeral service if you want him. You
just let him know that you want him to do that, and they'll oblige
you. Of course, they expect some little
change of hands, you know, along the way. So how come, why is the law given? I believe every last one of you
is awake. While you are still awake, I want you to turn to
this scripture. Romans chapter 3. Now hang on
to Galatians now, don't be turning that loose. Romans, chapter 3, verses 19
and 20. Now, if you miss it the first
time, I'm going to re-read it a second time. Now we know that
what things soever the law says. It says to them who are under
the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. Now listen, that's talking about
us and all the other us's in this world. Verse 20, here's
the conclusion. Here's what we are together from
what we just read in that verse. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, There shall no flesh, no human flesh be justified in God's
sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But when a man doesn't want to
be honest with himself, I mean, a drunken fool ought
to be able to know that he's not keeping the law of God. But
we like to pretend. And oh, how easy that is! And how convenient religion makes
it for you to do. You just be a generous giver
and they'll say all kind of good stuff about you. Alright, I'm
going to read them again, verses 19 and 20. Now we know that what thing soever
the law says, it says to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin." Here's my second introduction,
which we may not get through with, and I just might take up
the dogs and call off the hunt. Let's go back to that question.
What purpose, then, does the law have? Obviously, everyone in here knows
this. God is not confused as to why
he gave us this law. The law's purpose has never been, is not now, and
never will be to give us salvation. The law was never given to give
a guilty sinner salvation. The only salvation the law can
give is to a man who is not a sinner, and that doesn't apply to any
of us. For that matter, for anybody else that's walking on the top
side of this earth. Well, why was the law given then?
To convince us of our need of God's salvation? That is, of
Christ and his righteousness and his blood? His death? His life? His ascension? A fellow named Andrew Jukes,
J-U-K-E-S, I don't know where I found these words, I've had
them a long time. Satan would have us prove ourselves holy
by the law, which God gave the law to prove us sinners. Do you see that? God gives us
the law to prove to us that we are sinners. Otherwise we ain't
going to believe it. We'll be just like those people
in Matthew 7 that on the day of judgment Christ said, they're
going to say to me, Lord, Lord, we've done this in your name
and that in your name and something else in your name. And he said
to them, depart from me. What did he call them? You workers
of iniquity? And he added, I, you say you
know me, but I never knew you. I never loved you. I never died
for you. That's sobering, sobering. All right, let's go back to Galatians
chapter 3. This time we go to verse 19,
which puts this question in perspective in a different way. Galatians
3.19. Wherefore, then, serves the law.
What is the purpose of 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." The
gospel promise came to Abraham how? Through what In between. There was nothing in between.
It was just Abraham and God. Now that's important. Now listen. The gospel came to Abraham first
hand. First hand. Not second hand or
third. came from God Almighty. The law, on the other hand, comes
to us third hand. That is, God, angels, Moses,
and people. That is third hand. Is the law against gospel promises? When the Bible says, for example,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, does
the law mess that promise up? Oh heavens no, it makes it more
precious. Paul is accusing, in this letter
to these churches, Paul is accusing The Judaizers of making the law
contradict the gospel. They told these people that it's
fine for you to believe and trust Christ, but you've got to obey
Moses. And if you don't obey him, in this case, if you aren't
circumcised, you don't know God and God doesn't
know you. And that ain't so. If we know and believe and trust
the Lord Jesus Christ, the law can't change that. It
cannot change it. Look at verse 21, Galatians 3. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily, amen,
righteousness would have been by the law. But since there's no law that
can be given that you and I can follow with any degree of honesty
that we have followed and are following it, there's just nothing
like that at all. It's either Christ or nothing. It's either heaven or hell, and
Christ is the difference. So how can we harmonize the law
and the gospel? by seeing that we inherit the
gospel promise because we cannot keep the law. Look at verse 22
in Galatians 3. But the scripture has concluded
all under sin? You mean everybody without exception? Oh, just Christ accepted. But
see, Adam wasn't Christ's father. Eve was Christ's, the seed of
the woman, not contaminated like the seed of Adam. So that means
when we're born, we're born sinners. I mean, boys and girls too, you
know. I'm not just trying to segregate this thing. The scripture
has concluded All understand that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe? Judaizers, these are the Jews that were
bothering the congregations in Galatia, the Judaizers, Then,
and now, we ain't got rid of this pesky
rascal, this Judaizer yet. They're alive and well and their
tribe is always growing. Judaizers hold falsely that the
law annuls the gospel and supersedes it. takes precedent over it. But that simply is not how it
is. It is not how it is. Somebody
wrote these words, I don't remember who. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. We can't make ourselves sinners.
It's too bitter a pill to swallow. If we actually knew what all
this Bible said about our human nature, we wouldn't like it. Ah, there's a blessed remedy
in the gospel, and that remedy is Christ and Him crucified. Well, what to do with this? I'll tell you what. I'm going to put this up until
it may go sour between now and next Sunday, but if it doesn't,
I'll promise you that. All right, let's see. We've got
a hymn to sing.