Before I read God's Word in our
hearing, let's go to Him in a word of prayer. Our Father, we stand
on holy ground like Moses yonder at the bush, for Thou hast wonderful
things to say and to display unto us. And we pray, Lord, that
You might guide us here in these passages and verses that we might
understand, that you might make clear, Lord, here, as did Paul
to the Galatians, that salvation and justification is by grace
and by promise, not by law, work, or merit. And we're thankful
for this passage. Pray you'll help us to understand
it, that you'll help us to open it, and that you'll help us to
believe it and rightly apply it. For these things we ask in
the name of Christ our Lord. Amen. All right, chapter 3, verse
24 to chapter 4 and verse 7. And again, the law as a schoolmaster
to lead unto Christ. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
We are 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 you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. Now I say, the heir, as long
as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be
lord of all, but is under tutors, 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 hearts crying,
Abba, Father. Now watch the conclusion. Wherefore,
thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ. Now we saw in our first part
of the study that Paul is answering the question, why was the law
given? He had said that it is absolutely
useless and also powerless to provide any with a saving righteousness
in the sight of God. So if it is unable to justify,
why was it given? Why did it come? Paul's answer,
as we saw in part one, was it was added because of transgression,
and that until the seed should come, the special seed should
appear, and it served," and I'm going to use a word here, it
served as a hazer, if I may use that word, to the Jews to herd
them, to keep them in, and to help them be carried toward the
realization of the promise made to Abraham and to his heir. They must understand that the
promise is not to the simple physical seed of Abraham. Now, to illustrate this one function
of the law that Paul wants them to see, he uses two metaphors
here in quick array. A figure of speech is a metaphor. in order that it might illustrate
the work of the law toward the Jew. So the metaphors are, the
first one is in verse 23, that of a garrison or a prison or
a guard or a gulag. And the second one is that of
a schoolmaster undecried. But now we come to consider the
second of Paul's metaphors, the law, that he might illustrate
one function of the law and the purpose that this law served
as God gave it. And Paul stretches this metaphor
out to a greater length than he had done the first one, coming
to take it up again in chapter 4, verses 1 through 7, that he
uses it there. Now, note the opening words of
verse 24, which we have read. And notice how smoothly the apostle
transitions from the idea of a prison to that of a schoolmaster
or a tutor or a pedagogue. In verse 3, we were kept under
the law shut up unto the faith that should afterward then be
revealed. In verse 24, so therefore, and
so therefore, in acting thus toward us, in keeping us guarding
in, in keeping us in check and in bondage, in hemming us in,
in shutting us up as the law did, the law was acting the part
of a schoolmaster unto us. Schoolmaster it is in the King
James, but tutor or pedagogue is actually a better way to say
the word. The purpose being that it might
bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now this brings before us a very
interesting, a very important word which presents an image
of the law as a schoolmaster, or a pedagogue, or as a tutor. Verse 24, the law was our schoolmaster
unto Christ. Again, in chapter 4, this time
the second verse, Paul mentions two things. Tutors and governors,
or sometimes you might see it as guardian. And we will see
this person was a good emblem a fit metaphor and a due representative
of the law and the work that it performed. And in a sense,
the work of the schoolmaster was a fit emblem of the law that
Paul had been discussing with them. Now, what does Paul mean
in using the word schoolmaster or pedagogue here? Now, first
of all, we should not think of a classroom instructor. We should not think of a teacher
in the classroom who receives their pupils in the morning,
instructs them during the day, and then sends them home for
the night to repeat it again the next day. Paul uses this
word twice here in this passage of Scripture. in verse 24, and
again in verse 25 of the third chapter. The law was our schoolmaster
under Christ. But verse 25, when faith is come,
then we're no longer under a schoolmaster. Now, in all, the Word, I believe
I'm right, is three times in the New Testament. All of them
are from the pen of the Apostle Paul. It is called a pedagogue
which in that day referred to a child trainer or a tutor. It was a boy leader, pedagogue,
as we recognize the word child. The other place where Paul uses
the word is found in the Corinthian epistle, 1 Corinthians chapter
4 and verse 15, which is translated at least in the King James, instructor. Though you have 10,000 instructors
in Christ. The idea in the Word is of a
person who was employed to be a pedagogue or a child trainer. One that was given the oversight
of a young child. And the young child, by usually
rich parents, was put under the supervision and the oversight
of the pedagogue or the schoolmaster. More often we find this in the
more affluent families in any particular society, and particularly
was it popular among the Greeks and among the Romans. Several
commentators mention that this pedagogue was usually a senior
and an entrusted slave of the household, who was given the
oversight and the moral supervision of the young child. He took the
child heir from his bed in the morning, attended his way all
during the day in every activity, and returned him again to his
bed at night. And the leading idea of a pedagogue
was one who had strict supervision or oversight. This man, this
person was strict in the oversight of the young child for he had
an end that was to be accomplished. Now the pedagogue was known through
and wide in that day as strict and we call him morose. That
is, this person hardly ever smiled. and never complimented the child
on a single thing that he had done. But he did point out every
single and individual failing of the child. The pedagogue was
never satisfied with the conduct or deportment of the child, ever
pointing out even the tiniest infraction of the rules imposed
upon him. And this person held a very tight
rein upon the young child under his charge, and greatly, yes,
and I mean greatly restricting his movement and his freedom,
and holding him in check. And though this will come before
us later, there are two points that are to be made concerning
this arrangement, that at the same time were typical of God's
dealings with the Jews. Two things about the pedagogue
and the child. that were typical with God and
His dealing with a Jew. Number one, such was by the appointment
of the father of the child. It was the father, or the parent,
or the family that were pleased to use the oversight of a pedagogue. And the father appointed the
pedagogue that he might be over the child, and the child had
nothing to say about it. The father chose the pedagogue
irresponsible of the wishes of the child. Secondly, there's
another great point about the pedagogue. It was, from the first,
a temporary arrangement. It was not to last all of the
child's life. My, can you see a grown man running
around with a pedagogue, restricting him and telling him what to do.
It was not a permanent arrangement. It was to continue until the
time set by the father. And that could be either a certain
age or the reaching of a certain maturity level. The parents or
the father put the child, their own child, under the pedagogue. They set the terms of the time
of the release. Needless to say, the strictness
of the pedagogue made the child yearn for the terminating of
the oversight. He yearned for that. Thirdly,
we noted, what was the goal? What was the aim? Why would a
father do that? Put his son under a pedigogue. Well, it was to prepare the child
to become a responsible and mature person. It was to give them the
elementary principles and ready them for the adult phase of their
life. to get them past the elementary
things of childhood, bring them into mature adulthood. We'll say more also about that
later. But we notice here in verse 24,
the last part, and verse 25, that Paul makes the quick application
unto Israel. In verse 24, the first part,
the last part rather, to bring us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith. Then verse 25, after faith is
come, we are no longer under a pedagogue. And this is how
Paul explains why the law was added. Because it acted in the
capacity of a pedagogue, it acted in the capacity to bring them
to Christ, and they were freed from it only and when, as Calvin
said, the tutor is dismissed and the pupil is freed from the
external restraint of that pedagogue. What a glorious day was that
in the life of the heir. Then having mentioned in verse
24 and verse 25, being justified by faith, no longer under a pedagogue,
Notice that Paul makes then an application of the doctrine in
the 26th verse of the 3rd chapter. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, of course, the word all
here is not a universal expression as seen by the fact it is the
same as those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're
the children of God, but only such as believe and have faith
in Him. So, Lightfoot takes it to mean
Jews and Gentiles alike, but not universally, those who believe. I find agreement with John Brown,
one of my favorite authors, saying that this expression here, the
children of God, Now if you can sharpen your attention just a
minute so this won't be a shock or a shaking. John Brown said,
I think he has a point, that it is used here with a certain
peculiarity of reference and of meaning, unquote, which can
be seen over in the next chapter. For let's remember, Paul is not
describing, as John Brown points out, those who were aliens and
enemies to the family of God, they were such as were once in
their minority under the pedigogue, then brought to liberty in the
gospel and in Christ. Or Paul describes it in chapter
4 and verse 5, they had received the adoption of sons. So that the phrase, children
of God, John Brown said, is synonymous with Adults are mature children. Once you or we were under the
law in a way that it acted to us, Paul says, the part of a
pedagogue, a thing with which the readers of Paul were very
familiar with in that day. But the coming, the arrival,
the appearance, the revelation of the choice seed of Abraham,
and by the gospel revelation, we stand, he says, as mature
children, no longer under the need of a tutor. And then to
expand upon declaring them to be the children of God by faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 27 of chapter 3, For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Now this expands from verse 26,
I say, you are the children of God by faith in Christ. For, because, since, as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
Now notice, as many as does not mean that some of the Galatian
members were baptized and others were not, thus some in Christ
and some not in Christ. If that be so, then not everyone
who had Abraham's circumcision was a spiritual child of Abraham. Paul is clear on that. Romans
2, 25-29. Romans 9, 6, 7. And John 8, 39. Our Lord makes a clear
distinction between the children of the flesh of Abraham and the children of the Spirit.
Now, if one might have the circumcision of Abraham and not be an elect
or a child of God, then certainly one may have wet water upon them
and not be in the Lord Jesus Christ. To put on Christ is to
believe on Him. And in baptism, there is that
symbolic representation of His death, His burial, and His resurrection
of the God-man, even Christ. Besides, what if the Apostle
here is speaking of that spiritual baptism as in 1 Corinthians 12
and verse 13? By one Spirit are you all baptized
into one body. But in verse 28, Paul declares
that in Christ and among the family of God, among believers,
There is not, yea, there cannot be, it is like there is no place
for. In that verse when you see those
mentions again and again, there is no room for it. It cannot
be is one way that we might say it. It cannot be that in Christ
there is Jew and Gentile, in Christ there is bond and free,
and in Christ there is male and female. And for each of these
contrasts, there is that phrase, there is not, there cannot be. Paul's doctrine is, in Christianity,
nothing else matters but being in Jesus Christ. There is no merit in being a
Jew, and there is no demerit in being a Gentile. There is no merit in being a
free man, and no demerit in being a servant or a slave. There is
no advantage in being a male, and there is no disadvantage
in being a female, for ye are all one in the Lord Jesus Christ. Having said that, I might offer
a word of caution. This does not mean that we are
to regard the church and its members as absolutely genderless
or without national identity, or that they are classless. For read the writings of Paul,
you will discover that he speaks to the Jews, he speaks to the
Gentiles, he speaks to the slave, he speaks to the master, he speaks
to the men, and he speaks unto the women. By the way, verse
28 of chapter 3, is not a text to justify women preachers. What Paul says is, in Christ,
in Christ, it does not matter what nationality, what gender,
or what social class one is. These barriers and these distinctions
are done away with in the Lord Jesus Christ. Having put on Christ
the Gentile, is the same spiritual level as is the Jew. Having put on Christ, the slave
is on the same spiritual level as the master. Having put on
Christ, the woman is on the same level with the man. And the end
of verse 28, for all of you, all six are mentioned. All are
one in Christ. All have the same union to Christ. All are one body. All are one
temple, as in Ephesians chapter 2. He made Jew and Gentile into
one body, breaking down the middle wall partition. Coming to verse
29 now, Paul draws a conclusion which has been a long time coming,
because he has laid a foundation deep and wide for his argument. And there he concludes If ye
be in Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according unto
the promise. This is a fit conclusion, and
yet it is not the first mention of this at all. Because back
in verse 6 through verse 9, he says the same. Verse 7, Know
this therefore, they which are of faith, the same are the children
of Abraham. Verse 9 again in that chapter. So then, they which are of faith
are blessed with faithful, literally believing Abraham. The connection
in verse 29 is probably back with verse 16, that Christ is
the special, special seed of Abraham, of which Isaac was a
very close type. And in Christ, if Christ is Abraham's
seed, And He is. And you are in Christ, then you
are one in Christ. And if you are in Christ, then
are ye Abraham's seed. Now those Jews put a lot of stock
in that. And Paul says in Romans 4 and
verse 16, Abraham, who is the father of us all. He's the father of all of them
that believe. Though they be not circumcised,
Romans 4, 11, even if they be Gentiles, Abraham is the father
of many, not by bloodline, but by faith. In chapter 4 of Galatians,
the apostle does not take up a new subject. We already made
that clear. And the chapter division might
imply that. But Paul is not done with a metaphor
of the law as a tutor. He had mentioned sonship. He
had mentioned heirship in the close of the previous chapter.
He had declared that such as are in Christ are Abraham's children,
and that they are then heirs according to the promise. So
you have heirs, 329. And in chapter 4 and verse 1,
this I say, that the heir, You are heirs, but under the tutorial
system, the heir, while he was a child, was nothing different
from a slave, though he is Lord of all. And the word child refers
to age, not relation. It speaks of one's nonage, when
they are minors, when they are underage, when they are immature,
when they are young. The saying that an underage heir
is no different than a slave, must be understood with some
limits and some restriction. For he is an heir apparent to
all that the father has. He will someday inherit what
the father has for him and will even manage it. The time when
there is no difference between the heir and the slave is while
the heir apparent is yet underage. So then, how is it that the heir
is like a slave? He will inherit all that the
father had. The answer is in verse 2. For the heir, even though he
is Lord of all, while a minor, some things are true. Number
one, while a minor, he is under tutors and governors, or guardians
and stewards. That is, he is a slave. He is
under subjection to one who is over him as a master. The underage heir was subject
to tutors and governors, to overseers who managed the time and deportment
of the young master until the father took him out. Secondly,
this oversight lasted and continued for the time specified by the
father. Verse 2, this time previously
determined by the father. when the young heir would come
out of the tutor's authority. And the tutor's authority was
ended, and the child became free, came to maturity. Now, as for
this custom, we don't hear of it much in our society and in
our culture. But we have heard of boarding
schools and finishing schools and military schools. And we
hear a lot today about some of the wealthier folks have nannies. In the older days, to keep the
children, they were called nurses. And these guide the children
and watch over them in the absence of the parent. But Paul refers
to a practice in his day that his readers were familiar with,
and he uses it to illustrate the condition of the Jews under
the law and then contrasted under the gospel. Now in verse 3, Paul
begins to make the application to open to his readers the mystery
of God's dealings with his people. He says, even so we, we also,
we too, the apostle writes, when we were children, when we were
under the old revelation, when we were kept in. Note, if you
will, we're in bondage under the elements of the rural or
the rudiments of the world. This is the reference from verse
2, under tutors and governors. We were enslaved. We were shut
up. We were restricted with rudiments. We have to settle the question
as to who is meant by the word we in this place. And the answer
that best fits, I think, the context is not individuals. nor is it a reference to the
time of unbelief and then the time of coming to faith and individual,
but to the people of God. May I call them spiritual Israel. For I with Calvin deny that Paul
distinguishes between the time of unbelief and the calling to
faith, but a people to be as it may, verse 4, when the fullness
of time was come. This amounts to Verse 2, and
last part, "...until the time appointed of the Father." In
the fullness of time, the time the Father had set the extension,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman and made under the
law for the purpose of redeeming them that were under the law
in order that we might receive the adoption of sons. They may be said to be under
the law, in two ways. Number one, under its curse as
sinners. And number two, under it, especially
the mosaic, as a pedagogue. And the death of Christ redeemed
them from the curse of that law and brought them into the full
liberty and blessing and privilege of adopted son. Into the possession
of the inheritance and the realization of the promise of God. Now, the
adoption answers to full, mature sonship, and for this to be realized,
they must be freed of the pedagogue. The pedagogue's oversight must
be ended. By the way, I agree with Lightfoot
that in Galatians, Paul seems to say that both the Jew and
the Gentile were under some rudimentary system of training to which they
were delivered in Christ in the full sonship. Now, let's notice,
the Jews graduated from the school of Moses into the school of Christ
by the coming and appearance and revelation of the gospel. Verse 6 continues, verse 5, you
have received the adoptions of sons, and because you are sons,
God has sent forth His Spirit into your heart, crying, Abba,
Father, the same as Christ did in the garden. He sent forth
His Son to redeem. He sent forth His Spirit to dwell
in the hearts of His children. Not only is the indwelling of
the Spirit an evidence of sonship, but it reminds them in chapter
3 and verse 2, they had not received the Spirit in conjunction with
the law, but in conjunction with faith and the gospel. And then
look at verse 7 of chapter 4, where Paul gives a summary conclusion
of the matter. Here is what all of this amounts
to. Here is what this means. As a
result of being released and having the Spirit, he says, number
one, you are no longer in bondage. You are a free son. Number two,
he says, being a son, you are an heir of God through Jesus
Christ the Lord. And so ends the wonderful and
the clear image of the work of God in Christ to bring this children
of God into their full maturity and full sonship. We might say
what was true of the Jew dispensationally might be true of the Gentile
individually or personally, that the law shut us up and caused
us to know ourselves to be a great sinner, that grace might save
us that Christ might redeem. Thank God for that wonderful
work whereby the promise came earlier, the law was added, and
it aided the realization of the promise. Did not hurt it, but
aided it after all. All right, let's bow our heads
together please for a word of prayer.