Galatians chapter 3, and I want to begin reading in verse 18. We really want to
start at verse 19, but in Galatians chapter 3, verse 18. If the inheritance,
if the inheritance of all these promises, the blessings that
God promised to Abraham, if the inheritance be of the law, the
works of the law, It is no more a promise, for God gave it to
Abraham by promise. 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, it was ordered
and given 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 promises of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily, righteousness
would have been by the law. 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 into the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us into Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster, a tutor. For we are all the children
of God by faith in Jesus Christ. When God gave the law, and when
we talk about the law, we speak of the whole law. He gave it
to the children of Israel. There was three parts to that
law. They had a civil law they were to live their daily lives
by. They had a ceremonial law. It included the priesthood, the
sacrifices, the holy days. And then, of course, they had
the moral law, the Ten Commandment law, which had to do with their
attitude towards God and man. But this law never saved anybody.
Never was anybody saved by this law. Anybody that was ever saved in
the Old Testament or in the New Testament was saved by promise. God gave Abraham this promise
that he would bless all nations. And God gave this law, this law
upon Mount Sinai, to the Jews. But he had added nothing to the
promise. And it took nothing away from the promise. It had
no effect upon the promise whatsoever, really. So, we come here then,
and Paul asks this question. And it's a good question. It's
a question which has agitated the minds of Jews and Gentiles,
especially, all through the New Testament. If God saves men by
promise, by the promise that he gave to Abraham, and more
importantly he made to Christ, Abraham's seed. And God saves
men by that promise and not the law. Then he says here in verse
19, why did he even give the law? Wherefore then serves the
law? If God has promised to save men,
and men are saved because of that promise, and through that
promise, then it seems like the giving of the law is useless.
Now, in a way, when we read these scriptures like this, and when
we talk about the promise, and we talk about men aren't saved
by the law, you know there is a sense in which I sympathize
with the Jewish nation. Especially during this time of
transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Because
it was second nature to this Jewish nation to keep the law.
From their birth to their death, they were commanded to be circumcised
when they were eight days old. They were commanded to attend
certain feasts and offer certain sacrifices and pay certain tithes. They were taught to obey this
law of Moses. And if you didn't, there was
penalties. You could be excommunicated from
the nation of Israel, or worse, you could be killed. And now
here comes these apostles along, and here comes these New Testament
preachers along, and here's what they tell these Jews. If you're
to be saved, you must forsake this law and be saved by promise. You're keeping this law, you're
practicing these ceremonies, avails you nothing. You must
come to Christ and trust in Him to be saved because the promise
is to Him that God is justifying freely and graciously for the
sake of His dear Son. And can't you see where that
would throw them into a tizzy? You're telling us that God gave
us this law And it served no purpose in our salvation, and
now you're telling us we have to forsake it and go to Christ
to be saved? And that was exactly what the
apostles were preaching. The whole problem with the Jewish
nation as a whole was a lack of understanding. It was ignorance,
and I agree that in many senses it was willful ignorance. They'd
been ignorant of God's righteousness. They were ignorant of God's holiness. They were ignorant of the nature
of His law and what it required. They were ignorant of God's righteousness
that is in Jesus Christ that's imputed to us by faith. They
were just ignorant. So they went about to establish
their own righteousness. And they stumbled over these
spiritual lessons. They stumbled over the true nature
of the law. They looked on it as something
that was carnal. They thought as long as they
abstained from outward sins, then they kept the law. When
they read God's promise to Abraham, they looked upon it as natural
promises. They looked upon the seed of
Abraham as being his natural seed. And they said God has promised
all the descendants of Abraham the land of Canaan. They were
ignorant of these spiritual promises. They were ignorant of the spiritual
nature of the law. They were ignorant of faith.
They were ignorant of Christ. They were ignorant of imputed
righteousness. So they stumbled over these things.
And Paul tells us in Romans chapter 9 that the Gentiles, which didn't
even follow after righteousness. They were led away into dumb
idols. They didn't even have the law, and yet they've obtained
righteousness. Even the righteousness which
is by faith. But the Jews, Israel, which had
the law, and they sought righteousness by that law, yet they've not
obtained that righteousness. Why didn't they obtain it? Because
they sought it not by faith. but as it were by the works of
the law. For they stumble at that stumbling
stone. And that's just exactly what
God said He's going to do. Because He said, I lay in Zion
for a foundation. A stone, a sheer stone, a tried
stone. But He's going to be a stumbling
stone. He's going to be a rock of the fence to the unbelievers.
And that's what they stumble over. They stumble over the spiritual
promises of God that he made to Abraham. They knew nothing
of the true nature of the law and the true nature of faith.
So when the apostle comes here and he preaches, as we looked
at last week, that we're justified because of the promise. We're
made righteous because of the promise. We have life because
of God's promise in Christ. He promised it to Christ. This
question just naturally arises. Why did God even give the law
then? To what use does the law serve? Well, that's the first
thing we're going to look at. First thing we're going to look
at. Why then was the law given? Why was it added? And it was
added. Thereupon Mount Sinai, he wrote
it down on tablets of stone, plainly to read. And he gave
it to the children of Israel. Why did he do that? What purpose
does the law serve? Well, look here again in our
text in verse 19, and he gives the reason. Here's the first
thing. Wherefore then serveth the law, it was added because
of transgressions. Because of transgressions. Now
I want you to look at me. I want you to see that. Look
over here in Exodus chapter 20. You hold your place there in
Galatians chapter 3. Look over here in Exodus chapter
20, where the law was actually given to the children of Israel. Exodus chapter 20, and you'll
see this. It was given, first of all, to
deter transgression. It was given as a deterrent for
sin. Now look at it here in Exodus
chapter 20, and look in verse 19. This is where you read there
in the 19th chapter where the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai
and the mountain was shaken and there was lightning and smoke
and voices. And then in chapter 20, he begins
to give them the Ten Commandments. I'm the Lord your God. Have no
other God before me. Don't make unto yourself any
graven images. And he goes right on down and
preaches the law. He speaks the law to them himself. And they're hearing this. They're
standing there at the bottom of the mountain, and they're
hearing this law preached to them. And here's what they say
in verse 18. And all the people saw the thunderings,
and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountains
smoking. And when the people saw it, they
removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak
thou with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us,
lest we die. And Moses said unto the people,
Fear not, for God is come to prove you that his fear may be
before your faces, that you sin not. See that? This law was given
because of transgression. It was given to hinder or to
oppress or to put transgressions in check. It was to let people
know that certain deeds that they committed would be wrong.
That your fear, His fear, may be before your faces. Now you
remember, let me tell you this this way. You remember when we
studied in the ninth chapter of Genesis. And how some things
changed there in that ninth chapter after the flood. And one of the
things that changed was that God gave a law to humanity concerning
capital punishment. Before the flood, if you murdered
somebody, nobody was to take vengeance on you. God himself
took vengeance, but nobody else had the right to take vengeance
on you. Then, before the flood, if I killed your brother, you
couldn't do a thing to me, or society couldn't. But that changed
after the flood. Then he said, if you take a man's
life, society must take your life. And he did that to deter
It's a deterrent for murder. Well, He comes here now and He
gives this law. And why did He say He gives this
law? That you may see this plainly. You may read it on tables of
stone that God's fear may be in your mind that deters you
from sinning. It's a deterrent for crimes. You know society has to be ruled
by laws. We have to have laws. If they didn't have a law, if
they didn't have a speed limit that you and I were to abide
by, a safe speed limit, then not only would the ungodly be
out here running 70 or 80 miles an hour, you and I would be too.
There'd be times when I would be in a hurry or I wanted to
see what my little van would run, I'd be up to 100 miles an
hour flying up the road. Why don't I do that? And why
don't you do that? Why do I leave here this morning
and I'll drive 60 or 65 mile an hour going up State Road 3? Because there's some signs on
the edge of that highway that says speed limit, 60 mile an
hour. And there's not only some signs
there, just beyond that sign may be a trooper sitting there
with his radar out. And if I'm running 75 mile an
hour, he may pull me over and give me a ticket and penalize
me. What is those speed limits for? What is that trooper for? What are those fines for? That's
a deterrent for crime. What is the law? It's a deterrent
put upon society so society will not turn loose the reins of its
lust and live in sin. Wouldn't it be a dangerous place,
brothers and sisters, to live if we did not have laws? And
the Jews, especially the Jews, They were stiff-necked and hard-hearted
people. And God said, if I don't give
you some laws to keep your sin in check, you're going to live
ungodly? You're going to kill one another?
They did anyway, didn't they? They kept trying to twist the
law to get around doing what was right. And you know this
is why society hates the Ten Commandments today. They keep
standing on the courthouse yard. They can't stand it on the walls
in the school building. If they could, they'd come in
your house and take it off of your wall if you've got it hanging
there. And if they could, they'd take it and tear it out of the
Bible. You know why? Because the Ten Commandments
is the law of God and it checks men's conscience. And men don't
like that. Society does not like that. They
go to do something and, oh no, there's this law. And it bothers
their conscience. And it keeps them, it hinders
them from doing what they would do. Wherefore then serveth the
law? It was added because of transgression. Because men of transgression.
It deters men from doing what they would do. Now look over
in another Scripture with me. Look over in 1 Timothy. Look
at this. Look in 1 Timothy chapter 1.
This is another scripture that tells why the Lord gave the law. If it don't save, then why did
He give it? Well, here it tells us. He gave
it to the children of Israel that His fear might be before
their faces. Now look at this. In 1 Timothy
chapter 1, look here in verse 8. Now, the law can't make you
holy. It can't make you whole. It can't
put that love that you're talking about this morning in your heart.
It can command it. It can demand you love God. But
it can't give you that love. It can command you to love your
neighbor and don't ever mistreat your neighbor. But it can't put
that in your heart. All it can do is condemn you
for not loving. But I tell you what the law can
do. I tell you what it can do. It can't make you love in your
heart, but I tell you what it can do. It can put you under
such restraints that you won't let that hatred that is there
come out into action. That's what it can do. And aren't
you glad for that? What if we did not have the law
to check sin? Well, men would just live and
kill and murder and rape and steal. There'd be no regard. There is the awful danger that's
in this of trying to cast the law away in our day that our
society is trying to do. Just wait until they get rid
of it. Right now our society is saying,
depart from us. We don't desire the knowledge
of your way. You're hindering us. You're hindering us from
living like we want to live. We desire not the knowledge of
the Most High. Let us cast their cords from
us. Let us break their bands asunder. But you wait until we
do as a society. It will be the most dangerous
place to live you and I have ever seen in our life. And that's
what the Apostle Paul said. In the last days perilous times,
dangerous times shall come. Because we're getting away from
God's law. And look here what he says about the law. In 1 Timothy
chapter 1 and verse 8, look at this. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse
8. He is speaking about teachers.
Desiring, in verse 7, desiring to be teachers of the law. Understanding
neither what they say nor what they affirm, in verse 8. For
we know that the law is good. It is good. If a man use it lawfully, knowing
this, that the law is not made for a righteous man. It is not made for a righteous
man. Boy, can you just about imagine,
and look what he said, but who is he made for? The lawless,
the disobedient, the ungodly, for sinners, for the unholy,
for those who abuse themselves with mankind. Can you imagine
as these legalist Jews, they read passages like this. Can
you imagine how this, oh how it grieved them? Here they were
saying, the law is for us. And we are going to keep the
law and we are going to be made righteous by keeping the law. And here
comes Paul along and he said, the law is not for a righteous
man. Then who is it for? The ungodly. For sinners. Oh, how that just killed these
people. It grieved them to death. The law is not made to make you
righteous. It's not made to give you inward
holiness. It's given to restrain your sin. That's why it was given. That's the first reason. The second reason is this. You
find this, you don't have to turn there, but you'll find the
second reason. First reason, the law was added to restrain
sin. It's a deterrent from crime. And secondly, The Apostle Paul
said in Romans 5.20, the law entered that the offense might
abound. That's the second reason. The
law entered that the offense might abound. Adam had sinned,
but boy, when the law entered, it showed how awful his offense
was. When you can sit down and read
it plainly on those tables, that this is sin. Have you ever committed
a sin and you didn't think too much about it? I mean, you just
committed it and went on, and you didn't think much about it
because you didn't understand what you'd done. Well, you'd done
a little something, but you didn't bother. Because you didn't understand
how exceedingly sinful it was. But boy, and a day or two later,
or a week later, or a month later, here that sin comes tumbling
back into your conscience, and you see it as it really is. And
then what do you say? Oh, no. What have I done? Oh, what a sin I've committed.
Oh, how ungodly such an act that I've done. What happened? The
law comes to your conscience and you see that sin in a light
that you never saw it in before. And then it becomes exceedingly
sinful. The law entered that the offense,
that sin, might abound. Paul said this about the law.
He said, I have not known sin, but by the law. I have not known
covetousness, except the law said, thou shalt not covet. You know what Paul thought covetousness
was? He thought, he put it in the
category of stealing, basically. You know, you can go down the
road and you can look over and see your neighbor's beautiful
wife standing there, and you can just lust and lust and lust.
But just don't go up there and take her and run off with her.
That would be covetousness. You can lust and lust and lust.
Nothing wrong with that. But just don't physically go
get her and take off with her. And one day the law came to his
heart. And that lust that was in his
heart began to abound. And he saw it in the true light. And then he says, Oh no. Oh no. I've committed covetousness.
But Paul, you've never taken a man's neighbor, your neighbor's
wife and ran off with her. No, but I've thought about it.
You've never laid with a woman. No, but I've thought about it.
And what did the Lord Jesus say about adultery? If you look and
lust in your mind, you've already committed adultery in your heart.
Just this sure, can you imagine this morning, you ladies, You
blessed leaders, you blessed men, can you imagine falling
into a temptation last night and you actually committed physical
adultery? How would you feel? How would
you feel in your conscience this morning if yesterday you had
fallen into physical adultery? Wouldn't you be so ashamed this
morning? Your conscience would be so fearful?
But listen to this. The law magnifies the lust that's
there and says you're guilty of adultery already. Did you
lust yesterday? Did I lust yesterday? Then I'm
guilty already. That's what the law does. It
magnifies sin. The law entered that the offense
might abound. And Apostle Paul found out something
else about this lust. Heart lust is idolatry. It's idolatry. Covetousness is
idolatry, he said. If I have a desire for something
that God forbids me to have, and I desire that anyway, he
said, that's idolatry. That's setting up another god
above the true and living God, and that's idolatry. If you and
I ever do that, brothers and sisters, it's just as us carving
us out a god, out of a stump and bow down to it and pray unto
it. That's what it is. God's are in here, in the heart. And it's lust after things that's
forbidden. It's covetousness. How do you
know that? The law says it. And boy, when
the law, when you see sin in its true light, that's what the
law does. It magnifies that sin. And it
becomes exceedingly sinful. Wherefore then serves the law,
Paul? If it don't save us, what does it serve? It shows sin in
its true nature. It shows sin in its true nature.
It's not something I do with my hands. It's not something
I see with my eyes or hear with my ears. It comes from my heart. It comes from my heart. Ain't
that what's the matter with our society? They don't know that,
do they? People running around, legalists and self-righteous
people, Preaching that you're saved for your works. You know
what's the matter with them? They don't know the true nature
of God's law. It's not given to save us. It's
given to show us our sin and curse us. And curse us. So there it is. By the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Wherefore then serveth the law?
It was added because of transgressions. Back over here in Galatians chapter
3 again. Galatians chapter 3 and look
here in verse 19 again. Wherefore then serveth the law?
It was added because of transgressions. Look at this. Till the seed should
come to whom the promise was made. Now who is that seed? It's Christ. We're told that
in verse 16. to Abraham and his seed when
the promise is made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but one, and to Christ. And Paul said that the Lord gave
the law because of transgression, till Christ should come, to whom
the promise was made. Now he tells us this year that
the Jews in the Old Testament, they weren't allowed to quit
practicing the law. They were forbidden to quit practicing.
Even the believers in the Old Testament, they couldn't say,
well, Christ is coming to fulfill this law, so we're not going
to be concerned with the law anymore. Well, you did that,
and you abused it for trouble. They were constrained to practice
this law until Christ came. By faith, Moses kept the Passover. Moses, that's just types of Christ.
You don't have to do that. You better do that. You better
do that. And Moses said, if I don't put
this blood over those doorposts, he that touched the firstborn,
he that kills the firstborn, he gonna come into my house.
They were obligated to keep and practice this law till Christ
came. Oh, that, look over in another
scripture. Look in Hebrews. Look in Hebrews chapter 9. This
is so important because it's because we're confused about
these things. that we don't understand faith
and the promises. Wherefore then serveth the law,
was added because of transgressions, till Christ should come and fulfill
the law. Look at what he says in Hebrews
chapter 9. And you're the writer in verses 1 following. He was
talking about this very thing. The ceremonial law, the priesthood
and the holy place. The priest went into the holy
place where was the table of shewbread And he did certain
services there. Then there was a huge veil that
separated the holy place from the most holy. And here comes
the high priest with blood. And he pulled back that veil
and he went into the most holy place. And he sprinkled blood
upon that mercy seat. They couldn't stop doing that.
They had to do that to Christ's come. And that veil was rent
from the top to the bottom when Christ said it's finished. Now
look at this. Look in verse 9. All these things,
the apostle said, were figures, which was a figure for the time
then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that
could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks and
divers portions and carnal ordinances imposed on them. imposed on him. It was an imposition
to practice this law. Peter says, such a burden on
our forefathers to practice that law. We couldn't bear it. His
imposition. But God imposed it on him. And
God said, you keep it. And you practice this law. They
couldn't do it perfectly. But he said, you practice this
law and you offer those sacrifices until my son comes. Until I send
him in a flash to fulfill And that's what he's saying here.
It was imposed on them until the time of Reformation. But then Christ did come as a
high priest. He fulfilled that law. And you
know something? Not only did the Jews have to
practice that law and live under it, under obligations to practice
it, But you know till the Lord, spiritually speaking, till the
Lord Jesus Christ comes to our hearts, you and I are under this
law. We're condemned by it too. We're
under its curse. Till Christ actually comes into
our hearts by faith. That's what he's speaking about
back over here in our text, verse 23. Before faith came, we were
kept under the law. That's why you were condemned
in your conscience. That's why you lived in that
torment and fear all the time. You were under that law, under
its curse, under its obligation, until Christ comes in the spirit
of adoption and delivers us from it. Now look back over to our
text again, looking back in chapter 3.