Would you turn to Galatians chapter
3? The purpose of the law. Verse 19, Galatians chapter 3. Wherefore then service, the law, it was added because of transgressions
to 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 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
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath 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 under the faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster. And notice to bring us is in
italics. It was put there by the translators. The law was our schoolmaster
unto or until Christ that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith has come. We are no longer under a schoolmaster. Did you notice before faith came
and after faith has come, but after faith has come, we are
no longer under a schoolmaster for you're all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as of you has been
baptized into Christ, you put on Christ. There is 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'd be Christ's, then
are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Let's
pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy son and how thankful we are for your word. How thankful we are for who you
are. How thankful we are for your
salvation. Now we pray that you would meet
with us, speak to our hearts from your word. Forgive us of
our sins for Christ's sake. We ask that you would order our
steps in your word and let no iniquity have dominion over us.
Lord, we pray for your presence with the Williams family. We
pray for your blessing upon them. Give them grace to look to you.
Be with all your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's
name we pray. If you haven't heard, Debbie
Williams passed away yesterday. I'll make an announcement about
it in the service. Verse 19, wherefore then serveth the law? If the law can't save, why do
we have the law? What's its purpose? Wherefore
serveth the law? Now, by the law, it's meant the
Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. It's the civil law of God that
is recorded in the Pentateuch. It is the ceremonial law, all
the different ceremonies in the Old Testament. The law can't
be separated. You know, I've heard people say,
well, we're not under the ceremonial law, but we're under the moral
law. I think it's interesting that
In the Decalogue, you have a ceremonial law, the Sabbath, and that lets
us know that the law can never be separated. Now, the law, it
can't save us, it can't sanctify us, it can't justify us, it doesn't
give us strength to obey it. Why the law then? What is the
purpose in God giving the law in the first place if the law
cannot save? Look what he says in verse 19,
wherefore then serveth the law, what's it for? It was added. It's an add-on by God, but it
was added because of transgressions. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter four. It was added because of transgressions. Verse 14 of Romans chapter four,
four, they, which are of the law be years. Faith is made void
in the promise made of none effect because the law worketh wrath
for where no law is, there is no transgression. Look in chapter
five, verse 13. For until the law, before the
law came, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where
there is no law. Look in chapter seven of Romans
chapter, seventh chapter of Romans. Verse seven, what should we say
then? Is the law sin? God forbid, nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law said, thou shalt not covet. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
15, 56, and listen to the power of this statement. He said, the
strength of sin is the law. The law was added because of
transgressions. Now this is what God's holy law
says to me and you. I've broken it. That's all it
can say. It gives no strength to obey.
It exposes sin. It was added because of transgressions. Now go back to our text in Galatians
chapter three. Wherefore then serveth the law.
It was added because of transgressions to expose sin. That's all God's
law does to me and you is as it exposes our sin. If you can
look at God's law and think, well, I've kept that one, you're
a stranger to what God's law really means. It was added because
of transgressions. Now, we love God's law. I love
the God who made the law. We delight in the law of God
after the inward man. But God's law exposes sin, all
10 commandments. What they do is they expose our
sin. That's the purpose of the law.
And notice what it says in verse 19, wherefore then serveth the
law. It was added because of transgressions till the seed,
the seed should come to whom the promise was made. Now that
is speaking of the promise being made to Christ. The promise wasn't
made so much to me and you, it was made to Christ. That is what
this is a reference to. He's the seed that should come. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. I turn back to Exodus chapter
20. It was given ordained, set forth
through angels in the hand of a mediator. Now, when God gave
the law, look what happened. Verse 18, Exodus 20, verse 18. And all
the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise
of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. Can you imagine seeing
that being there? This is what took place in the
giving of the law. And when the people saw, 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. See, Moses is a mediator. And
Moses said unto the people, fear not, for God has come to prove
you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that you sin
not. And the people stood afar off,
and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. We see how Moses was the mediator
at this time. The people said, we can't listen
to what God says. They were scared to death. And
Moses was the mediator. Now look what he says in verse
20. A mediator is not a mediator of one. You don't have a mediator
between yourself. I need to mediate between myself.
No, there's always two parties involved in a mediator. And he
says a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. A mediator
is a go-between between two parties. And God's law is a contract. I want to use this language carefully
because you think of God having a contract. Well, it's a covenant.
And here's the way the law works. God says, I will do this if you
will do that. That's law. I will, if you will. But God is one. And God made
this covenant with himself, the seed that should come. The covenant
of grace is not a covenant God made with you. It's a covenant
he made with his son, the seed that should come. You see, the
seed that should come is he who became surety for the people
God gave him. Now that's the covenant of grace.
The covenant of work says, I will, if you will, The covenant of
grace says, I will and you shall. That is why you believe the gospel
if you believe. It was covenanted in the covenant
of grace to Christ to represent you. The Holy Spirit agreed to
give you life, to give you faith, the covenant of grace. Turn with
me for just a moment to Hebrews chapter eight. Verse 7, for if the first covenant
had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second. What's the problem with the first
covenant? You can't save. It's that simple,
it can't save. So he calls it, it's not without
fault, for finding fault with them. He saith, verse eight,
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
the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant. That's works. That's what we
do, we continue not. And I regard it in them not,
saith the Lord, for this is the covenant that I'll make with
the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will
put my laws into their mind 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, propitious to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities. I will
remember no more. Now, God speaks of what he will
do. Aren't you thankful for the covenant
of grace? The covenant God made with Christ, the seed before
the foundation of the world. Now, a mediator is not of one,
he's a mediator of two, but God is one, and God made this covenant
with himself, and we benefit from it. Verse 21. Is the law then against the promises
of God, when all it does is condemn? 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 should
have been by the law. You know, the law was never intended
to save. Never was. We love God's law. We love its
holiness, but it was never intended to save. Verse 22, but the scripture
hath concluded. And that word concluded is shut
up. The scripture has shut up all
under sin. That the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe the scripture
is concluded all under sin. You're familiar with that scripture
in Romans chapter three, verse nine. We've before proved both
Jews and Gentiles that they're all under sin. What's that mean? As it's written, there's none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeketh after God. They've all gone out of
the way. They've together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Now, do you believe that about
yourself? I know you see the scripture teaches it. Do you
believe that about yourself? Would that describe who you are
and what you are by nature that you're under sin under the dominion
of sin? Like Paul said in Romans three
chapter 10, now we are Romans three chapter 19. Now we know
that whatsoever things, the law sayeth, whatever law says, it
says to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be
stopped. subject to the judgment of God,
guilty. Now that's what God's law says.
Wherefore serveth the law to stop your mouth, to make you
stand before God guilty as charged. Therefore, by the works of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Paul said in Romans chapter seven,
verse 14, we know every believer knows this. We know that the
law is spiritual, but I am carnal, fleshly sold under sin. You know, Paul didn't say this
till he's a believer. It's only a believer that can understand
this. An unbeliever can't understand it. Doesn't make sense, but a
believer does. Wherefore serve as the law was
to show me that I'm under sin. 22, but the scripture has concluded
all under sin. that the promise by the faith,
by faith, by the faith of Jesus Christ, his obedience, his perfect
righteousness, his obedience unto death might be given to
them, not earned by them, but given to them that believe. Now it's only when you're concluded
with regard to yourself, that you're nothing but sin, that
this will be given to you. The faith of Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 23. But before
faith came, I love that language. Before faith came. Faith came
to me. It didn't originate with me.
I didn't decide to believe. It came to me. It's the gift
of God. It finds its origin in the grace
of God. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law in prison. You know, free will is so ridiculous. We were kept under the law, shut
up under the faith, which would after be revealed. Now, before
faith came, we were in prison. We might not have even known
it, but we were still in prison. The prison of a sinful nature,
dead in sins, in prison. Couldn't get out before faith
came. Wherefore, verse 24, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. Now you'll notice to bring us
is in italics. The law was our schoolmaster. until Christ. Until Christ. This is very important. The law
was our schoolmaster until Christ. Now, what's a schoolmaster? We
usually think of a real friendly old man that teaching his students
and the schoolmaster or maybe a mean old man teaching his students.
I don't know. But the word really is pedagogue. And it's what a wealthy Greek
family used Now think if you were a teenager. Got some teenagers
in here. What if your dad hired a man
to shadow you and he was with you all the time. And anytime
you got out of line, he'd beat you. He'd hit you. And you were
scared to death of him. And you knew that you couldn't
get very far out of line as long as he was around because he was
watching you. Can you imagine how miserable that would be?
You'd get up in the morning. There he is. There he is. He's
going to hit you. He's going to keep you in line.
A pedagogue. That's what the law is called,
a pedagogue. The law was our pedagogue that
beat us black and blue. Now the law never brought anybody
to Christ. I know it says the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but you'll notice to bring us
is in italics. It was put there by the, the, uh, translators
hoping to make it make it make sense, but it confounds the meaning
here. The law was our schoolmaster
unto, and that same word is translated also, until Christ. The law was
our schoolmaster until Christ. The law, as I said, never brought
anybody to Christ. The spirit of God brings men
to Christ. All the law does is beat us. I love God's law. I'm not saying
that disrespectfully. But I love the way Paul likens
the law to a pedagogue, someone who follows you, shadows you,
exposes your weakness, your sinfulness until Christ. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
until Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come,
now I love the language there, before faith came, after it's
come. Faith came, God the Holy Spirit
came, the Lord Jesus Christ came and gave us faith. If you believe the gospel, don't
you know faith is the gift of God? I don't have to argue. About
that, with any believer, you know there was a time when you
did not believe. And you did not know what it
meant to believe. And you tried to believe and
couldn't. You thought, what does it mean to believe? And then
all of a sudden, God gave you faith and you trusted Jesus Christ. That's your experience. This
isn't high theology. This is the way it is. Before
faith came and after faith came. Oh, I'm so thankful faith came
to me, aren't you? In the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ by spirit, God enabled me to believe the gospel. The law did not bring me to Christ. You know, the Puritans, uh, used
to say, well, um, we go to Christ for justification and then the,
then, uh, Christ turns us back to the law for sanctification.
That's foolishness. That's foolishness. That's really
showing no true respect for God's law. The only time you respect
God's law is when you look to Christ alone. Anything else is
impious, irreverence, it's sacrilegious presumption. You only honor the
law when you look to Christ alone as the end of the law for righteousness. Now, after the faith has come,
We're no longer under a pet, a pedagogue. Um, it's no longer
needed. Now, somebody says we, we need
to, we need to be under the law. Now, wait a minute. The law was
not made for a righteous man. First Timothy one, eight, the
law was not made for a righteous man. If you're righteous in Christ,
you don't need law. You follow the Lord Jesus Christ
willingly. You love him. All law does is
produce resentment, fear, anguish, unbelief. There is no love in
law. That's the point. There's no
love in law. To believe Christ, you love him,
and you want to follow him. The law was not made for a righteous
man, but for the sinners, for the unlawful, for murders of
fathers, for murders of mothers. That passage in 1 Timothy 1a.
While we're in Galatians, look in Galatians 5, verse 18. But
if you be led of the Spirit, what? What's the law for? Well, it
was our pedagogue until Christ. But after the faith has come,
you're no longer under a pedagogue for you are all the children
of God. You know, that pedagogue wasn't
the father. He was a man that shadowed that
person and. Oh, they didn't like their pedagogues.
Uh, but you're, but you're all the children of God, not just
under a pedagogue. You don't need that. You're all
the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, no longer the
relationship of, of law, but of love children of God, by faith
in Jesus Christ for verse 27, for as many. of you, as have been baptized
into Christ, have put on Christ. Now, I love that imagery. As many of you, that's everybody
that has been baptized into Christ, and think about this, when you're
baptized in water, you're immersed in that water, so you can't even
be seen outside of that water. And this is what baptism represents. I've been immersed into Christ
so that all God sees is Jesus Christ. Do you find that attractive? When God looks at you, all he
sees is his blessed son. Now that's true with regard to
everyone that has been immersed into Christ. Now this is something
he does, but I love the way he says this. As many of you as
have been baptized into Christ, immersed into Christ, you put
on Christ. Now this is something you do
willingly. I put him on. God enables me
to do it. But just as I'm baptized into
him, I put him on. So I willingly want it this way. All God sees is his son. I can't
even describe how much I want that to be. where all God sees
is his son. I willingly put him on. I've
been immersed into him. And here's what everybody who's
been immersed into him do. They put him on. As my covering
before God, as my righteousness before God. As many as of you
as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Verse 28. There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female. You know, in Christ, all fleshly
distinctions are taken away. Every one of them. I love the
way he says this. This is very, it's turn to Colossians
three for a moment. Verse nine, lie not one to another,
seeing that you've put off the old man with his deeds. And I
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek
nor Jew. Circumcision or uncircumcision.
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free. But Christ is all. In all. Back to Galatians 3. There's neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free. Now, as he was writing this,
there were people who were Jews and there were people who were
Greeks. As a matter of fact, most bond or free, most of the
people in the New Testament were slaves. And he says in Christ,
you don't have masters or slaves. There's no male or female. That's
a, an amazing, we can't get ahold of that, but it's so in Christ,
there's neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. I'm one with Jesus Christ. As he is, so are we in this world. I'm one with Jesus Christ. That's
why he's not ashamed to call me his brother. For the witch
cause, he's not ashamed to call them brethren. Nothing to be
ashamed of. I'm one with Jesus Christ. You are all one in Christ
Jesus. You know, this also takes away
from the thought of clergy laity. You got the clergy and then you
got the lay people. That's so offensive. It's offensive to
everything the scripture teaches. You're all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's. I'm thinking I'm going to I have
to come back to this next week because you'll notice B is in
italics. This is more than belonging to
Christ. If ye Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed. You're the true Jew. and heirs according to the promise. What's the law for? It was added.
It was added because of transgressions, to expose to us our need of the
glorious person and work of Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh, we love
God's law. It didn't bring us to Christ.
It was a pedagogue. It was a pedagogue, and every
one of us have experienced the pedagogue of the law even in
our consciences. It was a pedagogue until Christ. And when you're
Christ, you're no longer under a pedagogue.