The Law of Moses in the Plan of God

Transcript

GRM 915
9/19/2004
The Law of Moses in the Plan of God
Galatians 3:15-29
Gil Rugh


We are going to turn to the book of Galatians in our study tonight. As we’ve been studying I Timothy together Paul has been focusing on false teachers as we’ve noted in several major sections of the book of I Timothy. It is clear, particularly in chapter 1 of I Timothy that the false teachers that he was dealing with at Ephesus were probably Jews and they were taking the Mosaic Law and attempting to misuse it and misapply it to believers in the church.

Even though the major problem in the evangelical church today is not Jewish teachers, per se, there are major difficulties with people who do not understand the Word of God properly and so misuse it and misapply it. That continues to be true of the Mosaic Law. There continues to be misunderstanding about the role of the Law of Moses in the plan of God, the role of the Law of Moses in the plan of salvation. For example, there are those who think that you must preach the Mosaic Law before you can preach salvation by grace through faith. For it is the preaching of the Mosaic Law that prepares people to listen and respond in faith to the preaching of grace. We are going to see that’s not Biblical. There are those who think that when you become a believer now you live by trying to keep the Ten Commandments and parts of the Mosaic Law.

Everyone agrees that there are parts of the Mosaic Law that we do not keep. But many people do not understand what James made clear in his epistle that you either keep every single point of the Mosaic Law or you break the Mosaic Law. You can’t decide well we’ll keep this out of the Mosaic Law and not this. The Mosaic Law is a unit, is a whole, and when we break one point of it you have broken it all.

These kinds of misunderstandings bring confusion to the church and a failure to understand God’s plan and program of salvation, God’s plan and program of sanctification. That’s going on behind much of the New Testament. It comes up again and again in the letter and the letter to the Galatians focuses attention in a very severe and direct way because of the Judaizing teachers, as we call them. They’re really men who come out of a Jewish background who have professed faith in Christ but never entered into the saving grace of God in salvation, as we saw them described in our study of I Timothy. They are attempting to teach things out of the scripture about which they have no true understanding. They bring confusion to the church and they lead people away from the truth of God.

Just overall the Mosaic covenant is a law of Moses. It was a covenant entered into by God with the nation Israel. Remember after Israel comes out of their 400 years of bondage in Egypt, they are delivered from Pharaoh. Moses goes up on Mt. Sinai and is given the Mosaic Law, which is summarized in the ten words, the Ten Commandments, which are part of the Mosaic Law, and really give us a concise summary. It would have given Israel that kind of summary. To be clear in our mind, this is an agreement, a covenant made between God and a particular, physical, earthly nation. It was not made with any other nation. The Babylonians were not part of the Mosaic covenant, the Assyrians, other nations. It was between God and Israel.

Why don’t you jump back to Exodus 19, I know this is familiar to most of you. Exodus chapter 19 verse 3. You see Moses went up to God, the Lord called to him from the mountain saying, thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel. You see who we are addressing. He doesn’t tell Moses to go out and address the world, to go out and bring this message to the nations. You go tell the sons of Jacob—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then the 12 sons of Jacob which become the 12 patriarchs, the heads of the different tribes of Israel. The sons of Jacob are Jews, and they are identified as the sons of Israel.

Verse 5, now then if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples. For all the earth is mine. It is His to do with as He chooses. He has chosen in His sovereign purposes to select Israel for a unique position and a unique place among all the nations. Amos chapter 3 verse 2, you only have I chosen of all the nations. So here He says basically the same thing. You will be my own possession among all the people. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. We could go through Exodus and note other passages in chapter 24, chapter 34, about the focus of the Mosaic covenant.

Any attempt to make the church or place the church under the Mosaic Law, the Mosaic covenant is in total conflict with its intention from the beginning. That does not mean there are not things for the church to learn from the Mosaic covenant. We learn much about God and His character as we study the Mosaic covenant. We learn about righteous conduct and many things. But that’s different than saying we live under the authority of the Mosaic covenant; you’re obligated to its requirements.

Now the Mosaic covenant was made with the nation Israel, but there is provision in the Mosaic covenant also for non-Israelites. While you’re in Exodus back up to chapter 12 and note in the verses we are going to read the provision for Gentiles is not for Gentiles as Gentiles wherever they may be. It is for Gentiles who choose to convert to Judaism and identify themselves with the nation Israel. Exodus chapter 12 verse 48, “but if a stranger sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then let him come near to celebrate it. He shall be like a native of the land. No uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native and to the stranger who sojourns among you.” There may be Gentiles, and there will be in Israel in Old Testament history, who choose to identify themselves with the nation Israel and recognize the God of Israel. So, they must become in effect converts to Judaism and submit to the requirements of the Law, circumcision and so on. Some of those Gentiles, then, would be living with the Jews and they are free to partake of the benefits of these various ceremonies and activities such as Passover, as those who have converted to the God of Israel.

The Mosaic Law governed Israel’s life as the people of God and an earthly nation. It gave judicial instructions, it gave social responsibilities, it gave religious guidelines, it governed the nation Israel as an earthly nation. There is a movement among the broad umbrella of evangelicalism today that believes that we must reinstitute the Mosaic Law in society. They believe through the institution of the Mosaic Law that ultimately, we will bring in the kingdom—post millenialism, reconstructionalism are names by which it is known. They have written some major works in recent years. There’s been a revival of this particular belief and so they believe that our nation ought to be governed by the Mosaic Law. Little by little, eventually we will get there, and then the world will get better and better, and we will enter into the kingdom. It boggles my mind how anyone can really hold to that. It is so contrary and the opposite of everything the scripture teaches, number one. Then if you look around at the world you ought to be taken back by such an idea. But there are those who are promoting it.

Turn back to Galatians. Chapter 1 talked about those who would misuse the law for salvation and really what they’re doing, and this is where it becomes confusing for believers; and you see how false teachers who masquerade as angels of light work. They take the scripture and become masters in using the scripture improperly and incorrectly. So, the Judaizers in the churches of Galatia were not denying the need to believe in Christ, were not denying that Jesus was the Messiah. What they were saying is that in addition to that you must submit to the Mosaic Law. We say well at least they’re asking you to obey scripture. We can be glad of that, can’t we? With all that goes on in the world around us shouldn’t we be happy that at least people are telling people that you ought to submit to the Bible and scripture? Well Paul has the harshest language he could give reserved to those people. Verses 6 and 7 he accuses the Galatians of deserting Christ. You are deserting the one who called you when you turn to such teaching. You’re doing to a different gospel, another gospel. Remember those contrasts in the words another that we talked about in I Timothy. To another kind of gospel which is really not another, and there it refers to another of the same kind. You’re going to a totally different kind of gospel. You say you must recognize that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, you must recognize He died on the cross, you must place your faith in Him; and also, you must be circumcised, keep the Ten Commandments of the Law. Paul says that is not in any way related to my gospel. There may be some of the same things Paul taught in there regarding Christ, but it’s a totally different kind of gospel. It is opposed to the gospel Paul preached. He said in verse 8, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached, he is to be accursed, anathema, condemned to hell. He proceeds with this discussion.

We’re going to come over to chapter 3. He also reminds them that the Law never was intended to be a way of salvation, and that will be clarified as he moves through chapter 3. We’re just going to do some verses toward the end of chapter 3 in detail. The Law never was intended as a way of salvation. No one ever, no one in the nation Israel was ever saved by keeping the Law, by keeping the Ten Commandments as is commonly talked about today. The Law never was provided to Israel as a way for them to get saved. You can see part of the problem is people don’t understand what God reveals in the scripture correctly. Then they take even the scripture itself and misuse it because of their failure to understand it. They don’t understand anything you’re talking about. Remember I Timothy chapter 1? They’re talking about things about which they have no understanding.

Neither is the Law intended to be a way of salvation for believers, sanctification for believers. In chapter 3 verse 2, the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by hearing with faith? How did you get saved? How did the Holy Spirit of God come into your life? By keeping the Mosaic Law or by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ? Well of course if these are converted Jews that would be reading this letter, they would recognize I kept the Law, I conformed to the Law, but I had to get saved. Paul himself is such a testimony. Philippians 3, of how devoted he was to the Law and keeping the Law, but it was only when he believed in Christ, he received the Spirit. A person who is not clear on that is clearly not saved.

Well then, the next verse, because believers are confused on this. Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh? You see not only are you not saved by keeping the law, neither are you sanctified, neither are you developed to completion, perfection and maturity as a child of God by keeping the Law. The Law is neither a means of salvation nor a means of sanctification. Sanctification referring to our growing to become more and more mature, more and more like Jesus Christ. Neither one is the purpose of the Law. He goes on to give examples then from the Old Testament. He takes us back to Abraham because it was to Abraham the basic promises were given in the Abrahamic Covenant. For Abraham and his descendents. He quotes that famous verse, Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed God and God credited it to Abraham as righteousness.” Abraham did not become righteous before God by God’s grace because of what he did, but by believing what God said. And so, verse 7, it is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

Verse 9, so then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer. Emphasizing that Abraham was a man of faith and was saved by faith. It’s those who follow Abraham in believing who are the true sons of Abraham. That does not mean that there is no purpose and plan for the nation Israel. Yet many, many Christians are confused on this simple, clear Biblical point. He’s going to clarify it and we’ll look at that in a moment. But just note here. In verse 8 there was provision in the Abrahamic Covenant for Gentiles as well as Jews. The fact that Gentiles would experience the blessings of God’s salvation promised to Abraham is not something new, revealed in the New Testament. That was part of the original covenant, and he quotes it there at the end of verse 8. All the nations will be blessed in you. The Abrahamic Covenant included specific promises directed to the physical descendents of Abraham. It also included the provision of spiritual blessings, not only for the physical descendents of Abraham who believed in the God of Abraham, but also for Gentiles who would turn in faith to the God of Abraham. You understand that was part of the original Abrahamic Covenant. Promised blessings for Gentiles as well as Jews. That doesn’t mean because Gentiles now enter into the blessings and promises given to Abraham that therefore there is no future for the Jews, or the Gentiles have become the new Jews, the spiritual Israel. That’s just as serious an error as the Judaizers were making.

Goes on to contrast what was promised to Abraham by faith to what was required by the Law. No one is justified by the Law. Verse 11, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident. For the righteous man shall live by faith. That being the case that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident. I mean there is no place for confusion on this. Isn’t it sad and inexcusable that you talk to people today and ask them if they know if they died tonight, they’ll go to heaven. They’ll say oh yes, I think so. Well, how do you know? Oh, I try to keep the Ten Commandments. Well, the Ten Commandments are part of the Mosaic Law. No one will be declared righteous by God by keeping the Law, that’s evident. Not evident to them, is it? It’s evident in the fact that God has made it clear, but it wasn’t even evident anymore in the churches at Galatia. Paul said I can’t understand how you can be so quickly deserting the one who called you. I mean these are matters that are evident. You get an idea why the letter is so harsh. There just is no excuse for confusion on this point. He talks about the provision in the promise of blessings for Jews and Gentiles, through faith in the God who has revealed Himself.

Now note verse 15, we’re still not to the verses we’re going to do. Brethren I speak in terms of human relations. Even though it is only a man’s covenant, when it has been ratified no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. The foundational point in verse 15 is one that ought to be fixed in our mind. Once the covenant is set in place it is ratified, it is sealed, it is done. There can be no changes, no corrections, no additions, no subtractions. It is a fixed covenant. That’s true in the human realm. We have binding contracts and men who get paid good money to work through those before they are signed to make sure everything is as it should be. Why? Because once you sign it, now it is fixed. You can’t go to court when there’s a disagreement and bring your contract and you’ve just changed a number of things over time because you decided you didn’t like the them or it would work better this way. Then you go to court and say why aren’t you honoring the contract? Oh, I changed a lot of things, let me tell you, your honor, what I’ve changed. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You just changed it? Yeah, I changed it. You can’t do that. So that’s his point.

I speak in terms of human relations. Even though it’s only a man’s covenant, when it has been ratified no one sets it aside or adds conditions. Now we talk about the Abrahamic Covenant, and that’s what he’s talking about in verse 16. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. No one fails to understand, all the Jews understood it. When God gave that covenant to Abraham, the foundational covenant for the nation Israel, that included specific promises to the physical descendents of Abraham. You understand that can never be changed. You can’t say well now it doesn’t apply to the physical descendents of Abraham, because the church has become the spiritual descendents. You can’t do that. You can’t change the covenant. Well, the Jews haven’t been faithful. You remember in the provision of the covenant that Abraham divided the two animals, split them, lay one half on one side, the other half on the other side, allowing a path in the middle? Then he went into a deep sleep, and God passed between the animals. The literal meaning of making a covenant was cutting a covenant. God obligated Himself to the fulfillment of all that was contained in that covenant. Abraham didn’t even walk through them because God took sole responsibility ultimately for the fulfillment of all its provision.

I’m belaboring the point because I don’t understand why there are people in evangelical churches today saying that the promises given to the nation Israel will not be fulfilled literally as they were given in the Old Testament. Then try to excuse that by saying well Israel crucified their Messiah. Yes, they did. His blood be upon our hands. Yes. So, we’re changing the covenant. No, you can’t change the covenant. Well God can if He wants. God can only do what is consistent with His character, and He’s the God who cannot lie. He is the God who is speaking here and saying the covenant will not be changed. Now everybody has this fixed in their mind, right? So, we know if somebody says that well, I don’t know that there’s a future for Israel, you say, stop. What do you mean you don’t know? It’s evident and here’s just a basic fact. There’s the Abrahamic Covenant, you know what the Abrahamic Covenant promised? A future for Israel, specific blessings to Israel. Yes, but Israel didn’t. Wait a minute, wait a minute, let’s get the covenant clear first. Now we have all those details down. You know what? Now we know what God is going to do. Don’t blur it by trying to bring in all these other things. There is a place to understand some of those things, of course. But don’t try to use those to change the covenant because God said the covenant has been ratified and will never change.

This is so specific that Paul can make a major point hinging on whether one of the words in the covenant was singular or plural. You say well let’s not get picky. Let’s get picky. If you have a contract, if you’ve bought a house or something like that, and now somebody is violating the contract you’re willing to get picky, aren’t you? If your contract said your interest rate was 4%. Well, we decided to make that 14%. Why? Well, it’d be better for us, and we have other reasons, too. Well, wait a minute. There is no provision in the contract for that. Well, we just decided to do it. What do you say? See you in court. Why? Because you can’t do that, we have a contract. Now obviously human contracts get violated and that happened in Paul’s day, but the point is made.

All right, now verse 16. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say to seeds, plural, as referring to many, but rather to one and to your seed, that is Christ. So that the realization of all these promises comes through one specific person. Now seed can have a general meaning, Paul will use it that way. But in this context, he said it refers to Christ. So, you see how specific that covenant is. What I am saying is this, the Law which came 430 years later does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God so to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on promise. But God has granted to Abraham by means of a promise. God promised to do something. That’s the basis. He promised. Abraham believed God, believed what He promised. The law was based on performance. The Mosaic Law by nature, he’s talking about the law, is based on what you do, is it not? That’s what law is. Here is what is required.

But the Abrahamic Covenant is based on promise. You’re going to talk about promise, law and faith, moving to faith here. Now the promise is tied to faith. Nothing can invalidate the Abrahamic Covenant. So, the problem these Judaizers had was that they weren’t dealing with Abrahamic Covenant properly. They didn’t understand the purpose of the law. It’s added 430 years later, verse 17. Well by then, you know, that contract was old. It’s old but it’s not out of date, it’s old but it’s still valid because God has promised. So, it can’t nullify the promises. You see understanding the relationship of the law to the plan and program of God for Israel is crucial. The inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on promise, because law has to do with performance. That’s different than God promised. I say I promise that I will give you $500 tomorrow and you say okay, that’s great. In fact, I say, let’s have a contract. In fact, I have the contract drawn up, legally binding, and I’m signing my name to it. You say I’ll sign it, too. No, you don’t need to because you see I’m guaranteeing this will happen. So, here’s the contract, it’s binding. That’s what God did with Abraham. Puts him to sleep, when he wakes up it’s done, contract signed, sealed and guaranteed.

Now the law is given on Mt. Sinai and then God says here are the things you must do; and Israel says yes, we must do them. God says I will bless you for your obedience and I will punish you for your disobedience. It’s all within the context of the Mosaic Law. That’s added later, but it can change none of the provisions in the previous covenant.

What’s its purpose? Why the law then, verse 19. It was added because of transgressions. It wasn’t given to alter the Abrahamic Covenant. It wasn’t given to change any of the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant because you can’t do that. It was added because of transgressions. It was given for the purpose of dealing with transgressions.

Turn back to Romans. As many of you are aware, Romans is an expanded version of Galatians and much of the material covered in Galatians is covered in a fuller way in the book of Romans. In Romans chapter 4 verse 15, he’s talking about the same kind of issue in the context of chapter 4. Chapter 4 began, what about Abraham? He’s dealing with the same kind of issue—people that want to make salvation a matter of works and bringing in the law. Because if you’re going to make it works, what more powerful works can you do than say let’s go to scripture, let’s go to the Mosaic Law. That’s what’s required. Look down in verse 14 of chapter 4, and verse 13 talks about the promise to Abraham and to his descendents was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For those who are of law are heirs, faith is made void, the promise is nullified. So now if you’re going to make the blessings promised conditioned on keeping the law, you’ve nullified the previous covenant or contract that said it would be by promise and thus entered into by faith, just taking God at His word. For the law brings about wrath. Now note this last statement, where there is no law there is no violation. When Paul says in Galatians the law was added because of transgression, he’s saying basically the same thing as we have at the end of verse 15 in chapter 4 of Romans. Where there is no law there is no violation. There is still sin, but that sin is not breaking a specific law. But when the law is given, it reveals sin.

Back up to Romans chapter 3 verse 20, for by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. Basically, what we read a few moments ago in Galatians, is it not? Now note this, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The law tells you; you must do this; you must not do this. That begins to reveal sin more fully, because now there are specific laws. You know in certain parts of the world you are allowed to drive as fast as conditions will allow. There is no specific law there, because that’s somewhat nebulous. But people violate the law, they go so fast they kill someone. We say they were driving too fast for conditions. But when you put specific laws there, you cannot go above 35 miles an hour. Now if you go 45 you are breaking the law. Things become clearer as law is given. That’s the point. What the law did was reveal sin, magnify sin, reveal how great man’s sin was because it reveals more of the character of God and what was required to live consistently with the character of God and what was in conflict with the character and will of God for the nation Israel.

Come back to Galatians. The clear purpose of the law was to manifest sin and make it clear. The law was added, and you’ll note that word added. This is an add-on; this is something given later. Until we go to the end of verse 19, the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Until the seed would come. We already know who the seed is because he clarified that in verse 16. To your seed, at the end of verse 16, that is Christ. So, the law was added until the seed would come. It began after the promise and it would endure until Christ, the one who would fulfill the provisions required in the Abrahamic Covenant for blessings for Israel and blessings for all nations. So there, now we have a timeline for the law. It was added, and we know when it began—with Moses at Sinai, that’s 430 years after God ratified a covenant with Abraham—and it came to a conclusion with the coming of the seed promised in the Abrahamic Covenant, which is Christ. There is the timeline of that covenant. There are people walking around saying you have to keep the Mosaic Law.

How did these false teachers infiltrate the church at Galatia trying to tell them it’s necessary to keep the law? Remember the Jerusalem Conference in Acts chapter 15 and the debate was between Paul and those teachers who said it’s not enough just to believe in Jesus as the Messiah of Israel who died on the cross and was raised from the dead. You must also be circumcised and keep the law. That was a covenant that had a certain purpose, didn’t change anything in the Abrahamic Covenant, remember that. It was another covenant of temporary duration for specific reasons. The Abrahamic Covenant was not bound that way. It had a beginning, but its provisions are unending as God gave it to the nation.

Until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. It’s the one in whom all the promises to Abraham will now be able to realize their fulfillment. Because even the provision he mentioned in chapter 3 verse 8, all the nations will be blessed in you. That required the coming of the Messiah to be the Savior so that Gentiles could enter into the provision of salvation. The Jews need that provision also.

This law was ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator. Angels were involved in the giving of the law at Sinai. We don’t learn that from the book of Exodus, we learn that from later revelation. There is not a lot given on it, but enough to, like a passage like this, we understand that God gave His law to angels who gave it to Moses, who would give it to people. Listen to Psalm 68 verse 17, the chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them at Sinai, in holiness. Well Moses was up on Sinai, but you know who else was there? Thousands upon thousands, myriads of angels were there in attendance. God used the angels as those through whom He gave the law to Moses.

In Stephen’s sermon in Acts chapter 7 verse 53 he refers to the law as ordained by angels. In Hebrews chapter 2 verse 2 the writer refers to the law as the word spoken through angels. It doesn’t originate with angels; it originates with God. He gave it to angels, who would give it to Moses, who would give it to the people of Israel. In verse 19 the law was ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator; and that was Moses. He was the one who was the mediator between the nation Israel and God. He brought what God gave him through angels to the people. We won’t go into all the purposes of the law and so on. It’s done now that the one in whom the promise centered has come.

Now a mediator is not for one, but God is only one. You have a mediator, you have someone standing between 2 parties. You say I’m mediating. Oh. Between whom? Between Gil. Well, and who? I’m mediating between Gil. Well, you don’t mediate between Gil, you mediate between Gil and someone. A mediator implies that you have two parties. The law is seen inferior to the Abrahamic Covenant because who mediated the Abrahamic Covenant? No one. God spoke directly to his friend, Abraham. It was direct communication, God and Abraham. There is a superiority even in the method of instituting the covenant. There is one God and He sovereignly has acted on His own behalf and communicated that to Abraham. Even there Abraham goes to sleep. He’s not even an active participant in this covenant. It’s passive as you can get. He’s sound asleep and God ratifies the covenant, a direct action in contrast to the Mosaic Law.

There’s a superiority of revelation, the way it was given. That’s similar to the argument of the book of Hebrews. God in past times and in a variety of ways spoke through the prophets, human agents. But in these last days He has spoken to us in one who is a Son. Now when God speaks that’s authoritative. But there’s a superiority in this method of revelation, speaking to one who is a Son, in contrast to using the prophets in just regular human instruments. Here God is speaking at Sinai but He is speaking through angels to Moses to Israel. When you get to the Abrahamic Covenant this is a deal directly done with God to Abraham. Shows the superiority of revelation on that occasion.

Look at verse 21, is the law contrary to the promises of God? Here’s the question then. All right, I acknowledge the superior place of Abraham, the uniqueness of the revelation given to him, the law was added long after the Abrahamic Covenant was instituted. It was of temporary duration. But is there anything in the law that is contrary to what God promised to Abraham? You’ll note, may it never be. King James says God forbid, but the word God is not in this. But the idea may it never be, is such a thought is inconceivable. Because that would mean God is acting contradictorily within Himself. He gave the promises to Abraham, then He gave a covenant through Moses, and what He gave to Moses 430 years later is contrary to what He promised to Abraham. Such a thought is inconceivable because God is the source of all the revelation we’re talking about. The problem is the Abrahamic Covenant did promise salvation blessings, among other things, to Jews and Gentiles alike. Those salvation promises have to center in the seed. The Mosaic Law was never given with the idea that this would bring righteousness and salvation to the nation. That would be contrary to what was promised in the Abrahamic Covenant, which said these blessings would have to center in the seed, singular, the person of Christ. So, anybody who thinks there was salvation in keeping the Mosaic Law doesn’t understand the Abrahamic Covenant. Because the salvation promises of the Abrahamic Covenant center in a seed, singular, referring to Christ. So that’s the point.

Verse 21, is the law contrary to the promises of God? May it never be. Such a thought is inconceivable. For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would have indeed been based on law. You see law requires performance, do this, don’t do this. If there could have been a law that would have produced righteousness, then you would have righteousness based on law. But you don’t, it’s not a possibility. Listen to what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 7 verses 12 and 14, we won’t turn there for time. The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Paul was saying I’m not criticizing the law, the law was a reflection of the will of God for the nation, Israel. The law is holy, the commandment is holy, righteous and good. But there is a problem. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh sold in bondage to sin. The problem in the law was not with the law, the problem in the law was with Israel. Israel was sinful. The law demanded righteousness. The law was good, the law was righteous, the law was holy. The problem is it was given to sinful people and all they could do was break the law. All the law did was reveal how horribly sinful they were, and that law made provision for sacrifices to be offered in faith, to deal with sin. But those sacrifices could never take away sin. The whole argument of the book of Hebrews. How would they be saved? By not keeping the law because they were sinful. But in offering the sacrifices and submitting to God even in their failures, those who truly believed in the God who had revealed Himself were saved how? Same way Abraham was, by faith. Their desire to obey God and keep His commandments was an expression of their faith. But they failed, they failed miserably. The provision for the blessing, salvation blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant was not found in the Mosaic Law. It was found in the seed, which is to come.

All right. Then how come the churches of Galatia are confused? There are teachers there that are from the churches of Galatia, churches of Galatia plural, now, we’re talking about the region there not just one church in one place, saying you have to keep the law to be saved. Yet I turn on the Roman Catholic channel and there are some people who have professed that at one time . . . I listened to a man who claimed he was a pastor for like 20 years in an evangelical church before the light came on and he realized salvation is by grace through faith. This was within the last two weeks. It’s not by faith alone, and I’ve come back to Mother Mary. Because as a kid, he was a child and he says I think for all those 20 years I was telling my Roman Catholic mother that you are lost, you need to believe in Christ alone, faith alone. But now I’ve come back to the bosom of the church. And oh what a blessing it is to have Mother Mary interceding for me. That man never understood grace. That’s the same problem, only worse. At least the Jews could say keep the Mosaic Law, those were the works and God required them at least at one time in history, never for salvation. The confusion goes on.

There never was a law that could impart life. Verse 22, the scripture has shut everyone up under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Everyone shut up under sin. Romans chapter 11 verse 32, God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. The law was preparing Israel because if they literally lived by faith it revealed to them their sinful condition, it revealed to them their need of a sacrifice, a provision from God that would take away their sin. This is all consistent with the promises to Abraham, and if I’m to enter into the fullness of the promises to Abraham I’m going to need righteousness provided by God. I’m a sinner and the wages of sin is death and I’m reminded of that every time I offer the sacrifice that is slain in my place. I believe God when He says that He will save those who believe in Him and whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Now it becomes clear, the light is turned on full bright. The seed has come.

Isaiah 53 now in all its beauty is clear. Everyone is shut up under sin so that you can be prepared to be saved by faith. So that the promise by faith in Christ might be given to those who believe. Now we understand. What was the purpose of the Law? It revealed to Israel. We say, well doesn’t it serve that purpose? All the scripture of God, all scripture is God-breathed and profitable. That’s different than saying we live under the Mosaic Law. We live under parts of the Mosaic Law. No, you do not understand. God says the Law is a unit and you can never live under part of the Mosaic Law. James, if you break one part of the Mosaic Law you have broken the Law. But I do learn from the Mosaic Law, I learn of God’s character, I do learn of my sinfulness. I learn from the things that don’t apply to me, I learn from the sacrifices of the Old Testament, even though I’ve never lived under a sacrificial system. I still learn from that sacrificial system. Israel lived under the requirements of that system. Israel lived with earthly, physical priests. We don’t. We are priests because we have a high priest, not after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchizedek, according to the book of Hebrews. So don’t get confused. People say oh people who believe like he believes, they don’t think the Mosaic Law is of any value. There is nothing for us to learn from the Mosaic Law. There is much for us to learn from the Mosaic Law. That’s different than saying we live under the Mosaic Law. Paul is making that clear.

The promise by faith, in verse 22, in Christ Jesus might be given to those who believe. You see the way of salvation has never changed. How was Abraham saved 2000 years before Christ? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, in Genesis 15. You’re saved by faith, nothing has changed. Anyone who has ever been saved has been saved by believing God and the revelation He has given of Himself. Those who were saved when the Law of Moses was enforced were not saved by keeping the Law of Moses, they were saved by believing the revelation God had given of Himself. The Jews thought that they were saved because they got circumcised, just like multitudes of Protestants or Catholics today think they get saved by getting baptized. Supposed evangelical, sharing on TV—you know what I came to realize? I wasn’t saved when I believed in Christ, I was saved when I was baptized. What a clarity that was. I mean you're in the fog, you don’t know what you’re talking about, you understand nothing, you’re a pompous ignoramus. Not my words, remember. But here he sits and expounds on it, there are going to be people who turn this on and are going to be confused.

The Galatians were confused, people get confused. The scripture is clear. Verse 23, “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law.” We Jews, we Gentiles have never lived under the law. The only Gentiles who ever did live under the law were those that converted to Judaism and thus became part of the requirements placed on the nation Israel. Paul is writing here, we were kept. We, Jews, were kept in custody under the law being shut up to the things which were later to be revealed. Now when he talks about the faith that was later to be revealed he’s not talking just about faith generally. He says in verse 23, before faith came, as though there were no such thing as salvation by faith before the coming of Christ because he’s already said Abraham believed God. The word translated believe and faith, the same Greek word translated believe and faith. Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. We’re not saying there wasn’t faith. But the fullness of God’s provision of salvation by grace through faith, that didn’t come until Christ came. The law came by Moses, John 1 says, but grace and truth came by Christ. There was grace before the coming of Christ, there was truth before the coming of Christ. But the full revelation of God’s grace, the full manifestation of God’s truth, the full unfolding of the provision of salvation by grace through faith comes with the coming of Christ. Part of progressive revelation where God has revealed more and more of Himself, His purposes, His plan and His work. With the coming of Christ now there is the fullness. The sacrifices under the law pointed to a coming sacrifice. There wasn’t a clarity of understanding, even with the revelation given. Old Testament prophets were confused. Even the revelation they spoke about a coming, glorified Messiah and a coming, suffering Messiah. Now we understand that it’s the Son of God stepping from the throne of glory to be born of a virgin and being the God-Man who would suffer and die on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; and be raised in victory. By believing in Him we are cleansed and made new.

Now the fullness of salvation by grace through faith is revealed. Before faith came, men had faith. There wasn’t the full unveiling of God’s provision of salvation by faith that we have with the coming of Christ. That’s why we really have three areas he talks about here. He talks about promise, focused in the Abrahamic Covenant, a covenant of promise, because God promised certain things in there. You have the Mosaic Law, which requires obedience of Israel. Then you have faith, this time when we live with the fullness of revelation. There is no fuller revelation than the revelation that has now been given with the coming of Christ.

Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law. The word kept in custody, kept in prison, guarded. Under the law, shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. That word shut up, closed up. Verse 22, the scripture has shut up everyone under sin. They are kept in custody, they are under guard in prison, they are limited. With the coming of Christ there is the taking off of those limitations with the fullness of revelation. Again, the emphasis is on the temporariness of the law. The Mosaic Covenant is still in force, that’s only a temporary covenant. The Mosaic Law is no longer in force. It never was in force as a way of salvation. But its purpose, and it did have purpose, but that’s been served with the coming of Christ. We are kept in custody under law being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

Therefore, the law has become our tutor, not our teacher. Don’t get confused. The pedagogue in New Testament times was the disciplinarian. Wasn’t the teacher of the child but it was the one who saw that he got to his teachers, the one who saw he lived a disciplined life and so on. Well, that’s what the law did. It was a tutor for Israel, a pedagogue. Or in the previous analogy, a guard that kept you in custody to Christ. Now it says to lead us to Christ. But you’ll note to lead us is in italics. That means it’s not in the original text, that’s not a part of what Paul wrote. The translators inserted it and tried to make it smoother in English or to clarify it. Our tutor to Christ. The point in light of what he has said up to this point was that was until Christ came. In verse 19, why the law then? It was added until the seed would come. It’s until Christ comes. I say this because there are people who come to this verse, verse 24, and say the law is being our tutor to lead us to Christ, and reform people are great for preaching this verse. You have to preach the Mosaic Law if people are going to be saved because the Mosaic Law is what brings people to Christ. That’s a misunderstanding of the verse. Put it in context. Verse 19, the law was added until the seed would come, until Christ came. The law was a tutor, a pedagogue, a disciplinarian for Israel to Christ.

Look at verse 25, now that faith has come, they’re no longer under a tutor. How many times do you have to say the law is done, the law is done, the law is done to understand the law is done? Yet those in reformed theology are parading around talking about how we have to be under the law. Ever read Galatians? Ever read Romans? There are people who think that they are defending the truth. But we’re no longer under a tutor. Christ has come. Where have you been for the last 2000 years? What do you think the New Covenant, the New Testament in your Bible is? Christ has come. You know it’s like the Japanese soldiers where they had a few of them left hiding in the jungle, still fighting World War II. World War II had been over for decades. Where have these people been? The church gets confused by this kind of teaching. They think the Abrahamic Covenant somehow was altered by Christ’s coming, its provisions were changed so now Gentiles are the replacement of Israel. So, you have Replacement Theology. We say wait a minute, there’s no replacement. The Abrahamic Covenant at the beginning made provision for Gentile salvation, as well as salvation of the Jews. In you all the nations will be blessed. This is not a new addition. The coming of Christ changes nothing in the Abrahamic Covenant. The coming of Christ is the fulfillment of the salvation promise of the Abrahamic Covenant, so all the other blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant can be given. Because they require the provision of salvation. We must be justified by faith, the end of verse 24.

You are all sons of God, verse 26, through faith in Christ. This is true, this is the only provision for Jew of Greeks, slave or free, male or female. All become one in Christ. If you belong to Christ you are Abraham’s descendents, heirs according to promise. See, Gentiles have taken the place of Jews. No. Because Gentiles who believe in the Messiah enter into the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant made when it was given. In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Now who gives you the right to take your scissors and cut off the part that applies to Israel? This provision, in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed, was there from the beginning. Read Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17. The Abrahamic Covenant is clear. Salvation is by faith.

So where is the confusion? Why do people think you get saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, by being baptized, by doing good works? The best work you could have done would have been the works of the law as a Jew. By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in His sight. I can understand confusion in the world, it ought not to get into the church, should it? Why does Paul have to write such a scathing letter to the churches of Galatia? Why does he have to leave Timothy at Ephesus to straighten out the church at Ephesus that’s confused by the same kind of foolish teaching? And church after church. As long as we’re careful in handling the scripture, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. Keeps the church on track, keeps our lives personally on track and enables us to honor God and His truth as we should.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your truth. Thank you that your Word is truth. That you, Lord, for your promises and we Gentiles are greatly blessed having entered into the provision you made for us when you entered into that covenant with your servant, Abraham some 2000 years ago. With the coming of Christ provision was made for Gentiles to experience the blessings of salvation, provision was made for your people, Israel, to experience the blessings of salvation. Lord, our hearts are encouraged and comforted to know that you are a God who keeps His promises, and even though we are unfaithful, you cannot deny yourself. You remain faithful. Because of your faithfulness, we are secure for eternity. Because of your faithfulness, Israel will enter into all the promises that you, the promise-giving God have given. Because of your faithfulness, we, as your people, the church, will enter into all the promises you have given for the glory of eternity. Lord, we rejoice in who you are and that by your grace we belong to you through faith in your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.