Galatians 3:15-29

In Galatians chapter 3, we're going to look at verses 15 to 25.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

And we're doing an Advent series in the evening,

and from next week we'll do some Advent stuff in the mornings.

Galatians 3, 15 to 25.

Let me again plug just Tabletop Magazine.

I think it's a brilliant magazine on helping us get into the Bible

and read the Scriptures every day.

The articles are terrific,

and in fact I wish I'd read these articles before this sermon.

And so there's some very, very helpful stuff on faith alone,

the differences between biblical Christianity and orthodoxy

and biblical Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church.

And so take one, take two, take as many as you can use.

I think it's a terrific magazine.

In June of 1520,

three years after Martin Luther

nailed his 95 thesis to the door,

the castle door in Wittenberg,

Martin Luther was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.

He was condemned by the Pope,

condemned as a heretic,

officially.

And so Luther was forbidden to preach and teach.

By way of response,

Martin Luther, who by all accounts is pretty fiery,

published three books.

The first book was on

the Christian nobility of the German nation.

It was a masterstroke.

If there's one way

to get the Germans behind you

in the Protestant Reformation

is to say,

well, you're not Italians, are you?

And it was a brilliant,

brilliant book.

It was a masterstroke,

politically.

The second book

that he wrote in 1520

was

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church.

It is a no-holds-barred

expose

of the Roman Catholic Church

and its abuses.

You feel like you want to wear

a safety helmet when you read it.

And then thirdly,

he wrote a little book called

The Freedom of the Christian.

You can still buy it today.

There are those who say

that The Freedom of the Christian

by Martin Luther

is one of the great pieces of literature

in Western civilization.

And in that little book,

he makes two propositions.

Number one,

that a Christian,

somebody who has put their faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ,

is an utterly free man.

Lord of all

and subject to none.

But secondly,

he says

that a Christian

is an utterly dutiful man.

The servant of all

and subject of all.

A free man,

Lord of all,

subject to no one.

A dutiful man,

subject,

a servant of all

and subject to all.

And it's the first

of those prepositions

that I think

Galatians chapter 3

Galatians 3:15–25

verses 15 to 25

is all about.

that if you have put your faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ

and in him alone,

you are free.

The Lord of all,

subject to none.

Perhaps the key verse

in the book of Galatians

is chapter 5 verse 1.

Isaiah 5:1

Can you see that?

For freedom,

Christ has set us free.

for freedom,

Christ has set us free.

The theme tune

of Galatians

is freedom.

Freedom from the tyranny

of the law.

Freedom from the laws

of men.

Freedom from a guilty conscience.

Freedom from the laws

which the church

imposes upon us.

Freedom from the laws

of the Judaizers

of Paul's day

that they were imposing.

Freedom from the law

as a means of justification.

As a means of getting

right with God.

It is for freedom

that Jesus Christ

has set us free.

There were those

who turned up

in the Galatian church.

They were infiltrators.

And they were deeply

suspicious of the

Apostle Paul

and his message

of what he was preaching

and what he was doing.

The church is made up

largely of non-Jewish

Gentile Christians.

And these infiltrators,

these Judaizers

were insisting

it's not enough

to believe in the Lord Jesus.

It's not enough

to believe in the Lord Jesus.

There are certain

religious rights

that you have to do.

You have to obey

certain ceremonial laws

like circumcision

and food laws

and the Sabbath laws

and feast day laws.

And you have to do that

in order

to be made right with God.

To be justified.

It was insufficient.

It was not enough

to believe in Jesus.

You need to do

something extra.

And it was that

which led Paul

to cite Father Abraham

in Genesis 15.

Abraham was the

father of the Jews.

Do you remember

the infiltrators

the Judaizers

were saying

you've got to

get back to Moses.

You've got to get

back to the law.

And Paul says

I see you Moses

and I raise you

to Abraham

the father of the Jews.

And what Genesis 15

and verse 6 says

that Abraham

the father of the Jews

he believed.

He believed in God's promises.

And it was reckoned to him.

It was credited to him

as righteousness.

It was through the instrument

of faith

in the promise

that God had made

that God counted

Abraham as righteous.

God reckoned Abraham

as a law keeper.

And so the question is then

or what is the function

of the law?

If the apostle Paul

is saying

we are saved

apart from the law

apart from works

apart from obedience

apart from our trying

we are made right

with God

through faith

in Jesus Christ

alone

and apart from obedience

on our part

what is the point

of the law?

What is its purpose?

Look at verse 19

chapter 3

Why then

the law?

Why then

the law?

And Paul gives us

two answers

one is negative

and one is positive.

So first of all

let's look at the

negative answer.

What the law

cannot do.

What the law

cannot do.

The law

of God

cannot

annul

the promise

of God.

The law

of God

cannot

undo

the gospel

of God

the good news

of God.

At whatever

place

at whatever

function

the law

had

it cannot

subvert

the gospel.

You can't

leave

justification

by faith

alone behind.

There were those

in the church

in Galatia

just like there

are those

today who

suggest something

like this

that the gospel

brings you

to the front

door.

That the gospel

enables you

to put your

feet on

the front

step.

But in order

to keep going

in order to

reach the end

it is entirely

of works.

Do you remember

when you were

slightly nervous

of going

to someone's

house

and you were

being dropped

off by your

parents

and your

parents would

say listen

I'll drive you

to the steps

but you've

got to get

out and

knock the

door yourself.

You've got

to go in

yourself.

I'll take

you as

far as I

can take

you but

then it's

up to you

you've got

to go

in.

And there

were people

saying that

is what

the Bible's

message is.

The gospel

gets you to

the point

where it

gets you

on the

front step

but in

order to

keep going

as a

Christian

in order

to reach

the end

well then

it's about

what you

do.

It's about

our obedience

and Paul is

addressing that

here.

That

fundamental

pharisaical

spirit and

all of us

are recovering

pharisees in

some form or

another.

All of us

revert to

that religious

pharisee mode

and Paul is

addressing that

issue that

you begin by

faith and

then you are

made perfect

by the

works,

by flesh.

You begin

by the

spirit but

you are

made perfect

by the

flesh.

And so he

raises this

example and

it's an

example of

history from

Abraham.

And he

says in

verse 15,

can you see

it?

I'll give a

human example.

Brothers,

even with a

man-made

covenant,

no one

annuls it

or adds

to it once

it's been

ratified.

And the

word there

for covenant

is a

word called

diotheki,

it's quite a

prominent word

in Greek

in the New

Testament.

And there

are people

who say

what Paul

has in

mind here

is not

so much

God's

covenant

but a

last will

and testament.

And there's

a raging

debate,

hundreds of

PhDs have

been written

on it,

whether it

should be

rendered

covenant

or last

will and

testament.

And if

it's last

will and

testament,

there are

kind of

different

choices.

Was Paul

thinking of

the way

Romans did

last wills

and testaments

or was he

thinking about

the way

Greeks did

last wills

and testaments,

they were

different.

If you

used to

give a

Greek

last will

and testament,

it was very

clear that

once the

will had

been made

and the

testament had

been made

and had

been signed

and ratified

and placed

in the

depository,

it could not

be changed,

it could not

be annulled,

it could not

be broken,

it could not

be tampered

with.

It's a minister

I know quite

well in Wales

and very

foolishly,

when he

was asked

to be

an executor

of an

old lady

in his

church,

he said

yes,

never agree

to that

if you're

a minister,

it was a

total disaster.

She left

her entire

estate

between the

church,

50% went

to the

church

and 50%

went to

her family.

When she

died,

of course the

family found

out about

this and

they were

incensed,

they were

absolutely

furious.

They contested

it,

they went

to the

local

press.

They were

furious that

50% of

their mother's

estate went

to the

church and

they contested

it.

They contested

the way that

the will had

been drawn

up.

After

endless hassle

and it being

in the local

papers,

about a month

later the

lawyer called

my friend

and said

I've looked

into it

and the

will cannot

be altered.

The will

was entered

into legally,

it was ratified

legally and it

cannot be

changed.

And to

the boot

I've

charged the

family £1,000

for the

decision.

Can you

imagine

it made

things a

whole lot

worse.

The point

is this,

the illustration

is saying

this,

once a

will has

been done

it cannot

be changed.

And once

someone has

died,

then the

will certainly

cannot be

changed.

So it

could be

that,

or perhaps

Paul doesn't

have the

last will

and testament

in mind,

but as the

ESV suggests,

he has

God's

covenant.

And the

point about

God's

covenant is

this,

his word,

God's

word,

can never

be broken.

The grass

withers and

the flowers

fade,

but the

word of

our God

stands

forever.

And when

God gives

his word,

it is utterly

and completely

trustworthy.

And so he's

talking about

God's covenant

with Abraham,

that we read

of in

Genesis 12,

and then

the covenant

in Genesis 12

is ratified

in Genesis 15.

It's confirmed.

In Genesis 12,

actually,

the word covenant

does not

appear.

But in

Genesis 15,

he speaks about

the covenant

that's already

been made.

And so we

can defer

from that,

can't we,

that what

God did

in Genesis 12

is a covenant

with Abraham.

And in that

covenant,

God promised

to Abraham

land and

seed,

children,

and that

his children

would be like

the stars

in the sky

and like the

sand on the

seashore.

In chapter

15,

he ratifies

that covenant,

he confirms

it.

And that

covenant

would eventually

produce the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

And Paul

makes what

is a rather

obscure kind

of exegetical

point.

he kind

of looks

and sees

something that

we wouldn't

initially see

from Genesis

12 and

verse 15.

That when

God made

the promise

to Abraham,

he said,

to you and

your offspring,

singular.

Now there's a

sense which

that promise

that God

made to

Abraham was

to his

children and

to his

grandchildren and

his great

grandchildren after

them.

It's part of

the argument

of why we

baptise children,

that God's

promises always

include the

children of

believers,

that children

are included

within the

covenant.

But the

Apostle Paul

looks at it

and he draws

this one

particular point.

He says it's

singular.

And the

fulfilment of

the promise

in Genesis

12,

15,

17 is

ultimately

found in

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

So let me

tell you the

story of

Genesis 15.

Do you

remember how

God confirmed

how he

ratified his

covenant?

In Genesis

15,

we're told

that Abraham

was to

take a

cow and

a goat and

a ram and

a dove and

he was to

cut those

animals in

half.

And he was

to cut them

in half and

then he was

to separate the

two halves from

each other to

leave a path for

people to walk

through between

the carcasses.

And it's at

that point that

Abraham falls

fast asleep

into a deep

sleep.

And then do

you remember

what happened

in Genesis

15 where

he told

that a

smoking

furnace,

a firepot

came down.

It was

symbolic of

God's

presence.

And so

God's

presence comes

down while

Abraham is

in a deep

sleep and

the firepot,

the symbol of

God's presence,

passes between

the severed

pieces.

There's a

covenant made

but one

of the

parties of

the covenant

is fast

asleep and

the other

party of the

covenant walks

through.

Now when they

walk through

those severed

pieces of

animals,

what were

they saying?

They were

saying in that

agreement that

what has

happened to

these animals,

it should fall

on me,

it should happen

to me if I

break this

covenant.

That if I

break my

promise,

if I break

my word,

may what's

happened to

this cow cut

in two happen

to me,

may I be

cut in two?

And so you

have this

incredible promise

don't you,

that God

makes where

he takes

both the

blessings and

the curses of

the covenant

upon himself

and he says

if Abraham

or I

break this

covenant,

may the

curse fall

on me.

And where

is Abraham?

Fast

asleep.

God

is saying

if I

fail

to observe

the terms

of my

covenant

and if

Abraham

fails to

observe the

terms of

the covenant,

may the

covenant

curse

fall on

me.

It was a

binding oath

on God,

on God's

part for

blessing and

for curse.

His word

having been

given,

blood having

been shed,

that covenant

cannot be

nullified.

the law,

Mount Sinai,

came 430

years after

that.

430

years.

And so the

Apostle Paul,

he looks over

the history of

God's dealings

with his

people,

of the

history of

redemption,

and he

says the

law,

coming 430

years after

that covenant

with Abraham,

could not

break the

promise,

could not

annul the

promise given

to Abraham.

God

And so,

that God

wasn't saying,

well, it was

by faith in

Abraham's day,

but now

Moses' time

has come,

and so it's

the law and

works.

Paul is

saying,

it has

always been

by faith

alone.

Christian,

I remember

being asked,

as a kind

of young

Christian,

how did

Old Testament

believers

become

Christians,

if I can put

it like that?

And I

remember it

was like a

light bulb

moment.

It was like a

light bulb

moment.

That they

become Christians

in exactly the

same way that

you and I

do.

That by

faith we

look back

to what

Christ has

done.

By faith

they grasp

the promise

and they

look forward

to what

Christ has

done.

I think

Paul is also

speaking here

in terms of

Christian

experience.

That we

receive

forgiveness

of sins

by faith

in Jesus

Christ

and by

faith in

Jesus

Christ

alone.

And we

have to be

absolutely

clear because

the drift

of our

hearts is

the opposite

way.

That we

don't begin

by faith

and finish

by works.

We don't

begin by the

spirit and

finish by the

flesh.

We don't

get our

foot in the

door by

the gospel

and then

it's entirely

up to us.

The promise

was given

to Abraham

and it

was a

promise

that at

the heart

of it

a promise

of Jesus.

A promise

of the

provision of

God

in the

gospel.

The law

cannot

undo

justification

by faith.

The law

cannot

undo

your right

standing

with God

through faith

in Jesus

Christ.

It is not

justification

by faith

and then

sanctification

by works.

The law

cannot do

undo the

promise.

It's a

beautiful

verse,

verse 17.

You need

to meditate

on it

this week.

The law

does not

annul

God's

covenant.

It's an

amazing

thing.

The law

cannot

undo

the promise

and so

you look

to the

promise.

But then

secondly,

Paul makes

a positive

statement.

What can

the law

do?

What does

the law

do?

What

then is

the

function

of the

law?

If the

law

cannot

undo

the

promise,

what's

the

function

of the

law?

Now the

Reformation

understood

God's

law in

three ways.

It says

there's

three uses

of the

law.

I know

it's been

hard work

this morning

but stick

with me.

First of

all it

talks about

the civil

use of

the

law.

And so

the use

of God's

law in

society,

this is

God's

world,

God's

law.

The use

of the

law in

framing

society

after the

Ten

Commandments.

The rules

and the

regulations

for ordinary

society

was God's

law.

And there's

a sense

in which

God's

law was

given

to bring

civilisation.

The use

of the

law in

civil life

to restrain

public

wickedness

and maintain

order in

society.

Of course

you see

that fully

don't you

in the

nation of

Israel

in the

Old

Testament.

But that

still stands

today.

We see

the disaster

that comes

upon a

country that

gives itself

up on

God's

law.

But there's

a second

use of

the law.

And it's

what we see

here in

the Apostle

Paul.

He says

the law

is a

guardian

or a

pedagogue,

a teacher.

Then there's

a third

use of

the law

where it's

a kind

of didactic

sense.

The law

as a

rule for

life,

it is to

guide our

behaviour as

believers,

to reflect

the blessings

of the

grace which

we've

received.

It sets

a pattern

for the

Christian

law.

But what

Paul is

doing in

verse 19

is he's

saying about

that second

use of

the law,

that it

is a

teacher,

it is a

guardian.

It was

added because

of

transgressions,

rebellion.

It was

added because

of

transgressions.

There's a

sense in

which the

law only

multiplies our

need.

The law

only multiplies

our sinfulness.

It only

shuts us up.

Look at what

it says in

verse 22.

He talks about

the scriptures

there, that

the scriptures

imprisoned

everything.

The scripture

imprisoned

everything under

sin so that

the promise by

faith in

Jesus Christ

might be given

to those

who believe.

When the

law comes,

it demonstrates

what sin

is.

When the

law comes,

it magnifies

our sin and

our failure

and our

inability and

our bondage.

There is a

sense in

which when

the law

comes, all

it does is

kill and

destroy and

imprison.

The world

thinks in

this way,

the world

thinks that

the obligation

to do

something

implies the

ability to

do it.

That's how

the world

thinks.

The world

thinks if

you are

obliged to

do something,

then you

must have

the ability

to do it.

The Bible

however flips

that on its

head.

You are

under

obligation,

but you

cannot

obey.

That's the

frustration,

isn't it?

the difficulty

of God's

law is it

says do

this and

you and

I cannot

do it.

The law

says go

here and

you find

yourself going

in the

opposite

direction.

And when

the law

came,

Paul here

is speaking

perhaps about

the history

of redemption,

but also

when we

speak about

our experience,

this is how

we experience

the law.

So think

with me about

Romans chapter

Romans 7 · chapter mention

7.

In fact,

come back

with me to

Romans chapter

Romans 7 · chapter mention

7.

Romans chapter

Romans 7 · chapter mention

7 and

verse 7,

where Paul

says this,

he says,

and what

then should

we say?

Romans 7

Romans 7:7

verse 7,

what then

shall we

say?

That the

law is

sin?

Well,

by no

means.

Yet,

if it

had not

been for

the law,

I would

not have

known sin.

For I

would not

have known

what it

is to

covet if

the law

had said

you shall

not

covet.

But sin,

seizing an

opportunity through

the commandment

produced in

me all

kinds of

covetlessness.

For apart

from the law,

sin lies

dead.

I was

once alive,

apart from

the law,

but when the

commandment

came,

sin came

alive and

I died.

What's he

saying there?

He's talking

about his

life as a

Pharisee,

as a

religious man.

He's talking

about his

life before he

became Christian.

He was alive

once,

that's how

he felt.

He felt

he was

alive,

a man

full of

vigour,

and moral

power,

but then

the law

of God

came,

and it

convicted him,

and it

incarcerated him,

and it

put him

in prison,

and it

shut him

up,

and it

showed the

apostle Paul

that he

couldn't do

what God

was asking

him to

do.

It

showed him

his

inability,

it showed

him his

sinfulness

and his

wretchedness.

It only

demonstrated

that he

couldn't

save

himself.

When the

law came,

he died.

He felt

once,

he felt

alive,

he felt

he was

full of

life and

vigour.

Our

friends who

are not

Christians,

they're not

gloomy,

in the

main,

they're not

always

down.

They are

alive without

the law,

and then the

law comes

when they

understand it,

and it

shows them

their

inability,

and it

shows them

their

sinfulness,

and it

shows them

their need,

and it

shows them

their

wretchedness,

and they

die.

It's

like being

imprisoned.

It's

like the

rich young

ruler.

Do you

remember the

rich young

ruler?

He comes

to Jesus,

and he

says to

Jesus,

this amazing

question,

what must

I do to

inherit eternal

life?

And Jesus

says,

you know

the ten

commandments,

go and

do them.

The

rich young

ruler says,

well, all

these I've

kept since I

was a

boy.

He

hasn't

understood

the law.

He

feels he's

alive.

He feels

full of

moral courage

and virtue.

He says

to Jesus,

all these

I've

kept

since I

was a

boy.

It's

his

problem.

He

didn't

understand

it.

Paul

talks in

Philippians

3,

concerning

zeal,

he talks

about his

life before

he became

a Christian,

concerning

zeal,

as to

the law,

as to

righteousness

under the

law,

blameless.

That's what I

thought I

was.

That's how

I felt.

I felt

alive.

And then

the law

came and

it imprisoned

me.

And it

hand me

in.

Paul uses

two metaphors.

One of the

metaphors that

he uses is

this metaphor

of a

pedagogue

He uses

the image

of a

prison guard!

but he

also uses

this

metaphor of

a pedagogue.

A pedagogue

in Greek

or Roman

culture was

a man

usually was

a slave

and that

slave would

be hired

to disciple

and train

and teach

the child.

And he

would go

everywhere

with him.

He would

go to

school with

the child.

He would

come home

with the

child.

He would

discipline

the child

all with

a view

to

disciplining

him.

That's what

the law

does.

It

disciplines

us.

The law

hangs us

in.

The law

is like

one of

those

sheep dogs

in a

sheep trial

kind of

biting at

our feet

trying to

get us

to where

we need

to go

to.

And the

law is

like all

of those

restraints

and you

it pushes

you and

it prods

you until

you realise

there is

only one

place to

go.

And the

only place

that you

can go

the law

teaches us

is to

Jesus

Christ.

What does

the law

do?

The law

drives us

to Jesus

Christ.

The law

kicks away

our self

reliance

and it

drives us

to faith

and to

faith alone.

And not

just for

our

justification

that's

Paul's

point.

It's not

just for

our

justification

the law

cannot

make you

right with

God

but the

law

cannot

sanctify

you.

It

cannot

make

you

more

holy.

There

is a

view

isn't

there

in

churches

like

ours

that

you're

justified

by

faith

but

you're

sanctified

by the

law.

And that

is a

disaster

because

we're

never

able

to

do

it.

Any

obedience

we are

to

offer

to

the

law

and

we

are

to

walk

by

the

fruit

of

the

Holy

Spirit

we

do

so

by

the

strength

and

the

power

of

the

Holy

Spirit

in

union

and

communion

with

Jesus

Christ.

Because

apart

from the

Lord

Jesus

we can

do

nothing.

But

there is a

view

isn't there

that Paul

is addressing

here

those who

begin

by

faith

and

that

they

are

made

perfect

by

the

!

And

Paul

says

no

that's

nonsense.

It's a

way of

disaster

and it's

a way

of

ruin.

And so

what is

the

function

of

the

law?

Some

of you

are

wondering

well