A Prisoner of Law
Galatians 3:19-25
INTRODUCTION:
Paul has been making it clear that we are saved by grace
apart from keeping the law. He has made
plain that the Law could not give
the Holy Spirit (vv. 1-5); could not bring justification (vv. 6-9); could not
alter the permanence of faith (vv. 15-18); but does bring a curse (vv. 10-12). The
Jews who were holding on to the law might complain, “Paul, why did God even
give the law if we are saved only by grace?”
THESIS The
law brings us to the desperate place of needing salvation by Christ Alone.
FIRST, we see that the law’s purpose was to temporarily restrain sin (Verses 19-20)
· The law showed mankind that God’s wrath was coming upon disobedience.
· Paul asks a question, what is the laws purpose then?
·
1
Tim. 1:8-10 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9realizing the fact that law is not
made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the
ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their
fathers or mothers, for murderers 10and immoral men and homosexuals
and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound
teaching,
·
CALVIN - The law has
manifold uses, but Paul confines himself to that which bears on his present
subject. He did not propose to inquire in how many ways the law is of advantage
to men. It is necessary to put readers on their guard on this point; for very
many, I find, have fallen into the mistake of acknowledging no other advantage
belonging to the law, but what is expressed in this passage.
·
It is clear that the law (ceremonial) was given
temporary “until the seed” until Christ, through angels (not directly through
God as with Abraham), through mediator (earthly, such as Moses).
· This reminds us that the Law and the covenant God made with Moses was primarily added for a specific time and for a specific purpose, namely so that the trespass might increase, demonstrating very clearly human sinfulness, a point that Paul will discuss in more detail in verses 23-25.
APPLICATION: The law served to show the depth of man’s sin and how much we need a Savior.
I go to the hardware store and they have a bargain rack with great values…The only thing is I don’t need any of the things on the rack…I am not interested. They do not have any value for me, a person who does not have a lot of skill in using them….God’s law wakes us up to our need….without this, we would see no value in the grace of God.
APPLICATION: Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever lusted? You need a Savior? The law shows us that we sin and need to avoid it….
A refrigerant leak is difficult to find because freon is virtually invisible as a gas. In order to spot a freon leak a red liquid is pumped into the system leaving a very visible indication of the leak. The Law is like that red die—it does not cause sin, but it does reveal it.
What shall we say then?
Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know
sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the
Law had not said, “You shall not covet” (Rom 7:7).
THE
CEREMONIAL LAW WAS A TEMPORARY MEASURE - The Law was given as a
temporary provision until that which was permanent came. The Law was like scaffolding which
is used only during the period of construction and then is removed: The Law was
like the temporary walkways and walls in a building being remodeled.
SECONDLY, that God’s law is not in contradiction to God’s Grace (Verses 21-22)
·
Paul
asks a question: Is the law contrary to
grace? THE QUESTION THAT MUST BE P
·
The
law was never a means to life…its purpose was never to heal the sickness of sin;
its purpose was to illuminate and disclose our sins.
ILLUSTRATION: An
·
The
law’s purpose was never to bring eternal life…grace alone can do that…
·
Law
functions complimentary with Grace not in contrast or competition to it.
APPLICATION: You read the Bible wrong if you see a
contrast or competition between law and grace…There is a complimentary
relationship…
THIRDLY, The summary of all this is that the law’s function is to lead us in bonds to Christ (Verses 23-25)
· The law supervises us like a warden in a prison…Verse 23
· The law was like a tutor to lead us to Christ….
· The paidagogos was "usually the slave who conducted the freeborn youth to and from school and who superintended his conduct generally--a function clearly differentiated from that of teacher or "pedagogue" in the modern sense. In describing the law as a paidagogos, therefore, Paul does not mean that the Law exerts a gradual, educative influence on people, either by inclining them toward good until they receive Christ or by enabling them to realize their own sin, turn their backs on trusting in their own merits, and desire the grace of Christ....His meaning is...that the law brought mankind into, and kept mankind under, an objectively desperate situation, from which there was no escape until the revelation of faith as a new possibility.
Andrew
Murray illustrated the problem of being distracted. He wrote, "When a man is giving a
lecture, he often uses a long pointer to indicate places on a map or a
chart. Do people look at that
pointer? No, that only helps to show
them the place on the map, and they do not think of it. It might even be of
fine gold, but the pointer cannot satisfy them.
They want to see what the pointer points at. And the Bible is a pointer, pointing us to
God."
APPLICATION: We should look at our life under God’s microscope (the law) and see that we are in need of grace…mercy…forgiveness…
CONCLUSION: The law brings us to the desperate place of
needing salvation by Christ Alone
Many Christians
are like ….An inmate in a penitentiary had lived all but 16 months of
his 39 years in various penal institutions.
This poor man was born of a convict mother in a women's reformatory and
spent the first 14 years of his life in prison as a ward of the court. When he was released, he committed a
succession of crimes designed to keep him behind bars where he felt safe and
could be near his friends. He said,
"I don't know how to live on the outside.
My home is inside, and I want to stay here for the rest of my
life."
God receives us on Grace…apart from the works of the law…