Galatians 7 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Galatians

Lesson 7

(the Purpose of the Law)

Text: Galatians 3:19-29

Intro: last lesson, Paul starts to poke some holes in the Law, and the way members of the church was trying to apply it to their new found liberty in Christ. However, as Paul continues to poke holes in it, the normal question comes up. What then was the purpose of the Law? This is what we will look at tonight, as Paul once again ask a series of questions to get the hearer to think about the purpose.

What Is The Purpose Of The Law?, Vs.19-29
1. What the Law Does NOT Do,
  1. It Does Not Produce Righteousness, Vs.11
    1. “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
      - We spoke of this concerning Abraham, he was righteous, because of Faith, and before the law.
      - It was also reiterated in the fact, that the people who were saved, they were saved in spite of the fact they hadn’t been keeping the law.
  2. It Is Not Based On Faith, Vs.12
    1. “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.”
      - what is the difference between Faith and Works,
        
        Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
        
        Work is the effort to achieve things based not on faith, but one’s own effort.
        
        The Law gives guidelines for how to live.
  3. It Is Not Based On Inheritance, Vs.18
    1. “For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”
      - What is the inheritance that Paul is speaking of here?
        
        It goes back to the promise that He gave to Abraham, that his “Seed” would be a blessing to “All Nations”
      - He makes the point here, that Salvation is not simply to one group of people who have inherited it, or come from the right family.
        
        It is to “all Nations”
2. Why Was the Law Given, Vs.19
  1. The three Basic Reasons God Gave the Law,
    1. To Govern the Nation of Israel,
      - if there had never been sin, we would not need an outside force to direct us in how we are to live,
    2. It was given to Show The Character of God,
      - It shows that God is Holy, and that He demands Holiness,
      - Also, we will look at this more in depth later, but Jesus said,
        
        John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
    3. It was given to point out our Sin,
      - this is the point that Paul looks at,
  2. It Was Given Because of Transgression,
    1. violations,
    2. Paul had already demonstrated that the Law does not take away sin,
    3. If sin is not taken away by the Law, and it is clear that sin (transgressions) are connected to the Law, What does the law do.
      - The Law sets the standard.
      - It makes the standard for what constitutes sin.
        
        It is like a speed limit sign. Now there is a clear standard of what the speed should be on a particular road.
    4. The Law points out our short comings,
    5. This does not state, that sim began, or even ended with the Law,
      - after all sin existed before the Law, and still persist today.
      - See Romans 5;13
  3. It Was Given Temporarily,
    1. notice that the Law was temporary,
      - until the seed,
        
        so the law was until the seed come, what seed?
    2. We go back to the blessing for mentioned about Abraham,
      - what was the promise of Abraham? “that his “seed” would be a blessing to all nations.
        
        That seed is Jesus,
      - Matthew 11;13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
      - Luke adds to this:
      - Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached,…”
        
        well, whats the kingdom of God? Jesus Messiah has come.
        
        You see, the law gave us a standard,
        
        But when Jesus came, He shows us a standard.
    3. We will see, the Law pointed to Christ,
      - now that Christ is here, we are lead by His direction and example, we no longer need a set of rules.
    4. Let’s not get too hung up on the word here for angel,
      - angel simply means messenger, and we could spend a life time looking at the messengers in the scripture that told of the coming of Jesus.
3. Mediator,
  1. The go between,
    1. the word here simply means that, He is a go between, between God and Man
      - the mediator is not for himself, by definition He is between two others.
  2. ? Is the Law against the promise of God?
    1. The question he is asking here is, then the law, is it contrary to the promise of God.
      - The quick answer is NO, it’s not contrary, it shows us why we need salvation.
      - Just because it can’t produce it, doesn’t mean we don’t need it.
        
        Imagine the roads with no posted speed limits.
    2. vs.22&23 make the argument, all are under sin,
      - but, before we saw the standard of God lived in a man, all we had was the law,
      - we were under that, until we saw, well, let’s use the example of the speed limit sign.
        
        We drive according to the speed limit, but then we see a cop coming, and he waves for us to follow him. Then we may be slower, or even faster than the posted limit. But the police officer may know about the danger, curves, or straights we are driving on.
  3. Our School Master,
    1. the law was our teacher,
      - when we go to school, what is the objective of both the student and the teacher?
        
        The student wants to learn how to do a particular task/ job.
        
        The teacher wants the student to be prepared for it.
        
        But after the person graduates, the teacher no longer has any control over him.
        
        Now the person is subject to the job they have.
      - Just like stopping following the road signs, and starting to follow the cop,
        
        we are now under a different understanding.
4. You Are Now Christ, Vs. 27-29
  1. You Have Put On Christ,
    1. Bringing this back to the point at hand.
      - Paul is reminding the Galatians, you are no longer under the schoolmaster, you are no longer under the law,
      - you have been baptized into Christ.
  2. All Are One In Christ,
    1. once again, the problem was the difference between Jews and Gentiles,
      - if we are Christ’s, then there are no gentiles, no Jews, No bond, no free.
        
        Each one is equal in the kingdom of Christ,
  3. If You Have Put On Christ, then you are the seed of Abraham,
    1. as a result, everyone that has accepted Christ, is an heir to the promise to Abraham,
      - they are the benefactors of the blessing that Abraham’s seed would be.

Points for home:

The Law Falls Short in Many Ways: It cannot produce righteousness, and it is about rules and regulations, not about faith.
The Law did have purpose: It governed the nation of Israel, It revealed the character of God, It pointed out man’s sin, and his need for salvation.
The Law showed the where man fell short of the standard of God, until, Jesus came as an example and guide for man to follow.
In the Kingdom of God, there are divisions, we are all one, and in one. And as a result, we are all heirs to the promise made to Abraham.