No Longer Under a Guardian

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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February 20, 2020

00:00: Alright, so let's open our Bibles up and go to Galatians 3.
00:06: We're going to finish what we started last week.
00:10: I don't think we're going to finish the chapter though, because I have at least one more week that I want to do on the last few verses.
00:23: Starting at verse 27, I want to focus in on what Paul says there regarding the relationship between Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, male and female, and the fact that we are all in Christ equal.
00:43: But that's going to be next week, because we still have a few verses to get through before we get there.
00:50: We're going to read starting at verse 19.
00:54: But before we do that, because I know not everyone has been here, I want to just very quickly remind you of what we have learned so far, especially in this chapter.
01:05: We know that the book of Galatians is Paul's argument against the Galatian people who have allowed themselves to be taken captive by a group of false teachers, which were named what? The Judaizers.
01:22: The Judaizers had a very simple and false teaching.
01:27: Paul had planted the churches in Galatia, and then he left, and along came these people who were known as the Judaizers.
01:34: And what they were saying was, yes, Paul told you good things, but Paul's message was insufficient.
01:43: You can't just rely on grace.
01:46: You can't just rely on faith.
01:49: You must also adopt the law.
01:52: And for the Judaizers, the law was bound in three things.
01:56: The three things that made one particularly Jewish in the first century, and even to today, there are some holdovers of this, trappings, the three things that would separate someone making them particularly Jewish was first, circumcision.
02:10: If you were not circumcised, you were not a Jew.
02:13: As a man, obviously.
02:16: And the second would be the dietary laws.
02:20: If you didn't eat like they ate, then you were not a part of the community.
02:25: So there was the physical removal of the foreskin circumcision.
02:30: There was the physical removal of the food that they were not allowed to eat, pork and shellfish and mixtures of dairy and beef.
02:37: They couldn't have no bacon cheeseburger because all that would have been absolutely forbidden.
02:47: But it was the law that was intended to separate them and make them unique among the people.
02:58: And it did.
02:59: So their circumcision, their diet, and their day.
03:04: That was the Sabbath.
03:06: If you didn't keep the Sabbath, then you were not part of the community.
03:10: So that's the issue.
03:12: They were saying, Paul told you about Jesus.
03:15: That's great.
03:16: But he didn't tell you that you have to keep the law.
03:18: So we've come to complete Paul's lesson.
03:22: We've come to complete Paul's insufficient Gospel.
03:29: And Paul is writing to them and he's saying, I cannot believe that you think that if you began in the faith and you began with faith, that somehow you're going to be perfected by the flesh.
03:46: I can't believe that somehow you think that if you began in faith that somehow you now have to continue in the law.
03:54: If you began in faith, you continue in faith.
03:56: And he compares the Christian to Abraham.
04:00: Abraham lived before the law.
04:03: Remember, the law didn't come until 400 years after Abraham.
04:07: And Abraham lived before the law.
04:09: He didn't live ungodly.
04:11: He didn't live lawlessly.
04:12: But he didn't live under the restrictions.
04:14: I don't think Abraham kept the dietary restrictions because they weren't in place yet.
04:18: I don't think Abraham kept the Sabbath because it was not in place yet.
04:23: Now there are some who would debate on that, but I did that debate last year, the Sabbath debate.
04:26: We did that at our church.
04:30: And Abraham certainly did have circumcision, but the circumcision came after he had already been given the promise from God.
04:38: Remember, he was given the promise in Genesis 12, and then again it was reiterated in Genesis 15.
04:43: He wasn't given circumcision until Genesis 17.
04:46: So circumcision was not the basis of the promise.
04:49: Circumcision was the sign of the promise.
04:51: It wasn't what the promise was given for.
04:53: It was given later to remind them of the promise.
04:58: So, Paul's whole argument has been if you come to faith in Christ, you come to faith in Christ and you're made a child of Abraham, not because you keep the law, but because you're made partakers of the same promise Abraham was given.
05:13: Abraham was given a promise, and if you come to Christ, you're recipients of the same promise.
05:18: And that's why last week, what was our lesson? The promise is better than the law.
05:23: Remember, the promise is superior to the law, and the law is very much inferior to the promise.
05:33: And Paul has said several times in this book already that if we think that we are saved by the law, then we are actually lost.
05:41: He has said that by works of the law, no one will be justified.
05:47: You will not be justified by your works, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
05:57: Oftentimes, when I'm witnessing, I'll ask someone a simple question.
06:06: If you died today, would you go to heaven? That's a simple question.
06:11: Sometimes it's an odd question because people don't like to think about death.
06:15: But if you say, if you died today, would you go to heaven? They say yes.
06:18: Why? Because I'm good.
06:22: I'm a good person.
06:23: Good people go to heaven.
06:26: That is a tacit and a simple way of saying I've kept the law.
06:33: At least good enough.
06:36: I mean, it's a way of saying I've done good enough.
06:38: Are you saying you're perfect? No, I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I'm certainly better than most, and I've certainly done more good than bad.
06:49: You know what that is? Well, it's self-righteousness.
06:54: It's also baloney.
06:59: Yeah.
07:01: The Muslims believe that at the end of their life, their good and bad deeds are going to be weighed.
07:09: And if their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, they're going to go to paradise.
07:16: There's two problems with that belief.
07:19: Number one, no one would get to go to paradise if that were the case because no one's good outweighs their bad.
07:32: But there's also another problem with that.
07:36: It makes God unjust.
07:40: You say, wait a minute.
07:41: It's perfect justice, right? My good outweighs my bad.
07:43: God will be just.
07:44: No, that's not how it works.
07:46: Good outweighing the bad is not how justice works because if you go before a judge and you've murdered someone, and you can say, but judge, I went 39 years without murdering anybody.
07:54: I had 39 good years.
07:56: You're only judging me on one day.
07:59: Certainly my good outweighs my bad.
08:01: At least my non-murdering days outweigh my murdering days.
08:05: And he would say, I don't care about your non-murdering days.
08:07: I care about the fact that one day you chose to take a gun and shoot somebody.
08:12: That's the only thing I care about because justice doesn't care about what you did good.
08:16: Justice cares about condemning you for what you did bad.
08:20: Justice means just recompense.
08:23: It is retributive justice.
08:25: It's giving you the retribution that you are due for your bad.
08:29: You don't go to the courthouse every day and get rewarded for doing good.
08:33: You go once and get slammed when you do bad.
08:36: Or many times if you happen to keep going.
08:39: But you understand the point.
08:40: Justice is not about congratulating you.
08:44: Justice is about condemning you.
08:47: Therefore, the law cannot save you.
08:50: Because the law is not intended to save you.
08:52: The law is intended to condemn you.
08:54: That's its only purpose.
08:56: Now, well, let me back that up because I've been saying there's three purposes to the law.
09:00: The law points us to Christ.
09:01: The law curbs our sin.
09:03: And the law gives us an idea of what God wants us to do as His moral compass.
09:08: But what I mean is the law doesn't have the purpose of saving.
09:12: The law has never been a Savior and never will be a Savior.
09:14: By the way, that's why I brought this sign.
09:16: And I put it up on the wall.
09:17: I don't know how long it will stay.
09:18: It will stay as long as you all want it to.
09:19: I don't care if you take it down.
09:21: But I want you to look at it.
09:23: And if you've got a pen, maybe later you can write it down.
09:26: This is Charles Spurgeon.
09:27: Somebody asked, you know, who was he? He was a Prince of Preachers.
09:30: He was a preacher in England.
09:32: Back in his day, if you did go to England, people would ask you two questions.
09:35: Did you see the Queen? Did you see Charles Spurgeon? Because he had that level of notoriety for being a very powerful and very influential preacher.
09:44: The law never came to save men.
09:47: Just stop right there.
09:51: That's just an important thought.
09:52: The law didn't come to save you.
09:55: It's not its purpose.
09:56: The law didn't come to save men.
09:58: The law never came to save men.
10:00: It never was its intention at all.
10:02: It came on purpose to make the evidence complete that salvation by works is impossible.
10:09: You see, the law shows you you can't be saved by what you do because the law constantly condemns you.
10:14: It shows you you can't be saved by works because it's constantly saying how bad your works are.
10:19: The law is telling you you're wrong all the time.
10:23: So how can that be your Savior? It can't.
10:26: And thus to drive the elect of God to rely wholly on the finished salvation of the Gospel.
10:31: The law forces you to have to look somewhere else for salvation because if you look to the law for salvation, you will find yourself constantly and perpetually wanting.
10:46: Did you say in one of your sermons one time that anything done apart from God is a sin? Anything not done in faith.
10:53: Romans 14.
10:55: See, that's the thing.
10:56: And this is a little sidetracked but a good question because if you are an unbeliever, all you do is sin.
11:09: Even the best thing you do is sin.
11:11: Because the Bible says that which is not of faith is sin.
11:15: So if you're doing what you're doing and it's not of faith, it's a sin.
11:19: And if you're an unbeliever, everything you do is not of faith.
11:23: So all you do is sin all day long.
11:26: You don't glorify God in what you do.
11:29: Therefore, you are constantly heaping up wrath against yourself.
11:40: It's like this.
11:40: It's like you can't swim and so you're wearing a life jacket and the life jacket is keeping you above the water.
11:50: And you're bragging to everybody about how good of a swimmer you are.
11:56: Denying the whole time that the life jacket is what's keeping your head above water.
11:59: Look at me.
12:00: Look how good of a swimmer I am.
12:01: I'm Michael Phelps.
12:02: No.
12:05: If it weren't for that life jacket, you would drown.
12:09: So the reality is, God is there.
12:11: He's keeping you alive.
12:12: He's literally keeping your heart beating in your chest.
12:14: Some of you should be dead.
12:16: I know I should be.
12:17: There are many times in my life where I should have died with what I was doing, with the behavior I had, or wherever I was.
12:26: And yet, I'm still alive.
12:28: God keeps my heart beating in my chest.
12:29: He's got a purpose for me.
12:30: He's got a purpose for you.
12:30: That's why you're still here.
12:31: That's why you're still alive.
12:34: So your heart beats in your chest and yet you don't glorify Him.
12:38: Now I'm not saying all of you.
12:39: I'm saying if you're an unbeliever, you're living with God's heart beating in your chest, or rather God's causing your heart to beat in your chest and you're saying, you know what, it's just happening.
12:47: I'm just a product of evolution.
12:49: Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
12:53: And you're living along to the beat of the heart that at any time could stop.
12:57: You ever lay at night and just listen to your heart beat? When everything's quiet and all the guys are hushed and everything's dead silent and you can actually feel your heart beating in your chest.
13:08: Maybe that's just me.
13:08: I'm a little overweight, so maybe my heart's working a little extra heavy.
13:12: But you feel that heart beating.
13:16: And you think one day it's going to stop.
13:20: One day, it's going to stop.
13:26: And on that day, you're going to face God.
13:28: I don't believe in God.
13:29: I don't care.
13:31: If you don't believe in gravity, go stand on top of a building and take a step.
13:36: You might not believe in it, but when you do take that step, it's going to kick your tail.
13:41: It's kind of the same way with God.
13:43: I don't believe in God.
13:44: I die.
13:45: I face God.
13:45: Oh, that was a bad decision.
13:51: I mean, you understand what I mean.
13:56: I heard an atheist one time.
13:57: He said, if I die and find out God exists, I'm going to tell God that He didn't give me enough evidence for His existence.
14:05: I said, slow down.
14:07: Slow down.
14:07: What you're actually going to do is you're going to fall down on your face and you're going to weep and you're going to scream out for mercy.
14:16: And yet, mercy will have passed you because you will have died in your sins.
14:21: You're not going to scream out anything at God except for please have mercy on me.
14:27: And at that point, mercy will have been passed.
14:33: So we're getting serious.
14:34: Let's get to the text.
14:38: Paul asks this question.
14:39: He's been saying this the whole time.
14:41: We're not saved by the law.
14:42: So he asks the question, why then the law? Verse 19, it was added because of transgressions until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made.
14:53: And it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
14:56: Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
14:58: Now that's how far we got last time.
15:00: Today we're going to really begin at verse 21.
15:02: Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not.
15:07: For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
15:12: But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
15:22: Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
15:30: So then, the law was our guardian, some say schoolmaster, some say tutor, until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.
15:40: But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.
15:49: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ and put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
16:00: And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
16:07: Father in heaven, I thank you for this time to study.
16:09: I pray that as we look at the Word today, that first and foremost that you would use this time to open our hearts, eyes, and minds to the Word.
16:17: But Lord, first open our ears that we might hear it.
16:20: Pray that you'll keep me from error as I teach for the sake of these men, for the sake of my conscience, but most of all for the sake of your great name, that your name would be glorified and correctly proclaimed.
16:31: I pray, Father, also that your Holy Spirit would be the ultimate teacher for without Him, this whole teaching would be in vain.
16:39: Lord, use this time to glorify yourself in Christ's name.
16:44: Amen.
16:47: Alright.
16:48: So we get to verse 21.
16:53: Paul asks a question.
16:55: Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Remember what we said last week.
17:00: Promises are better than law.
17:03: The promise of God given to Abraham is better than the law given to Moses.
17:07: And that's the argument Paul's making.
17:09: The promise is better than the law.
17:12: So Paul then asks the question, verse 21, the natural question that grows out of that.
17:17: What does that mean? The law and the promises contradict each other.
17:20: Does that mean they're unable to be put together? Are they naturally contrary to one another? And Paul says, certainly not.
17:33: Notice there it says, is the law contrary then to the promises of God? The Greek there is meganoita.
17:40: It's the same word he uses in Romans 6 where he says, shall we continue in sin so the grace may abound? Meganoita.
17:48: It's the Greek adversative.
17:50: May means not or never.
17:52: And genoita is an extension of the word gene, which means to be or to exist.
17:58: And so in modern English it would be, may it not ever come into your mind.
18:02: May it not ever even exist in our thinking.
18:05: In the King James Bible it says God forbid.
18:08: God forbid that you should even think like that.
18:13: So he says, is the law contrary to the promises of God? But then he explains, for if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
18:26: Notice what he's saying.
18:28: He's saying the law isn't contrary to the promise because they serve two different functions.
18:36: The promise was intended to save and bless.
18:42: The law was intended to bring a, I don't want to say a curse because it's not a curse even though Paul does at certain times call the law the curse of the law.
18:53: The law is intended to bring condemnation and to bring an understanding of the weightiness and the depth of sin.
19:03: They just have two different purposes.
19:06: The promise and the law are not intended to do the same thing.
19:09: Notice verse 22.
19:11: But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
19:19: What does he mean the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin? Well, I want to provide you a thought on the interpretation here because I don't think the word everything is the best word there.
19:33: If you have the King James Bible, it says Scripture hath concluded all under sin.
19:37: The New Living Translation says the Scriptures declare we are all prisoners of sin.
19:43: And the New American Standard says the Scripture has shut up all men under sin.
19:47: The thing about it is if you're reading the ESV, the ESV seems like it's talking about things.
19:54: Listen to it again.
19:55: It says the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin.
19:58: Yeah, it seems like it's talking about things.
20:01: But that isn't what it's talking about.
20:02: It's talking about people.
20:05: The Scripture has imprisoned everyone under sin.
20:09: I think that's the better way to understand that word.
20:13: And we see that again in the King James and the New Living and the NAS.
20:16: Yes? The Bible also says, in the King James, it says, to a slave, instead of being a slave, to an item or something.
20:38: To a thing rather than a slave to a person.
20:40: Yeah, and again, in the Greek, sometimes it can be ambiguous.
20:45: So I don't think it's an intentional thing on the part of the translators.
20:51: I think they're doing what they think is right as far as in their translation.
20:55: But it's one of those things where in context, we as interpreters, we as Bible students, have to look at the overall context and say, okay, what's really being said here? So I don't think it's a nefarious thing on their part.
21:08: I have to say, that was pretty wild because I didn't even raise my hand or anything.
21:11: You just knew.
21:12: Well, you were making a face.
21:13: It looked like you were wanting to say something.
21:15: I'm watching you guys.
21:19: But yeah, so again, if you read it like this, the Scripture has imprisoned everyone under sin.
21:29: I think that reads better than everything.
21:32: Because again, when you think everything's under sin, that becomes impersonal.
21:37: But when I say every one of you is imprisoned under sin by the Scripture, and by the way, remember, Paul is writing at a time when there is no New Testament.
21:49: So what Scripture is in view? Come on guys, don't go to sleep on me.
21:53: What Scripture is in view? The Old Testament is in view because there's no New Testament.
21:58: Galatians is Paul's first book.
22:00: And the first book of the New Testament written probably was the book of James.
22:03: So the only book probably written prior to this one would have been James.
22:06: So there's no Scripture of the New Testament.
22:08: When he says all Scripture has imprisoned everyone under sin, he's talking about the Old Testament Scripture.
22:14: He's talking about Moses.
22:16: He's talking about the law.
22:17: He's talking about the prophets.
22:18: And he says that Scripture has imprisoned everyone under sin.
22:26: In what way? How? How? How does it imprison everyone under sin? Because it shows you your sin.
22:41: I know I've said this before, and I don't want to be the guy who just constantly repeats himself.
22:47: But if you look at the law of God, in its most basic form, if you look at just the commandments, there's no way to walk away from that with any other understanding than that you are a desperate sinner.
23:14: I've told this story before.
23:16: Again, I hate to repeat myself, but I know some of you have never heard these things, and this is important.
23:20: I had a lady one time.
23:21: We were at a booth.
23:22: We were giving out gospel tracts, and she yelled at us.
23:25: She said, I'm a lesbian, and I'm going to hell.
23:29: Right? Remember this? I told this story before.
23:33: What? Well, no, no.
23:36: I mean, she was trying to be specifically rough because she wanted to offend...
23:44: You know, we're standing there handing out Bible tracts and talking to people.
23:47: We're not being overly aggressive.
23:49: And she walks by and she screams, I'm going to hell.
23:52: I'm a lesbian.
23:54: And I yelled back.
23:55: I said, well, I don't want you to go to hell.
23:57: That was all I could say.
23:58: You know, by that time, she was gone.
23:59: We were at the fair, Callahan Fair.
24:03: And...
24:05: Touche.
24:06: Amen.
24:07: Touche.
24:08: Yeah.
24:10: Next day, one of my guys that was with me is talking to her in the distance.
24:17: I didn't realize she actually was a fair worker.
24:20: And she was there the next day.
24:22: And he was over talking to her, and he comes back to me.
24:28: And he says, Pastor, that woman, she asked if she said she's a lesbian and she wants to know if she's going to go to hell because she's a lesbian.
24:39: And I told her you would go talk to her.
24:45: Which is fine.
24:46: And I was like, that's cool.
24:48: If you don't feel comfortable having that conversation, I'll go.
24:51: So I walked over to her, and I said, tell me what's up.
24:59: My friend said you wanted to ask me a question.
25:02: And she said, yeah, you're the pastor.
25:03: I said, yes, ma'am.
25:04: She said, I've always been told that if I'm gay, I'm going to go to hell.
25:11: And I said, okay.
25:13: I said, before we deal with that, let me ask you a question.
25:16: I said, have you ever told a lie? And she said, yeah.
25:20: I said, just one? No, I've told many lies.
25:22: I said, so you're a liar.
25:24: And she said, yeah.
25:26: I said, well, the Bible says that all liars will have their place in the lake of fire.
25:30: Revelation 21, verse 8.
25:33: I said, the problem isn't that you're gay.
25:35: The problem is you're a sinner through and through.
25:39: And even if you weren't gay, you'd still be worthy of hell because you don't have Jesus Christ.
25:44: So let's not talk about the fact that you're gay.
25:46: Let's talk about the fact that you're a sinner who deserves to go to hell.
25:48: Well, the law condemns everyone because every one of us has broken the law.
25:59: You don't have to tell me how bad you've been.
26:00: I know.
26:02: You don't have to convince me you're worthy of hell.
26:04: I know.
26:06: Because I am too.
26:10: The law imprisons everyone under sin.
26:15: And we are shackled as if it were like in handcuffs until God sees fit to set us free.
26:23: We are absolutely in chains to sin.
26:28: Now does that mean we're not responsible? No, because here's the weird part.
26:32: We love it.
26:35: The Bible says we love our sin and I know we do because I see us loving the heck out of it.
26:42: People just love and love and love their sin.
26:45: It's like they have chains on their hands and they're going, oh, these sweet chains.
26:51: I mean, how many of you have ever had some kind of a drug and you held it like it was a prize? Or a bottle of alcohol, huh? A drug or a bottle of alcohol or something that you held almost like it was a prize and you knew it was killing you.
27:09: And yet you held it like it was a good thing because you loved it even though you knew it was killing you.
27:19: That's being imprisoned under sin, isn't it? The most dangerous thing about prison is when you start to love it.
27:28: And people love their sin.
27:31: They love their imprisonment.
27:34: That's why you have to be born again, by the way.
27:36: That's why Jesus said unless a man be born again, he shall not receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
27:40: Why? Because when you were born the first time, you were born in sin and you love sin.
27:43: You've actually got to be born again before you can ever realize how bad sin is, how much it's destroying you and how much you need to get away from it.
27:53: You will not hate sin when you are in your fallen and lost condition.
28:00: You will not hate it.
28:01: You will love it.
28:02: Now there might be some sins you hate because they don't particularly appeal to you.
28:06: Oh man, I hate those people who abuse children, but I'll abuse my wife.
28:12: I hate those people who go out and do drugs, but I'll go get drunk.
28:19: I hate the people who steal whatever, but I'll lie.
28:28: We're real good at pointing out the sins of others as long as we get to continue to love the sins that are ours.
28:37: And that's that imprisonment, right? We're imprisoned because we love our chains.
28:44: The Scripture has imprisoned everyone under sin.
28:48: Why? It says it right here.
28:50: So that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
28:58: You see, the whole reason why the Law is there is the Law functions to show us that we are in chains so that when the Redeemer is placed before us, we see Him and we see the chains and we see the greatness and the distinction between the two.
29:15: The Redeemer offers freedom.
29:17: The chains offer nothing but being bound.
29:23: We love the chains.
29:25: God changes our heart.
29:27: We love the Redeemer and we hate the chains.
29:30: Our heart changes.
29:34: Now verse 23, Paul gives a theological explanation of all of what he says.
29:41: And we see this in verses 23 and 24.
29:45: And this is what he says.
29:49: Now listen, because this is important to clarify a little bit of what he's saying here.
29:53: Now before faith came, we were held captive under the Law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
30:01: So then the Law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.
30:07: Okay.
30:10: Let's do a little timeline.
30:12: And I know I really hate this thing right here.
30:15: Because it just makes it to where it's hard to see.
30:17: But very quickly, let's see what he's talking about here.
30:27: Let's just for a moment, we'll put Abraham here.
30:32: We'll put Jesus here.
30:36: And then we have Moses, who is here.
30:42: Okay.
30:43: So this is about 2,000 years of history.
30:47: Right? Okay.
30:48: And about 1,400 years of history here.
30:51: Well, 1,800, 1,400.
30:53: This is all 2,000, 1,500.
30:55: It's easy to kind of round number it.
30:59: So the Law comes here.
31:02: The promise came here.
31:04: The promise fulfillment is here.
31:08: It was the fulfilling of the promise.
31:12: How do we know that? Because it says it.
31:15: It literally says, Jesus is the seed that was promised to Abraham.
31:20: Remember we talked about that several weeks ago? That there was a seed that was promised to Abraham and it was not all of Israel as His seeds, plural, but it was the one seed that was Jesus Christ who was the singular seed.
31:31: Right? So Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise.
31:34: But the Law comes in 430 years after Abraham.
31:39: Why? It functions as a schoolmaster.
31:45: I like that word.
31:48: In the ESV it says guardian, and in the Greek it is pedagogue.
31:57: And so what it means, essentially, is the Law has the function of working like a guardian, a tutor.
32:07: In the ancient world, I told you guys this last week, if a child was from a rich family, or at least a family that was well-to-do, well enough to have slaves, the father of the house would choose one of those trusted servants and he would take that person and he would say, okay, you are the pedagogue.
32:29: You are the one who is going to watch over my son.
32:31: You're going to go with him where he goes.
32:33: You're going to keep him in line wherever he's at.
32:36: If he gets out of line, you're going to take a stick and you're going to wear him out.
32:40: Because there weren't no DCF's back then.
32:44: I mean, you just got wore out.
32:45: That's the way it was.
32:46: I'm not saying DCF's bad.
32:47: I'm just saying this was prior to any kind of...
32:50: Spare the rod? Actually, the Bible says if you spare the rod, you hate your child.
32:56: If you do not discipline your children, you are demonstrating hate and not love.
33:00: Because love disciplines.
33:02: Hebrews 12 says the reason why God disciplines us is because He loves us.
33:05: And if He didn't discipline us, we would be illegitimate children.
33:08: The King James says we would be bastards because we would not have a Father in Heaven if we didn't have the discipline of the Father.
33:13: Because one of the roles of the Father is to enact discipline on His children.
33:17: And if He doesn't, He's not a good Father.
33:20: So the way of discipline was the law.
33:23: The law had this function.
33:27: Until faith came.
33:28: I wish this marker was better.
33:32: Jesus brings faith.
33:35: Now you say, wait a minute, is that saying there was no faith before? No, there was faith before.
33:40: Jesus actually brings...
33:41: We use the definite article.
33:42: He brings the faith.
33:45: You say, what do you mean the faith? Jesus brings the faith of the Messiah.
33:53: Up until Christ came, they knew Messiah was coming, but they didn't know who He was or what He was going to do, what He was going to be like, and they really didn't understand in fullness what His purpose was going to be.
34:05: I really don't think the people of the Old Testament understood that the Messiah was going to die on a cross.
34:12: I don't think that they knew His name was necessarily going to be Jesus.
34:16: Now they knew He was going to be born in Bethlehem.
34:18: They knew He was going to suffer because of Isaiah 53, which says He would suffer and that He would be the suffering servant of Yahweh.
34:25: They knew those things.
34:27: But I don't think they knew in fullness.
34:29: They didn't have the faith.
34:30: The Bible says the faith was once for all delivered to the saints.
34:34: When was it delivered to the saints? When Jesus Christ came into the world.
34:38: That was when the faith was delivered.
34:40: And that's what Paul means here when he says before faith came, we were held captive under the law.
34:46: That's not saying they didn't have faith in the Old Testament.
34:48: What he's saying is the faith, before the faith in Christ, before this belief system came, before the truth and fullness of the Messiah came, they didn't have that.
34:59: They had the law.
35:00: And it imprisoned them until the faith would be revealed.
35:05: The law was the guardian, the schoolmaster.
35:07: It was the tutor.
35:09: It was the pedagogue.
35:10: It was that in order that we might be justified by faith.
35:15: We are justified by faith, not by works of the law.
35:21: Verse 25, But now that faith has come, we're no longer under a guardian.
35:32: That is huge.
35:34: Because what was the guardian? The law, right? Paul is saying, now that the faith has come, now that this has come, this means we're no longer under that.
35:50: Now that the faith has come, we're no longer under the law.
35:57: And I know the first question that comes to everybody's mind when I say we're no longer under the law.
36:03: Pastor, does that mean we can sin all we want? That's the question that Paul was asked, wasn't it? Romans 6, Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound.
36:17: But you understand, because Romans and Galatians fit like this, by the way.
36:22: The same things Paul preached to the Galatians, he would later write to the Romans, and they fit almost like a glove, hand in hand.
36:28: Because Romans 1 and 2, he shows that everyone is a sinner.
36:32: Romans 3 and 4 and 5, he's showing that everyone who is a sinner can be justified only by one way, and that's justified by faith in Christ, not by works of the law, which is the same thing he's been teaching in Galatians.
36:43: And then in chapter 6, the question comes, well, does that mean if I'm justified by faith, does that mean I just continue in sin? And what does he say? Absolutely not.
37:01: So, now that faith has come, we're no longer under a guardian.
37:05: We're no longer under the law.
37:08: Why? Verse 26.
37:12: For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith.
37:21: Listen to this.
37:22: This is huge.
37:23: This is very important.
37:25: Thinking back to the analogy Paul has given.
37:29: Child in the home, you have the father, you have the servant.
37:34: The servant functions as the disciplinarian.
37:37: Right? When does that disciplinary work stop? When the son reaches the age where he can be responsible for himself.
37:47: Right? And when he reaches that age where he's responsible for himself, the pedagogue, the person, the servant, the schoolmaster, the tutor, what happens to him? He goes away.
37:59: He doesn't have purpose anymore.
38:01: He steps down back to his role as a servant probably somewhere else in the household, but the son is now responsible not to the pedagogue, not to the servant, but he's responsible directly to his daddy.
38:14: There's not going to be this intermediator anymore.
38:16: There's not going to be this person in between anymore.
38:18: There's not going to be the guy standing there with the stick anymore.
38:20: Now it's you and dad.
38:23: Now you're responsible to the father.
38:26: And that's the point Paul's making.
38:28: When it was Abraham, it was Abraham and God.
38:31: There was no intermediary.
38:32: It was just Abraham and God.
38:34: There was a promise.
38:35: And Abraham lived according to that promise.
38:38: But the people that came from Abraham, boy, they were wily.
38:42: And they went off in all kinds of madness.
38:44: So God gave them a law to hold them like a tutor until he would be satisfied to send his son and through the son would put them back in the same position as they were when they were under Abraham.
38:56: No longer were they intermediaries of the law, but now with the responsibility directly to the Father through Jesus Christ.
39:05: We are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
39:11: You have been made a son, not a slave, even though we could say we are slaves to Christ because the Bible says we are doulos, which is the word for slave.
39:21: We are slaves of Jesus Christ.
39:22: But He doesn't treat us like slaves.
39:25: What does He treat us like? Sons.
39:29: Think of one of the greatest parables of Jesus.
39:35: The parable of the prodigal son.
39:40: The prodigal son goes and he lives his life in wily living.
39:45: He lives his life in sinful debauchery.
39:48: And when he comes back to the father, what does he say? If I go back, I can be a slave to my father.
39:54: My father's slaves lived better than the way I'm living.
39:59: What did that say about the father, by the way? That even his slaves lived good.
40:03: That he was a good man.
40:06: That his servants were protected and taken care of and loved.
40:11: So the son says, I'll go back and I'll offer myself as a servant to my father.
40:16: But what does the Bible say the father did? When he saw him afar off, I love that phrase, when he saw him afar off, he ran.
40:32: That's right.
40:34: And what's interesting about that is in the ancient world, noble men did not run.
40:39: It was considered an embarrassment for a noble man to run in public because you had to reach down and you had to hold up your pants because the way that the pants were, they weren't pants, it was almost like a dress.
40:50: It was a long garment that reached to the ground.
40:53: You've heard of girding up your loins? What that meant was to take both sides of your dress-like garment, pull it up, shove it between your legs, pull it around and tie it, and it exposed your legs.
41:03: To gird up your loins was to pull that dress up so that you could expose your legs and run and fight.
41:11: So that's what he had to do.
41:12: He had to grab his pants and hold up his pants so that he could run to his son and show him mercy and love because he was his son.
41:24: The Bible says we have been made sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
41:29: We have not been made slaves even though, again, we are His servants and we are His people, but we are brought into the relationship of sons.
41:37: We are no longer under the law which makes us servants and slaves.
41:42: We are sons through the promise.
41:46: Heirs with Abraham according to the promise.
41:50: And it is through faith, not by our works.
41:56: Does that mean then that we live in sin? I know we've already answered the question.
42:00: The answer is no.
42:04: But how should we live? How should we live in light of the promise? Well, you say still under the law, but really, what did we say the third use of the law was? I don't know if you were here last week.
42:24: The third use of the law.
42:26: It shows us God's moral heart, right? The law shows us God's will and desire.
42:31: So if we were to say, huh? Compass, yes, yes.
42:36: It's a guide.
42:38: So even though we're not under the condemnation of the law, we still can look to the law and say, you know what? God loves righteousness and He hates iniquity.
42:48: And if I love God, then I should love what He loves and I should hate what He hates.
42:52: So I should love righteousness and I should hate iniquity.
42:55: What is righteousness? Righteousness is that which is in accord with what is good and wholesome and holy and right.
43:04: Therefore, the law tells me not to lie.
43:07: Why? Because God is truth.
43:12: The law tells me not to steal.
43:15: Why? Because God is just and theft is unjust.
43:20: The law tells me to honor my father and mother.
43:22: Why? Because God has set up positions of authority in this world that I am to obey.
43:30: Not to get saved, because that already happened.
43:33: I already got saved.
43:35: Christ saved me.
43:36: I've been made heirs according to the promise.
43:37: I am part of the family of God.
43:39: I'm a child of Abraham, a seed of faith.
43:40: I'm not doing this to get saved.
43:43: But if I say that I'm saved and I live contrary to the will of God perpetually, consistently and habitually, this is what Jesus says in Matthew 7.
44:00: Many will say unto Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons in Your name and perform mighty works in Your name and do many miracles in Your name? And Jesus says, depart from Me.
44:14: I know you not, you workers of lawlessness.
44:23: What is a worker of lawlessness? A person who has not yet come into a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
44:33: If we are perpetually workers of lawlessness, our hearts haven't been changed.
44:39: If we're perpetually workers of lawlessness, meaning that's what our life is known for.
44:47: You know what 1 John says? He who is born again cannot continue in sin.
44:56: You say, well, brother, if what you're saying is true, then I know I can't be saved because I do continue in sin.
45:02: I fight a battle with sin.
45:04: If you fight a battle with sin, good.
45:08: Because that means you're actually in the fight.
45:12: If you don't fight a battle with sin, but you love it, embrace it, and hold on to those chains because you love it so, that's when you have the problem.
45:22: It's like this.
45:23: It's like you were a dead fish going down a stream, and the stream is carrying you along.
45:30: That's the world.
45:31: The world is carrying you down that stream, and you're a dead fish floating along with other dead fish down the stream.
45:37: And God makes you alive.
45:39: That fish comes alive.
45:40: And now the fish is going to swim upstream against the current.
45:48: What's going to happen when you start to swim up the current? You're going to hit other fish.
45:54: You're going to run into other fish.
45:55: You're going to run into a hard current.
45:57: You're going to hit all the stuff that's coming that way.
46:00: But you're swimming in the right direction.
46:03: When did God change your direction? Has God changed your direction? Are you still the dead fish going with the water? That's the difference, right? The difference is we're dead in our trespasses and sins, or we're alive to Christ.
46:18: We're going with the world, or we're fighting against the world.
46:21: We are part of the world's plan, or we are going against the world's plan.
46:25: And it's one of two.
46:27: You say, well, I don't do it perfectly.
46:29: I've never met a person who does.
46:33: But if there's been no change in your life, then there's been no Christ in your life.
46:41: We are heirs according to the promise.
46:44: And we are not saved by what we have done at all.
46:47: But when Christ saves us, our lives do change.
46:58: As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
47:02: Yeah, and we're going to look at a very similar passage when we get to Galatians 5.
47:06: Because in Galatians 5, Paul says, I have the Spirit that wants to do right, and I have the flesh...
47:13: It's very similar to what he says in Romans that is fighting that.
47:16: And so it is a battle.
47:18: There's an absolute battle that is waged all the time.
47:22: But understand this, all of that is post-salvation conversation.
47:29: If you are not saved, if you've never come to Christ, here's what you need to understand.
47:36: Coming to Christ isn't about good works.
47:39: It's not about you changing your life.
47:42: It's not about you going through a certain amount of steps or a certain amount of processes or something that causes you to be fit for the Kingdom because you cannot be fit for the Kingdom.
47:51: Only God can change you.
47:54: Only God can save you.
47:59: When Jesus and with all the Apostles, when they are asked about salvation, especially the Apostle Paul, what is his always response? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
48:09: In Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith.
48:14: Our salvation is based first upon faith.
48:18: Our works come later.
48:19: Our works are the product of faith, not the cause of salvation.
48:25: So my encouragement to you today is twofold.
48:27: If you're a believer, I would ask yourself, when did Christ change my life? How do I see Him changing my life? But if you're an unbeliever and you've not yet come to Christ, perhaps the question you need to ask is what's going to happen when I die and face God? Because I hope at least, if you've heard me today and if you've heard me for the last few weeks, you wouldn't think to dare say, God, I'm a good person.
49:04: There's no way.
49:06: When you face God, it's going to be one of two very simple answers.
49:10: I have either received Christ by faith or I have not.
49:14: If you receive Christ by faith and you are in Him and He is in you, you will be saved from the wrath of God.
49:19: And if you have not, you will receive the wrath of God for eternity.
49:22: And that is the only two options.
49:23: There is no middle road.
49:26: There is no halfway.
49:29: It's like the ark.
49:30: And I use this illustration all the time.
49:31: But when Noah got into the ark, he was saved from the wrath of God.
49:37: And everyone outside of the ark perished.
49:43: When you come into Christ, you are saved from the wrath of God.
49:46: And if you are outside of Christ, you will perish in your sins.
49:50: You can't hang on the outside of the ark and think you're okay.
49:53: And you can't be attached to the ark simply because you walk up and stand next to it.
49:58: That's what a lot of people do.
49:58: They attend church and they think because they're standing next to saved people, they're saved.
50:02: That ain't how it works.
50:04: You've got to be in the ark to be saved from the wrath of God.
50:09: Let's pray.
50:10: Father, I pray that this has been useful and helpful and encouraging and I pray that You would use it to draw people to Yourself.
50:16: Most importantly, Lord, for those who have been holding back in some way thinking that their goodness is enough to warrant a place in Your eternal kingdom.
50:24: For we know, O Lord, that that is not true.
50:27: That no one can be saved or ever will be saved because of their adherence to the law.
50:32: For the law did not come to save, but to condemn.
50:36: Christ has come to save.
50:38: The law came through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus Christ.
50:42: And it's in His name we pray.
50:44: Amen.