The Purpose of the Law (Galatians 3:19-25)
Notes
Transcript
Pre-Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
[Illustration]
Post-Introduction
***LORD Help me to be clear and simple and to get out of the way!***
This morning in the few minutes that I have, I want to do a few things.
First, I want to look at Their Past. In other words, I want to see what Paul meant to say to his original hearers. What he said to them in the past.
Second, I want to look at Our Present. What does what he said to them in the past mean for us today.
And Third, I want to look at Your Future. Once we understand what this means for us today, I want you to know what this means for you and your future, because you are going to need to make a decision on the basis of what you learn today.
First, let’s look at 1. Their Past. Let’s look at what Paul meant to say to his original hearers then.
1. Their Past
1. Their Past
Background/Context
If you’re just now joining us for our study, this letter is written to address a false gospel in the early Christian church: namely, that being a member of God’s family in good standing comes not through faith in Jesus alone, but through faith in Jesus plus obeying the requirements of the Law of Moses; specifically, through ritual circumcision.
After spending the first couple chapters telling his own story that proves that his apostolic credentials are valid and that his gospel is God’s gospel, Paul turns to the Galatians’ own experience of conversion as well as to the Old Testament Scriptures.
Paul’s opponents—the false teachers called the Judaizers—argued from Genesis 17 that because Abraham was circumcised, so too the new male Gentile converts who have believed in Jesus also needed to be circumcised in order to be considered a member of God’s family in good standing.
But Paul, in a bit of Bible jujitsu, argues that actually, going a few chapters earlier in Genesis — Genesis 12 and Genesis 15 — proves that God promised to bless all the nations of the earth and reverse the sin problem from Genesis 3-11 through a promised offspring, and that Abraham was declared righteous not through obeying any laws or being circumcised, but simply through believing God’s gracious promise.
That promise — God’s special inheritance and blessing of being brought into a right relationship with God — that was given to Abraham and to his promised offspring, which Paul argues clearly is a direct promise of Jesus the Messiah.
And so in Gal 3:18
18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
God’s inheritance — being declared right with God and getting to live in fellowship with God — you don’t qualify for that by law-keeping. You qualify for that by grace through faith. Believing, not doing. And Paul says the story of Abraham proves it.
And that brings us to the next logical question for these believers who have been influenced by the Judaizers false teaching.
They’re asking, “Ok, so if the Law isn’t our ticket to God’s inheritance — being part of God’s family and being declared right with God and getting to live in fellowship with God — if the Law isn’t our way in, what’s it even for? Why then did God even give Moses the Law in the first place?”
“Why then the Law?”
Let’s read Gal 3:19-25
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
Remember, we’re starting with Their Past, what did Paul intend to say to his original audience?
He gives us the main question in v.19, “Why then the Law?” and then he makes his argument.
Here it is, let me summarize it for you: God gave the Law to make things worse for a while so Jesus could make things better forever.
Let’s take each of those phrases and break them down.
God gave the Law:
God gave the Law:
1. To make things worse...
1. To make things worse...
Quote -
The typical Jewish view was that the Torah was an agent for moral transformation. Hence, the popular saying, “the more study of the Law the more life” (m. ʾAbot 2:7). The notion that the Torah led to life was common in Judaism (Sir 17:11; Bar 3:9; 4:1; Pseudo-Philo, Bib. Ant. 23:10; Pss. Sol. 14:2–3).
Explanation
Before Paul’s conversion, its likely he agreed with the typical Jewish view of the Torah — the Law of Moses: that the Law was the pathway to moral transformation.
One popular saying from the rabbis was, “The more study of the Law the more life” speaking about eternal life.
But here, after his conversion, Paul seems to have a radically different idea about the Law — it doesn’t make things better, it actually makes things worse.
Listen to these phrases from our text today:
19 Why then the law? It was added because of [lit. on account of] transgressions...
This is a tough phrase, that word translated “because” means “on account of” and is grammatically unclear. But in context it mostly likely means the Law was added not to make transgressions go away, but actually to increase them. The Law made things worse, not better.
Paul articulates a similar idea in Romans 7:8
8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. . .
10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Paul says when human beings come up against the Law, our sinful nature activates and we go into overdrive to push up against the Law.
All throughout this section Paul is arguing from a redemptive-historical point of view.
As he looks back on Israel’s history, Paul sees that the Law of Moses did not erase the sin problem of the human heart, it actually inflamed the sin problem. It made things worse, because of the sinfulness of humanity, even the sinfulness of the people of Israel.
The rest of the section reinforces this idea that the Law was given to increase transgressions.
21 . . . if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin . . .
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
He compares the era of the Law of Moses to imprisonment. And notice that he views imprisonment to sin as interchangeable with imprisonment to the law.
To be imprisoned to the law is to be imprisoned to sin because the more Law you face, the more you’ll realize your sin.
The more Law Israel was given, the more Law Israel broke!
Illustration
God gave Israel the Law of Moses, and what did Israel do before Moses even came down off the mountain? They worshipped the Golden Calf.
God reminded Israel of the Law of Moses before they entered the Land, and what did Israel do as soon as Joshua died? They did what was right in their own eyes in days of the Judges, acting worse than the Canaanites.
God reminded Israel of the Law of Moses in the days of the kings, and what did Israel do? She played the harlot and abandoned Yahweh, worshipped other gods, sacrificed their children on the alter of Molech, and killed the prophets God sent to urge them to repent.
Why?
Because the Law can tell you what to do, but it doesn’t give you the power to obey it.
The Law told Israel how they could reflect God’s character to the nations at that particular time and place in redemptive history, but it couldn’t solve the sin problem.
God gave the Law:
God gave the Law:
1. To make things worse...
1. To make things worse...
2. ...for a while...
2. ...for a while...
Explanation -
The Law of Moses was never intended to be permanent. It was always intended to be temporary.
This, again, is a big departure from Judaism for Paul.
Quote
The typical view of Judaism was that the law would last forever. As Bar 4:1 says about wisdom in the Torah, “She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures forever” (NRSV; cf. Wis 18:4; Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.277; Philo, Moses 2.14).
By the time of the first century, Judaism assumed the eternality of the Law of Moses. They assumed it had always been around, even in Heaven, and that Abraham was under the Law.
But Paul stresses the fact that the Law of Moses was not and is not eternal. It was always intended to be a temporary arrangement.
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made . . .
“It was added.” Remember, in 3:17, he specifically brought up that the Law came 430 years after Abraham. It was added after the promise to bless Abraham and his offspring, singular, Christ, the heir of Abraham’s inheritance.
And it was added, what? “until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made”
In other words, the promise was made to Abraham and to Jesus 430 years before the Law of Moses was given.
So, Paul says, the Law of Moses was only ever intended to be operative as a kind of parenthesis in God’s plan for the world.
The Law was temporary. It was a placeholder. It was only supposed to be in place until Jesus came.
He makes another argument trying to help the Galatians see that the Law of Moses was always intended to be subordinate to God’s Promise to Abraham.
Look at the end of v.19-20
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.
He compares the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with Moses.
The Jews thought that God’s covenant with Moses was a continuation of God’s covenant with Abraham — that they were the same. But Paul says, No, they’re not the same. They are 2 different and distinct covenants with 2 different and distinct purposes.
The Covenant with Abraham was in force long before Moses. And in that covenant, God spoke directly to Abraham. No intermediary.
But in the Covenant with Moses, that covenant came 430 years after the promise of blessing was made and that covenant came through a mediator. It was given by angels (Dt. 33:2; Acts 7:53; Heb 2:2), then to Moses, and then through Moses to the people.
So, Paul’s opponent might ask, is God schizophrenic? Is the Law of Moses somehow opposed to God’s promise of grace? Are they contradictory? As though salvation from the promise is no works, but then God added the Law of Moses to make salvation now about faith plus works?
Paul says, no, they’re not opposed to each other. There’s no contradiction here. They have different functions.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
There’s no contradiction here.
If you’re trying to use the Law of Moses to gain righteousness to be accepted by God, to gain God’s inheritance, you can’t. You won’t. You’ll fail. Because the Law was never given to achieve salvation.
The Law of Moses was never intended to be permanent ; it was always intended to be temporary.
Specifically, it was always intended to prepare us for Jesus.
God gave the Law:
God gave the Law:
1. To make things worse...
1. To make things worse...
2. ...for a while...
2. ...for a while...
3. ...so Jesus could make things better...
3. ...so Jesus could make things better...
Explanation
From the very beginning, God had a plan. And that plan centered on the Lord Jesus Christ.
God gave the Law as a temporary arrangement, designed to increase transgressions so that everyone would know (1) The Law can’t save us, (2) but Jesus can.
Notice again what Paul says about the purpose of the Law as a “guardian.”
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
When Paul says “before faith came,” he’s not saying that there was no faith in the Old Testament. Just a few verses earlier he’s argued strongly that Abraham was justified by faith alone, not by works of the law.
His whole argument falls apart if faith didn’t exist in the OT.
He’s not saying “faith” wasn’t around; he’s using “faith” as a way of talking about a new era of redemptive history. He’s using it interchangeably with the era of Christ, or the era of the New Covenant.
Before, back then, back in the era of the Law of Moses … we were held captive under the law and under sin.
But now, given this new event in redemptive history, the coming of Jesus Christ as the long-awaited offspring of Abraham, now we are living in a new era.
And the way he describes this is as a coming of age.
He says the era of the Law of Moses was like a guardian.
Illustration
We get our English word “pedagogue” from this Greek word. It doesn’t quite mean teacher. In the ancient Greco-Roman world this pedagogue so to speak was a guardian or custodian who was responsible for the care of children when they were young and immature.
The closest analogy to us is a babysitter.
This guardian was a well-established position in the ancient world, and in literature of the time we see examples where they were supposed to instill good morals and behaviors, and we also see examples where they certainly don’t live up to those morals.
We don’t know if Paul is trying to emphasize the positive or the negative.
What we do know, quite clearly, is Paul’s main emphasis in bringing up the guardian: the kids are going to grow up.
Those who are immature will eventually reach maturity, and then the guardian will be out a job.
The role of the guardian is temporary.
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
Paul is saying because Jesus has come to fulfill God’s promises to Abraham, the era of the Law of Moses is over. The guardian is out of a job. Redemptive history has moved forward. And now, because Christ has come, there’s no going back.
God gave the Law:
God gave the Law:
(1) To make things worse...
(1) To make things worse...
(2) ...for a while...
(2) ...for a while...
(3) ...so Jesus could make things better...
(3) ...so Jesus could make things better...
(4). ...forever.
(4). ...forever.
Explanation -
The promises to Abraham were given to Abraham and to his offspring, Jesus, and so now that Jesus has come to inherit all of those blessings, there’s no more need for the Law of Moses.
[Gospel call]
All along, the Law of Moses was pointing to our need of a perfect law-keeper. A perfect Israelite who would always reflect God’s character rightly to the nations by a life of pure love of God and love of neighbor.
And make no mistake, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law of Moses.
And despite his perfect record, he willingly embraced the penalty of rebellion and law-breaking by bearing the curse of the Law in his sacrificial death on the cross, for all who would turn from their sins and trust in Jesus.
And so, Paul says, the pathway to peace, the way to fellowship with God, the ticket to God’s promised inheritance is not by reverting to the Law of Moses!
The way to right standing with God and full inclusion in the family of God is not through law-keeping or through ritual circumcision or anything else!
Over and over, the answer is faith.
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
And because the promise has been fulfilled and because Christ as has come and because Law-keeping has forever proven to be incapable of making us right with God, the primary purpose of the Law of Moses has been accomplished.
And there’s no going back. The era of the Law of Moses is over. The guardian is out of a job. And we’re never going back.
Listen to what Paul says elsewhere
4 For Christ is the end [telos]of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.
The writer of Hebrews says the same thing
13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The era of the Law of Moses is over. Don’t go back.
Recap
That takes us to the end of 1. Their Past. We’ve been looking at what Paul meant to say to his original hearers then.
In v.18, he said God’s inheritance comes by God’s grace, not by keeping the law.
In v.19, he asked “Why then did God give the law at all?”
And his answer in verses 19-25 in summary was: God gave the Law to make things worse for a while so Jesus could make things better forever.
1. Their Past
1. Their Past
2. Our Present
2. Our Present
But what does this have to do with 2. Our Present? How is this even remotely relevant to our lives in the modern world? In 2025 in Gilbert, Arizona?
Let me gather the main contribution of this passage and say it in a way that will hopefully help us apply it.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
What do I mean?
The late Tim Keller used to say there are three kinds of people. And we’re all going to be in one of them: (1) Religious people, (2) Non-religious people, (3) Gospel people.
Let me tell you about each of these.
(1) Religious people
(1) Religious people
say this: “I obey, therefore I am accepted”
There’s all kinds of varieties of these Religious people, and here Dr. Keller is using that word “religious” to highlight that these people love keeping the rules. It doesn’t have to meant that, religion is a great word, but it often carries that connotation.
The religious people Paul was addressing in his own day were those who latched on to the specific Laws of Moses in the OT and held on to them as the way they could be accepted by God.
In our own day, there is a movement of religious people who are trying to follow many of the specific rituals and customs and practices of the Law of Moses.
There are even some professing Christians who view Torah observance as a pathway to super spirituality; the pathway to platinum elite status in the kingdom of God.
But most likely, there are relatively few people who are going to be tempted to embrace the Law code of Moses, today.
More likely, the religious people in our neighborhood and our town are likely those who latch onto some kind of moral principle or ideal, some sort of moral code of conduct, and think that if that can just live up to high morals, they will achieve spiritual blessing or salvation or bliss, or whatever.
Maybe you’re joining us this morning and you grew up LDS
and believe that achieving entrance into the Celestial Kingdom comes through a combination of believing in Jesus and obeying God’s commands. As the Book of Mormon says, “For by grace are you saved, after all you can do.” (“I obey, therefore I am accepted”)
Maybe you’re joining us this morning and you have a background in Buddhism
and you believe that through right living, ethical behavior, and spiritual practice (like the Eightfold Path), one earns progress toward enlightenment and ultimately liberation. Acceptance or salvation is based on personal effort and obedience to the path. (“I obey, therefore I am accepted”)
Maybe you’re here and you have a background in Islam
and you believe you are accepted by Allah if you submit to His will, follow the Five Pillars, and live a righteous life so that your good works outweigh your bad. ( “I obey, therefore I am accepted”)
Maybe you’re here and you have a background in Hinduism
and believe you will be finally reach enlightenment if you fulfill your duty, accumulate good karma, and are self-disciplined. (I obey, therefore i am accepted”)
Maybe you’re here and you grew up in a Christian home or a Christian family or you grew up around other Christians and really, if you think about it, what you know abut Christianity practically sounds something like this:
You know that Christians put a high priority on giving money to the poor and to the church, so you try to help out when you can.
You know that Christians aren’t supposed to cuss, so you try to be polite and you’re trying not to cuss as much.
You know that Christians aren’t supposed to sleep around, so you try to control yourself, when you can. If you’re married, you don’t cheat on your spouse.
You know that Christians are supposed to go to church, so you try and make it sometimes. Definitely Easter.
You know that Christians are supposed to pray and you pray every day.
As you think back on your time with Christians and around Christians and at church, you think about all of the ways that you’re supposed to live as a Christian, and yeah, you’re not perfect, but you think that net effect of your life is that you’re doing more good than bad, and God will understand and you’ll be able to make it to heaven when you die.
“I obey, therefore I am accepted.”
That’s the first kind of people. (1) Religious people.
(2) Non-religious people
(2) Non-religious people
say this: “I can do what I want”
Maybe you have no background in the church or religion and grew up in a completely secular environment. You’re default assumption is that the material world is all that there is.
When you look at Christians or Muslims or Sikhs, or whatever, you’re glad you live in a country with freedom of religion, but you’re also glad that you don’t have to live according to some religious code of conduct.
Now, you obviously have morals. In fact, you have very high morals. You’re faithful to your spouse. It’s important to care for the poor. It’s important to work for equal justice under the law. It’s important to protect children from predators. It’s important to have high integrity and a strong work-ethic. It’s important to pay your taxes.
You just don’t believe in the supernatural baggage that the religions have connected to those morals.
You believe you can live a highly moral life and have a deeply satisfying life apart from religion.
Others of you might be a bit further into hedonism, the view that the primary purpose of life is to experience as much pleasure as possible. That’s taken you all sorts of places.
Still others might have gone looking for meaning and purpose and pleasure, only to have it slip through your fingers. And so rather than embrace a religion as a coping mechanism, you’ve fallen into nihilism, the view that everything is meaningless and purposeless. The universe is a cold, cruel collection of meaningless chance. Maybe you’ve been contemplating what it would look like to end your own life.
Clearly, there are impulses that the religious person has that the non-religious person doesn’t have. The religious person sees meaning outside the material universe, in whatever god or gods or force they attribute that to, while the non-religious person views any meaning as within the material universe.
But ironically, even among those who are non-religious, there’s still an element of Law. There are still expectations for how to live a good life. There are still expectations — moral laws, if you will — that govern how you think about the world.
So you might not agree with what the religions say, but you’re still pretty convinced that the Holocaust was morally evil. You’re not sure you agree with what Christians say about sex overall, but you are sure that exploiting children is evil. You’re not so sure churches are a net positive for society, but you are sure that caring for the poor is morally good.
So you might be non-religious, but even still, there is often a religious-like impulse underneath the way you live your life, quietly and consistently saying “I obey, therefore I am accepted.”
Those are the first two kinds of people, with some overlap in how they think about the Law: (1) Religious people, and (2) Non-religious people.
But there’s a third option,
(3) Gospel people
(3) Gospel people
say this: “I am accepted in Jesus Christ, therefore I obey”
Notice what’s happening. The obeying comes after being accepted in Jesus Christ.
Gospel people do not reject the idea that God has expectations for how we live. Gospel people reject the idea that we have to live into those expectations before we are accepted in Jesus Christ.
Listen to 1 Cor 9:20-21
20 . . . To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
This is outside the scope of our passage today, but the Apostle Paul emphatically rejects the idea that Christians are without moral imperatives after salvation.
What Paul rejects is (1) that law-keeping is the requirement for being accepted by God, (2) that the Law of Moses, specifically, is still in force.
He rejects both of those positions. He says he is emphatically not under the Law of Moses, but that he is under the Law of Christ.
In a few weeks, Paul will develop this even more in Galatians 5.
“OK, so the guardianship of the Law of Moses has come to and end in Christ. What now? Are there moral expectations for Christians today? Is there any Law still in force for believers in Jesus?”
And Paul’s answer is “Yes,” but its not the Law of Moses. It’s the Law of Christ. Or, he calls it other names too. The Law of Love. The Law of the Spirit of Life.
There’s a new principle at play with moral guidance. Now, God does not just command me how to live, He enables me to obey, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But crucially, that moral expectation (1) is not a requirement for being accepted by God, and (2) it’s not the Law of Moses.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
Gospel people go a completely different direction, here. We don’t look at God’s moral requirements in general or the Law of Moses in particular and say, “I obey, therefore I am accepted.”
We look at God’s holy requirements, recognize our inability and our sin, despair of all works-righteousness, and then fall on the mercy of Christ.
And it is only then, that we are accepted in God’s family.
And then, and only then, can we begin to live a life that is pleasing to God by obeying his moral requirements.
Gospel people say: “I am accepted in Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.” But I don’t obey the Law of Moses. Now, in Christ, I obey the Law of Christ.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
We’ve looked 1. Their Past, we’ve looked at 2. Our Present, and that leads us to 3. Your Future.
3. Your Future
3. Your Future
Which of these three kinds of people will you be?
(1) Religious person: “I obey, therefore I am accepted”
(2) Non-religious person: some who would agree with the religious person, and others who just say “I can do what I want”
(3) Gospel person: “I am accepted in Jesus Christ, so I obey”
Which one will you be?
Gospel Call
The Gospel of Jesus is really good news.
Jesus came to this earth to do for you what you could never do on your own, and that’s live a perfect life of perfect love.
And though he always only did and thought rightly, he willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and your wrongdoing and your law-breaking, if you’ll agree with God about your sin, if you’ll allow God’s perfect, holy requirements not to fill you with pride, but to crush it. To feel the weight of God’s perfect expectations. And if you’ll fall on your knees and cling to Jesus by believing in him and not your ability to be good enough.
The question is, will you turn from your sin AND yourself, and put your trust in Jesus?
If you are a Christian, if you are trusting in Jesus and in Jesus alone, beware the temptation to fall back into works righteousness. As though Jesus got you in, but now the real work is up to you, to somehow make up the difference of what Jesus didn’t cover.
Do you remember what we sang earlier in the service?
Be still my soul and know this peace
The merits of your great high priest
Have bought your liberty
Rely then on His precious blood
Don’t fear your banishment from God
Since Jesus sets you free
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
Big Idea: The primary purpose of the Law is to push us to Christ.
The question is, will you cling to Christ?
Conclusion
Conclusion
“Run, John, run, the law commands
But gives us neither feet nor hands,
Far better news the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings.”
