Be A Disciple Galatians 3:19-25

Opening

The more I think about it the more I realize how powerful stories are. Stories bind us together in a way. I come from a large family on my Dad’s side. He is the second youngest 1 of 7 kids, so when I was growing many of my cousins already had kids of their own.

When I think back to family reunions and parties it was barely organized chaos. Kids running around, 10 conversations all happening at once. But something I remember almost like a spell almost was when someone would begin to tell one of those stories. I think each family has a handful of stories that everyone loves to hear every time they gather together. The chaos would slow down as the aunts and uncles would reminisce on the stories that made us a Family.

It was those stories that glued us together really. Some of the stories in my family I have heard 50 times. I loved hearing my dad and his brothers and sisters tell stories. I would be enamored with them. It was how little Aaron who could barely see over the dining room table got his first sense of place. (Not that I knew it really)

I would later go on and live my own stories that I will tell over and over again. Those family stories become part of our identity. When I would say I am a Boothe, I was really conjuring up those stories that made me proud or glad to be a part of the Boothe clan.

Transition

Later in life when I would get really involved in church, I found a new family. Our family stories were different. They involved people much older than my grandparents or great grandparents. They were told to me by Sunday School Teachers, and by preachers. We would tell these stories that we gathered around.

The more I think about it the more I realize how powerful stories are. The way those stories were told to me, the stories of Noah, and Jonah, and David, and Peter, and Paul, and Jesus shaped so much for me. I can’t remember specific sermons, or Sunday school lessons. I remember the Bible stories.

Now that I have grown more in my faith, and have unpacked some of those Bible stories and tried to get a larger grasp on Scripture I can see some of the short comings with the way the stories were told to me, and some of the ways those minor misunderstandings (probably mainly my fault) shaped the way I think about God, the Bible and ultimately how I live.

I would say that the first 10-15 years of walking in faith I had a hard time with how the world shaped my understanding of things with how God and His word would lead me to be shaped. For instance, I grew up poor, on the “wrong side of the tracks” and as a child of divorce. All of those things built into me certain baggage that in some ways I still carry to this day.

And as I’ve grown in my faith—maybe you’ve felt this too—I’ve realized how easy it is to misunderstand the bigger story God is telling.

For much of my life, I thought the Bible’s big story was mostly about keeping the rules. But Paul helps us see it differently. The law draws the line — Jesus crosses it with grace. He doesn't erase the line, but He steps over it to bring us home.

I had the stories. I loved them. But I didn’t always get how they fit together.

Somewhere along the way, I started thinking the Bible was mostly about rules—about doing the right things so God would love me, or so I could prove I was good enough to belong.

But that’s not the foundation of the story. And in Galatians 3, Paul is trying to remind the early Christians—and us—that God’s story has always been built on something deeper than law-keeping. It's built on a promise.

A promise that came before the law, A promise that wasn’t based on performance, A promise that still holds true today.

So let’s take a look at Galatians 3:15–29 and hear what Paul says about the story we’re actually part of… and what it means to really belong in the family of God.

Galatians 3:15–18 NIV

Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Paul continues his examination of Abraham but from a different angle. Last week I mentioned that Paul transitioned from a biographical defense of gospel freedom to a comparative defense. Last week Paul compared the Law and faith. This passage Paul compares the Law and The promise. Paul is telling his readers that the promise preceded the Law and is therefore more fundamental than the law. That God’s promises to Abraham and to his seed/offspring, which Paul points out is in the singular so pointing to the person of the promise, Jesus Christ.

What Paul is trying to do is reshape the Galatian’s way they read the scriptures. In other words he is telling them, you know those old family stories, you are missing the point. You keep focusing on Moses as the originator as the key person of your inheritance, but it is Abraham. And Abraham was given access to the blessings of God because of God’s promise, not because of the Law.

This leads us to a tension. What then is the purpose of the law? Why the Law. Paul knew that was coming so he cut it off at the pass. Lets continue,

Galatians 3:19–25 NIV

Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

We have spent so much time discussing the law and the relationship it has post Jesus. Here Paul brings that to a head. Paul has spilled much ink, and will spill much more ink in his life so fervently defending this argument. What can happen is we, just like the early church, can struggle to get an answer to the question Paul poses in verse 19

Galatians 3:19 “Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.”

Why the law? “Stair-Step Descent”

In this passage, Paul is walking us down a stairway of understanding. Step by step, he’s helping us grasp the purpose of the law—not just historically, but personally, spiritually. So let’s walk those steps with him.

Step One — The Law Was Added Because of Transgressions (v. 19)

“Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.”

The first thing Paul tells us is that the law had a specific job—it was added because of sin. It didn’t erase sin or fix it. It exposed it. It helped people recognize their need for rescue. But it was always temporary. 'Until the Seed'—until Christ came. The law was never the main act in God’s story. It was a part of the setup.

The law wasn’t God’s plan gone wrong — it was part of the process. The law exposes the need — Jesus answers it with grace. It shows us the symptoms, but only Christ brings the cure.

Step Two — The Law Was Given Through Mediators (v. 20)

“The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.”

Here Paul makes a contrast. The promise to Abraham was made directly by God, but the law came through intermediaries. That tells us something—the law, while important, was less intimate, less permanent. It wasn’t the final word. The Judaizers seemed to be under the impression that the law was what gave them access to the blessings of God, not God’s promises.

Step Three — The Law Can’t Give Life (v. 21)

“Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.”

Paul asks a second question here: 'Does this mean the law is against God's promises?' And he’s emphatic—Absolutely not! The law wasn’t evil, it just had limits. It couldn’t give life. It couldn’t make us right with God. That was never its role. Its role was preparatory. If you look back over the entirety of the Old Testament you could almost summarize the whole thing under the heading of “Man can’t do this on their own.” The law revealed that to us.

Step Four — The Law Locked Us Up (v. 22)

“But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”

This is Paul turning the screw. The law didn’t free people—it locked them up, not to punish them, but to get them ready. Ready for the only One who could unlock what sin had chained down. Paul paints a stark picture — the law doesn’t free us; it locks us up. But God had something better in mind. The law locks us in — Jesus lets us out through grace. That key was faith in Jesus.

Step Five — The Law Was Our Guardian (vv. 23–24)

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

Paul now uses a metaphor. The law was like a guardian or tutor—someone who watches over a child until they grow up. It kept us from wandering, but it always had a limited scope. To use Paul’s own metaphor, a student is only underneath a tutor or teacher for so long until they graduate. That teacher has a limit to its role. It was always the promise of God, that God seals and fulfills that brings the blessings. So the law could correct, but not save. It could warn, but not renew. It pointed forward, always forward—to the Messiah.

Michael DeFazio, professor at Ozark Christian College and dean over Lincoln Christian Seminary there, states it like this.

“From Promise through faith to Messiah”

Step Six — Now That Faith Has Come (v. 25)

Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Here’s the final step: now that faith in Jesus has come, we’re no longer under the guardian. We’ve graduated. We’ve come into the fullness of what God always intended—not rule-following religion, but restored relationship through Jesus.

So what is the role of the law today? It still has a voice—it still shows us our need. But it was never the hero of the story. That role belongs to Jesus. The law shows us the problem. Jesus is the solution.

But what about me, a Christian living today who was baptized over 20 years ago not, what role does the law play for me? We are no longer under the guardian, that era has come to an end, and a new era (a post Messiah era) has begun. That doesn’t mean throw the law in the waste basket, it is stilly highly valuable as long as it remains in its rightful place.

And the law’s rightful place is not to gain God’s favor or extra blessings; that was achieved when you were saved by grace through faith. Why? Because God is good on his promises.

R. C. Sproul, whom I don’t agree with on everything, put it this way.

The third purpose of the law is to reveal what is pleasing to God.

R. C. Sproul

The law shows us our continued need for Christ, it also shows us God’s character. The king has told us and shown us who he is. He displayed what is pleasing to him in the law, and then he displayed ultimately who he is in Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who told us that all the law is tied up into two things. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. That is what people who are a part of the kingdom of God do.

However, if you want to see the kingdom of God try living up to those two things for a day. You are going find out real quick that you need a Messiah. That command points even the most tenured of Christians among us right back to the foot of the cross.

This sermon series is called Be a Disciple. I’ve not really tied back to that them explicitly up to this point in this book, but I think the pages of Galatians are oozing with the gospel reality of the Disciple, because to be a disciple we have to get back to the right family stories. Not the ones the world has taught us, or ones we are tempted to buy into, but the one that the Bible teaches us. If we want to be Jesus’ Disciple then we need to have a proper relationship with the law and faith, the law and the promise. We need to remember Jesus’ words from John 8:

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Jn 8:31–32.

We have access to that freedom because of Christ, in Christ, and through Christ

Jesus says that freedom — real, soul-deep freedom — comes not merely from hearing the truth, but from living in it. “If you continue in my word,” He says. That’s not just a moment of belief. That’s a life shaped by His presence, His teaching, His reality.

And so the question before us isn’t just, “Do I agree with Jesus?” — it’s “Am I learning to live with Him, as His disciple?”

The law can diagnose the heart, but only Jesus can heal it. The law can expose your brokenness, but only Jesus can restore you. That freedom He speaks of — it’s not freedom from discipline or truth, it’s the freedom that comes through them.

If you’ve been weary from trying to be enough… If you’ve been burdened by guilt, or shame, or just the weight of religion without relationship… Then hear the voice of Jesus today: “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Step into the easy yoke of discipleship. Lay down the weight of performance. And receive the grace that not only forgives — but transforms.

Invitation

If you’ve been living like your performance earns your place—come rest in grace today. If you’ve known the stories but never embraced the Savior—come trust Him today. If you’re carrying guilt the law pointed out—but never received the mercy Jesus poured out— come respond to Him today.

We’re going to sing a song of response. But before we do, I want to invite you to take a step. Maybe that’s coming forward. Maybe that’s praying with someone. Maybe it’s finally laying down the weight of trying to be good enough and picking up the freedom of grace.