The Law and Freedom

INTRO

If you have a Bible you can turn to Galatians 3 this morning as we continue to hear from Paul about a very important question for the churches of the Galatia, and for us today. We will get to that question in a moment, but to make sure everyone is on the same page of the same book, Paul has been writing to the churches in Galatia that they are being told a distorted Gospel by Jewish leaders. These leaders are saying they need to continue to obey the laws of the Jewish tradition with different foods they can and cannot eat, ceremonial cleansings, and festivals to observe throughout the year. Because it was those thing that actually brought them into acceptance with God, not faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus was fine and dandy, but the law was what they needed to stick with.

But Paul is continuing his argument from last week that shows us the role of the law now that Christ has come. And what he does today in our text is so good because, in essence, he asks the churches of Galatia, and us today this question:

HOW DO YOU VIEW GOD? AS A PROMISE KEEPER OR A LAW GIVER?

Because how you view God is going to determine what kind of Gospel you will believe in, which then will affect every area of your life.

One of my favorite quotes by A.W Tozer, a pastor and just a fiery believer is this: “ What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

I know that sounds like a very Christen thing to say but the reality is this, even for the unbeliever, how they view God will shape and define your life. If you think he is far off and distant and will just judge you harshly in the end, your life will either be filled with fear and anxiety that you are doing enough. Or you will just not give a rip because he is just going to be mean to you, so you just do whatever you want.

So let’s look at how Paul shows us a good God, that gave us freedom in Christ and what our response to him should be when we see God rightly.

PRAY

BODY

English Standard Version Chapter 3

15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

I appreciate Paul so much in how he makes this simple and gives us a physical, practical example, to show the truth of what God has done. He says when we make a covenant no one just rips it up and says this is void now, or they also don’t just add to it. Now, in our day and age, you see it all the time. It is more of a contract that keeps changing. But what Paul is referring to here is not just covenant that was back in their day, but a specific covenant that God made with Abraham. And since I don’t want to assume all of you know about that covenant, I’m going to simplify the story here this morning. But before I do I want to make this statement that I think will be helpful for all of us this morning.

PAUL REFERENCES GENESIS 15 TO SHOW GOD AS A PROMISE KEEPING GOD.

So Paul shows the churches in Galatia, and us, that before the law ever came, God went to Abram (before he was Abraham) and this crazy situation goes down. Abram tells God, hey God, I still don’t have a child of my own, so how am I going to be this great nation that you promised? I am getting really old here, and my wife is not young and spry either. And God tells Abram, go for a walk and count all the stars. Abram does this and this is where it says that he believed God and God counted him as righteous. But them God says I promise you Abram, you will inherit this land. And Abram says, how in the world is that going to happen? There are all these other nations with armies here and you are saying I’m going to inherit this? And God says, go get some animals and cut them in half. Now to us that have no idea what is going on we are thinking, did God hear Abram or what the heck is happening? But for Abram he knew exactly what was happening. He had done this before many times and had seen it done. There was a covenant being made where both parties would come with animals, they would cut them in half and then both parties would walk through the animals as a declaration of “if I don’t fulfill my end of this covenant, so be it to me. Cut me in half. Kill me.” Except, after Abram cuts them he falls asleep. He wakes up to God saying, listen, I’m going to give you this land as your inheritance. and then a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed through the animals. Abram never walked through them. Only God, in the form of a consuming fire walks through to say that my promises will be upheld, and if they are not, then I will be killed.

Wow that is powerful. God is faithful to his promises and we know this because Paul points out that Abrams seed, not seeds, but seed, was Jesus. From Abram Jesus came and was a blessing to all the nations in the best way possible, by bringing them into relationship with the father and the creator of all things.

Paul then says 430 years later is when the law came. So did God change his mind? Did he forget his promise? If so he has to be cut in half. But we know that God did not forget his promises and that this law does not change this promise. So, why in the world was the law brought into place? Well, that’s what Paul shares with us next so let’s keep reading.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

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,

Okay let’s break this down and simplify it if you feel a little lost or confused. Let’s start off with Paul’s statement about why the law was given.

WHY THEN THE LAW??

IT WAS ADDED TO SHOW SIN.

It was added because of transgression is what the ESV says, but to say it in our modern day it is saying it was added to show sin. The law was not there for the Israelites to think, yup, we can handle all of that! It was there to expose their deepest, darkest, sins. It was there to show them they needed a savior. The book of James tells us the law is like a mirror that is help up to us to show us our faults. And if this law could give life, then what was the death of God’s only son for? Paul summarizes this in his own testimony about the law in Romans 7 when he talks about being confronted with the law. He says that the law telling him not to covet, showed him that he did indeed covet. And this sin was aroused by the law, and he does what he doesn’t want to do but doesn’t do what he wants to do. See a lot of people take that one chapter and think, see, I’m powerless and will always just be evil. And yet how does Paul end that chapter and go into the next one (even though he didn’t write it with chapters). He says, this,

English Standard Version Chapter 7

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death

So is the law bad then? No, Paul gives two examples of how it was good for the people of Israel. The first analogy is that he says…

2. THE LAW IMPRISONED (GUARDED)

Paul uses this image of a prison guard who keeps people imprisoned. Meaning when you lived under the law there was no freedom. But in God’s incredible wisdom, it also kept the Israelites from just doing whatever they wanted. God gave them his law to be different than all the other nations around them. Every law is to make them a holy people, a holy nation, set apart to be a light to others. To show them a different way. Because if he would have delivered them out of Egypt and then said, do whatever you want! He knows it would not have gone well. So in God’s beauty and wisdom, he guards them with the law to live a different way. I said this last week but it might be good to repeat, part of the law was a lot of rules, such as kosher diet, what to do and what not to do, and festivals. However, the law also had God’s rules for sacrificing so that when, not if, when people sinned, they could have forgiveness. But even those sacrifices were to point them to faith so that they would be a holy nation, not like other nations.

The second analogy for what the law was good for was…

3. THE LAW WAS A TUTOR/SUPERVISOR

In Paul’s day, a tutor or supervisor was almost like a Babysitter, except harsher than what you think of as a babysitter today. They would discipline kids, teach kids, and help kids with life lessons so that when they grow up they would be successful. But both of these examples show that they law was good, but it was not freedom nor what God promised. The law, and following the law, while good, was never meant to be the thing that brought about acceptance towards God. It was always faith. It was always being dependent on God and His promises.

ENGAGING

So let’s tie this all together because I know a lot has been said and what is really important is, how does this affect us today? How does this affect your marriage, your parenting, your job and your every day life. So let’s summarize and then we can talk.

Well it all goes back to what do you think about when you think about God? Paul is rebuking the jewish leaders for not looking at the whole of scripture and only a part of it because it seems they have forgotten who God is. So, in summary of these verses,

PAUL SHOWS GOD AS A COVENANT MAKING, PROMISE KEEPING, FAITHFUL GOD NOT A GOD WHO IS A MEAN LAW GIVER.

So this what Paul is communicating to the churches of Galatia and to us today to show us how incredible God is. And when we have this view of God, and not a distorted God-because a distorted view of God with bring a distorted Gospel- we are able to believe.

So this once again goes to the A.W. Tozer quote, how we view God is incredibly important. You can go to church for years, have Bible verses memorized, go to all the christian conferences, and yet if you have a distorted view of God I’m willing to bet (and I’m not a betting man) that you are believing a distorted Gospel. So if that is the case, how do we change that? HOW DO YOU HAVE A RIGHT VIEW OF GOD? I think Paul just showed us here how to do it in his short argument, but in case you are looking for some practical advice, here you go:

HOW TO HAVE A RIGHT VIEW OF GOD

READ THE WHOLE WORD OF GOD.

Some of us might have a wrong view of God because we just have not opened up our Bibles for a long time or ever. And don’t here this in a shaming way, it is not me trying to put a law or burden on you to get into the Word. But how are we actually believing God, Following Jesus, or walking in his ways if we are not in His revealed word? And then when you read the word, read not just what feels good, but the whole picture. Sometimes you hear people say, well I just see God as a mean father because my father was mean. Or I see God as distant because this situation happened to me. And i’m not trying to be mean or insensitive but all I hear in those statements is that they are not in God’s word, or that they don’t actually believe God’s word. So if you have a harsh view of God, and your are always in a place of feeling stressed, condemned, confused if God accepts you or not, how do you think your relationships will be? Harsh, stressed, and condemning. How will your parenting be if you think he is a father that is wanting to give you a snake rather than a fish? A distorted Gospel will come from a distorted view of God. It is incredidly important that we don’t just shrug this off. Because I believe if your here and want to be a better father, mother, sister, brother, or whatever, it comes down to this. If you actually believe that God loves you, really loves you, cleansed you, forgiven you, sees you as pure and holy, man you could have the worst day ever and still feel secure.

But where do I start in the Bible Josh??

LOOK AT JESUS

Start reading the Gospels and look, listen, and ponder Jesus because he came to do what? To reveal the father. He came as the radiance of God’s glory the exact imprint/representation of the father. Anything the father did, he did it. Anything Jesus said was to help us to know the father and to be in relationship with him.

HAVE FAITH

Believe. Don’t fight this God who made covenant with you. Don’t be like Peter when Jesus came to him to wash his feet. Recieve God’s love today. Receive His faithfulness to you today. Let go of any wrong view you have of him today so that “now that faith has come, you are no longer a slave.