WHY DO WE NEED LAW AND ORDER?

There are those out there who are opposed to law and order. Whether they be anarchists, or libertarians, they do not like the long arm of the law. In recent years I have come across a person or two who just does not believe that they are accountable to the obey the law of the land, let alone the Law of God.

Please take your Bible and turn to . Over the past month we have taken a break from our study in Galatians titled NO OTHER GOSPEL, in order to do a seasonal series for Christmas. Today we return to our study of the first of Paul’s epistles to have been written. Before we get into the exposition of today’s passage it would be wise to review a few things about this book.

This book or letter was written by the Apostle Paul to churches that he and Barnabas had founded on their first missionary journey. These churches were most likely located in the southern portion of the region that was known as Galatia.

The letter was written by Paul to combat the false teachers who had come and bewitched his beloved congregations. It was also written as a defense of the one true gospel.

Paul began by establishing that his authority and doctrine came from Jesus Christ, and not from any other man. His authority was attested to by Peter, John, and James the Lord’s brother. The fact that he was not in the least bit inferior to the twelve apostles was seen in his confronting of the Apostle Peter.

His concern was to show that Gentiles did not need to be converted to Judaism in order to receive either the blessings of Christ, or fellowship with Jewish believers.

The focus of the extended passage, , that we are in the midst of is to establish that all true believers in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are sons of Abraham and therefore are heirs to his blessing which comes through Christ Jesus.

As we return to our study this morning we will look at Paul question regarding the need for the Law. As we do so we will see that the law does not negate the promise to Abraham, the law does define transgression, it works in conjunction with the promise, and was our guardian until faith came.

Before we delve into our outline, let’s read Galatians 3:15-29.

THE LAW DOES NOT NEGATE THE PROMISE

was the passage we looked at the last time that we were in the midst of this study.

The main point of these verses as we noted at that time is that the promise of God is irrevocable

It appears that the Jewish rabbis were teaching that the promise to Abraham was temporary. It was only in effect until the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai. They taught that once the Law had been given it negated or at least superseded the promise to Abraham. In the following verses Paul deals with the purpose of the Law. Why do we need the law if it doesn’t bring salvation.

THE LAW DEFINES TRANSGRESSION

The Defining

Notice that Paul teaches that the first purpose of the Law is to define transgression. The second phrase of verse 19 — It was added because of transgression — has the idea of for the sake of defining transgression. Commentators find significance in the term that is used for sin in this verse. The Greek term parabasis, translated as transgression refers to the breaking or violation of a known law. As opposed to the more common term hamartia, which refers to wrong-doing in general, whether purposeful or in ignorance.

Whether it be civil law or religious law, Laws and rules have the effect of defining transgressions

Though there are some rules or law which we may break in ignorance, not knowing it was a law, once we have knowledge of the law it becomes a transgression if we break it.

There are some obscure laws in the State of Michigan.

Persons may not be drunk on trains

It is illegal to kill a dog using a decompression chamber

Adultery is illegal, but can only be punished upon a complaint by the affected spouse

It is illegal to seduce and corrupt an unmarried girl (but apparently not for an unmarried boy…)

A woman isn’t allowed (by law) to cut her own hair without her husband’s permission (hence a hair stylist)

It is illegal to sell or purchase a motorized vehicle on a Sunday

Now that you have knowledge of these laws, if you break them it is not merely a sin, but a trespass. Willful rebellion.

Ordination & Agency

Notice that as Paul continues in verse 19 he refers next to the Law being ordained by angels. As for angelic ordination, though the account in Exodus does not refer to angels being involved in the giving of the Law, other O.T. passages do refer to it.

As for angelic ordination, though the account in Exodus does not refer to angels being involved in the giving of the Law, other O.T. passages do refer to it.

Deuteronomy 33:2 NASB95PARA

He said, “The Lord came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them.

Psalm 68:17 NASB95PARA

The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.

A couple of N.T. texts also make reference to angels in regards to the giving of the Law.

Acts 7:53 NASB95PARA

you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

Hebrews 2:2–3 NASB95PARA

For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,

Not only were angels involved in the giving of the Law, but so was a mediator. In this case the mediator was Moses. If you will recall, when God addressed the people of Israel from Mount Sinai His voice boomed like thunder, and the people were so afraid of His voice that they appointed Moses to be their mediator. So the people of Israel received the Law as a sort of third party agreement.

The Duration

Paul next addresses the duration of the Law. Note that he said until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. Paul had previously established that the seed referred to Messiah — Jesus of Nazareth (Gal. 3:16). And now he is stating that rather than the Abrahamic covenant having an expiration date, if you will, it is the Law which has an expiration date.

A few weeks ago, maybe around Thanksgiving time, our son Caleb and his wife Angel picked up a coconut cream pie from the bakery section of one of the local grocery stores. This pie had a reduced price tag on it which actually hid the expiration date. Taking it in good faith that they would not try to sell people a pie that had so long expired as to make people sick, they purchased the pie and ate it. Within hours they both started to get sick. So they pealed of the reduced price sticker and found that the coconut cream pie had expired in September! Like that perishable pie, the Law had an expiration date.

Look at verse 20 for a moment. The basic point that is being made here is that the Law was inferior to the promise to Abraham because the Law was passed down to Israel through three parties whereas the promise to Abraham came directly to him from God Himself.

So to summarize what I have trying to say up to this point, the Law of Moses did not negate or invalidate the promise given to Abraham, which was that “All nations will be blessed in you.” The promise was in fact superior to the Law because it was given directly from God to Abraham, whereas the law was passed down through both angels and a mediator. The promise to Abraham was an eternal covenant, whereas the Law of Moses had a specific expiration date. Let’s turn our attention now to how Paul taught the the Law works in conjunction with the promise.

THE LAW WORKS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PROMISE

Look for a moment at . Paul often anticipates conclusions that others may draw from what he has previously stated — conclusions that are in fact wrong. In these verses it appears that he is anticipating that some will conclude that the Law was in fact contrary to the Abrahamic Covenant. But the apostle objects to this line of speculation with the strongest phrase available: May it never be!

It was never God’s intent for people to be saved by keeping the Law. Why is that? First of all, people can’t keep the Law fully. Look back at . If a person could be made righteous by means of keeping the Law themselves then there was no need for Christ to die as a substitute for our sins. In fact there would be no such thing as a substitutionary atonement. But the fact is that no one can be justified by keeping the works of the Law. That is because no one can fully keep the works of the Law; it is impossible. As Paul stated in his letter to the

Galatians 2:21 NASB95PARA

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Galatians 2:21 NASB95PARA

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Galatians 2:21 NASB95PARA

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Romans 3:21–22 NASB95PARA

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

Romans 3:21–23 NASB95PARA

Romans 3:21–24 CSB

But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Notice verse 22 again. The term that is translated shut up literally refers to something being closed up inside a fishing net. To be under sin means to be in submission or subservient to it. As Paul wrote in

Romans 6:16 NASB95PARA

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Before faith came we were slaves of sin, held in bondage to it. And God used the Law to bring us to the understanding that we are totally depraved. We are incapable of saving ourselves. We need a Savior. And He provided the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Savior. He died on the cross to take the punishment of our sins. He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him.

Notice the last phrase of verse 22 — so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Those who by faith embrace the message of the cross and the empty tomb receive the promise of God.

Let’s turn our attention now to the guardianship of the Law.

THE LAW WAS OUR GUARDIAN

In this section Paul uses two pictures which are intended to help us understand the relationship between the Law and grace. The first is that of imprisonment.

Imprisonment

Before faith came, that is, before we came to faith in Christ and were adopted into the family of God, we were imprisoned. And the Law was the prison warden. Now this sounds very negative, but sometimes prisons can be used for the purpose of safe-keeping. In due time this prison warden turns the believer over to the charge of faith.

The second picture that Paul paints is that of a guardian.

Guardianship

There is a term in verse 24 that was translated poorly in the KJV as schoolmaster. The Greek term is paidagōgos. The term refers to a slave who was entrusted with the responsibility of raising a wealthy family’s child. They were responsible for the nurture of the child, which included things such as discipline, and transporting the child to school. Though this person could at times be very hash to the child in their care, there was also often a very strong emotional attachment between they and the child as well. The term guardian may better reflect what Paul is teaching here.

As foster parents Gail and I have to work in conjunction with lawyers who are appointed by the courts as guardian ad litem. That is they are the children’s voice in court. The children’s advocate.

The Law was given by God to be a guardian until the coming of faith. This coming of faith can be thought of in a couple of different ways. First there is a dispensational reference as regards the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Second there is a personal aspect to it. Regardless of the age in which we live, there was a time in which we all were imprisoned by the Law, and in bondage to sin. But then faith came and with it justification.

Finally in verses 25-26 Paul lays for us the idea of sonship.

Sonship

With the thought of guardianship in mind, once a person comes of age they no longer are in need of a guardian to care for them. They are an adult and are supposed to be able to care for the themselves. In the spiritual context the coming of age is not related to physical maturity. Rather it is related to the believer’s coming to faith in Christ. At whatever age a person is when they come to Christ, they are adopted into the family of God as an adult child who is ready to receive the promised inheritance.

In a different context Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 13:11 NASB95PARA

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

Though the context was different, I believe that statement reflects what was being said here as well. When we were children, that is before the coming of faith, we were children and in need of the guardianship of the Law. But now that we have come to faith in Christ we have put aside childish things. We are adult sons of God. We no longer need the law to drive us to faith, but we have already arrived at that particular destination.

Let’s pray.

Closing Song: No. 427 — People of God

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