We're in Galatians 3. When Sam first launched us in Galatians, he told us about evangelism
explosion and the two diagnostic questions in this training course. And last week, Deb
mentioned the same questions, and so I felt like I didn't want to be left out, and so
I should mention them too. The first question is, imagine you were to die now. Would you
be certain that you would go to heaven? And so what that question does is it raises the
issue of whether or not we are assured of our salvation and our eternal future. The second
question is, imagine you were to die and ended up in front of God, and he was asked you, why
should I let you into heaven? What would you say? And that question highlights the source
of our assurance, or lack of it. What is the, where are we putting our hopes in? Where are
we pinning our hopes on? And so like Deb and like Sam, I was trained in this course many,
many years ago, and I remember an opportunity to use those questions in the very early days
of me doing the training. It was one night, and it was about 20-odd years ago. It was the
end of a Carols by Candlelight event, and I got into a lengthy discussion with this guy
that I knew from high school. It was a lengthy discussion about the gospel of the Christian
faith, and let's say this particular guy, academics wasn't his strongest point, and relational, he
had relational challenges. In fact, he didn't have a lot of strong points, and I used the
questions on him in this evening, and he didn't understand the point of the questions at all,
or even how they related to the discussion we were having. Couldn't make the connection
at all. Anyway, about a week later, I'm lining up in the supermarket, you know, to buy groceries,
that's what you do there, and this is a small country town, right? And over from the other
side of the supermarket, I hear this person call out, hey, Fox. Now, that was a nickname
for me at school, Fox. I had red hair, and, you know, it's a country thing, and it was just
a whole lot better than Bunsen burner, which is what I initially had. But this guy yells out,
hey, Fox, I need your help to get to heaven. And it's like, you know, everyone in the supermarket
hears it, and everyone now is looking around, who best suits the description of Fox in this
room, you know? And he came over to me, and, you know, you're kind of wanting to have a quiet
conversation at this point, but it's fairly loud. And he said to me, those two questions
that you asked me the other night, what were your answers? I need to know your answers.
And so I repeated the questions and repeated the answers. Then he said, can I have your shopping
list? Okay, so I gave him a shopping list. And have you got a pen? Yeah, I've got a pen.
He said, now, just say it again slowly so I can write it down. Okay, you know, so I'm
writing it down. I'm just kind of wondering where this is going to go. At the end of it,
hands my pen back and starts to walk away, and I kind of grave, I've got to know, you know,
what are you doing? He's folding it up, puts it in his pocket, and he said, this is brilliant.
He said, like you say, if I was to die right now, I've got the answers about how to get into
question, into heaven. He said, this is brilliant. He said, I could die right now and be guaranteed
to go into heaven. He said, I'm going to keep these answers with me always. He said, this
is so easy. I'm like, oh, forget it. I didn't know what to do at that moment. He totally, totally
missed the point of the questions. And yet, he did have a point. Is it really that easy?
You see, whenever you hear the radical claims of the Christian gospel of salvation by grace,
we should be prompted in some way to think the same. Is it that easy? That easy to be saved?
You know, where does effort, obedience, work, where does that fit in with all this?
Or to put it bluntly, if I'm always saved only by Christ's performance and not my own,
why would I even bother living a holy life? Who cares about that? Just go on living as I am and just,
you know, have salvation attached in some way. See, I think there's no more practical question than
that of the relationship between the Christian and the law of God and the commands of God.
All of our questions about how to live the Christian life, marriage relationship, sexual ethics,
use of money, retirement, church attendance, raising kids, and the plethora of other things
that we deal with are all linked to that central, central question. What is the relationship
between the gospel, the Christian gospel, and the law of God?
Now, let me just do a little bit of announcement over here. This is a very short book, which is
attractive to most people. Is forgiveness really free? It's written by Michael Jensen. It's cheap,
it's accessible, easy to read, short chapters, big words. So there shouldn't be anyone who wouldn't
want to read that. That's a really helpful little book if you want to delve into it a little bit deep
and a bit longer than what I'm going to deal with it tonight. Is forgiveness really free?
So let's get back to this text. This is the question which is before us. Is forgiveness
really free? What's the relationship between the Christian and the law of God? Now, the first thing
Paul does in Galatians 3 here is he outlines again for us what the law does not do. And Paul's been
working on this right throughout Galatians. He's already established that we are saved,
we are justified, we are redeemed only by faith in Jesus Christ, not through any righteousness of
our own, not through any effort on our behalf. And he pushes the point again. Let's have a look at
verses 15 to 18. 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 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. So he says, let me just try and help you
understand this from an everyday example, everyday life. The example he uses is human contracts and the
way that they are binding, the way that they are difficult, if not impossible to avoid. He says,
no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that is being duly established. And the word he uses
there for covenant is the word that is the term for a legal will, you know, like parents in terms of
writing wills for kids and everything else. You see, once a will is made, it is normally considered
binding no matter what circumstances happen, no matter changes in circumstances. The only person
who can overturn a will is the person who wrote the will in the first place. And so it is with the
promises of God. So let me try and capture this for us. Imagine there's a woman, she's got two daughters,
one is extremely wealthy, one is extremely wealthy, and one is really poor. And so she decides in her
will to leave the really poor daughter, the bulk of her estate, and the really rich daughter,
the cat and the dog, you know, and a bit of furniture or something like that. She's trying to help the
poor daughter without recognizing the rich one doesn't need it so much. And that will is legally binding
legally binding, even if circumstances change. So imagine the day after that woman dies,
the really wealthy daughter loses her entire wealth. The will still stands. New circumstances
don't change the will. It's still legally binding. And that's what Paul's saying here.
Paul knows that some might see that the law was introduced by Moses 450 years after God's promise of
salvation to Abraham and conclude, well, this changes everything. New circumstances. If we are to get the
blessing of Abraham, we now have to obey the law of Moses. And Paul shows us here that's a false
conclusion. He does it in verse 17. The law cannot turn God's promise to Abraham into anything else but
what it is, and that's a promise. It's a powerful argument. If the law of Moses came as a way of salvation,
it means that God ultimately has changed his mind about us needing a savior, and that he would now
give us his blessing on the base of performance and not promise. And if the Old Testament law functioned in that way,
notice what verse 17 says, it does away with the promise. And the basic idea is that the very concepts of promise
promise and law are mutually exclusive. You don't add law to a promise to make it a better promise. You at that point
negate it. You nullify it as a promise once you add law to it. They're two different ideas. Just indulge me for a moment here.
For a promise to bring a result, all it needs to be is believed. But for a law to bring a result,
it has to be obeyed. So imagine, for example, I say to you, I've got $20 behind this pillar right here,
and I'm willing to give it to you. And I'm willing to give it to you. And the only way that you will fail
to receive that $20 is by failing to believe the claim, failing to believe the promise.
Yes, it does. That's the only way that you would fail to receive it. But imagine I say to you,
I've got $20 behind this pillar, and I will give it to you, providing you massage my feet and cut my toenails.
You would need to fulfill the requirement in order to receive the $20. You've got to obey the
requirement in order to receive $20. And at that point, you've got to go through cost-benefit analysis
and go, my goodness, I'm not doing that for $20. You know, no way. You see, a gift promise
needs only to be believed. You just need to believe it in order to receive it. But a law wage
must be obeyed in order to receive it. They're two very different concepts.
And if the law of Moses was intended to be a means of salvation, then the promise to Abraham
is not a promise. It's nullified. It's removed. It's gone.
But this promise, as Paul says in verse 15,
is sealed with a covenant. It's sealed with a legal deal.
Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant
that has been duly established, so it is in this case.
And what Paul's referring to here is he's taking us back to Genesis 15.
Back there in Genesis 15, in verse 8, Abraham says to God,
how can I be sure that you are going to fulfill this promise of blessing to me?
How can I be sure of that?
What does God tell him to do?
You see how you can be sure?
Verse 9, bring me a heifer, a goat, a ram, each three years old,
along with a dove and a young pigeon.
Notice, God doesn't give Abraham any more instructions
than to go and get these animals.
Verse 10, Abraham gets them and it says,
In other words, Abraham knew exactly what he needed to do
when he grabbed these animals and birds.
And now this is really strange for us what's going on here,
but in Abraham's day, this is how a covenant,
this is how a legal agreement was signed.
It's fairly grueling, but this is how they did it.
That's why God didn't need to give Abraham any more instructions
because he knew exactly what's required here.
They would get the animals, they would cut them in half,
they would lay them on either half on either side.
You'd kind of find a walkway in between
and everyone who's making this agreement,
everyone who is signing this legal deal
would walk between the two halves of the carcasses
and as they walk between it,
they are saying as a covenant maker,
if I break this agreement,
may I turn out like these carcasses.
May I die and be cut in two like these carcasses
if I break this agreement.
You seal it with your life is what you do.
And what's astonishing here in this covenant
between God and Abraham
is that Abraham never walks between the halves.
Abraham, it says, falls into a deep sleep
and the only thing that passes through, verse 17,
is a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared
and passed between the pieces.
But we are told in verse 18,
on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham.
The promise to bless Abraham
is not reliant upon Abraham.
It's got nothing to do with his obedience at all.
And what God was saying in this moment in Genesis 15,
I would die before I break my promise
to bless Abraham and his descendants
and through him and through one particular descendant,
his seed to offer blessing to the whole world.
I will die before I break that covenant promise.
And in the end, this seed did die on a cross
as the man Jesus Christ in order to fulfill
the promise of blessing to all who trust in God
as Abraham did.
That's what it took for the promise to be fulfilled.
So Paul is just simply pointing out here to the Galatians
the impossibility of God adding obedience demands
to his covenant promise.
God had guaranteed that he would keep his promise.
And so the first thing that Paul's doing here
is he's just reminding us,
we need to be really clear about the purpose of the law,
what it does.
Otherwise, and for us, it's really crucial for this,
for the Galatians and for us,
we get the whole Christian life totally wrong.
Totally wrong if we're not clear on this.
Everything God created has a purpose
and as such is a good thing.
And as you know, even good things can become bad things
when we use them for something that they're not intended.
I love Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century preacher.
He had a really unique way of capturing this
as he does with most things.
He liked to say,
a hand saw is a good thing,
but not to shave with.
A hand saw is good for cutting wood,
but not facial hair.
If you put your hand saw to that sort of use,
you'll wind up losing more than hair.
A good thing is not good when it's out of place.
And if we turn to the law as a means of salvation,
it's out of place, it's not a good thing.
And you lose everything.
If the law does not save,
then it must have a different purpose.
And let's see now what this law does.
At last, verse 19, Paul tells us what the point of the law is.
What then was the purpose of the law?
It was added because of transgression until the seed
to whom the promise referred had come.
So the law didn't come to tell us about salvation,
but about sin.
That's the purpose of the law,
to tell us about sin.
Its main purpose is to show us our problem,
not to solve our problem.
It shows us that we are law breakers
and to prove to us that our obedience as law breakers
could not possibly be the solution for salvation
because we are not perfect law keepers.
Paul picks this idea up again and again and again
and again and again.
Does it in verse 21?
If the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God,
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.
So God never intended for the law to impart life.
In fact, verse 22 says,
the scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin.
In fact, the original language is even more vivid than that.
It is literally scripture imprisoned all the world to sin.
The law shows us that we do not just fall short of God's will,
requiring just a little bit more effort on our behalf
to do a little bit better,
but that in fact we are completely under sin's power
and that we require a rescue.
The law has the power to show us that we are not righteous,
but it cannot give us the power in order to be righteous.
Ironically,
if we think that we can be righteous by obedience to the law,
we've missed the entire point of the law.
The law does its work to lead us towards recognition of our need for salvation by grace.
That is, the law points to the promise.
The law points to the need for the promise.
The law does not oppose the promise of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ,
but rather it supports it.
It points out to us our desperate need of salvation by grace.
And Paul uses two metaphors here in the next few verses
to characterize the way the law works.
The first one is in verse 23.
It says,
The law is a guard.
Before this faith came,
we were held prisoners by the law,
locked up until faith should be revealed.
This verse carries the idea
that we are being guarded by military guards.
We're in prison.
We're locked.
We need freedom.
And we can't get freedom
because the law is keeping us imprisoned to our sin.
And the second metaphor he uses
to show us how the law points to the promise
is the tutor-student relationship.
Verse 24.
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ
that we might be justified by faith.
Now that faith has come,
we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
So the law is a supervisor.
It's a tutor.
It's a babysitter under whose instruction we live.
The law was put in charge over us to lead us to Christ.
See, in the homes of Paul's day,
1st century Palestine,
the tutor or the guardian
was usually a slave
who supervised the children on the parents' behalf.
And the interesting thing is
when you look at both of these metaphors,
the guard and the tutor,
we see that what the law does
is it removes our freedom.
Both metaphors reveal
that our relationship with the law
is not an intimate one or a personal one.
Both metaphors reveal
that our relationship with the law
is based on rewards and punishments.
Both metaphors reveal
that our relationship with the law
means that we are treated like kids.
There is, however, a difference between the two.
The guard metaphor
represents human effort religion.
And it's characterized by bondage,
an impersonal relationship with the divine,
and motivated by a desire for reward
and a fear of punishment.
That's the guard metaphor.
The tutor metaphor, on the other hand,
shows us that the law's true purpose
is in fact instructive.
In the same way, a tutor's role
is to prepare children for lives
as adults,
as free persons,
as grown-up, matured persons.
And in that sense,
the law points to a life of freedom,
not confinement.
The law points to a personal relationship
with God rather than impersonal.
The law points to maturity of character
rather than immaturity.
That's what the law does.
It points to the promise.
Now, I think it's worth quoting here
at some length the great John Stott.
This is from his commentary in Galatians.
I think it just sort of sums up
this second point so well.
After God gave the promise to Abraham,
he gave the law to Moses.
Why?
He had to make things worse
before he could make them better.
The law exposed sin.
It provokes sin.
It condemns sin.
And the purpose of the law
was to lift the lid
of humanity's respectability
and disclose
what they really are underneath.
Sinful, rebellious,
guilty,
under the judgment of God,
and helpless to save themselves.
And the law must be allowed
to do its God-given duty today.
One of the great faults
of the contemporary church
is the tendency
to soft-pedal sin and judgment.
We must never bypass the law
and come straight to the gospel.
To do so is to contradict
the plan of God
in biblical history.
No person has ever
appreciated the gospel
until the law
has first revealed
to them
themselves.
It is only against
the inky blackness
of the night sky
that the stars
begin to appear.
It is only against
the dark background
of sin and judgment
that the gospel
shines forth.
That's what the gospel does.
It locks us up
until the gospel reveals
justification by faith
in the Lord Jesus
for salvation.
not until the law
has bruised us
and broken us
will we admit
our need for the gospel
in order to heal our wounds.
Not until the law
has arrested
and imprisoned us
will we long
for Christ
to set us free.
Not until the law
has condemned us
and killed us
we will call out to Christ
for justification
and life.
Not until the law
has driven us
to despair
of ourselves
and our effort
will we ever believe
in the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not until the law
has humbled us
even to hell
will we turn
to the gospel
to raise us to heaven.
That's how
the law
and the promise
work together.
So,
verse 25
how the law
and the gospel
life
how this works
together for us.
Verse 25
says that once faith
comes
we are no longer
under the supervision
of the law.
Our effort
to gain
God's approval
by obedience
to the law
shows us
that we need
to go
beyond the law
to find that approval.
and when we see
that
and we allow
Christ
to be our saviour
we learn
the lesson
that the law
sought to teach us
as our tutor.
Okay?
So what now
for the Christian?
Does this mean
we now forget
about the law?
Don't need any more?
Don't need these commands
from Jesus
and
don't need that
anymore?
Don't need standards
values?
Paul would say
don't be ridiculous.
Don't be ridiculous
because you don't
forget the law.
Let me just draw out
just for a little bit
the analogy
of the
tutor over the child
or maybe
you know
parent-child relationship
might be better for us.
I don't do this
so I can't imagine
any parent
designs their
child rearing.
I don't think
I can't imagine
any parent
that designs
their child rearing
in such a way
that when that child
grows to maturity
that they cast off
all of their values
that have been instilled
in them
and live
a totally different life.
I can't imagine
there's a single parent
who thinks
that that is
ultimately the goal
of child rearing.
that is
I'm assuming
that every parent
when they're instilling
values in their children
they're instilling values
that they think
that their child
needs in order
to flourish
in all of life
not just while
they're a child.
Is that correct?
Am I stupid here?
Well I mean
don't answer that one.
If all goes well
and I'm assuming
this for my own children
if all goes well
the adult child
is no longer
coerced into obedience
as before
but over the course of time
they have internalized
the basic values
which have been instilled
in them
and they live
in a similar manner
not necessarily
a total same manner
but they live
in a similar manner
because that's what
they actually want to do
the values have been instilled
they've been internalized
within them.
Paul isn't saying here
that the Christian
can
no longer
has any relationship
you know
the law's there
the word of God's there
the command of God's there
you found salvation
and grace
and now you don't need
any relationship
with that stuff at all
I don't think that's
what Paul's saying here
at all
what he's saying is
we no longer
view that system
of the law
for salvation
the law
no longer
forces obedience
through coercion
and fear
that's what he's saying
the gospel means
we no longer
obey the law
out of fear
rejection
or the hope of salvation
by performance
when we grab hold
of salvation
by promise
salvation by grace
in Christ alone
our hearts are filled
with gratitude
and a desire
to please
and
to be like
our saviour
and the way
that we live
like our saviour
the way we be like
our saviour
the way we seek
to please our saviour
is through the way
he's described
as life should be lived
through the law
when you come
to the law
and it's totally
different for the
Christian
for the person
who's been saved
by grace
totally different
approach to the law
when you come
to the law
motivated by gratitude
because of grace
we are better
in our obedience
to the law
much better
why is that
firstly
it's because
when we think
that the law
obedience
will save us
we tend to
by nature
lower
the standards
of the law
that's what the Pharisees
did in Jesus' time
it's like
it's almost like
we become
emotionally
incapable
of admitting
just how
searching
and demanding
and penetrating
the law
actually is
in our life
it's almost become
we just
by nature
give me
ten simple rules
to live by
and that'll do
and the law
is so
penetrating
in every aspect
of our life
for instance
Matthew 5
21-22
Jesus says
that to resent
someone
is a form
of murder
and we sit
in a culture
and say
murder
nothing worse
ta ta
murder
and Jesus said
you resent
someone
that's a form
of murder
you've broken
the command
do not
commit murder
and frankly
it's quite
possible
that
a good majority
of us
sitting here
right now
has resented
someone in our hearts
you've committed
that sin
Jesus made
the law
so penetrating
and only
if we know
that we cannot
keep it
completely
but that we
don't need
to keep it
completely
to be saved
at all
in fact
to be saved
because Jesus
did it
for us
will we
be able
to admit
just how
broad
and how
deep
this command
is
how deep
the law
is
how deep
the commands
of God
are
if we think
we are saved
by obedience
then we
just by nature
have to limit
the scope
of the law
in order
for us
to be able
to manage
it
and what
flows on
from that
is a position
of self
righteousness
you ever
find yourself
looking down
on another
human being
because they
don't live
by the standards
you live
by
that's because
you're living
by the law
that's because
you're living
by the law
not living
by grace
and you've
made the law
manageable
and Jesus
condemned the
Pharisees
for that
secondly
grateful joy
is a motive
that will lead
us to much
more endurance
in obedience
than fearful
compliance
fearful compliance
makes obedience
a drudgery
and it's a drudgery
that cannot cope
with the tough
times
the difficult
times
without the
gospel
we may
obey the
law
but we
will hate
the law
we will
use it
but we
will not
truly love
it
so if you
look at the
commands of
Jesus
and you go
oh well I've
got to do it
I better do it
it's kind of like
my kids when I
say you need to
clean your room
stamp stamp stamp
you know try it
with a smile on
your face this
time you know
it's it's I'm
gonna do it
but I'm
oh I don't
love it
don't see it
as a good
thing at all
once we
understand salvation
by promise
we do not
obey God
any longer
for our
sake
we obey God
for his
sake
we use the
law to
please him
and to
delight in
our gracious
father because
the way he
has defined
life
is for our
flourishing
for our
good
so the
point of all
this this text
in front of us
today is
that the law
and grace
work together
for Christian
salvation
many people
want a sense
of joy and
acceptance but
they will not
admit the
seriousness of
their sin
just give me
the good news
about Jesus
without this
sin stuff
they will not
listen to the
laws
searching and
painful analysis
of their
hearts and
their lives
but unless
we see how
hopeless and
how profoundly
sinful we
are the
message of
salvation will
never be
exhilarating
it will never
be liberating
never be
exhilarating
or liberating
unless we
know how
huge our
debt is we
cannot have
any idea
how great
Christ's
payment of
it was
if we
think we're
not all
that bad
the idea
of grace
will never
ever change
us
the law
shows us
who we
really are
and points
us to see
Jesus as
he really
is
a saviour
that we
need
a saviour
who obeyed
the law
on our
behalf
died
in our
place
that we
might receive
the promised
blessing to
Abraham
see friends
salvation is
so much more
than just
forgiveness
it is so much
more than being
able to answer
a couple of
questions
you know in
the right
kind of way
grace and
law work
together
to allow
us to love
Jesus
and enable
us to show
true love
in grateful
obedience to
him
they work
together for
salvation
law
needs to be
obeyed
in order to
get a result
promise
just needs to
be believed
in order
to get a
result