Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me to the book of Galatians? We are looking at chapter 3, verses 6-22.
! So, let me invite you to turn there with me. That's page 914 in the Pew Bible. Now, as we come to our passage today, you'll see that in our ESV Pew Bibles, and maybe this is even going to be the case on the screens above, verse 6 is
translated or sort of taken as the continuation of a rhetorical question that begins in verse 5. So, the ESV connects verse 6 to verse 5. Do you see that there? Now, that is a perfectly legitimate translation. There's nothing wrong with that, but in the Greek manuscripts, there actually isn't any punctuation, so we have to make some interpretive decisions.
Another perfectly legitimate way to translate verse 6 is not to see it as a question, but as the beginning of a new sentence that continues into verse 7.
And maybe if you've read the NIV or the NRSV, you'll see that that's how they translate that. Now, the meaning of the passage doesn't really change no matter which way you take it, but as Matt and I have studied this passage, we think it's a little smoother to translate verse 6 with verse 7.
And that is all to say why we are starting in verse 6 today. So, as you look at the ESV, just imagine that verse 5 ends with a question mark and verse 6 starts a new sentence. All right. Let me go ahead and read this passage for us. Galatians 3, 6 through 22.
Just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying,
in you shall all the nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed, along with Abraham, the man of faith.
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written,
Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.
Now, it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith.
But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by them.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.
So that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,
so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
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.
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.
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.
For if the inheritance comes by law, it no longer comes by promise,
but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
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.
Now, an intermediary implies more than one,
but God is one.
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.
But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin,
so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe.
All right, let's pray.
Father, we ask for your help not just to understand,
what this passage is saying,
but also to experience in our hearts the good news
and the freedom that this passage proclaims,
so that we might live in the freedom and the blessing
that this passage proclaims,
on the basis of your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom all your blessings come to us.
In His name we pray.
Amen.
Well, all right.
Well, as we've seen over the past six weeks
in our series in Galatians,
Paul has been arguing the radical,
liberating message
that our acceptance with God,
our right standing before God,
our confidence and assurance before God,
our Creator and the Judge of all things,
the basis on which God declares us righteous,
that is fully accepted by Him,
that comes not from works that we do
in obedience to the law,
but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Now, last week, Paul advanced an argument
in favor of this proclamation of the gospel.
He advanced an argument from the Galatians' own experience.
He asked them,
did you receive the Spirit by works of the law
or by hearing with faith?
The answer, of course,
was that the Spirit's work in their midst,
the Spirit's work of conversion,
of peace, of unity, of holiness,
yes, even of miracles,
didn't happen because they'd gone back
and started keeping the law.
It had happened because they believed
what they heard about Christ crucified.
So He could appeal to their own experience
that the full acceptance of God came through faith.
But now, in our text today,
Paul advances an argument,
not from experience,
but from Scripture.
What does the Scripture have to say
about this good news that Paul
and all the other apostles in unity proclaim?
What is it that God's Word actually teaches?
And now, before we dive into that,
I think the fact that Paul here turns to Scripture
and the fact that he spends so much more time
arguing from Scripture
is in itself a good point for us to consider.
You see, for Paul,
an argument of Old Testament Scripture support.
Well, consider first, Paul says,
Abraham's blessing.
Now, it is most likely that the teachers
who were agitating the Galatians' churches
and whom Paul's kind of refuting in this letter,
it's likely that they were saying
that in order to be sure of God's blessing of salvation,
in order to be included in the rich inheritance
of God's salvation,
you had to be a member of Abraham's family.
After all,
God said in Genesis that His blessing
would come to Abraham's offspring.
Right?
And these teachers probably went on to say
that the way you get into Abraham's family
is by circumcision,
and the way you stay in Abraham's family
is by keeping the law.
So, in response to all this,
Paul also goes back to Abraham.
What do we learn from Abraham after all?
Paul asks,
how did Abraham come to be accepted by God as righteous?
That is, on what basis did God give
His full acceptance and favor to Abraham?
And therefore, how does someone today
really become a child of Abraham?
Well, Paul says Genesis 15 is clear.
What does it say?
Abraham believed God,
and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Now, notice, it doesn't say
Abraham merely believed in God, right?
As in, Abraham sort of knew that God existed.
Abraham didn't merely believe certain facts
about God to be true.
No, it says Abraham believed God.
That is, Abraham trusted the promise God had made to him,
trusted that God would do what God said He would do.
And in Abraham's case,
he trusted that God would cause he and Sarah
to have a child in their old age,
even though, humanly speaking, it was impossible.
And when Abraham believed God,
Genesis says on that basis,
God treated him as if he was totally righteous.
Now, think about how radical that is.
Abraham, obviously, if you read the story of Genesis,
wasn't totally morally righteous in himself, right?
He had lots of doubts, didn't he?
He had lots of moral failures.
Do you remember what happened when Abraham,
during a famine, goes down to Egypt, right?
He gets really scared.
So he tells his wife, Sarah,
hey, let's tell a half-truth
and tell everyone you're my sister.
That way they won't kill me
and steal you from me, right?
And God actually thinks that's a really bad idea.
And you read Genesis and God sort of delivers Abraham out of that.
And then, a little bit later,
what does Abraham do?
He does the exact same thing again.
He's stuck in a pattern of habitual sin, right?
You know, is Abraham a morally flawless character?
Is he in and of himself a righteous person?
No.
He's full of flaws and doubts and fears,
just like you and me.
But rather than treating Abraham
according to what his works deserved,
God looked upon Abraham's trust in his promise,
and on that basis,
considered him as if he was completely righteous.
And was this just special treatment for Abraham?
Did God sort of make an exception for Abraham?
Did God think, well, you know, just this once,
Abraham can be justified by faith in my promise,
but you know, everyone else is going to have to earn it.
No.
What Paul sees and what he shows
is that Abraham wasn't an exception
because God had already said in Scripture,
in you, Abraham,
shall all the nations be blessed.
In other words,
the blessing of God would come to everyone
in the exact same way as it came to Abraham,
not by works that we do,
but by trusting the God who keeps his promise.
Now, I imagine not many of us today
think a whole lot about Abraham, right?
Most of us probably don't lose a lot of sleep
over wondering whether we are
or are not a child of Abraham, right?
When you woke up this morning,
you didn't sort of suddenly have
an existential moment of crisis and think,
am I a son of Abraham?
No, you're like, make some coffee, I'm tired,
or whatever it was, right?
Right?
But consider what Paul is saying
at the heart of what he's saying here.
Most of us, aren't we?
Most of us are living for a blessing
of some kind.
And, you know, I don't mean blessing
in some sort of cheesy,
materialistic, financial way, right?
We're living for a deeper blessing than that.
And blessing in the Bible means
favor, acceptance, belonging,
being known, being loved,
having someone for you.
And that's what all of our souls
are longing for.
And we can seek this deep acceptance
and belonging through any number of means,
can't we?
In the accolades of a professional circle,
in the arms of a lover,
in a tight-knit group of friends.
But the real blessing that you seek
cannot ultimately be found there,
as good as those things may be.
The real blessing that we seek
can't be found there,
and that's why those things
never really satisfy for long,
because it's a deeper blessing
that we're built for.
You see, when God created humans,
what was the first thing that God did?
He blessed us.
He spoke a blessing over us.
Humans were created to operate
under the favor of God,
the loving acceptance of our Creator,
like flowers opening up to the sun.
Our lives were meant to flourish
with the face of God shining upon us.
But the way back into this favor,
the way back into this blessing
and this belonging,
this righteousness before God,
isn't through striving
or through earning.
What we see in Abraham,
it's that it is offered to all
who believe God's promise.
And we know that that promise
has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
So, you see, you don't have to chase
the fleeting blessings of money
or love or profession.
The good news is that you can have
the blessing that lasts forever.
Your life can open up
in the created flourishing
you were meant to have
through God's promise.
So, Paul's first scriptural argument
is about blessing.
It's about Abraham's blessing,
that those who are of faith
are blessed along with Abraham,
the man of faith.
His second argument, then,
is about the law's curse.
The law's curse.
Again, the false teachers in Galatia
probably made the claim
that the way to be righteous
and get God's blessing
was to keep the law, right?
I mean, on the surface,
that obviously sounds right,
doesn't it?
After all, in practically
every other area of life,
that's how it operates,
doesn't it?
I work up to a certain standard
and then I receive
a certain reward.
If I want to get into
a good college,
I have to earn good grades, right?
If I want to play a sport,
I have to earn my place
on the team.
If I want to get a promotion
at work, I have to earn
more clients and more money
for the company.
I get out what I put in.
But is that how it works
with God?
Do we have to rely
on our works
in the same way?
Well, what does the Scripture say?
Paul quotes Deuteronomy 27, 26
that says,
Cursed be everyone
who does not abide by
all things written
in the book of the law
and do them.
Have you abided
by all things
written in the book of the law?
Have you actually done them?
This is the question
Paul's putting before
his audience and us.
Oh, you who would rely
on works of the law.
What does the law say?
What does the law
actually require?
It doesn't merely require
a few religious observances
here and there, right?
It doesn't even merely require
that we refrain
from murder
or adultery, right?
It requires that we love God
with all our heart
and soul
and mind
and strength
and that we love
our neighbor
as ourselves.
It requires
not just that we don't murder,
but that we don't harbor
hatred in our hearts,
that we don't speak evil
of another person,
that we forgive
and bless those
who wrong us.
It requires that we do
to others
what we expect others
to do to us.
But when we actually
consider God's law,
we realize that we don't
abide by all things
written in the book
of the law
and do them.
And that's true
even of the commandments
that we agree with.
Even the commandments
we think are good
and right,
we don't keep,
let alone the commandments
that we choose
to ignore,
right?
And what does the law,
what does God's law
pronounce
over those
who don't keep it?
It says
it pronounces a curse.
God's face
is turned away.
We no longer
belong in His favor.
We deserve to be
cast out
from His presence
in darkness,
in judgment,
in death.
So because no
fallen human being
can keep the law,
relying
on the works
of the law
only places us
and keeps us
under a curse.
Paul cites
two more verses
to drive home
this point.
Verse 11,
he says,
now it's evident
that no one is justified
before God
by the law
because,
as the prophet
Habakkuk said
so many years ago,
the righteous
shall live,
really live
before God
in His favor.
How?
By faith.
In other words,
the Old Testament
itself said
that faith
in God's promise
is how the righteous
will live.
And then in verse 12,
he clarifies,
but the law
is not of faith.
Rather,
the one who
does them
shall live by them.
In other words,
works and faith,
trying and trusting
are two totally
different things.
And only one of them
will put us
in a right relationship
with God.
And it can't be
works of the law.
It can't be trying.
Why?
Because the only,
the one
who actually
does them,
who actually
keeps them
and obeys them,
only that one
will live
in God's favor
by means of them.
So where does
this leave us?
You know,
we're often too quick
to kind of jump over
verses like these.
It's easy to say,
well,
I'm not relying
on works of the law.
Well,
that may be true,
but don't you see?
Whether you think
of God's law
every day
or whether you think
of it
not much at all,
the passage
that Paul quotes
in verse 10
is true.
Either way,
cursed be
everyone
who does not
abide by all things
written in the book
of the law
and do them.
All of us
stand condemned.
A dreadful curse
hangs over
all of us
because we have
disobeyed our Creator.
We have ignored
His good laws
and failed
to keep them.
Even the moral standards
that we have
by means of reason
or by means of conscience,
even those
we do not keep.
And you know,
if this rejection
were sort of
the mere rejection
of a colleague
or a friend,
you know,
if this curse
that came
was sort of
the sentence
of some
merely human court,
right,
if that was
the curse
that we were facing,
we could endure it,
right?
We could find
some other place
for solace.
We could find
some other group
of friends,
some other workplace.
We could move countries.
things.
But this is no
idle word
spoken by some
mere human.
This is the verdict
of God,
the one in whom
we live
and move
and have
our being.
imagine a grain
of sand
suspended
above the ocean.
Do you see
those dark waves
churning,
those endless
depths
of the sea?
Do you see
how fragile,
how lost
that falling
grain of sand
is
in comparison?
Any moment
it would just
be swallowed up.
friend,
that seemingly
infinite distance
between the
immensity
of the ocean
and that small
piece of sand,
oh,
that is nothing
compared
to the difference
between God's
infinite majesty
and every single
created thing
gathered up
together.
Picture earth.
Now zoom out,
zoom out
from this planet
of ours
further and
further.
See the earth
get smaller
and smaller
just hanging
in space
until it is
the size
of a grain
of sand.
And now
do you see
the waves
of God's
majesty
filling your
view,
making not
just our
little planet
but all
of the universe
seem like
nothing but
a drop
in the scales.
there is
no escaping
God.
Only
God's
verdict
matters.
To be
cursed by
God
is to
lose
everything,
is to
be lost.
Don't you
see?
What hope
is there
for us?
Have we
not spurned
His blessing
and deserve
His curse?
Have we
not as humans
exalted
in wickedness?
Have we
not
enjoyed
our own
selfishness?
have we
not laughed
while the
oppressed
suffer
and worst
of all?
Have we
not taken
God's
name
in vain
upon our
lips?
And the
waves
of His
infinite
majesty
continue
to roll.
hope
is there
for us?
How can
this dreadful
curse
ever be
lifted?
How can
the shining
face of
our Creator
ever turn
toward us
again,
who have
sinned so
willingly,
so flippantly
against His
holy character
and law?
God
will
give us
to
God
to
God
and
Paul
says the
answer
comes not
from us
but from
God
Himself.
God
Himself
provides
the way.
as this
curse
hangs
over us
heavy
and thick
the bright
ray of the
gospel
shines
forth.
Christ
redeemed
us
from the
curse of
the law.
How?
By
becoming
a curse
for us.
For it is
written
Deuteronomy
21-23
cursed
is
everyone
who
is
hanged
on
a
tree
so
that
in
Christ
Jesus
the
blessing
the
blessing
of
Abraham
might
come
yes
even
to
the
Gentiles
so
that
we
might
receive
the
promised
spirit
through
faith.
When
Paul
writes
that
Christ
became
a
curse
for
us
what
does
he
mean?
He
means
that
all
our
sin
our
guilt
our
curse
is
imputed
to
Christ.
It
is
legally
transferred
to
him
before
the
bar
of
God's
judgment.
On
the
cross
Christ
the
sinless
one
is
reckoned
with
all
our
sin
for
us
in
our
place
as
our
substitute
and
in
exchange
what
does
he
offer
as
he
takes
our
curse
down
into
the
oceans
of
God's
wrath
what
do we
receive
in
exchange?
The
blessing.
And what
is that
blessing?
The
blessing
of being
counted
fully
and
completely
righteous.
And now
there is
no more
curse
for those
who are
in
Christ
Jesus.
Only
blessing.
Only
God's
smiling
face
now
upon
us.
And
is
this
blessing
only
offered
to
Jews
who
keep
the
law?
No.
It
is
offered
to
everyone
in
Christ
Jesus.
Gentiles
too.
But
Paul
says,
you
know,
the
blessings
abound.
It's
not
just
right
standing
with
God
that
we
receive
in
Christ.
It's
also
the
promised
spirit
through
faith.
Not
just
a new
standing,
a new
status
with
God,
but a
new
heart,
a new
power,
a new
internal
principle
within
us,
a new
internal
reality
that
can
delight
in
God
and
that
loves
God
and
others
in
freedom.
And
through
the
Spirit
we're
able to
love
and
rejoice
in
God
and
in
others
in
a way
that
the
law
by
itself
could
never
produce
in
us.
Friend,
are you
still
relying
on your
moral
performance
to give
you
assurance
before
God?
Are you
still
looking to
your own
efforts
to gauge
whether
God
will
bless
you?
Christian,
are you
still
looking
to your
own
performance
to
gauge
whether
God
is
going
to
bless
you?
Now,
if you've
ever been
there,
you know
what shaky
ground that
is,
right?
You know
how one
day,
looking to
our own
performance,
it feels
great,
right?
It feels
so good.
You look
out at
other people
and think,
how can
those
idiots
not be
like me?
Right?
But the
next day,
it fills
you with
anxiety
and
uncertainty.
Oh,
you know
how it
makes you
compare
yourself
endlessly
to others.
You know
how it
makes you
dread at
times to
even read
God's
Word or
to pray
for fear
that you'll
find another
command you
can't live
up to.
You know
how heavy
it makes
your soul
to rely
on works
of the
law.
But look,
friend,
look again
to Christ.
Do you
see how
He willingly
became
a curse
for you?
All the
sins that
you have
committed
for which
you do
deserve
judgment,
He took
those on
Himself.
Why?
Because of
His great
love for
you.
So that
the dark
clouds of
that curse
might be
forever
dispelled
and so that
the bright
rays of
God's
favor might
shine down
on you
forever.
You don't
need to
live under
that curse
any longer.
For all
who are
in Christ
by faith,
the curse
is gone
and nothing
but blessing
remains.
The blessing
won by
Christ's
righteousness.
So these
are Paul's
first two
scriptural
arguments.
First,
the blessing
of God
has always
come through
faith,
even all
the way
back to
Abraham.
It's always
been through
faith.
And second,
relying on
the law
only keeps
us under
the curse,
the very
curse that
Christ came
to redeem
us from.
Paul's
third and
fourth
arguments
in verses
15 through
22 now,
having set
out the
blessing by
promise and
the curse
under the
law,
now they
have to
do with
the
relationship
between
the law
and the
promise.
And even
though these
verses 15
through 22
are some
of the most
densely
packed verses
in all
of Galatians,
I think
they're actually
very practical,
very good
lessons for
us today.
In the
first half
of this
passage,
Paul tells
us what the
law can't
do,
and then
in the
second half
of this
passage,
Paul tells
us what
the law
can do.
So first,
what the
law can't
do,
this is
verses 15
through 18
as Paul
continues his
scriptural
arguments.
He says,
what the
law can't
do is
annul the
promise.
It can't
cancel it and
make it void.
Paul reminds
us here that
God's promise
to Abraham
came first,
and that
promise isn't
somehow overridden
or canceled
by the
law that
God put
in place
430 years
later.
Now,
keep that
in mind,
friend,
as you read
Scripture.
When you
come across
God's commands
in the Old
Testament or
in the New
Testament,
remember that
those commands,
they don't
cancel or
annul the
promise that
came first and
has priority
over them
all.
God's
inheritance of
salvation comes
not by your
keeping the
law.
It comes by
God keeping
His promise
because you
see what God
demanded in the
law, He
fulfilled in
Christ for
you.
He's kept
His promise
in Jesus.
That's Paul's
point,
actually,
in verse 16.
Some of you
might have
scratched your
head at that
one as we
read it earlier.
Paul's actually
making a subtle
point here based
on the word
offspring in
Genesis.
He's arguing
that the
promise to
Abraham's
offspring actually
wasn't fulfilled
by the
collective people
of Israel
keeping the
law.
He says that
wasn't actually
the offspring
God had in
mind.
In fact,
the offspring
God really
had in mind
was a single
person,
Jesus,
who would
represent His
people,
who would
do for them
on their
behalf,
in their
place,
what they
themselves
could never
do.
He would
be the
true Israel.
He would
be their
righteousness.
He would
be their
king and
keep the
law in its
entirety.
He would
face the
curse and
bear the
wrath of
sin,
and He
would rise
again in
victory,
and He
would do it
for all
those united
to Him
by faith.
That's
what the
Abrahamic
promise was
really all
about,
Paul says.
The seed
of Abraham
is a
messianic
promise
fulfilled in
Jesus,
Israel's
Messiah.
Practically
speaking,
then,
God's promise
isn't fulfilled
by your
keeping the
law,
it's fulfilled
by Jesus
keeping the
law,
and now
your part
is to
trust Him.
United,
unite yourself
to Him
by faith,
and you
are united
by faith
in Christ
to the
ancient
promised
blessing
of God
that
overthrows
the curse
of sin
and restores
our relationship
to our
Creator.
No law
can annul
that promise.
Now,
that doesn't
just help us
to read our
Bibles properly,
right?
It also helps
us to be filled
with joyful hope.
Verse 18
says,
for if the
inheritance comes
by law,
it no longer
comes by promise,
but God gave
it to Abraham
by a promise.
Your inheritance,
your eternal
future in the
new heavens
and new earth
are secured
by His
promise.
God promised
Abraham that
he would have
a great family
and that his
family would
dwell in the
land,
but you know,
that promise
wasn't just
about the
ancient land
of Canaan.
Not even
from the very
beginning was it
limited to that.
If Abraham's
family would
include all
nations because
all nations
would be blessed
in him,
what does that
mean?
It must mean
that all the
earth would be
his inheritance.
And that is
exactly how Jews
came to understand
the Abrahamic
promise and
exactly how the
New Testament
understands it.
The gospel
is for all
people,
for the
whole world.
God's promise
is that one
day the whole
world will be
covered with
His glory like
the waters
cover the
sea.
His promise
is that one
day there
will be no
more sickness
or sorrow
or death
or dying
in any
corner of
His creation.
Christ will
return and
God will be
all in all
and that
is secure
to you
because God
promised it
and He is
faithful.
And until
that day,
as His church,
we pray and
we partner
and we labor
to take this
gospel to the
ends of this
earth and
everywhere in
between,
still confident
that God
will keep
His promise
and God
will have a
people for
Himself from
every tribe
and tongue
and nation.
You know,
this is why we
do missions as
a church,
right?
Because we are
confident that
the promise
of God
fulfilled in
Jesus will
be fulfilled
and take root
in all the
nations.
Whether all
those nations
are in
Central Asia
or whether
all those
nations are
jammed right
here in
Little New
Haven,
God is
going to
save a
people from
every tribe
and tongue
and language
and nation
and we can
be confident
and filled
with joyful
hope for
this age
and for
the age
to come.
The law
doesn't
annul
the promise.
So that's
what the law
can't do.
Last,
Paul tells us
what the law
can do.
The law
can point
us back
to Christ
as our
greatest
treasure.
Paul asks
in verse 19,
so why did
God give us
the law
anyway?
Well,
the Mosaic
law was
given because
of transgressions
until the
offspring should
come to whom
the promise
had been made.
In other words,
the Mosaic law
was a temporary
administration
until the
Messiah came.
The ceremonies
and festivals
of the Mosaic law
were never meant
to be permanent.
They were just
a scaffolding
as it were
until the real
work was done
through Jesus
the Messiah.
And now that
that true building
is up,
the scaffolding
can come down.
And the
provisional nature
of the law
is probably
what the end
of verse 19
and verse 20
are getting at.
Now,
we all admit
that those
are confusing
verses.
It's not entirely
clear what Paul
means there.
But the big idea
seems to be
that the law
was just
an intermediary
stage,
a provisional
arrangement
that would
eventually pass.
Ah,
but you asked,
but what about
the moral
commands of the law?
What about
the commands
that continue
into the New
Testament,
right,
that we're
supposed to
keep?
Well,
those laws,
do they not?
Just like
those ceremonial
laws and just
like those laws
that pointed to
Christ through
pictures and
signs,
don't those
moral commands
also point us
to Jesus?
Don't they
also remind us
that we need
a Savior?
Because the laws
by themselves
don't have the
power to give
us life.
The laws don't
carry any power
to change us
or empower us
to keep them.
sin.
The laws
by themselves
only remind
us that we're
sinners and that
we need a Savior.
They remind us
that sin really
is sin,
but they show
us that our
Savior really
is a great
Savior and
that our only
hope is to be
justified by
faith in Him.
So the law
drives us to
Christ as our
only hope.
In verse 25,
Paul will say
it's like a
schoolmaster that's
been teaching us
and training us
and directing us
to Jesus.
So this is what
the law can do.
It can help us
to see again and
again what a
treasure we have
in Christ.
Now at this point
you might be
asking, well is
there any hope
for us humans
to actually
obey the law?
And Paul's
answer to that
is emphatically,
yes, yes, yes.
We humans can
begin to live a
life that reflects
God's character
as displayed in
the moral law.
Yes, we can
start to keep
God's laws,
but the power
to do that
doesn't come
from the law
itself,
and our standing
before God
doesn't depend
on that.
The power
to keep God's
law doesn't
come from the
law.
It comes from
the Spirit
living inside of
us, the Spirit
that Christ
has poured
out on those
whom He has
redeemed from
the curse.
The Spirit
of freedom,
of love,
of peace.
Now Paul will
have a lot to
say about that
in chapters 5
and 6,
so stay tuned
for when we get
to those chapters
in a couple
of weeks,
but for now
we end by
realizing what
the law can
do.
The law
can point
us to Christ.
So when you
are reading
Scripture and you
come across the
commands of God,
look to Christ.
Realize that they
are telling you
more about Him
than they are
about you.
And realize that
you need His
blood and
righteousness to
make you clean,
that you can't
do it by yourself,
but rejoice that
He has taken
away your curse
and given you
His blessing,
and then rely on
His Spirit within
you to empower
you and lead
you to live a
life of love,
which after all
is, as Paul
will say,
the fulfillment
of the law.
Let's pray.
Oh, Lord,
we give You
praise.
You are our
holy and
majestic
Creator.
Triune God,
nothing exists
apart from
Your will,
from Your
sustaining choice.
Lord, we give
You praise
this morning
that when we
had fallen
deep into the
curse of our
own sin,
when the law
had spoken over
us not a blessing
but a curse,
we praise You
that Christ has
come to handle
that curse for us,
to step under
its weighty load,
to be even
crushed by it,
so that we
could be blessed
and made whole.
Oh, Lord,
fill us with Your
Spirit, risen Christ.
Help us to live
in the blessing
that is now ours
because You
have died
and risen again.
Lord, and with
those here this
morning who are
not in You
through faith,
turn,
admit that they
need a rescuer,
need a Savior,
and fall into
Your open arms.
Lord, confident
that You
receive all
who come to You.
We pray this
in Your mighty
name, Jesus.
Amen.