Why Then The Law?

[0:00] Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. We're going to be looking at verses 19 to 22 today.

[0:13] Galatians chapter 3 verses 19 to 22. I'm going to start reading back in verse 10.

[0:30] Galatians 3. 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 to do them.

[0:49] 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.

[1:01] 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.

[1:14] So that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. So that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.

[1:25] 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.

[1:39] 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.

[1:51] The law which came 430 years afterward does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God so as to make the promise void.

[2:03] For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise. But God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Why then the law?

[2:14] 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.

[2:27] Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?

[2:37] 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.

[2:57] Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this epistle that's written. I thank you for the things that are in it. I pray that you would be with us.

[3:08] Lord, what's here is dense. There's so much here. I pray that you would help us to keep a running understanding so we can keep a good knowledge of where we are.

[3:19] But I pray that you would be with us. Lord, this passage that we deal with today brings out things that are important for us to remember in our walk.

[3:31] Not in a walk that's once in a while. But in the situations that we live in our daily lives. And reading through it, we could say, ooh, that part's a little difficult to understand.

[3:43] And just pack that thought away and let the passage go and not think about the things that are there. I pray that you would, by your spirit, help us to understand this.

[3:53] I pray that you would be with me as I speak. Lord, that these things would be plain. And that you would be glorified. And that your people would be equipped to walk, all of us, in our daily walk.

[4:06] Resting on that which we need to rest on. And I pray that you would give us wisdom in that. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right. We have read from verse 10 down to verse 22.

[4:22] I'm going to be dealing with verses 19 to 22. Now, if I was an amazing preacher and had amazing talent, I would have preached verses 10 to 29 in one setting.

[4:36] Because it's all one argument. But because of my limitations, we've had to break it up. And that makes it a little difficult to keep our thoughts on all the things that are being put together.

[4:51] But we had to do that because we didn't want to have four-hour services or four-hour sermons. At least not in our society.

[5:04] And I understand. That's good. But Spurgeon used to say, the mind can absorb only what the seat can endure. And so he was full of little wise quips.

[5:16] And that's wise. And I try to remember that. Although sometimes I lose track of my time. So we've had to break it up. So I'm going to give you this string of statements.

[5:28] And all of them are prefixed. I'm not going to say if every time. But they're prefixed by the word if.

[5:39] Because that's kind of how he's making this argument. He has through this passage. And I'm actually reaching back a little further than what we've read. But he's through this passage.

[5:50] Had stated truths that are true that you and I need to keep in mind. You say, how am I ever going to keep all these things in mind? Well, you know, you become familiar with them.

[6:02] You read through the scriptures on your own. You hear it preached. It'll come back. But there are truths that as we preach and as we meet to hear God's word. The spirit will impress.

[6:13] And they'll get there. So if you're sitting here going, but pastor, I can't keep all these points in my mind. So as to be able to say it all in one argument.

[6:26] And I say, I'm right there with you. That's why I'm glad we can go back and read God's word on our own. And the blessing of having Bibles on our own. And I'm not one to tell you that you need to read your Bible.

[6:39] So that you're a good Christian. That's not right in my mind. But you could read your Bible for the blessing it is. And I would encourage you to read it daily. It shouldn't be a standard by which you evaluate your Christianity.

[6:55] It should be a practice whereby God blesses you. And you look for God's blessing. So don't worry that you can't hold all these things in your mind. I can't either.

[7:06] But let me review them. And so this is my list of, I think it's nine, if statements. That kind of preface the question he asks at the beginning of verse 19.

[7:20] If salvation didn't or doesn't come by the law. But comes by faith as God promised. If being a son of Abraham does not come by the law.

[7:35] If justification comes by faith and not by the works of the law. If those who rely on the works of the law are cursed. If the law has no part of faith.

[7:50] If Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. If the coming of the law did not annul the promise blessing. That was given in the seed of Abraham.

[8:03] If the inheritance comes by the promise seed. Paul says, why then the law? Okay.

[8:13] So let me just get you back to thinking. Again, you won't have to remember all these statements. But we've gone through and we found that salvation doesn't come by the law. Salvation comes by faith in Christ.

[8:26] And the blessings of being a son of Abraham doesn't come by the law. They would have taught that it would have. The Jews would have. Many of them, not all of them.

[8:36] Would have taught that the blessings of Abraham come by the law. And Paul is pointing to all these scriptures in the Old Testament. That point to the blessings of Abraham come through the one seed. That was promised.

[8:48] And so. Justification comes by faith and not by the works of the law. That's something that he has established already. Those who rely on the works of the law are accursed.

[8:59] Because they can't keep them all. If they can't keep all the law. Then they're under a curse. Whenever someone breaks a serious commandment of God. In the Old Testament. Under Israel's theocracy.

[9:13] Those who broke God's law. Seriously like this. Were often stoned to death. And their body was hung on a post or a tree. To show how awful it was.

[9:24] That this person broke God's law. And because we were guilty of God's. Breaking God's law. We were cursed. And so we were under that curse.

[9:35] But Christ redeemed us from that curse. And he goes on to talk about how the law has no part of faith. And the blessings that were promised are to us.

[9:47] It doesn't depend on being part of the law. It depends on being part of the promised seed. So the logical question. If you've argued all these things. That salvation is not.

[9:58] And he's argued against things that people would have done by keeping the law. If he's argued against that. You can just picture someone standing back and saying.

[10:11] Well then. Why do we have the law? Why did they have the law? Why did God set up in Exodus chapter 19. And into 20.

[10:22] And 21. Why did God have it so that he stood in front of people. And declared the ten commandments. If salvation wasn't going to come by that. Why did he then go on and speak with Moses for 40 days.

[10:35] And give him all the things that you'll see listed through. Not all the events that are listed in. The rest of Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers.

[10:45] And Deuteronomy. But some of the laws. Or all the laws that are listed there. God gave to Moses while Moses was on the mountain for 40 days. And if the law doesn't save us.

[10:57] If it doesn't do us any good in saving us. Why did God bother to give the law? And so Paul answers that question. There are people today.

[11:09] I sort of used to be one. Who looked at a great separation between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament was for Israel. And the law was what they kept.

[11:20] And I would believe. I had believed that the New Testament was for Christians. And that the Old Testament law had nothing to do with. And there was this huge separation.

[11:31] But that's not the case. But yet. People have taken it too far both ways. They've said. Oh. Well. The law doesn't mean anything. Or.

[11:42] They say. The law means everything. So. Paul's saying. We've got to settle this question. Why did God give the law? And. And in verse 19. He answers first of all.

[11:53] By saying. It was added because of transgressions. So we can say. This kind of. Opposite statement to begin with. The law was not given to save us from our sins.

[12:04] It was given because of transgressions. The law was given. To show us. Our sin. And.

[12:15] We'll talk about the nation of Israel. A little bit further in the. In the. Thing. How that related to them. Because they were a particular people. Keeping that law in particular ways. And there were particular laws that applied.

[12:27] To them particularly. But. Over. Over it all. Was the fact that the law was given. To show us. Our sins.

[12:38] Show me my sins. Yes. Show me my sins. Show you your sins. Yes. The law was given to show you your sins. It was given to show all mankind. Each person's own sins.

[12:52] Romans 3.20. Says. For by the works of the law. No human being will be justified. In his sight. Since.

[13:03] Through. The law. Comes the knowledge of sin. That's what the law was given for. Back in Exodus. Now. God was doing several things there.

[13:15] But in the focus of the theme of what we're getting at. Back in Exodus. Chapter 20. As the law was given. One of the things that God was. Was laying out before.

[13:25] All people. As he laid out the law. Was saying. Folks. I want you to know. How you. Have broken my commandments. How you are people who are.

[13:37] Commandment breakers. You are people who are. Rebels against me. And that was part of what he was. Doing at that very moment. He was showing. That people.

[13:49] Had. Sin. Romans 5.20. And 21. Now the law came in. To increase the trespass.

[14:00] But where sin increase. Grace about in all the more. So that. As sin reigned in death. Grace might. Grace also might reign. Through righteousness.

[14:11] Leading to eternal life. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. So again. What's going on? God gave the law. He gave the law. To show us. That we're sinners. He never.

[14:22] I'll say this carefully. He did say. Keep this and live. But the intent. All along was. That they would notice. That they can't keep it.

[14:33] So that they wouldn't live. And so the law was given. Just to show them. That they were sinners. And not only did it just show. That they were sinners.

[14:44] Now Galatians doesn't deal with this. Romans deals with this. When it talks about the law. So I won't take. But just a second. To mention this. It not only shows us. We're sinners.

[14:55] It provokes us to sin. It's that typical. Oh. I wish I could remember. I think it was Luther. Used this illustration. That the teenage boys.

[15:06] Can go by the orchard. All of their life. And never be tempted. To steal an apple. Until the owner of the orchard. Puts up a sign. And says. I can't even think of a good old.

[15:18] English way of saying it. Thou shalt not steal these apples. And fill thy pockets to leave. And then. That was the case. Because they were told. They couldn't. They did.

[15:30] And that's what happens to us. Now. God isn't doing that. To go. I'm just making them worse. He's doing that.

[15:42] He gives us the law. To show us that we're sinners. And to show us that we're. Completely sinners. And we want to live. In rebellion against him. J.V. Fesco says it this way.

[15:56] God wanted to accent. The sinfulness of man. He wanted to make his people. Pain. Painfully aware of their sin. And thus. I'm sorry.

[16:08] Painfully aware of their sinful. And thus fatal. Condition. That's what God was doing. Sorry. All that time ago.

[16:24] God was setting up. So that people would know. They were sinners. And that they weren't just. Little bitty sinners. They were wicked sinners. And that they lived in rebellion. Against him. And so he gave the law.

[16:36] So that people would see that. That. They would be painful aware. Of their sinful. And thus fatal condition. Martin Luther says. The true function. The true function. And chief.

[16:47] The true function. And the chief. And proper use of the law. Is to reveal to man. His sin. Blindness. Misery. Wickedness. Ignorance. Hate. And contempt of God.

[17:00] Death. Hell. And judgment. And the well deserved. Wrath of God. In other words. To show them what they are. And show them what they deserve. That's what the law. Is for. All of the commandments.

[17:12] That say. Thou shalt. And thou shalt not. Are laid out. So that you and I know. What we are. We're sinners. And we're in rebellion. Against God.

[17:23] And not only are we in rebellion. Against God. We deserve the punishment. That we. Would be heading towards. Now.

[17:34] At this point. Paul doesn't address this. I'm adding this. You might say. Well that's awful. But really. Paul doesn't address it. Out and out.

[17:45] But he's getting to it. And it'll be next time. That I come. From the book of Galatians. We'll deal with this. But he's going to point out. That this is a very good thing. In fact.

[17:56] It's one of the best things. That there ever could be. Was that God. Showed you. That you were a sinner. He shows you. That you have broken his command. That you're under his wrath.

[18:07] And that you are in rebellion. Against him. It's a very good thing. For us to know. That we're sinners. It's a very good thing. To know. That we're condemned. In our sin.

[18:21] If we didn't. Have the law. We wouldn't know. Our fatal condition. We wouldn't know. That our sin. Would take us. To hell.

[18:31] For all eternity. Romans 7. 7. This is Paul. This isn't that passage. That people argue about. Is this Paul. When he was saved. Or before he was saved.

[18:42] And it's. It's just evident. This was Paul. After he was saved. And as a. Not a young Christian. But a mature Christian.

[18:52] This is Paul. Speaking of. Where he is. In his Christian life. At the point. That would. God would call him. To write. The book of Romans. Paul deals.

[19:03] Honestly. With his own heart. In Romans 7. 7. What shall we say? What then shall we say? That the law is sin? Is it bad?

[19:14] Is it wrong? That the law is sin? He says. By no means. Yet if it not been. For the law. I would have not known sin. For I would have not known.

[19:25] What it is to covet. If the law had not said. You shall not covet. And so. The law. And God giving the law.

[19:36] Is a very good thing. Without it. We wouldn't know. What we really are. We would live. Self-deceived lives. Thinking we were okay. And we didn't need God.

[19:46] And we didn't need a savior. If there was nothing. That told us. You have transgressed. What a holy God has said. We would live our lives. In total ignorance.

[19:59] Or at best. Would give him just. Little token. And acknowledgement. We would have nothing. To do with God. Because man in his natural state. Hates God.

[20:09] And is in total rebellion. So God in his great mercy. Says I'm going to give. You my law. Now to tie it back. To some of the things. That he said.

[20:20] In the book of Galatians. And other places. In scripture. I'm speaking as if. I'm saying what God would summarize. Take that with a grain of salt. It's good.

[20:31] I give you my law. Otherwise. You would die. And go to hell. It's good. I give you my law. You would never know. That. That. You're a sinner. And you would never turn. From your sin.

[20:41] And you would perish. In your sin. So God in his infinitely. Rich grace. And mercy. Gave the law. So that we might know. That we're sinners. We transgress the commands.

[20:55] Of an infinitely holy God. And we stand condemned. To endure his perfect wrath. And justice for all eternity. Without the law.

[21:06] We would be ignorant. Of that. And we would continue ignorant. Through our whole lives. And we would be racking up. More and more sin. Bringing more and more guilt.

[21:18] More and more wrath. More and more deserved punishment. Upon ourselves. If God had never given us the law. God gave us the law.

[21:29] That we might know. What we needed. And that we needed this. Promised one. To provide. For us. God gave the law.

[21:41] So that we might start thinking. Where do I look? Where do I find relief? Where can I get help? And the point is.

[21:51] And we'll make much more of this next time. The point is. There's somebody. That God has sent. To deal with all this. John Cahoon says.

[22:03] The law serves to show them. Their extreme need of Christ. And of his righteousness and salvation. It awakens their consciences. To a conviction. Of their guilt.

[22:14] And to a dread of everlasting punishment. And so discovers to them. Their absolute need of Christ. And his perfect righteousness. For their justification.

[22:25] In the sight of God. God. If God. Never gave the law. We would never know. We needed a savior. And he could have provided that savior.

[22:35] Without the law. And we would have never turned to him. We would have never. Known we needed him. His life and death. Would have been wasted.

[22:46] Now. God is God. And God wouldn't do that. But. In his wisdom. That's how he ordained things. From the very beginning. When man fell. He said.

[22:57] I'm going to send a savior. But part of preparing. His people. For coming to himself. He said. Also. I'm going to send my law.

[23:08] And I'm going to tell them. What they need to know. They need to know. Their own condition. And so the law. Has been an extreme blessing. Until.

[23:21] He goes on to say. Why then the law. Well. He says in verse 19. It was added because of transgressions. We were sinners. And it was there to show us our sin.

[23:34] He says. It was added because of transgressions. Until the offspring should come. To whom the promise. Had been made. So. Why the law. Well.

[23:45] It was given until the promise. The offspring should come. To whom the promise had been made. It was a temporary situation. Now. It. It preceded.

[23:56] The Mosaic covenant. By Mosaic covenant. I'm talking about. When God gave the law to Moses. On Mount Sinai. And commanded Israel to keep it. The law of God preceded that.

[24:07] And it remains after. It was temporary. But the situation that God gave it. And the way it was applied for a time. Was temporary.

[24:19] It was temporary. Again. Don't hear me say. That the law was temporary. The law was not temporary. But the way God applied it for a time. Was temporary.

[24:31] Israel was brought under the Mosaic covenant. From its institution. There at Mount Sinai. Under Moses. Until the seed came. So. God.

[24:42] Called. Israel out of Egypt. Sent them to Mount Sinai. There at Mount Sinai. Moses went up before the Lord. And God spoke to all of Israel.

[24:53] The Ten Commandments. I am the Lord your God. And. You should know God's before me. And down through all of the Ten Commandments. And then. God called them.

[25:04] To be in covenant with them. And he called them to keep these. And then. God explained. Ways that that. Those Ten Commandments. Would be worked out. In the life of a nation.

[25:16] In the life of families. And he. Laid this whole organization. Before them. And he called Israel. To live in that situation.

[25:28] From that moment. Until. Christ came. They were called to live under a system. That directly related to. Related God's law.

[25:39] To their lives. No other nation. Lived in such a way. That the law of God. Directly related to their lives. When.

[25:49] When God gave the law. He set up. Many things. Such as like the. The Passover. And he had regulations. In relation to the Passover. He set up. That they were to have certain feasts.

[26:00] And he set up. Regulations. In relation to those feasts. Things you're to do. Things you're to do. There were sacrifices. You were to bring. At this time. And. And. And that time. And. And you were to keep.

[26:10] All these things. And there were. Cleannesses. You were to observe. And there were just. All these things. And they were all related. To the law. And what they were.

[26:21] Was to show. How. In that relationship. People were sinners. And. Israel was a huge. Illustration.

[26:34] Of how. People live. In relation to God's law. Now. Many of you have read. Through the Old Testament. How'd they do? They did.

[26:45] Just as good as I would have. Just as good as I would have. Sometimes did alright. For a while. Sometimes did terribly. And. What happened then?

[26:58] Well. God brought the judgment. That these laws. He had set out. And the curses. That he had set out. He brought them. To pass on Israel. Showing them. That breaking God's law.

[27:10] Brings results. And they use. They endured. Times of. Blessing. And we could go through. The book. At the end of the book of Joshua. And we could go into the book of Judges. You can go through.

[27:20] The whole. Old Testament. Where. When they. When they lived. Desiring to obey God's law. They didn't do it perfectly. They had the sacrificial system. That didn't save them. But it pointed them.

[27:32] To the seed. That would come. And so they would live. And. And they do all right. But they'd still have to give sacrifice. And they. They'd fail. And. And of course. None of them did the law perfectly.

[27:43] And all were just as bad sinners. As we are. And they would have to confess sin. Just like we do. On a daily basis. You know. And all that was true. But their life was built. In such a way.

[27:54] Just to massively illustrate. That we're sinful people. Through the moral. Civil. And ceremonial law. They lived an illustration.

[28:06] Of the holiness of God. And man's inability. To keep God's law. And God set that up. So that man would see. That they're a sinner.

[28:18] The Mosaic covenant. Had several purposes. Purposes. And I've. I'm leaving out so many. But the. Mosaic covenant. Had several purposes. But one was to show God's people. And the whole world.

[28:30] That God was holy. That man is very much. Not holy. And that man's. Man stands in need of.

[28:42] A great need of deliverance. From God's wrath. And that's part of why. God established Israel. The way he did. Now.

[28:54] Paul here. Deals with something. It's an odd verse. It's difficult to understand. He says in the end of verse 19.

[29:05] Until the offspring should come. To whom the promise. Had been made. And it was put in place. Through angels. By an intermediary. And then on into verse 20. Now an intermediary.

[29:15] Applies. Implies. More than one. But God is one. And I'll tell you right up front. If you're sitting here going. I don't understand what this means. You're in the company. Of most commentators.

[29:28] And I think those who say. Yeah. I know exactly what it means. Maybe they do. But most. It's difficult. But there are a couple things. I think we can. We can get from this phrase.

[29:39] And this is the phrase. It was put in place. Through angels. By an intermediary. In the institution of the law. It was instituted.

[29:51] In this way that. Paul talks about. From scripture. We see. Now I. Have not taken time. To include the verses. I could go back. And get the verses for you. But. From scripture.

[30:01] We see that God. Gave angels. Some part. In the situation. Of the law. Being given to Moses. Stephen makes reference. To it. In the speech.

[30:12] That he gives. Before he's martyred. It's mentioned. In. Some of the. Minor prophets. And someplace else. I've forgotten.

[30:22] The other reference. But it's mentioned. That angels. Attended. The giving of the law. To Moses. Somehow. They had a part. In that. Hebrews. Talks about this.

[30:33] Also. And what that is. Scripture is not clear. So I'm not going to try. To say what that is. And I don't think. It's really important. Necessarily. To what I think.

[30:43] Is the application. But. From. From what we see. Angels had some part. In the giving of the law. To Moses. We also know. When Moses.

[30:54] Or in the people. Stood before Sinai. Remember. They were to come. Sort of close to. Not real close. But sort of close. To the mountain. And they heard. God's voice. And once they had heard. God list off.

[31:05] The ten commandments. They were terrified. And they came to Moses. And said. Moses. We don't. Dare hear. God speak. You go. Listen. To what God says.

[31:17] And you come back. And report to us. We don't want. To hear. God's. Commandment. Or his covenant. Laid out for us. They were terrified. They were afraid. They were afraid.

[31:28] That they would die. Because of hearing. This situation. So. What Paul is referring to here. Is that when God.

[31:39] Gave the covenant. To Moses. He did so. Angels were involved. And Moses was involved. Moses was the mediator.

[31:50] Somehow angels were involved. Again. We don't understand all that. So. When God gave the covenant. To Moses. It was through. Intermediaries.

[32:01] There were people. In between. God. And the people. Okay. So. In doing this.

[32:13] It's different. Let me back up. And say this. The Jewish people. Would have said. The Mosaic covenant. Is. Like.

[32:24] I don't want to say. They would have said. It was absolutely. The number one covenant. But they would have said. It was. Real close. They would call. The Abrahamic covenant. The number one. And Mosaic. Equal to it.

[32:35] But. Yeah. They would. There would be just. Disputes there. But Paul's trying to explain. That since. The covenant. Given to Moses.

[32:46] Had to go through. Intermediaries. It was not. As. I'm going to say. Good. It's not. That's not the right term. It was not so.

[32:59] Precious. A covenant. As Abraham's. Because. Do you remember. How Abraham. Was given the covenant. God. Walked right up.

[33:09] And it was probably. Christ. It was probably. Pre-incarnate Christ. That came to Abraham. And said. I'm going to bless you. Abraham says. I don't have any kids. Oh. Go out.

[33:20] And look up. That's. That's the. Seed. I'm going to give you. For number. And then. As God. Continues. To talk with him.

[33:30] He says. I'm going to bless. The whole world. Through your seed. Remember. As I keep doing this. I'm. I'm skipping over. All the thousands. And millions. And billions. Of people. Who were literally.

[33:41] Born to Abraham. To the one. To whom the promise. Was made. That one. Was Christ. And so. Moses got a covenant.

[33:52] But between him. And God. Were angels. Or I should say. Israel got a covenant. But between. Them. And God. Were angels. And Moses. Moses.

[34:03] Wanted to see. God's glory. He wanted to see. God. And God says. Oh. You can't do that. But the pre-incarnate. Christ. Came right to Abraham. And gave him.

[34:14] This covenant. Face to face. Because he was. Literally promising. The seed. He was speaking. To the one. He was speaking.

[34:26] To Abraham. But he was speaking. To the one. Who could handle. Hearing. The commands. The laws of God. He was speaking. To the one.

[34:36] Who would. Keep. Sorry. The laws of God. And so. What Paul's doing. I think. In this difficult verse. He's comparing.

[34:47] These two covenants. And although the Jews. Would have been. Enthralled. With the Mosaic covenant. And certainly. The Judaizers. Who'd come. To try to influence. The people. Galatia.

[34:57] Would have been. Enthralled. With a Mosaic covenant. Covenant. They were. Were obviously. Enthralled with it. Because. They were ignoring. What Paul was teaching. And saying. You've got to go back. To Moses. And keep Moses.

[35:08] And here's Paul. Saying. But think about it. The covenant. That God made. To Abraham. He made face. To face. With Abraham. And they're wanting.

[35:19] You to go back. To a covenant. That had to have. Angels involved. Had to have. Moses involved. It was not. Direct. But this one. Is direct. But carefully.

[35:30] It is direct. With that seed. So important. Because he could handle it. Well how does that relate to us? It relates to us.

[35:41] In that we trust. In that seed. We are in Christ. When Christ saves us. We are in him. The work that he does. Is our work now.

[35:52] The sacrifice. That he made. Was on behalf of us. We are in Christ. He did all the work. He has brought us. Into himself. He has made us. In union with himself. And so Paul is saying.

[36:04] You folks who are. Exalting the law. Just remember. It's a great thing. But it's not. As precious. As that covenant. That God made. With the seed.

[36:16] And that covenant. Was related to you. By faith. It's a much better covenant. It. So we could go on.

[36:26] And Paul's asking. The logical questions. Well. Well. Then. The next question. I would ask. He would say is. Is the law. Contrary to the promises. Of God.

[36:38] So. God gave the promises. To Abraham. And to his seed. And then the. Law comes. 430 years later. Was that God. Changing his mind. No. Was that God.

[36:50] Doing something. Absolutely. Totally. Opposite. And different. No. God was not. Doing a new thing. He was doing that. Which would lead people.

[37:02] To the. Important thing. He's leading people. To Christ. Is the law. Contrary to the promises. Of God. If you have an old. King James. I love it. It says. God forbid.

[37:14] We usually use. The phrase. May it never be. Certainly not. The ESV says. For if a law. Had been given. That could have given. Life.

[37:24] Then righteousness. Would indeed. Be by. The law. So. If you think. That a covenant.

[37:35] Is law. Is the best. You're mistaken. Is a covenant. Of law. Against the promises. Of God. No. Why. Well.

[37:45] Amongst the reasons. Is. If God. If God. If there. Could have been. A law. Given. That would have. Given life. I'm hesitating.

[37:56] Because. We want to be careful. To say. Could God. Give a law. That could give life. Certainly. He could. God. The problem. Is not. Can God. Give a law.

[38:06] That can give life. The problem. Is. Are we people. Who can do it. And the answer. Is no. We never can. We can never. Do anything. That.

[38:17] Earns enough. To pay for our sin. I mean. The minute. We pay. If we could pay. For one sin. We've racked up. Three. In the middle of it. And.

[38:28] And we're losing. We can never even. Pay for one sin. So. Is the law. Contrary to God. The promises of God. No. If there was a law. Given. That could have given life.

[38:39] God would have done that. But. That's not the case. He goes on in that verse. And says. But the scripture. Imprisoned. Everything. Under sin. So that the promise. By faith.

[38:49] In Jesus Christ. Might be given. To those who believe. He's saying. No. And. And we'll get into this idea. This is.

[38:59] Paul does many transitions. Through these. And this is one of them. He's transitioning. From what he's just been dealing with. To the next thing. And that is. What the law. It shows us our sin.

[39:09] But what is God doing. With the law. We'll talk about that next time. But it says. The scriptures. Imprisoned. Everything. Under sin. Imprisoned.

[39:20] Everything. Under sin. What is that saying? It's saying. That God gave the law. To show you. That you're a sinner. And put you in a condition.

[39:32] Or a situation. Where you realized. You could never get out of it. It imprisoned you. Under sin. You're stuck there. Now. It's not. That the law.

[39:43] Is making you stuck there. It's that you can't. You're just. Not able to do anything about it. We're sinners. We can't do anything. But sin. So.

[39:53] It's not. That the law is no good. It's that we're no good. And so. The scriptures. The law. All of the Old Testament. Imprisoned. Everything.

[40:04] Under sin. So that. The promise. By faith. In Jesus Christ. Might be given to those. Who believe. And what's that doing. That's saying. You and I. Have been put in a position.

[40:15] Where we recognize. Our only hope. Is that seed. That's what the law is for. Why then the law. To answer it. In one concise thing.

[40:27] Why did God give the law. So that you might know. You needed Christ. Christ. That's why. There's a law. The law is good. We need. To continue in the law.

[40:38] We need to. Love the law. But it's. It's sole point. Is to show that. You need Christ. Now. Yes. Technically.

[40:49] And we'll deal with this. Later in the book of Galatians. There are other uses. Of the law. The biggest thing. We would think of. Is the law.

[40:59] Shows us. What. What pleases God. And as a Christian. Even though. We can't do it. Perfectly. When we want to know. What should I do. Well.

[41:10] A great majority. Of what we should do. Is. Keep the law. Keep the commandments. Now. Not to earn your salvation. And you're going to fail. Terribly at it. But that's what we should do. But here.

[41:21] He's talking about. The initial. Use of the law. Was to show you. That you're a sinner. And that you need Christ. So those years. That Israel.

[41:32] Lived under the Mosaic covenant. That again. There are other things. That are going on. But one of the things. That God was doing. Through that whole time. Was showing Israel. And showing all the world.

[41:43] At the time. That could see. And all the people. Who could read of it later. Including us. That we need a savior. That we cannot get to heaven.

[41:53] On our own. The Judaizers. Are coming in. Saying. Oh. If you're really going to be. A good Christian. If you're really going to obey God. You need to obey him. In this matter. And yet. The law.

[42:04] Is exactly the opposite. The law. Is there to show you. You can't do it. And that's true today. That's true for us. Yes.

[42:16] We. We. We look at the law. And say. I want to do it. Because that's what pleases. Christ. But. It also points to the fact.

[42:28] That we fail. Just a couple of quick things. Keeping the law. This is summation. Keeping the law for salvation. Is not the point of the law. Point of the law. Is to show that we need a savior.

[42:39] So brother and sister. If the law of God. Keeps showing you. More and more ways. You have failed. It's doing its job. It will do that.

[42:50] Until you die. You say. I don't like that. I know. But that's its job. But that doesn't leave you. Without hope. Your response.

[43:01] Is not supposed to be. To work harder. Run faster. It's supposed to be. To continue. To trust that one. Who has done it all for you.

[43:12] So brother and sister. As we preach. The word of God. You're going to hear things. From the word of God. That says. This is what you should do. And you're going to know. You fail at it. And we're going to preach.

[43:23] Things that say. This is what you should do. And you know. You're going to fail at it. That doesn't mean. Okay. I'm going to do it better. This time. But rather.

[43:36] Lord. I failed again. You've told me. This is what I should be doing. This is what is right to do. And I failed. I confess it before you.

[43:47] And I come to you. Thankful. That you've taken. My sin upon yourself. Thankful. That I am pleasing. Before the father. Because you lived.

[43:57] A perfect life. I stand in you. My only hope is you. I can't trust anything I do. I want to please you. I want to live for you. And I'm going to keep looking at your law.

[44:08] To understand it. And endeavor to live for you. But I'm so thankful. That the son of God. Has done it all. That's how we live our life.

[44:18] And that's how we will live our lives. All of our days. You expect to get better. As you get older. Yeah. In some respects. Yeah. God is working in you. But at the same time. The more you know of God's word.

[44:29] The more you know of the law. The more you're going to see yourself. And go. Oh. That's awful. I can't believe. I've lived all my life. And I'm just now really realizing. That that attitude.

[44:40] Is filthy. Well. Praise God. The son of God died for that. And we can stand in that. Friend. Do you see how miserable.

[44:51] Or how miserably. We fail at doing what is right. Before God. God. And the same situation. I just described. For the Christian. Is the same for you. Your response. Is not to try harder.

[45:02] Or to hope God grades on a curve. You need someone. To pay the debt of your sin. For you. There's nothing you can do. On your own. You need. Someone else's righteousness.

[45:15] You need someone. To pay the debt. For your sin. For you. You need to trust Christ. Who has lived a perfect life. And who has taken your sins. Upon himself. And suffered the wrath of God.

[45:26] For you. You need to turn. From trusting. Anything else. And turn to trust him. Completely. For your salvation. Let's pray.

[45:39] Father. I thank you. For the gospel. And I thank you. That Paul is answering. Questions here. That would naturally come up.

[45:51] Do we need the law? Yes. We need the law. Is it any good? Yes. It's great. It shows me. I need a savior. I pray that that would be our theme. Through our lives.

[46:02] In so many areas. Not. Oh. I'm going to try harder. Oh. I'm going to rest in Christ. Yes. I want to be. More like Christ. Lord. We ask that you would make us.

[46:13] More like him. But I pray that you would be with us. That we would be people. Who live. Out of being in union with Christ. Who live out of the work. That Christ has done for us.

[46:23] Help us to live that way. Lord. If there's one here. Who doesn't know you. I pray. That you would move. That you would open their eyes. To their need. And to the wonderful savior.

[46:34] Who's. Met that need. For them. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.