Galatians 3 vs 19-29

Galatians Chapter 3 Verses 19 – 20

·    Let’s take a moment and define the law. I’ve gotten this question a few times over the past week. The first use of the Hebrew word translated as “law” is found in Genesis 26 and the word is found in connection with Abraham. It says in Genesis 26:4-5, “I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

·    There it is…, that’s the first use of the word “law” in the scriptures. Now super interesting, connect that with what God said about Abraham in Genesis 15:6, “He believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” There’s an entire teaching right there that can be deep-dived (which we won’t for today) that basically shows us that actually believing God really translates to actually obeying God… Obeying is not believing in and of itself. Obeying is the fruit of belief.

·    Back to the law. The word in the Hebrew there in Genesis 26 is “tora.” The word literally and simply means, “a precept, a statute, or instruction.” Now, what’s interesting, a fact, and somewhat confusing is that we refer to the first five books of the Bible, (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) as the Torah which literally means, “The Law,” but these books came hundreds of years after Abraham, through Moses, and yet far before the works of Moses we have Abraham observing the law of God. And mind you, the ten commandments are part of the Book of Exodus, a work of Moses.

·    Ok so now that I have sufficiently introduced all kinds of confusion, what is the law? That is the question. Is it the ten commandments? Is it the Torah, the first five books of the Bible? Is it the sacrificial cultural laws given to the Jews to set them apart from other peoples? The answer to all of those questions is yes. It’s really all about context…

·    In the simplest of terms, the Law is the sum total of God’s righteous requirements and expectations for human behaviors, words, attitudes, and lifestyle of which any deviation is sin. Why does context matter? Because if you’re talking about Abraham, that’s your primary definition (nothing else was given at that time). If you’re talking about the Jews, it’s all of it… Cultural, dietary, sacrificial, all the things commanded of this specific people. If you’re talking to the Christian today, most likely the law is simply the ten commandments…

·    In the case of Galatians, at the time Paul wrote this letter, he is talking about the Jewish law specifically which includes the Torah and the Ten Commandments. For us today, its enough to accept and observe that the law is the Ten Commandments of which absolutely none of us can keep.

·    So, Paul says, what purpose does it serve it we can’t keep it? It’s a great question! First, he says that “it was added because of transgressions.” The law wasn’t in the beginning. And that makes sense. If no one does anything wrong there is no need for law. And so really, the law was already there, and that law was unity and communion and relationship with God but it wasn’t until sin entered the world that the law was revealed… If that makes sense…

·    I sure hope it does! Because that really means that the law, the entire purpose of it is to somehow stitch back together what separated us from God in the first place… the law points to perfect relationship with our perfect Creator! So, it came forth, was born into the world the moment sin was born into the world and Pual says that it pointed to the “Seed to whom the promise was made.”

·    What promise…? What seed? Yes, the promise to Abraham and yes, the Seed is singular which of course points to a single Savior, Jesus Christ. BUT…, all the way back to the moment sin entered, the Law Keeper was promised. This is called the Protoevangelium…

·    The Lord proclaimed the curse upon Satan (the serpent) on this earth, and He said in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman,” (reference the virgin birth, reference the woman (a picture of Israel) in Revelation 12), “And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” What’s the promise there and why is the word “Seed” so important? Because the woman does not have the seed… The seed is in the man… and so all the way back to the moment the law was born, the promise of the coming Law Keeper (born of human beings but no earthly father… Born of a virgin with no sin nature…) the promise of the Law Keeper, the Seed, was given…

·    And this coming Law Keeper, this Seed, we know this to be Jesus Christ who perfectly fulfilled all Messianic prophecies contained in the Old Testament. Who was born of a virgin, died on the cross and yet showed that in Him was eternal life… what’s that? Perfect communion with a Perfect God… in Him was the fulfillment of the Law, the Law Keeper and therefore He rose Himself from the grave and is alive today and forever!

·    Appointed through the angels and they announced His birth and by the hand of a mediator which could be speaking of Gabriel, John the Baptist, Mary… doesn’t really matter because this is not speaking of a mediator between God and man… 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There’s only One God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” The emphasis in this statement by Paul in Galatians is not on the mediator but on the statement, “God is one.”

·    This is revelatory and what Paul is saying is that God Himself, the Seed, the one who was born into creation was Himself the Creator. Watchman Nee said it like this and this is amazing and clear, “God’s requirements have not been altered, but we are not the ones to meet them. Praise God, He is the Lawgiver on the throne, and He is the Lawkeeper in my heart. He who gave the Law, Himself keeps it!” And this is the statement Paul is making here in verse 20.

Galatians Chapter 3 Verses 21 – 25

·    The purpose of the law was not for us to follow it unto acceptance by God…, unto righteousness…, but so that we might understand our own condition and be led to Christ. The law and Jesus are interestingly different. Both have the ability to show to us, reveal to us what perfection is…, but it is only Jesus that both teaches us the standard of perfection and then delivers the power to apprehend that perfection personally.

·    I love how David Guzik explains this condition… He says that the law has imprisoned everyone within the power of sin. Someone says, “I’m not imprisoned by sin,” ok then stop sinning. You can’t…, therefore you are confined by it…, can’t escape on your own…

·    So Guzik says this and its so good, “The bars of our sin are strong; we can’t saw through them ourselves. There is no chance of jailbreak. Instead, an offer is made by the warden Himself to simply open the door and walk out – but you have to acknowledge first that you are confined…”

·    Paul makes a massive statement here, “The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” I don’t know how to begin to rightly describe what is feels like, what it does to the mind and heart, when you come near to Christ. His extended nail-pierced hand for your sins, because of perfect love for you, and you finally take that hand… Receive grace. Receive favor. Receive approval. Receive forgiveness. Receive the gospel and walk in the freedom of eternal and everlasting life… This means many things to a life and to a mind but one of them is that this relationship, interaction, this belonging is the only real power to set someone free even from the grip of sin in their life.

·    Trying to will yourself out of sin is incredibly difficult. The actual process of stepping away from sin and moving on from sin is the will power to repent, to bring it to the Lord, and then within His power and your relationship with Him, let Him do the heart work of repair that closes the door on that sin in your life… all the while, and this is just one illustration of the grace, favor, power and freedom of God…, all the while, your role is to be in praise and worship with a heart of faith and thanksgiving.

·    A clear picture of this, Acts16, Paul and Silas were literally in prison. Strong bars. No possibility of jailbreak. In the inner of the prison with their feet in stocks. Stuck. So, they acknowledged their surroundings and they worshipped… And watch what happened. Acts 16:25-26, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”

·    Here’s the point I’m making. What sin are you struggling with today? If it is keeping you from praying and worshipping and singing praise to God then listen up. Pray, worship, sing praise to God AND acknowledge your bondage… Take it to the Lord in faith and keep doing that and that is what quakes the crust of the chains that sin has on you… See…, what other god is like ours? That even while we step against Him, His desire is for us to come to Him that He might remedy us of our own offense even against Himself!

·    And this incredible love and forgiveness and grace and power is available and extended to everyone as Paul rounds out this chapter…

Galatians Chapter 3 Verse 26

·    Children of God through faith! Not the law! And as children you have an inheritance, a name, a family not due to your work but rather due to blood. In the case of the gospel, this is through the blood of Christ!

·    This is also an indication of the nature of your relationship with God! It’s not one of master and slave or even boss and employee or really even primarily God and creation. His relationship desire with each of us is Father and son, Father and daughter and that is amazing!

Galatians Chapter 3 Verses 27 – 29

·    Jesus is the ultimate common denominator and specific to this crowd that Paul is addressing is the statement that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek… The whole problem there in the region of Galatia was the issue of folks having to become Jews to be right with God… Can’t be clearer than Paul’s statement here!!

·    All approach God equally! All the ways we divide ourselves, God doesn’t do that. He sees everyone as equal in all things! For God so loved that world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life!