The Tutor
Jeffery Anselmi / General
The Book of Galatians- Standing on Grace / Abrahamic Promise; Law in the NT / Galatians 3:15–29
The law points us to Christ.
INTRODUCTION
• We have to decide how we will live our life; we have to determine what kind of foundation we will build our life upon.
• What drives you?
• What principles will you cling to, even when the world around you seems to be collapsing?
• More importantly, how will you decide to fix the sin problem you (and we all) face?
• We are continuing with our Galatians, Standing on grace series today.
• Paul wrote this letter to the church in Galatia because some of the Pharisees insisted that Paul had not provided the entirety of the good news.
• They said that to be saved, you had to keep the law.
• Thus, immediately in chapter 1, Paul laid out the good news of God’s grace: that Jesus died for our sins.
• In chapter 2, Paul explains that we aren’t saved by the law but by faith in Jesus.
• Jesus took on the curse of the law so that by faith in him, we might be set free (Galatians 3:10–14).
• Paul then demonstrates how his message is not new but predates the law.
• Abraham's promise of righteousness through faith was made before God gave Israel the law (vv. 15–18).
• So grace has always been God’s modus operandi.
• Today, we will go into some deep water, so make sure you have your floaties on as we dive deep today.
• Today's message will help unlock why one cannot simply follow the Ten Commandments to be saved or why one cannot design a Burger King approach to salvation.
• When we think about salvation, we tend to focus on Jesus, which we should do; however, we need to understand some background concerning God’s promise to Abraham so that we can see WHY Jesus is the key component to our salvation.
• Many people misunderstand many points of doctrine because they simply make the jump from the Old Testament Law to Jesus while leaving out a vital piece of information, the promise or covenant God made with Abraham.
• Once we grasp this essential teaching, it will clear up many of the misconceptions we have about the nature of modern-day Israel, as well as millennial views that are tied to our understanding of Israel.
• We will also gain a deeper understanding of WHAT one MUST do to be saved and how baptism is a part of that.
• We will see that the modern formula of JUST asking Jesus into your heart without confession of Jesus, repentance, and baptism will not put us in the position we desire to be in with God.
• As we dive into our message entitled, The Tutor, we will see what the Law of Moses we designed to do.
• So hang with me this morning; I pray that you will learn a great deal and receive some more depth for your faith!
• Let’s begin with Galatians 3:15-18.
Galatians 3:15–18 (NET 2nd ed.)
15 Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.
17 What I am saying is this: The law that came 430 years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise.
18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise.
SERMON
I. The Law cannot set aside or alter God’s own Covenant.
• Ok, here we go!
• Remember that the Judaizers told these new Christians that Paul was not being forthright with them concerning salvation.
• As we dig into this passage, the core question is why this passage is important to us today.
• You have to understand that the core question is, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED, which is tied to how one becomes a child of Abraham, which would make them heirs to the promise God made to him centuries before.
• Paul will explain what God’s Promise to Abraham has to do with this question.
• So Paul will use an earthly story to illustrate a heavenly reality.
• He will speak of how covenants or wills work in our world.
• In verse 15, he tells us that when a will or testament has been probated, when it is executed, and the inheritance is distributed, no one can set the will or covenant aside, nor can anything be added or subtracted from the will.
• ADD ANYTHING denotes a codicil (COD I SIL)- a supplement containing an addition or modification.
• The point of verse 15 is the Mosaic Law could not have affected the basic provisions of the Covenant with Abraham- Genesis 12:1-3.
Genesis 12:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.
2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, so that all the families of the earth may receive blessing through you.”
• In this covenant with Abraham, God promised him land in verse 1, in verse 2, He promised him nay descendants, and in verse 3 that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him or redemption from the DESCENDANT, Jesus.
• God builds these thoughts in other places in Genesis.
• For instance, circumcision was established in Genesis 17:9-14.
• Therefore, one could not argue, as the Judaizers did, that the Law of Moses somehow qualified the covenant made with Abraham, so its benefits accrue only to persons ceremonially clean.
• In verse 16, we see the application of the analogy taking shape.
• The descendant was Jesus!
• Not only was Abraham promised something, but Jesus was also promised something (a family of brothers and sisters, Hebrews 2:11.
• He would be both blessed and a blessing!
• Verse 16 points to God's having one descendant in mind, Jesus, when He made the covenant with Abraham.
• Because of what Jesus did on Calvary, all the people of the earth could be blessed!
• In verse 17, Paul points out that the Law of Moses, to which the Judaizers were seeking the Gentiles to conform to, was given 430 years after the promise was made to Abraham.
• The word CAME denotes appearing in history.
• Since the Law came 430 years AFTER God executed the covenant with Abraham, this did not change, alter or invalidate God’s Promise to Abraham and his descendant and descendants.
• In verse 18, this is the first time Paul introduces the idea of inheritance to the argument; however, it is a key to the argument.
• Inheritance includes all the blessings promised to Abraham and his seed or descendant.
• It involves the forgiveness of sins and the justification of the Jews and the Gentiles by faith in Jesus.
• Paul points out that Abraham's blessings are not dependent on observing the traditions of the Elders.
• Those man-made rules are based on the Law that was temporary until Jesus died on the cross, and the Law did not set aside the promise made with Abraham.
• An inheritance based on Law is contrary to how inheritances work in real life.
• Next, Paul moves deeper into his argument.
Galatians 3:19–20 (NET 2nd ed.)
19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary.
20 Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one.
II. The Mosaic Law, an added revelation to man, is not greater than the promise.
• The objection Paul knows will come, then why was the Law given?
• If the Law does not set aside, alter or add conditions to the Abrahamic Covenant, then why did God give it to Moses?
• In verse 19, Paul answers the question.
• The Law was givens so that folks would know what God calls transgressions.
• The whole clause might mean the Law was added to restrain sin.
• It was also a deterrent; each law was accompanied by the appropriate penalty for breaking it- Hebrews 2:2 until Christ, who was the Descendant came.
• Next, in verses 19-20, he explains a way that the Law was inferior to the promise.
• The Law was given through an intermediary (Moses) to the people, whereas the Covenant with Abraham came directly from God!
• God did not speak to the people directly under the Law; Moses was the one whom He spoke through.
• Let’s head to the last part of the passage.
Galatians 3:21–29 (NET 2nd ed.)
21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
22 But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given—because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed.
24 Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.
III. The Law is not contrary to the Promise.
• The next objection would be that the Law was contrary (opposite in nature) to the promise.
• This goes to purpose; why was the Law given if not to qualify someone as an heir to the promise?
• In verse 21, we are told the Law of Moses did not help one to be spiritually alive.
• There was no new life (where a person’s spirit is born again) in the Old Testament- John 3:6
• ABLE TO GIVE LIFE is the equivalent of being justified or declared righteous.
• The one justified is spiritually alive (Romans 8:10) having risen to walk in a newness of life (Romans 6:5-6)
• The Law could not rise one from the dead, let alone in a glorified body, but the Spirit we receive when we are baptized into Christ can do that very thing.
• In fulfillment of the promise about the coming seed, God's righteousness is based upon what the Seed did on Calvary in fulfillment of the promise about the coming seed.
• If, while waiting for the seed to come, a law had ever been given by God that was the basis of His justification of people, then the Promise would have been contradicted.
• The fact is that no such law was given.
• It wasn’t the Law’s purpose to be the basis on which God could justify.
• Verse 22 gives the reason.
• In verse 22, we find that the Law imprisoned people because the Old Testament only shows that all are sinners, and unless sin is forgiven, sinners are not justified and do not live.
• Their spirits died at the first sin.
• Without a new birth, imprisonment continues.
• We need the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant to be freed from our captivity!
• In verses 23-24, we are told that the Law was given to lead a person to Jesus, where one can receive forgiveness and salvation.
• Verses 23-24 unfolds the logical argument that began in verse 21 that the Law is not contrary to the promise made to Abraham.
• Instead of the Law being contrary to the promise, it served a beneficial purpose.
• Verse 22 speaks of all people without distinction, whereas verse 23 addresses the Jews.
• God did something for the Jews at Sinai that He did not do for the rest of the world when He gave them the Law on Sinai!
• Faith in verse 23 speaks of the time before Jesus the Messiah came.
• Before Jesus, the Jewish people were held under protective custody until Jesus came.
• Held in custody is written in a verb tense that refers to the time from Sinai (the giving of the law) until Calvary!
• Instead of the Law competing with the Promise to Abraham, it served a purpose.
• It kept the Jews from straying off from being the people through whom the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham would come.
• God’s promise is not for everyone but rather for those who believe in Jesus.
• The promise (justification) comes to those who believe and are baptized into Christ (V26)!
• According to verse 26, the Mosiac Law was our guardian (or Tutor) to lead us to Jesus.
• There is no good English word to translate GUARDIAN.
• The thought of a servant who leads a child to the schoolmaster's house catches the meaning of the word.
• This gives more depth to the rest of the verse.
• Verse 24 tells us we are declared righteous or justified by FAITH!
• By faith is EMPHATIC!
• The Judaizers said the “works of the Law” (the Pharisee’s add-ons) were necessary for salvation.
• Paul is emphatic that salvation comes by faith in Jesus.
• God is the one who justifies, and faith is the condition.
• Paul speaks to Jews in verse 25 by telling them they are no longer under the guardian since Jesus came!
• The Law was nailed to the cross! Colossians 2:14!
• NOW WE GET TO THE PART THAT SHOULD MAKE SENSE TO US.
• In verse 26, we see that those connected to Jesus are sons of God, children of the promise.
• We want to be children of the promise because that promise speaks of salvation!
• This connection is not through the Law but rather by faith.
• NOW Verse 27 tells how one is connected with Christ.
• This principle is crucial for us to understand.
• If we understand this, we will understand why a sinner's prayer is not biblical; we will realize what place baptism plays in the gift of salvation.
• Look at verse 27.
Galatians 3:27 (NET 2nd ed.)
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
• How are you clothed with Christ?
• See, many will read verse 26 and ADD the word ALONE, FAITH ALONE!
• Part of FAITH is BAPTISM.
• Baptism, NOT faith alone, is part of faith. Therefore, if I have faith, I will be led to be baptized!
• One has to exercise faith before baptism; this excludes infants and little children.
• Immersion of a repentant believer in Christ results in the forgiveness of sins and puts one into Christ!
• At that point, one is justified by faith!
• Baptism is the moment when Christ, like a garment, covers the believer!
• Verse 28 states that the distinctions made in the Law, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, male or female, are abolished in Christ!
• Now the final thought is in verse 29.
• This verse is vital to grasp.
• There are a lot of misconceptions concerning physical Israel today, which leads to millennial views that are not solid.
Galatians 3:29 (NET 2nd ed.)
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.
• The Promise made to Abraham BELONGS to those in Christ; remember, no Jew and Gentile, slave or free, male or female!
• The promises made to Abraham were physical in nature, land, descendants, and future blessings to all through his Descendant Jesus.
• The Judaizers were trying to get Gentiles to want the physical blessings of Abraham, whereas Paul took them to the better spiritual promises.
• Christians are the SPIRITUAL ISRAEL!
• We are SPIRITUAL descendants of Abraham, children of the Promise.
• In Christ, there is no longer PHYSICAL Israel. SPIRITUAL Israel is the descendants of Abraham.
• The promise to Abraham was for SPIRITUAL ISRAEL, those in Christ, NOT PHYSICAL ISRAEL!
CONCLUSION
• Law cannot save you.
• You cannot be saved with Burger King Jesus, Bible, and salvation.
• YOU MUST BE A DESCENDANT OF ABRAHAM TO BE SAVED.
• We told you today how to do that!
• Are you ready!
› The application for us today is: Quit trying to save yourself and lean into his promise of grace this week.
