FREE IN CHRIST - PART 2
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Moses trumps Abraham!
Paul, knowing the argumentative mind of the Judaizers he anticipates their rebuttal. He knows they will concede the truth concerning Abraham but what about the Law giver, Moses.
Moses trumps Abraham!
They will argue that grace through faith existed until the Law was given. They will say that “Moses trumps Abraham”.
Key Truth: God’s covenant with Moses does not contradict His covenant with Abraham; instead, God’s covenant with Moses complements His covenant with Abraham.
God’s covenant with Moses
Paul in Galatians 3, in speaking of the Law is referring to the commandments and the requirements that were given to Moses back in Exodus and seen in Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
God’s covenant with Moses
Beginning in verse 10 and concluding in verse 25 Paul talks about what the Law cannot do. It can’t bring life, salvation, and righteousness. Look at v. 19
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.
God’s law shows us the futility of the flesh.
The purpose of the law is to show us the futility of the flesh. The word “flesh”; this is our sinful nature, is the flesh. It’s the part of us that does not want Christ. Before we come to faith in Christ, we are dominated, controlled by the flesh, by the sinful nature.
God’s law shows us the futility of the flesh.
The flesh says, “I’m the authority in my life. I call the shots, and I know what’s best; nobody needs to tell me what to do.
God’s law shows us the futility of the flesh.
We’ll see later on in Galatians how the flesh wars with the Spirit in the believer. However, the picture here Paul is talking about is how the law shows us the weakness and the futility of the flesh in several different ways.
We all disobey the law of God.
First of all, the law shows us that we all disobey the law of God. This is Galatians 3:10.
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.”
The law demands perfect obedience. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
That’s the standard: perfection. We disobey the law of God. The law confronts us because we can’t obey it perfectly. Not one of us in this room can.
The law exposes our sin.
So, the law is doing a couple of different things here. First of all, the law is exposing our sin. His commands confront our hearts. Not only does the law expose our sin, but the law actually intensifies our sin; it makes it worse.
The law intensifies our sin.
This is what Paul says in Galatians 3:19. He says,
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.
The law intensifies our sin.
The law was given to restrain men's transgression by clearly revealing God’s holy standard. God had to give us His standard so we would not destroy ourselves before the Messiah came.
The law intensifies our sin.
But the law is also added because of transgressions in another way; the law also excites man’s innate rebellion by revealing a standard, showing us more clearly our need for salvation in Jesus.
Paul is saying is the law increases transgressions.
In Galveston, Texas, a hotel on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico put this notice in each room - "No Fishing From the Balcony" Yet every day, hotel guests threw in their lines to the waters below. Then the management decided to take down the signs--and the fishing stopped! The Law shows sin and stimulates sin!
We all deserve the wrath of God.
The law intensifies and exposes our sin, which confronts us with a cruel, harsh, stunning reality. Not only do we disobey the law of God, but as a result, we all deserve the wrath of God.
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.”
We stand cursed beneath the law.
This is what the law confronts us with: you and I are cursed before God. The law was given to show us that because we disobey the law of God, every one of us stands beneath the curse of the law. We’re cursed. What does that mean?
We stand condemned before God.
This was the whole point of the law.
The principal point of the law is to make men not better but worse. It shows men their sin so they may be humbled, terrified, bruised, and broken. And by this means, may be driven to seek grace.
What does every sin deserve? Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this life and in the future.
We stand condemned before God.
Do you know what’s most scary about that verse, though? It doesn’t say, “Cursed are the atheists, or the agnostics or cursed are the pagans who just run off in immorality.” It says, “Cursed are the people who try to obey God.”
We stand condemned before God.
Does that make you feel hopeless? That’s what it’s supposed to do. We're missing the point if it doesn’t make us feel that way. That’s what the law does. It says, “Stop trying because you’re not getting it right. Why? Because you can’t.”
We stand condemned before God.
The law was not given to save us but to show us our need of a Savior. The law was given to show you that you’re disobedient to it, and as a result, you stand under the curse and condemnation of God. Why is he telling us this? The reason comes in
But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
We stand condemned before God.
We’re like prisoners chained by the law. The law exposes our sin at every turn, and the law intensifies our sin, and there’s nothing we can do. We can’t get out; we are under His curse and His condemnation. We can’t do anything. The harder we try, the worse it is
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
We stand condemned before God.
So, the law was put in charge to lead us to who? Christ, that we may be justified by faith. So, here’s the picture: Here, we’re sitting chained in our sin and unable to obey God or be right before God based on anything we do.
We stand condemned before God.
We’re cursed, condemned in our sin, and Christ is completely righteous here. He has no sin in Him. He is a lamb without blemish or defect. He is right before God, He alone, and He steps in, saying, “I’ll take the curse for you, and I’ll take condemnation for you.”
God’s covenant through Christ.
God’s Son shows us the price of freedom.
The whole point of the law has been to send us on our faces before Christ, saying, We need you to save us.
Jesus fulfills the law of Moses.
This is what everything in the Old Testament was building to...everything. All the ceremonial laws, all the rituals, and sacrifices they would do...all these different things.
Jesus fulfills the law of Moses.
the book of Hebrews says, “They are all shadows pointing to one substance, and that substance is Christ.” Romans 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law.” Matthew 5 Jesus says, “I came to fulfill the law, to complete the law.” Jesus fulfills the law of Moses. How does He do that?
He obeys the law of God for us.
He lives right...righteously by faith, perfectly righteous. You cannot name one other person in the world's history that can be righteous before God based on their own merit. Only Christ.
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
He obeyed the law of God for us, but not only did He obey the law of God, even having obeyed the law of God, He endured the wrath of God instead of us. He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
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”—
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
Those two words, “for us,” circle them. They are two of the most beautiful words in all the New Testament. You stand cursed and condemned before God in your sin, and Christ took the curse for you.
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
He redeemed us. This is a word Paul uses; it’s a word that was used in that day to describe how you would pay the price to buy a slave so you could set that slave free.
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
In Africa a fire ravaged a hut, burning quickly and intensely, killing all in a family—except one. A stranger ran into the burning house and snatched a small boy from the flames, carried him to safety, and disappeared in the darkness.
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
The next day the tribe met to decide what should be done with the lad. Perhaps superstitiously, they assumed he must be a special child since he survived the fire. A man known for his wisdom insisted that he adopt the boy; another known for his wealth thought he was the best qualified.
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
As the discussion ensued a young, unknown man walked into the middle of the circle and insisted that he had prior claim to the child. Then he showed them his hands, freshly burned in the fire of the past night.
He endured the wrath of God instead of us.
He was the rescuer and therefore insisted that the child was rightfully his. So our scarred Savior claims us. Bonhoeffer was right: only a suffering God can help. Only a suffering God can redeem.
He completes the promise to Abraham.
He fulfills the law of Moses, but not just the law of Moses. He completes the promise to Abraham. He’s the seed. You look in Galatians 3:19, it says,
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.
He completes the promise to Abraham.
Who’s that seed? You go back up to verse 16, and it says,
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.
He completes the promise to Abraham.
This is why, when you get to the book of Matthew, you don’t start with a beautiful Christmas story that we would read every year. Instead, you start with a bunch of names.
He completes the promise to Abraham.
He’s from the line of Abraham. He lived perfectly, righteously by faith, in the line of Abraham. He fulfills the promise that was made all the way back in Genesis 12
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
Paul is saying here in Galatians 3, “What are you going to do to earn your salvation? In light of this gigantic, monumental story that all centers on Christ, do you really think your being circumcised makes that big a difference?”
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
Christianity is not a system of moral improvement that we have in the Bible. This is not a systematic way to make your life better, to work and follow these principles to your best life. It’s not the point.
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
The point of Christianity is you can’t do that, and your need is not for a better life; your need is for a new life. Your need is not to try to work harder and be better, and check off boxes, and make sure you’re there on Sundays and make sure you’re going through the routines, and make sure you’re doing things the way you’re supposed to do them. No, be free from that; be free from that.
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
Don’t try to improve yourself; crucify yourself. That’s what he said in
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
Christianity does not revolve around us becoming better, it revolves around Christ becoming everything. By His grace, not by what we do. This is good news. You don’t have to do anything to make this happen.
Through faith alone , we receive His Spirit in us
By His grace, He gives salvation to us, and through faith alone , we receive His Spirit in us s and that changes everything.
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
The Spirit of Christ is actually put in your heart to radically change your life now, not from the outside in, but from the inside out, and Galatians is going to show us the ramifications of that in the coming chapters, but here is what I want us to do.
By grace alone, He gives salvation to us.
The primary purpose of the Spirit in us is to glorify Christ, to turn our hearts, minds, affections, and lives toward Christ, who is everything to us.