Title: The Purpose of the Law

Text: Gal 3:15-25

One of the things that inevitably happens when Christians openly voice their opinions on issues of morality and/or legislation is that sooner or later, usually sooner, someone will remind you, you can’t legislate morality. It sounds like a reasonable argument, I mean if people want to drink until they can’t walk they’ll find a way, if they want to engage in illicit sexual practices, or pornography or gambling they will. The other response is you can’t force your moral values on others. Again a very logical sounding argument. Until you consider that a law is simply a rule that must be obeyed by members of society. And in fact all laws legislate moral values in some way and impose someone’s moral values on others.

Murder for instance is a moral issue, child pornography, theft in any form, lying, child and spouse abuse , abortion and homosexuality all are issues of morality and there are a myriad of laws dealing with each of those issues. The law doesn’t stop these things from happening, but it identifies these actions as detrimental to the well being of society and places sanctions against.

There are many kinds of laws. In our society we have criminal laws and civil laws at local, state and federal levels. There are also other kinds of laws in the universe we refer to as natural or scientific laws, such as gravity, magnetism, the laws of thermodynamics just to name a few. The so called natural laws of course have a purpose they keep the cosmos working and they affect everything about the way we live. Man-made laws also serve a purpose. While they don’t absolutely prevent any action, they establish and keep order within society. As an example can you imagine what our highways and streets would be like without traffic laws? In the last presidential election with all of the controversy and complaining over Florida ballots, can you imagine the chaos that would have resulted without law?

When these man-made laws are disobeyed or ignored there are usually bad consequences, for either victim or offender or both and sometimes even for large numbers of people. As an example the recent State Tile Company fraud in Lincoln affected lots of people. Of course sometimes people do get by with breaking man’s laws – criminals are not always caught or convicted. And sometimes breaking laws don’t affect others. For instance running a red light when no one else is on the street. A law is broken but no one is affected.

God gave Israel civil, criminal and ceremonial laws. He also gave the moral law, the Ten Commandments. Paul has been arguing that the law was a curse, it was a burden, he made the point, using the law itself, that it was not of faith (v.12) Then he asks and answers the question, what exactly is the purpose of the Law? Why then was the law given to Moses, to Israel and all humanity?

Paul has already shown the law is not and was not a means of obtaining salvation or gaining favor with God (3:10-12). He made it clear from Scripture that no one is justified by keeping the law, that Christ in fact redeemed us from the curse of having to keep the law.

In verses 15-18 Paul points to a time before the law and argues that the law did not, nor was it intended, to replace the prior covenant God made with Abraham.

         Gal 3:15-18:

Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is {only} a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as {referring} to many, but {rather} to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ. What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. (NAS)

Paul was trained in rabbinic reasoning and rabbinic law. He first writes about the importance of a covenant. There is a lot of theological discussion about exactly what kind of covenant Paul was referring to here. But, the point he was making was that when two parties made a covenant agreement and ratified it no one could set aside the agreement or add any other conditions to it. If this was true for a human covenant it was much more so for a divine covenant. In this case it was God who made covenant with Abraham. It was a covenant of Grace, a covenant of divine commitment, because God made a promise to Abraham. In this passage covenant and promise can be used almost interchangeably. Covenant is used to show the inviolateable nature of the agreement and promise is used to show it was not based on Abraham’s good deeds, or life long obedience but solely on God’s good pleasure, His grace.

Paul explained that this promise of God, and here he is referring to the promise that all families of earth would be blessed through Abraham, was made to Abraham and his seed. The word seed means offspring or descendant. Paul explained that the word seed is singular, in other word the promise was made to Abraham and a single descendant.

In other words this single descendant would be the source for all families to be blessed. The single seed is identified as Christ. It is through Christ that all mankind will be blessed and that blessing comes by faith and that faith is in Christ as the promised redeemer. The law which came 430 years later could not violate or supersede the covenant of faith. In case you are wondering how Paul arrived at the figure of 430 years, he apparently reckons this period from the time Jacob went into Egypt, and God reaffirmed the covenant, (Gen 46:1-4) to the giving of the law at Sinai.

So, on the negative side, Paul says the law doesn’t bring salvation and it doesn’t replace the covenant of faith God made with Abraham. On the positive side, in verse 19 Paul said the law was given so we might recognize sin.

Gal 3:19-20

19     Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made.

20     Now a mediator is not for one {party only} whereas God is {only} one.

(NAS)

The phrase because of transgressions in verse 19 has two overlapping meanings. One that the law was given to restrain sin, and the other that it was given to reveal sin. It’s that revealing of sin Paul wrote about in Rom 7:7, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’" (NAS)

Paul’s point is that sin was in the world before the law was given, but it was not always recognized as sin. The law revealed and reveals sin as sin. It therefore functions as a guide pointing men to their need of a Savior.

In verses 21-25 Paul assumes the response to what he wrote would be the question of whether he was saying the law stood in opposition to the promises. God after all gave both. Was Paul say God was opposing Himself or contradicting Himself?

Gal 3:21-25

21     Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.

22     But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23     But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

24     Therefore the Law has become our tutor {to lead us} to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.

25     But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (NAS)

Paul said very strongly, may it never be. The law is not contrary nor is it in opposition to the promises of God, rather it points people to those promises. The Scripture made it clear, all humanity is shut up under sin. The phrase translated shut up is a strong term meaning to lock up securely with no way of escape. The fact is the law doesn’t provide a way of escape, it can’t make people right before God. The law itself made that point clear. But, any person who has run into the solid wall of complete obedience to the law can come to no other logical conclusion other than recognition of their total helplessness and and understanding that something else is needed to become right before God. That something else is a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus Christ.

Paul said the law is a tutor. The word tutor means child instructor. No one was born by the law rather they were brought up by the law, the law was their instructor. It doesn’t give life, it regulates life. The purpose of the law to prepare men and women for spiritual maturity, it was to open their eyes their spiritual bankruptcy, to prepare them for the one who could give life. It was to lead them to faith in Christ.

Paul told the Galatians they must take their eyes off works righteousness and it’s oppressive demand of complete obedience and turn their eyes back on Jesus. That what you must do today take your eyes off the things of the world that bring only bankruptcy and turn your eyes on Jesus. Find in Him righteousness and restoration salvation and freedom. Will you turn your eyes on Him this morning?

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