Scripture: Galatians 3:15-29

SERMON SUMMARY  

One of the most odd and tedious questions in all of Christian theology and practice is outlining our relationship to the Law. Paul speaks highly of the Law, but also indicates that it was used for negative purposes. The psalmists gush, “How I love your Law, O Lord!” But the NT writers also talk about how the Law was a short-lived covenant, and not an eternal covenant. And on an experiential level, if we are saved by grace of Jesus through faith in Jesus, are we now above the Law? Can we dismiss it altogether? It’s still a part of Holy Scripture, so what do we do? In short, 

If we are in Christ by grace, how should we now think about God’s Law?

Perhaps this question feels too abstract and feels too distant from having any meaning for your marriage, your parenting, your money, your work, or your expectations of others. But that’s not the case at all. This question gets at the root system under those things. Because if you think Law is not the way you relate to God, but it is the way you demand your children, leverage things in your marriage, or presume on people at work, then you’re not rightly understanding the “by grace through faith” of salvation. So, how do we now rightly relate to God’s Law? Enter Galatians 3.

Here are three observations from Galatians 3:

1. The Law is somehow both a good thing and a bad thing. Negatively, there’s no inheritance through the Law (3:18); the Law is not life-giving in the way we need life (3:21); and also the Law is like a prison warden, keeping us in check. But positively, the Law is still part of Holy Scripture. Paul later says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and transformative” (2 Tim 3:16-17). Jesus quoted the Law when he fought temptation in the wilderness. And here in Galatians 3:24-25, Paul calls the Law our “guardian.” Some translate this word custodian, tutor, or schoolmaster. Or in a simple picture, the Law held our hand until Christ came.
2. Gospel faith follows God’s story from his promises to their fulfillment in Jesus. From Abraham to Moses to Jesus, Paul is following God’s story through its major movements, leading to Jesus. But we must notice a repeated phrase: “Now before faith came” (3:23) and “Now that faith has come” (3:25). This could sound like faith didn’t exist in the Old Testament, but we know that’s not true, so what is Paul saying? He’s saying that all true faith in the Bible is actually looking for and trusting in Jesus and his Messianic reign because it is the fulfillment of all that God promised. Again, gospel faith traces God’s story from his promises in the Old Testament all the way to their fruition in the Kingship of Jesus.
3. The Law was a temporary placeholder to connect God’s promises to their fulfillment. This is implied from the first two observations. Paul asks, “Why then the law?” in 3:19 and “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?” in 3:21. This implies that the Law was given as the strangest of gifts. It was a good gift because it was from God, and it was a proxy placeholder as God’s people awaited the fulfillment of his promises. But so that they wouldn’t presume on themselves, on their flesh, on their ethnicity, or on their works, the Law actually revealed to them the magnitude of their sin and need. And this is how it served as a placeholder to connect God’s promises to their fulfillment.

These three observations will help us finally answer our question. They reiterate the big idea of this passage, that the Law was not given to secure the promise, but Jesus was given to secure the promise. Now we relate to the Law rightly by relating to Jesus faithfully. The Law didn’t deliver on the promise, but Jesus does. That’s why we now trust and follow him. That’s the big idea. And this is most keenly felt when we live in it. So…

Here are three applications that echo our three observations above:

1. Remember that Jesus is the source of our identity, not our ability to obey the Law. Even if we now read the Law through Jesus’ fulfillment of it, and we see the Torah as beautiful, which we should… Even if we now live by the spirit of the Law and not the letter of the Law, which we should… We must remember that the source of our identity is the surety of God’s promises in Jesus, not the extent to which we have obeyed or will obey his commands. Dear Christian, you stand before God holy, righteous, free, redeemed, loved, and forgiven – not because of how well you perform, but because Jesus is the final fulfillment of everything God promised, and you’re trusting him. This is Paul ends this conversation with a reminder of our identity: “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the Law-Guardian, for in Christ Jesus we are all sons and daughters of God, by faith. All of us who are baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.” It is who we are! We are dressed in Jesus and robed in righteousness! And it’s so easy for this to slip our minds so that we operate out of a Law-based mindset. But we cannot forget this: Jesus is the great Law-fulfiller, and this makes him the source of who we truly are.
2. Be grateful that we belong to God’s family by grace through faith, not by any earthly identity marker. In 3:28, Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” These things are all earthly identity markers. And in Paul’s day, false teachers were fighting to make earthly externals the point. And often, in our own day, the world wants to make external markers the point of real belonging to a tribe or a group. And it is so, so tempting. But we can’t give way. Instead, we should gush with gratitude that the way into God’s family is by grace through faith. Paul is saying that if you trace God’s story rightly, from his promises to their realization in Jesus, you will see the multi-ethnic family that God promised Father Abraham. And that family has one badge of membership and belonging, and that is faith. If you rightly understand that we are heirs of God’s New Creation (3:29) and that we are justified by faith (3:24), central to your response will be unending gratitude and unyielding appreciation.
3. Do not treat that which is temporal like it’s eternal, because it will imprison you. Paul uses this kind of language multiple times in our passage. And with this language, you feel his deep pastoral ache. Some people treat their relationship with God like an engaged couple that never wants to get married. They want to live under the rules of engagement because at least that gives them some vague sense of control. They are scared to move on to marriage because that requires infinite and intimate levels of trust that they’re not ready for yet. And the endless nuptial checklist spiritually suffocates them, and they end up drowning because they are treating what should be temporary as though it's eternal. And they know that’s not what God wants. Like a high school student that never wants to graduate… Like a college student that still wants a babysitter… Like the world’s greatest cyclist asking to ride with training wheels… When we treat that which is temporal like it’s eternal, we lock the prison cell from within. And the whole time, God is inviting you into maturity and faith and growth. The Law-Guardian was meant to be seasonal. But how often do we live as though it’s more permanent than grace? And the whole time, Jesus is wooing your heart, bidding you to follow him and swear allegiance to him, beckoning you into peace. And what do we do? Sometimes we’d rather just stay in school-custody and never graduate. This is what Paul’s friends in Galatians were on the verge of doing, and sadly we’re too often right there with them.

The salvation we have in Jesus is eternal, and it is not entered or enjoyed by temporary means or “works of the Law.” This great salvation is available only because of what Jesus has done. He, the perfect Bridegroom and the perfect Teacher, he left the halls of eternity to take to himself that which was temporary, so that you and I would no longer be bound. He came to set us free from the prison we’ve locked ourselves in, to write the Law on our hearts, and not on stone. At the cross, Jesus took the death that should’ve been our inheritance, to give us the eternal life that has always been his own. And now, “If you are Christ’s, then you are heirs according to the promise” (3:29). As the old hymn says, 

To run and work the law commands

But gives us neither feet nor hands

Far greater news the gospel brings

It bids us fly and gives us wings

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.