Why God Gave the Law. Paul's Answer. (Galatians 3: 19-25)

If you ever wondered why God gave Moses the Law, well if you read the book of Galatians

or at the time you get to the middle of it like we are now you may think considering

what Paul has just said so far but that's a very logical question.

Paul begins this book by talking about the Law but he talks about it in such a way as

it almost seems he's putting it down and after you hear all he has to say up to this point

you can't help but wonder well why did God give the Law on the first place?

Listen I'll tell you what I'm talking about.

Remember in Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 for example Paul said knowing that a man is not

justified by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by

the works of the Law.

For by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified or look at verse 21 I do not

set aside the grace of God if righteousness came through the Law then Christ died in vain.

So when these verses Paul is clearly making it clear that the Law cannot save a person

and later in this chapter in verse 3 he says are you so foolish that after beginning

by means of the Spirit are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?

He continues his seeming to read against the Law but it gets even worse remember yesterday

chapter 3 verse 10 everyone who relies on the Law is under a curse as it is written

cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the

Law.

So not only can the Law not save us but it seems it actually places us under a curse

and he will go on to say in verse 13 that only Christ is the one who can redeem us from

this curse of the Law.

Now you can't read in here all of this without asking well why did God give this Law

on the first place and that's a very logical and natural question that arises out of all

that we've read and heard up to this point and Paul himself is aware of that.

So beginning in today's passage in chapter 3 verse 19 he himself poses that question

and he asks what purpose did the Law then serve and beginning at the verse at verse 19

and going all the way through to verse 26 Paul will answer that question.

So let's see what he has to say in today's episode the Bible project dearly podcast.

The big question today is why did God give the Law in the first place?

Let's hear what Paul has to say.

Reading verses 19 to 26 why then was the Law given at all?

It was added because of transgressions until the seed to whom the promise referred had come.

The Law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator a mediator however implies

more than one party but God is one.

Is the Law therefore opposed to the promises of God?

Absolutely not.

For if a Law had been given that could impart life then righteousness would certainly have

come by the Law but the Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin so

that what was promised being given through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those

who believe.

Before the coming of this faith we were held in custody under the Law locked up until

the faith that was to come would be revealed.

So the Law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.

Now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in Christ Jesus you are

all now children of God through faith.

So as we look at the verses today it's pretty obvious that Paul is coming back to talk

about the purpose of the Law he's just been in a sense that almost appears undermining

and yet beyond that he's going to talk about the implications of what that means for

the Law from this point forward.

So today we're going to talk about the reason that God gave the Law and even beyond that

the significance of the Law what it holds today but before that I need to remind you of something.

The big picture here even a basic knowledge of the Old Testament will tell you that God

made this original covenant promise with Abraham didn't he?

That was recorded in the book of Genesis he promised Abraham several things there and

he made an unconditional covenant with him that he would bring all of those things to

pass and that is what we call the Abrahamic covenant and you've got to keep that in mind

as you move through the Bible even into the New Testament and you need to understand that

just a little over 400 years later God came along again and made another promise this

time to Moses and within that was revealed what we commonly refer to as the Law.

Neither covenant included the famous Ten Commandments but it also included the ceremonial laws

all that stuff around the Tabernacle and the civil laws and the Levitical and Mosaic code

that followed on from that.

Now what Paul is arguing here in the book of Galatians is that God saves us based on a promise.

In fact he argues that if you look to the Old Testament God made a promise and he

of Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness and that's the promise

that was given in Genesis 15 and that's the basis of the covenant promise system that

still saves people today.

Now these legalist Jewish people came to Galatians and they were telling the Galatians Christians

that it was fine for them to believe in Jesus Christ but that they also needed to keep

the Mosaic Law, the Law given to Moses and everything that rose out of it in order to

be justified before God and they were in pointing to the whole Mosaic system.

They were pointing to the ceremonial laws things like keeping the Sabbath day, knowing

and keeping the feasts and festivals of the whole Testament, knowing the whole Jewish calendar

in fact and they were also urging these new young Christians at Galatia that they even

needed to go so far as to keep the Old Testament right, that's R-I-T-A, of circumcision.

And in his letter to that church, this is the letter that we call Galatians today Paul

takes these two belief systems, analyzes them and effectively pits them against each other

that of the covenant promise system and the legal system, the grace, stroke, faith system

of belief versus a works religious system.

Now you've got to keep all of that in the back of your mind as we move through to days

versus because Paul talks specifically about why God gave the Law after he'd already

made a promise to Abraham, a promise that was sufficient to save us if we came to God

and faith.

And that's why he is opens today's passage by saying exactly that and asking the question

why then was the Law given at all.

Now by the way I might point out that today's passage actually has two questions within

it, one in the opening verse and there's another comes later a couple of verses on and that's

the two major parts of the passage, two questions and two answers.

So the first question let me remind you is why then was the Law given at all, what was

the purpose, what does purpose does the Law serve, he asks.

But then he immediately answers for it in the second half of that opening verse 19.

He said it was added because of transgressions, that's an important word transgressions,

commonly sometimes translated to sin.

Now the popular explanation of the question that Paul asks is that sin existed in principle

of course long before the Law came along but without the Law people didn't really understand

what sin was and so God gave the Law and by doing so it clearly revealed its nature

to people and it drew a line in the Son for people by which they could interpret when

they crossed that line, in fact the word transgression used here literally means to overstep

a mark or a boundary and that's what's the Law's purpose was, that's what it did,

it put down that mark so that they and you and I can now clearly see and understand where

we're stepping over the boundary between what God considers right and wrong.

In fact Paul says repeatedly in the book of Romans that the Law was given in that way

to reveal sin.

But if you look at the closing part of this verse of today's passage, all of a sudden

was stopped dead on her tracks because it actually appears to say well there's no absolutely

no question about the fact that what these verses are saying is that the Law had a purpose

yes that's what it was but it was given because of sin transgressions but it was its purpose

was only our guardian until Christ came.

So whatever purpose the Law had us indicated by this little phrase it appears if you read

this passage to have ended when Christ came.

Now I have to be honest and say that jolted me the first time I read it perhaps it's

having the same effect on you because it seems to suggest that the purpose of the Law

was temporary and it ended completely with the coming of Christ.

But we know of course that Paul still uses the Law repeatedly as a way to reveal sin

across all of his own writing in the New Testament which of course he's writing at a time

after the coming of Christ.

But if we go back to the commentaries we'll discover there is a second additional and

inclusive interpretation of this little phrase.

The second interpretation that we add on is that the Law was given not just to reveal

sin of course that's true but it was also actually given to restrain sin.

And that I believe is what Paul is saying in this verse here he's saying the purpose

of the Law was to reveal sin but it was also to restrain people from sinning.

But that part of its purpose I think he's referring and saying that was temporary.

That part of it in its purpose was only any good any use until Christ came.

For as believers once Christ comes into our lives that restraint is perfected in the fact

that we're given the Holy Spirit himself to help restrain sin and we don't need to rely

on the Law to do that anymore.

We've been given the insight and the perception and the prompting of the Holy Spirit to be

convicted and know when we're crossing that boundary.

The prohibitions of the Ten Commandments revealed their purposes like then they were very

specific not just to turn leave course but for that day as well specifically like suppressing

the worship of false idols idolatry as well as all the other stuff blasts for me sabbath

breaking disobedience to parents murder adultery theft false witness lying covenantess I think

I've got them all but I'll put them etc at the end in case I've missed one.

These sins clearly existed before the Law was given but by pronouncing them to be definitive

transgressions it called into the minds of the people the fear of God to reinforce the

weakness of their own moral sense and thereby educate humanity's conscience.

Today as believers we are convicted by the prompting of the Holy Spirit in order to do

that.

Now this exact same aspect of the Law is very forcefully presented in one Timothy chapter

1 verse 9 where he writes the Law is not made for the righteous man but for the Lawless

and the unruly.

The Ten Commandments revealed their own purpose by their stating they were given in order

to repress the sins mentioned in those very Ten Commandments.

So what Paul is saying this I've been speaking negatively about the Law he says but I want

you to know that the Law does have a purpose and the purpose of the Law was to reveal sin

but to restrain sin also and by giving those commandments to Israel as well as all the

other stuff God was serving notice in Israel that they were not to practice those kinds

of things and of course many of these things were things commonly done around their neighbouring

nations when they entered the Promised Land.

So you've got to keep that in mind that he's contrasting the promise given to Abraham

with this second Law given to Moses and when God gave the promise to Abraham he personally

came down and spoke to Abraham and made that covenant promise but interestingly he tells

us that when the Law was given a mediator was involved.

He even tells us even interprets what that means for us by saying in verse 20 a mediator

implies that more than one in party is involved and then adds a little caveat but God is one.

So when he gave the Law to Moses he gave it supernaturally to Moses who then gave it to

the people so the promise was first hand but the giving of the Law was second hand some

would even say third hand.

The Law had a mediator he tells us and the minute you say a mediator is involved you automatically

assume that there are at least two parties and two points of view.

Mediation by its very nature presupposes two parties and a third party doing the mediation

but the real tricky part of this he said well if that's true how does that work when we

know God as one why does he say that well I believe what he is saying is that when he

God made the promise the original promise to Abraham the original covenant there was

only one party involved God made the covenant the covenant with Abraham and he swore it

himself remember he put actually put Abraham to shape part of the animals and pass through

the animals and then an oath was sworn by himself.

So what he's really doing in this passage is contrasting the promise that he gave to

Abraham and the Law he gave to Moses and he's saying yes the Law had a purpose but its

purpose was inferior.

It was inferior to the promise that God gave to Abraham and it is indicated by the fact

that the Law that was followed on to Moses came through a mediator.

And then he asks a second question for us that second question I mentioned in the opening

and that starts in verse 21 and he says is the Law therefore opposed to the promises

of God.

So again he's contrasting the Law and the promise originally given and he asks are

these two things opposed to each other in any way because that might be the interpretation

some might take and he answers that immediately and says absolutely not.

In fact the old King James used to translate this God forbid and then he goes on to say

remember I know I've said this before I'm going to say it again and I'll keep saying

it no the two are not contrary to each other so he's really layering it on here.

They have different purposes he's saying but that doesn't mean there's any contradiction

between them they don't oppose each other but the different lies in the fact that the

Law is insufficient on its own to bring new life.

It was a follow on Law he actually says no law in fact can give life.

No not just the mosaic law but any law no law will ever be sufficient no rule or regulation

can ever in and of itself make you right with God on its own and it certainly can't bring

eternal life.

No law could ever do that for anybody it never has and it never will be able to.

Now that's quite easy to illustrate imagine the high court in the UK deciding to make

a new law and declaring in that law that anybody unfairly killed as a victim of murder shall

now be brought back to life within 24 hours.

That's a ludicrous idea isn't it they could pass that law but no legislative body no enactment

of that law could take place and could produce that new life again and that's the point

he's making here and he has that scripture has confirmed that all that everyone is under

sin but the promise that was made is that by faith in God and thereby under the new covenant

by faith in Jesus Christ that salvation and forgiveness of sins and righteousness before

God will be given to those who believe.

Now in the words that he are used in Galatians Paul is actually referring well as there's

two schools of thought thought it's either to Judeuronomy 2726 or he's quoting Samward

143 verse 2 there's also a reasonable interpretation which I hold that actually says he's quoting

both of them but the point is he's choosing to go back to the Old Testament law to reinforce

the fact that the law in and of itself can't give life that it is always insufficient

in being able to save people unless it's an add-on to faith scripture he says as always

confirm that everyone is under sin and when you're under sin you're under the curse of the law

and you're under the bounty of sin in other words you're under that death sentence and all this

was done and all this was given so that the purpose of God could be fulfills and completed by faith

again in Jesus Christ and that is not a gift to all of those who simply choose to believe but

don't forget the fact that although the law may be sufficient in bringing life he still says it

does have its purpose verse 23 because he says before the coming of the faith we were held in

custody under the law locked up until the faith that was to come who would be revealed so the

law was our guardian or tutor sometimes it says until Christ came that we might be justified by faith

now that this faith has come we are no longer under a guardian so in these verses he says before

Christ came and when he uses the terms we he's talking about Jews the Jewish nations he says we as

a people of God were kept safe under guard by the law so to speak we were kept for the faith

and we were we were being kept for the faith that would later be revealed fully so although the

law was insufficient to give life it did have a purpose to protect Israel to guard God's people

which is why he uses this term the law was our guardian or tutor now look at the verse carefully

it says the law was a guardian sometimes as I say translated tutor that's a very important

verse it's an important word now the word actually translated guardian or tutor depending

which version you're using doesn't mean maybe what pops into your mind that being of a teacher

there is another specific word for teacher in the original grief that isn't being used here

the word used here was the term specifically for a trusted slave who was given the responsibility

of caring for the children he was much more than a tutor he was their guardian he would have

some responsibility to do some teaching but his major responsibility was to guard guide and protect

the children and lead them to the point of mature spiritual adulthood he was of anything meant to

be a bit of a disciplinarian so now we can see that the law was given to be the sort of cross

I don't know a babysitter a guardian and a teacher through those vulnerable years it was to guard

its purpose was to protect Israel till Christ could fully be revealed and therefore we and all

nations could be justified by faith and the implication is of course by faith in Jesus Christ

so summing this all up Paul has said actually two very basic things number one the law restraints in

the law restraints in but it was inferior to the promise God originally gave to Abraham

it had the follow on and on purpose and that's the first thing he's saying in the opening passage

and that purpose was to restrain sin but he also says the law was there to protect God's people

but what was there to protect them it was insufficient to give new life in and of itself

so he's acknowledging that the law in fact does have a purpose that's the answer to his opening

question and the purpose of the law was good it was positive because it protected God's people

it protected Israel and it also restraints sin but at the same time that law could not give new life

it was inferior to the original covenant in that regard to that it was insufficient on its own

to bring a person into a new relationship with God so let me put another other way

Israel could never be born again by the law and Paul's argument in this passage is to say

that there was a purpose for the law but don't overreach with it it was not meant to be the thing

that gives new life and in the context of the book of Galatians particularly in context of all

these verses that we've studied so far that preceded this point the implication is of course

that Christ is the one now who gives new life doctrineally stated this is an explanation of the

doctrine of redemption alongside the doctrine of regeneration it is Christ who resumes us so that we

are forgiven of our sins and it is Christ who has given a spiritual life a life that the law could

never ever have done that so if we go back now and look at chapter 2 verses 21 22 again

here Paul say I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness came through the law

then Christ died in vain but righteousness did not come through the law nor does life come through

the law Christ has died for me to be declared righteous the doctrine of justification means Christ

had to die for me to be redeemed so Christ had to die for Paul and he had to die for you and me

in order for us to have life after our spiritual death that is what sets us free from trespasses

and sins and by acknowledging that he and we he says are made alive onto God and that is nothing

less than the doctrine of regeneration you see the law in and of itself could not justify

and the law could not redeem and save and the law certainly could not regenerate only Jesus Christ

by his death in the cross can declare us righteous only that can reconcile me to God can redeem me

and can give me spiritual life and all you and I and anybody else has to do is do exactly what Abraham

did when he was offered that original promise and it was given he simply believed God and it will

be accounted to him and it will be accounted to us as righteousness so we are all throughout the

whole salvation history of the Bible Old Testament New Testament right up today are all still related

to God by faith that's the key through line here now today we receive it by a whole new system

a whole new administration of that grace if you like and we have a whole new power available to us

to live the life thereafter namely the Holy Spirit and when we get to chapter 5 we will talk about

the fact that we are now walking the life of the Spirit we are not under the law anymore because

now as Christian believers we're given the Holy Spirit and as we walk in the Spirit we're no longer

powerless against those sinful drives I hope that all makes sense because the bottom line of this

passages you don't have to keep the law in order to get right with God you trusted Jesus Christ

to get right with God and he will empower you prompt you discipline you sometimes by the power of

his Holy Spirit to keep you on the right track the point of this passage today is to say yes the

law had its place it had it historically and its had its purpose and that purpose was important

Christ came but recognized that even when it was still in place it was inferior to the original

promise and the grace that God revealed Abraham because it was always insufficient on its own

without the original covenant to give and bring new life it had to be accepted alongside the

first promise first you see the mosaic law on its own could never bring real life and religious

rules and regulations can still never do that to this day they have no ability to enable us to

be born again and to deliver us from the sinful world and to live that life of grace but what religion

cannot do God can always do and what it could not do was give life only faith in Christ could do that

so remember as it tells us in the closing verse today I'll read it again in Christ Jesus you are

all children of God through faith we are now all potentially sons and daughters of God this

passage is telling us children of God alive to God save through faith in Jesus Christ and that

single verse is such an important one I'm actually going to spend a whole day on it tomorrow

but for now thanks for being with me today

you

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