Gospel of Grace – Part 6

Galatians 3:24: Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Scripture Reference

Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Introduction

This sermon is the sixth message in our series, “Gospel of Grace – Part 6,” preached by Dr. Terry LeQuieu. We continue our walk through Galatians, focusing now on chapter three where Paul gives us the central theme for the Book of Galatians: the law’s role is to lead us to Christ, not to save us. The law was never intended to be the means of justification; it was intended to show our need for a Savior and to point us to the finished work of Jesus Christ. Tonight we will see how the law is unchangeable, unable to save, but still usable — especially as our schoolmaster that brings us unto Christ.

We’re going to get back into our study here tonight. Galatians chapter number three. Galatians, chapter number three. We have begun our study on the Book of Galatians. Of course we’re dealing with the Gospel of Grace. And we are at the halfway mark. Tonight is part number six of an eleven part series that we are doing through this book. So this is literally the halfway mark. And then we will be heading downhill from here. And so you will notice in Galatians chapter three, we covered chapter one already, the summons from the Gospel of Grace. We covered chapter two, the stand for the Gospel of Grace. And then nestled in chapter three and four, we are dealing with the sufficiency of of the Gospel of Grace. And tonight we are going to actually get into the central theme text of the Book of Galatians. And we will see that here in just a moment. But as we go through chapter three and chapter four, we will see the aspect that the Gospel of Grace or the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient in every area of your personal Christian life. And grace is what we need and grace is how we live. And grace is everything in this Christian life. We are going to get to chapter five later and deal with the standards of the Gospel of Grace. Then chapter six with the support of the Gospel of Grace, talking about supporting one another and being able to bear one another’s burdens for the cause of Christ. We are going to be, like I said in Galatians chapter three. I am going to read one verse here and then we will get back to the beginning part. We are going to go to verse sixteen here in just a moment. But we will see our main text theme, verse for the book of Galatians is really found here. And what we are going to cover tonight, and that is verse number twenty four, Galatians chapter three, verse twenty four. We’ll read that and then we’ll go back to verse number sixteen and give context of things here. Verse twenty four says, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. This is really the truth of everything that we have covered up to this point, that the law was never meant to save. It simply pointed us to the one who can save, and that is Jesus Christ. And that is the whole idea of the book of Galatians and written to a Gentile church that was told they needed to keep the Jewish laws in order to be saved. Not just trust Jesus Christ by faith, but now practice the law as well. And Paul came in and said, no, no, that’s not what you need to do. Again, he starts off chapter three and says, o foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? And he said, who told you this lie? Who told you this thing that you are supposed to try to live by? The reality is the law was just given as a schoolmaster, as a disciplinarian, to point us to our need for. For Jesus Christ. We’re going to look at tonight the aspect of underneath the sufficiency of the grace of God. We’re going to deal with three things. Dealing with the promise that came before the law. The promise that came before the law. Let’s pray. Father, we love you. We thank you for the truths of the Word of God. Help us as we get our focus around the Word of God tonight, that you teach us from your Word. Help us, Lord, to have clarity of thought. Help us, Lord, to have the understanding of Scripture. I know many a times we can look at the Word of God and specifically this book of Galatians. Sometimes we can get a little confused with the back and forth between the law and grace. And Lord, I pray that you give complete clarity tonight. I pray we’d have understanding from your Word and that we’d be able to take the Word of God and to be able to apply these truths to our lives and see the lacking of the law and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and the grace that you give us. We’ll praise you, we’ll thank you, we love you. We ask these things. In your name we pray. Amen. Go back now to verse number sixteen. Here again we talked on Sunday night dealing with the idea and the aspects that we are all children of Abraham’s seed, dealing with the fact that once we trust Christ, we have now been grafted into the family of God, not because we are Jewish by blood, but because of the blood of Jesus Christ. And we thank God for that. We dealt with that on Sunday night. But here we’re going to be in verse number fifteen. And I said sixteen, didn’t I? Verse number fifteen is where we’ll start, actually. And we’re going to deal with the promise before the law. We’re going to look at three things about the law as we go through the end of chapter three, beginning chapter four, we’re going to deal with three things. Number one, the law was unchangeable. Number two, the law is unable. But number three, the law is usable. Ok? And we’re going to look at all three of those aspects here tonight. So first let’s look in verse Fifteen and sixteen. The law was unchangeable. Look at verse fifteen, Brethren, I speak after the manner of men. Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereunto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not and to the seeds as of many, but as of one, as to thy seed, which is Christ. So here we see in these two verses the idea or the truth that the law that was given was unchangeable. You see what had happened is God had given Moses the ten commandments there on Mount Sinai. And God had given Moses all the different commandments for the children of Levi there in the book of Leviticus. And then of course we see all the other commandments that were given throughout the Book of Numbers and the book of Deuteronomy. If you take and you study the Old Testament and even Jewish custom, you are going to come to find that there were six hundred thirteen laws that they had to keep. Now that is exhausting. That is very taxing on anybody and let alone a whole country to keep six hundred and thirteen laws. By the way, a little note of truth, a little nugget. The high priest, when he would go in and offer the sacrifice there in the temple and there in the tabernacle, a part of his arraignment and part of his clothing that he would wear is he would have around the base of the robe that he wore, he would have alternating items and it would be a pomegranate and then a bell and then a pomegranate and then a bell and and then a pomegranate and then a bale. And I always thought it was interesting that the pomegranate was used. But when you study it out, you’ll find that a full ripened pomegranate has six hundred thirteen seeds, just like the Jews had six hundred thirteen laws they were supposed to keep. And of course the high priest, he went in there and they tied a rope around his waist. And if he went in there and he was unworthy and he had sin in his life and he didn’t sacrifice for the sin and get atonement for himself, that then he would fall flat dead in the presence of God. And when the bells stopped making noise, they would have to drag the body out. Ok, that’s how serious the law was. The law was very condemning. But notice what the Bible says in verse fifteen. He says, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man’s covenant yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereunto. So here what he’s saying is, even though that the law had transformed away from what God had intended there in the Old Testament to point others to Christ, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, all the different religious crowds were now using the vain traditions of man, and they were adding things to the law. And they had made it simply a covenant of men. And notice it says if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth. They weren’t changing the law. They were being very strict adherence to the traditions that they were following. You could literally label the Pharisees and the Sadducees and all those in the religious crowd in the early first century. You can label every one of them as legalists. Now that’s a term people like to throw around for a Fundamental Baptist. But the reality is we are not legalists. We teach salvation by faith, through grace. We don’t teach that you can lose your salvation at all. But the Pharisees, they believed it was grace plus works. That’s legalism. That’s exactly the definition where you try to add works to salvation. But here we see that the law is unchangeable. The covenant was produced for the Jews and the Jews alone. It was a promise that was given to God’s people there in the Old Testament. But notice in verse number sixteen, now it says to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. So here God made some specific promises to those that were going to trust in him, rather than trying to keep the law, he saith not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. So notice the covenant was produced for the Jews alone, but Christ was promised to everyone. Christ was promised to everyone that trusted by faith. Remember, what does the Bible say about Abraham back in the previous verses, in verse number six, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, here Abraham didn’t get saved because he kept the law. He got saved because he believed in God. He didn’t just believe in God, he believed on God and he believed God. And the Bible says it was counted to him for righteousness. We know that Abraham came before the law and here the law, although it was unchangeable. Understand number two, in verse seventeen and eighteen, we find that the law is also unable. You say, what is the law unable to do? Well, the law ultimately is unable to save. It’s unable to save anybody. Look at verse seventeen and this. I say that the Covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ. The law, which was four hundred thirty years after, cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. So here the law is unable to save. But we understand that the law is simply unable to destroy the promises of God. Listen, if God made us a promise regardless of what the law says, the law cannot change the promise of God. Alright? We believe in the truths of the word of God, not in a keeping of rules, not in a keeping of the law, but in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And here there’s a promise that was made. The Bible says it was made before the law. And the law cannot disannul this promise. Verse eighteen says if the inheritance be of the law, it’s no more of promise. So if we can inherit salvation by keeping the law, then we’re not fulfilling the promise that God gave of salvation by faith through grace, but rather we’re fulfilling our own desires. Does that make sense? We’re fulfilling the law. And the reality is salvation doesn’t come by the law, it comes by the promise that God made us. And the promise is salvation by faith through grace. Faith in Jesus Christ and him alone. Understand that the law was unable to destroy the promise. Why? Because the promise came before the law came. And here we see it came exactly four hundred thirty years before the law. Now we know that the Israelites were in Egypt for four hundred years, but we also know that Moses was on the backside of the desert for a time period as well. And God’s. There’s no contradiction in the word of God. We’re not going to get into all that tonight, but we can go throughout the Old Testament. We can make the application and show you exactly where it was four hundred thirty years from the promise and from the promise that God had made to the law that was given. But here, notice the law was unchangeable and the law is unable. But let’s get to some practical things about the law, because sometimes I don’t want to confuse you in this. We understand the law is usable. And that’s what we’re going to focus on tonight. The law being usable. So look at verse number nineteen. Wherefore then serveth the law if the law is unchangeable, if the law is unable, then what’s the purpose? And that’s what Paul’s addressing to the church here at Galatians. He says if it’s unchangeable we can’t change anything that’s been given. And if it’s unable to do anything for us, then why are we obsessed with the law? What’s it going to do? But here we need to see how the law is usable. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator is not a mediator of one, but. But God is one. Is the law then, against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Here we notice that this is how the law is usable. First off, we notice that it reveals sin in us. You remember Paul says over in Romans, chapter seven, and he also deals with it in one Corinthians as well. He said, had it not been for the law, I had not known sin. It was because the law is there. It shows us our need for a Savior. It shows us our wrongdoings. It shows us our inadequacies. It shows us our faults and our failures. Listen, we have rules and we have structure in our lives so that things don’t get haywire and things don’t get out of track in your own home, even when you are raising your children, children that are left to themselves. The Bible says a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. But we have rules in our home. We have certain things that are allowable, certain things that are not allowable. What is that law there for? It’s for protection. Of course we know that. But it’s also there to show our inadequacies. It reveals sin. Notice verse nineteen and twenty. Verse nineteen says it was added because of transgressions. The law was added because of sin. It gave us a standard to follow. Listen, what would our country be like today? We understand how lawless things happen in our country already. And that’s with us having laws. That’s with us having structure. How much worse could it get if we didn’t even have laws? Think about that. We know that people break laws. Why? Because that’s what criminals do. They break laws. They’re going to act in a criminal way. But we know that laws are added because of transgressions. We’ve had a Christian school here for thirteen years. We are in our thirteenth year now. Brother Thoreau. When we first started our Christian school, our handbook wasn’t very, very long. It Was about fourteen pages. Our handbook today is about twenty five, twenty six pages. Why? Because as things go on, you add stuff, rules get added. You know, you have the warning labels on certain things that you purchase. Why? Because somebody made the mistake of doing what was being warned about. Labels and rules get added because something bad had happened before. There has to be more structure. There has to be more guidelines. I remember when I was in a Christian school there in Jacksonville at Jacksonville Christian Academy. Every year, the first week of school, we would go through our school orientation. Remember those days, Brother Anthony? And we would sit all in the chapel area and they would go through the rule book. And it seemed like every single year, the rule book got bigger and bigger. I was sitting next to one of my friends there one year, I think it was my junior year, sitting next to one of my friends, and they were reading through the rulebooks and they were reading some of the new rules. And he leaned over to me and he said, they added that rule because of me. Don’t brag about that, man. That’s not something to be proud of. But here, laws, rules are added. Why? Because of transgressions, because of sin, because of ill achievement. Because of things that we do that we should not do. So it reveals sin. The law was introduced because of sin. Notice it says till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. It was ordained by angels at the hand of the Mediator. And we know the Mediator, of course, is God himself. Then notice verse number twenty one. Not only does it reveal sin in us because it is introduced because of sin, but it is also impotent to save the sinner. Notice the word impotent means it is unable. Is the law then against the promise of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Listen, if the law could have saved, there would have been no need for Christ to die on the cross. It’s that simple. But the law could not save. And by the way, Jesus Christ came and he fulfilled every single law that was given by God to man. And his perfect, sinless blood was what was shed for us. The law is not against the promises of God. The law is to point us to God. We know that. So here it reveals sin in us. Secondly, I want you to notice how it’s usable. It reveals the Savior to us. Not only does it reveal sin in us, it reveals the Savior to us. Notice verse number twenty two. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin. Why that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given how to them that believe again? Salvation by faith. All throughout the word of God we see that salvation is not given to them who work, it’s given to them who believe. So we see here that it reveals a Savior to us. Verse twenty three. But before faith came, we were kept under the law. Shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. And we know that’s the Holy Spirit baptism that takes place at the moment of salvation. Verse twenty eight. There is neither Jew nor Greek, There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if it be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. Here we see the promise mentioned over and over and over again. So let’s explain this. How does it reveal a Savior to us? Verse twenty two says or tells us that it provokes the results of faith in Christ. Here the scripture hath included all under sin. We know Romans three twenty three says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We learn that because of the law that we fail and we do not meet the expectations and we fall short of God’s glory. We know that’s heaven. Being able to attain heaven in our own righteousness, it doesn’t happen. Notice why that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them. That belief here it provoked the results of faith in Christ. We don’t have to trust in the keeping of our good works. We simply trust in his finished work. Amen. Praise the Lord for that. Verse number twenty three. We see it also punished remorselessly without Christ. Notice the punishment that happens because of the law. Verse twenty three. But before faith came, we were kept under the law. Notice. Shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. When something is shut up, it’s closed off, right? It’s sealed, it’s locked, it’s put away. So here when we were kept under the law, we were shut up of faith. Meaning we were put away from faith. We were closed off to faith because we were trying to keep the law. Alright, are you following? And here he’s talking about the Jews were trying to keep the law. And here when they Try to add the law to salvation. When we try to keep the law, it’s no longer faith and it separates us from God. So here, when we’re trying to keep the law, the law will always punish us. Because we are without Christ. We will never amount. We will never be able to keep those things. We will never be able to reach up to the full acclamation of keeping all the law. We are imperfect and we are sinners. We have to teach children to keep their hands off of things when they go into stores. So they don’t put them in their pockets, right? So they don’t put things in their pockets and steal things. I remember as a little kid going through a store and my mom and dad had to teach me not to grab things and put them in my pocket. I didn’t know it was stealing at that time, but I had to be taught that even as a child, we make mistakes. Even as adults, we make mistakes. If you’re still doing that, you need a lot of help, man. You kleptomaniac, you. Verse twenty three, it punished us remorseless, remorselessly, without Christ. Verse twenty four. This is how it reveals the Savior. It pointed us to the Redeemer as Christ. Verse twenty four. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. What? To bring us unto Christ. A schoolmaster would be a disciplinarian. You have those boarding schools that have a schoolmaster. Have you ever seen the movie Matilda the Schoolmaster? She’ll put you in the chokey, right? Anyway, moving on. I don’t know why I thought of that right then. Praise the Lord. The law was our schoolmaster. The law. We would never be able to amount to anything because it was constantly disciplining us. It was constantly pushing us down. But the purpose of the law, it was to point us to Christ. It was to show us our sin. But it was also to reveal to us a savior. You see, when the word of God and the laws of the word of God are preached properly, it will always point to a savior. You see, we preach hell hot and heaven sweet around here, ok? We preach that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We preach that the wages of sin is death. That’s what the Bible says. And hell is going to be hot for those that reject Jesus Christ. And we understand that according to the word of God. But Romans six twenty three doesn’t just end with, for the wages of sin is death. There’s the latter half that says, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Why because the law was always meant to show us our sin, to reveal our sin, but also to reveal a Savior to us, to point us to Jesus Christ, to point us to the one that can take care of the need that we have in this life. It reveals sin in us. It reveals a Savior to us. Here. It points to a redeemer, and that is Jesus Christ. It points us to Christ. Why? That we might be justified by faith. You see, the law shows us that we can’t keep it according to the end of verse number twenty four. And so in order for us to be justified, in order for us to be saved, in order for us to be where Christ is, it has to be by faith. It can’t be by works. It can’t be by the keeping of the law. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ. And then verses twenty five to twenty nine, we also see that it proves our release by Christ. This is all the fact that it reveals a Savior to us. We’ve been released from some things. Let me show you verse twenty five. But after that faith has come, we are no longer, longer under a schoolmaster. Here we are released because of our boldness. You say, how do you see boldness in here when you have faith? And the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith. How are we saved? We are saved by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Put your Bible up there, the book or whatever that is. We are saved by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. But how do we do that? We ask him to save us. Sometimes that takes some boldness, doesn’t it? So we don’t quite understand everything that’s going on. Sometimes there’s some timidness. Ruthroe, I know you’ve led many folks to the Lord. There are some folks that when you lead them to the Lord, they’ll pray their own prayer and they’ll trust Christ. Then there’s others that are very timid and they’ll ask for some help and some assistance. But regardless, they’ve all got to pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and save them. We can’t just pray for them. They’ve got to pray and ask Christ. There’s got to be that boldness to go to God themselves. Here we are released because of our boldness, released from the law. We’re no longer under a schoolmaster. There’s peace. There’s a lightness that is given to us. We’re no longer under the bondage. And I’ll show you that in a moment. Notice verse number twenty six. It proves our release because it results in our belief. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. All of us that have trusted Jesus Christ by faith are all children of God. Now, those that don’t trust God by faith, they are not God’s children. Because he only has children one way, and that’s by faith. That’s the only way we can be born again. That’s what Jesus Christ told Nicodemus in John chapter number three. You must be born again. We know it results in our belief. Notice the resulting baptism as well in verse number twenty seven. For as many of you have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, you see, once you got saved, you were baptized or fully immersed in the Spirit of God. That’s called the Holy Spirit baptism. That means he came and he indwelt your temple, your body. You have God, the Holy Spirit, living inside of you. We’ve been baptized by the Holy Spirit of God. That’s not a second working of grace. That happens at the moment of salvation. That’s not an added work. That’s not something that happens. And then you begin to mysteriously speak in tongues and perform miracles and handle snakes and do all the crazy things that they talk about in those charismatic churches. That’s not all that stuff. No, no. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is very simply that the Holy Spirit immerses you and he begins to indwell you. Then we see the results in our bonding as well. Notice verse twenty eight. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. You see now, I am no longer bound by the law. I am no longer bound by sin, but by faith I am bound. Jesus Christ. There’s a different bond that I have. Amen. There’s different chains that we have now. They’re not chains of sin, they’re chains of grace. Praise God. There’s a song I love to hear and it’s entitled I’m a prisoner of hope, bound by my faith, chained to your love, locked up in grace. And then of course it says, I’m free to leave, but I’ll never go. I’m wonderfully, willingly, freely a prisoner of hope. I thank God for the fact that I’m no longer bound by sin, but I’m bound by his grace, I’m bound by love. There’s a driving force inside of all of us that are saved and born again children of God, to want to share what Christ has done with us, with others. Ok? And Then we also see here our birthright, Verse twenty nine. And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise? See, the same promise that God made to Abraham when he trusted him by faith is the same promise that he makes to us today when we trust him by faith that we’ll be a child of God. He gave us power to become the sons of God. The Bible says in John, we thank God for that. So here it reveals sin in us, it reveals the Savior to us. And then lastly, I want you to notice the law’s usableness because it reveals a sonship for us. We’re going to get into the beginning of chapter four here and we’re going to run and hasten through it. Verses one and two. It says. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. Here there is a difficult time of restriction. You see as a young born again believer, as an immature babe in Christ, sometimes the word of God can feel restrictive. Sometimes the laws, sometimes the grace of God can feel restrictive. Well, now I can’t go and do that. Now the preacher preaches against this and this and this. And I used to do all these things, but now I got saved. I can’t do any of that anymore. Well, you could, but the Holy Spirit of God living inside you is urging you not to. You see, there’s a battle between the flesh and the spirit. It’s not the preacher that you’re mad at. It’s the flesh. It’s the flesh. And the spirit of God is now giving you desires that you didn’t used to have before. And the flesh is still eking up his ugly little head saying, I want to go do this. And the Spirit says, nope, we’re going over here, big buddy. We’re not doing that anymore. We’re not going that way anymore. We’re not feeling those things anymore. And so sometimes as a newborn babe in Christ, sometimes it may feel a little restrictive. It’s a difficult time that a lot of people go through in their Christianity. And that’s where you’ve got to make sure that you understand. Listen, the Word of God is not a list of rules. It’s a relationship book, okay? There’s a love letter from God. It teaches us how to walk with God. And we read the Word of God not to learn all the rules to follow, but to have a relationship with Jesus, that’s Why? We read the Bible and we got to work on the relationship that we have. One thing I’ve come to find, as a child, my parents had rules and things for me to follow. They had guidelines. As I grew up and I got out of the house, I began to realize that my relationship with my parents wasn’t about rules, okay? It was about the fact that I was their child. Just because I kept the rules or didn’t keep the rules didn’t put me in communication or out of communication with them. Are you listening? I was their child and that relationship would be there. It just had to be built. There are times, and I’ve shared this with my children before and you can do what you want as you raise your kids. But this is something my wife and I have discussed many times. My job is not to be my children’s friend. My job is to be their father. When they grow up and move out of the house, then the friendship can be built, okay? But while they’re in the house, they’ve got to have the structure. They’ve got to have the discipline, okay? They’ve got to have the guidance. As they grow up, then the friendships begin to be built because the relationships are built. Does that make sense? But we don’t just let things go. Because I want to be their friend and I want them to like me. I’ll give you a secret. It doesn’t matter if they like you or not. You’re still going to be their parent. It doesn’t matter if they like you or not. They’re still given to you by God and it’s your responsibility to raise them. So my wife and I made a decision a long time ago, before we even had kids or got married, that we were going to raise children. We weren’t going to be their friends, we’re going to be their parents. And then as they grew, then the friendship can grow. Alright? So here, that’s a difficult time of restriction. We see in verses one and two, verses three to five, though notice there’s a definite time of redemption. Even so we verse three, when we were children were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law. Why? To redeem them that were under the law. Why? That we might receive the adoption of sons. See, there’s a purpose for everything that God does in our lives. Why was Jesus Christ born of a virgin woman? So that he would have sinless blood inside of him? Because the sin is passed through the blood of the man. We know that. And so here he was born of a virgin. He was raised under the law. He was sacrificed. Why? To redeem them that were under the law. That’s us. Those of us that have trusted him. Why? That we could become sons of God. You see, we were made slaves before the Son came. But now since he’s come, we’ve been made sons and daughters. And we praise God for that. We were slaves to sin. We were slaves to the law. We were in bondage. Verse three says, under the elements of the world, that’s a slave to sin. That’s a bondage to the things that the world offers. By the way, there’s a lot of people today that are in bondage to the things the world offers. They’re in bondage to drugs, they’re in bondage to alcohol, they’re in bondage to sex. They’re in bondage to all the sin that the world offers. It drives them. We don’t have to be in bondage to that because we’re children of God. We’ve been delivered, we’ve been redeemed, given a second chance, life. So here there’s a difficult time of restriction. There’s a definite time of redemption. Then also verses six and seven. This is it. There’s a delightful time of reception. Notice verse six. And because ye are sons. Look, this is what God gives you. Because you’re a child of God. This is what God gives you. Because ye are sons. God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts. That’s the Holy Spirit of God, right? Crying what? Abba, Father. The word abba, literally, in the Greek and Hebrew, it literally means daddy. So it’s daddy, Father. You see, there’s a father relationship and then there’s a daddy relationship. Alright, let me explain real quick. The father. And typically when you use the term father, it’s in a very disciplinary tone, right? That’s typically how it’s used. And so the father would be in a disciplinary aspect. Whereas when the term daddy is used, I’ve come to find anytime my daughter wants something, she doesn’t come to me and say, oh, Father, you know what she says? Daddy. Isn’t that right, brother Roberto? Daddy, what is that? That’s the loving relationship. We get both of them. So you can have the relationship with God where we understand that God is love, but God is also a judge. He’s just. He’s our father, he’s our daddy, but he’s our father. And there’s A balance that’s there. But we as children of God, we don’t just have to go to God as him, being a disciplinarian. We can go and actually have a relationship with him. We can go to him and we can pour out our hearts. We can go and we can crawl up in his lap, just like a child. When they’re hurt, they go and they crawl up in a lap of a parent. We can go and do the same thing with God on any given term. Why? Because Verse six. You are sons, and God has set his spirit inside of you. You’ve got the spirit of God. Verse seven. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son here. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. You remember the prodigal in Luke fifteen, when he came to himself and he went back to his father’s house? What did he say? He said, I no longer want to be called your son. I just simply want to be a servant. But what does Father say? He said, my son, he said, you haven’t lost your position at all. You’re still my child. Listen, we moved when we trusted Christ. We moved from being a servant. A servant of what? Servant to the flesh. A servant of this world, a servant of sin, serving the things that didn’t matter. We move from that to being given the title of a son of a daughter. Not me, you ladies. Though we’ve been sons of God. If a son, then an heir of God. How? Through Christ. Again, everything in this Christian life points to Jesus Christ. And we have it all because of his grace. The law was not meant to give that to us. It just pointed us to the one that could. And that’s Jesus Christ. Hopefully we got some good understanding tonight that the law is unchangeable. The law is unable. But listen, the law is very usable. Don’t look at the word of God as a list of rules. Look at it as a relationship book. And let’s begin to develop that Daddy, Father, relationship with God. Let’s go to Him. Let’s let him work in our lives. Stand with me with heads bowed, glass closed. Tonight, the promise we were given before the law with heads bowed, with eyes closed. Understand? The law was simply a schoolmaster to point us to Christ. It was never intended to save us. It was just meant to point us to the one that could. Everything in the Old Testament is a foreshadow of the coming of Jesus Christ. The lambs that were sacrificed, they were to be spotless. Why? Because Jesus Christ was our spotless lamb. Everything pointed to the Son of God. And in our lives, we need to make sure that everything we do points to Jesus Christ. Let’s pray. Father, we love you. Thank you for the truth of the word of God. We know the law is insufficient, but Lord, we thank you that we had a schoolmaster to point us to Christ. We thank you for the discipline that we were given to point us to our need for a Savior. We thank you for the clarity of scripture that shows us that we are a sinner. Because of our sin, we’re bound for hell. We also thank you for grace. This is the gift of God’s eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Thank you so much for what you do. Help us to realize the importance of the gospel of grace and to share that with others. Your good grace is why we are where we are today. Use us. Guide us, please. If someone is not saved tonight, we pray they get saved before it is eternally too late. We love you. In your name we pray. Amen. As the pianist plays you come as God’s laid things on your heart. I don’t know where you.

Outline

The Promise That Came Before the Law
1. Text: Galatians 3:15–16 — God’s promise to Abraham precedes the giving of the law.
2. Explanation: Paul emphasizes that the promise was made to Abraham and his seed (Christ). The promise is therefore not something later altered by law; it is prior, personal, and purposeful.
3. Practical note: Salvation comes by promise and faith, not by observing a later system of rules. Young Christians should understand their faith is rooted in God’s promise, not human performance.
The Law Was Unchangeable
1. Text: Galatians 3:15 — “Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereunto.”
2. Explanation: The Mosaic law was fixed in its administration to Israel; religious leaders added traditions and burdens, but that does not change God’s original purpose. The law’s permanence highlighted its role, not its sufficiency.
3. Pastoral point: Beware of human traditions that make law into salvation. Rules are valuable for order, but cannot substitute Christ.
The Law Was Unable
1. Text: Galatians 3:17–18 — The law came 430 years after the promise and cannot annul the promise.
2. Explanation: The law cannot give life; if justification were by law, the promise of God would be void. God’s promise stands because salvation is by faith.
3. Doctrine: The law’s impotence to save emphasizes the necessity of Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection for our justification.
The Law Was Usable — Three Practical Uses
1. Reveals Sin
  1. Text: Galatians 3:19 — “It was added because of transgressions.”
  2. Explanation: Law exposes our moral failure and shows we fall short of God’s standard. It functions as a mirror to our hearts.
  3. Application: Use God’s law to see your need, not to condemn yourself into despair. Let it drive you to Christ.
2. Reveals the Savior
  1. Text: Galatians 3:22–24 — Scripture concludes all under sin that the promise by faith in Christ might be given.
  2. Explanation: The law’s condemnation is not the end — it points to the Redeemer. The schoolmaster function of the law is to bring us to Christ for justification by faith.
  3. Pastoral encouragement: Preach the law rightly — show sin, but immediately point people to the Gospel.
3. Shapes Sonship
  1. Text: Galatians 4:1–7 — From heirs under tutors to adopted sons when Christ comes.
  2. Explanation: The law’s discipline is temporary; through Christ we move from bondage into sonship, receiving the Spirit who cries, “Abba, Father.”
  3. Practical point: New believers may feel restrained by Scripture — that discipline is part of growth into mature, joyful relationship with God.
The Result: Release by Christ
1. Text: Galatians 3:25–29 — Faith removes us from the schoolmaster; all are one in Christ.
2. Explanation: Once faith comes, the law’s custodial role ceases. We are justified by faith, baptized into Christ, and become Abraham’s seed and heirs.
3. Application: Embrace the freedom Christ gives — freedom from trying to earn salvation, and freedom to live for Him by the Spirit.

Summary

Paul’s message in Galatians 3 is plain and powerful. The law is unchangeable and served its function, but it is unable to save. Its usefulness is not in giving life but in revealing sin, pointing to the Savior, and disciplining until Christ comes so we might be justified by faith. The promise to Abraham came before the law; the law cannot annul God’s promise. When Christ came, we were released from the schoolmaster into sonship, baptized by the Spirit, and made heirs according to God’s promise. The Christian life is not rule-keeping to earn God’s favor; it is grace-receiving in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Quote to Ponder

“The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” — Dr. Terry LeQuieu

Application for the Week

Put the sermon into practice with these clear, concrete steps:

Read Galatians 3 and 4 this week — Aim to read the two chapters twice. Underline every reference to “faith,” “law,” “promise,” and “Christ.” Let Scripture itself teach you how the law functions.
Memorize Galatians 3:24 — Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Carry this truth as your grounding when guilt from failing to keep rules tempts you.
Use the law as a mirror, not a jail — When conviction comes from reading the law, ask: “Is this driving me to Christ or to despair?” Confess sin, accept Christ’s forgiveness, and move forward in obedience motivated by love.
Share the simple Gospel — In conversations this week, practice explaining that the law shows us sin, but Christ saves by grace through faith. Keep it clear and gospel-centered: law = need; Gospel = remedy.
Encourage a younger believer — Spend time this week with someone new in the faith. Help them understand that Scripture is relationship-building. Answer questions patiently and point them to Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23.
Pray for boldness — Ask God to give you courage to trust Christ personally and to ask others to do the same. Boldness often accompanies faith (Galatians 3:25–26).

May God help us to see the law rightly: as a faithful schoolmaster that points to the only Savior, Jesus Christ. Live in that grace daily, and let your life reflect the liberty and the love of your heavenly Father.