GALATIANS 3:15-252005 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Galatians 3:15-25

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2005.

Galatians chapter 3. Before we begin in the study this morning, I just want to take a quick survey. I hope you don't mind, just by a show of hands. How many of you that are here this morning want to be blessed by God? You can just raise your hand. Okay, good. Pretty much everybody. There's a couple people. Someone's raising hands for someone else. That's okay. We want to be blessed by God. And I hope that's a given. I hope that's something that you're here this morning. And man, you would love to be blessed by God.

The question is, how are we blessed by God? How do we receive a blessing from God? How do we put ourselves in a place where we are able to receive a blessing from God? It's very easy for us to have the mentality that when I do good is when God blesses me.

And if I'm really good, then God blesses me more. You know, if I read my Bible, and if I've been spending time in prayer, and if I serve in the Sunday school ministry or somewhere else, and I'm helping out some way, then, you know, I'm going to be blessed because I'm really making God happy with all the things that I'm doing for Him. And so I have the mentality of the heart that I'm going to be blessed. And conversely, opposite of that, I have the mentality that, oh, you know,

I haven't been doing so well, you know, I didn't really go to church that month, well that month, so much. I haven't been attending church or reading the Bible, I haven't really been doing things that I know I need to do as a Christian and so man, that's why these trials are here, that's why I'm having to face these hard times and these problems happened and these situations occurred and

And we have the mentality, it's very easy for us, we migrate there naturally, that it's all based on what we do. And God is responding to us. If we're good, then he blesses us. Kind of like the heavenly Santa Claus. Well, you've been good this year, so you receive a blessing. Or you haven't been so good, so you don't receive a blessing. In fact, you receive trials and tribulations. Now, Paul is going to great lengths here to make sure that we understand this.

God does not relate to us on the basis of our works, what we've done or what we do. How far short that we fall. He relates to us on the basis of His grace.

And by faith. And that is it. And we need to understand that that is the way that God asked us to approach Him. It's not about Him blessing us because we've been good. No, that's not how He blesses. In fact, Paul will point that out very clearly today. It's not about the law and being obedient to the law and doing all these good things. It's all about faith. In chapter 2 of the book of Galatians,

We learned about justification by faith, how God makes it just as if I never sinned, simply by having faith in Him and what He has done for me. It's by faith that I have right standing before God, that I'm able to approach God, to be with God and have relationship with God. Then in chapter 3 last week, as we looked at the first 14 verses,

we learned that not only am I justified by faith, but I receive the Spirit by faith. That it's not about if I'm really good, then I'll be able to receive the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will be at work in my life. No, no. It's by faith that I receive the Spirit. Not by applying the law, but applying my faith in Jesus Christ.

This morning as we look at verses 15 through 25 of chapter 3, Paul will share with us that we receive blessing by faith. It's by faith. It's not by the works of the law. Not by the law. In fact, it's way better than the law. And so this morning I'll share with you, in fact, in verses 15 through 18, we learn that the law is powerless.

The law is powerless. But in verses 19 through 25, we learn that the law is not pointless. The law is what? Man, you guys are still asleep. The law is what? But it is not. The law is, but it is not. The law is powerless. But it is not pointless. It's powerless to keep you from sin. It's powerless to give you the Holy Spirit. It's powerless to help you receive a blessing from God.

Even though it's where we migrate, even though it's where we tend to think and how we tend to live, it's not that way. Paul shares with us very clearly this morning. So let's read it together. Galatians chapter 3, starting in verse 15, it says this, Brethren, I speak in the manner of men, though it is only a man's covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.

He does not say, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, who is Christ. And this I say, that the law which was four hundred and thirty years later cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law,

It is no longer a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Verse 19. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions. Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Verse 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not.

Verse 24, Therefore...

The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, as we sit before you today, God, we thank you for your grace and your mercy. Lord, that you invite us to spend time in your presence and you invite us to receive blessing from you and forgiveness from sins.

Lord, simply by your grace and by us believing in what you've done for us. So God, I ask that you would do that work in our hearts as we look into your word this morning, believing, God, that you want to bless us, that you want to speak to us. God, I pray that you would open up our hearts, that you would minister to us, and that you would draw us close to you. Lord, I pray that you would fill this place with your Holy Spirit. And God, that you would draw us close to you, that we would leave here an intimate fellowship relationship with you.

Thank you, Jesus, for your grace. And it's in your name we pray. Amen. Galatians chapter 3. Now, Paul's been talking about the gospel of grace. It's all about grace. That God gives us what we do not deserve and we approach him based on what he's done for us and not what we do or have done for him, good or bad.

We approach Him based on His work and not our own. And so in verse 15, as Paul is continuing to share different things, he says, What is Paul saying here? Well, he's been teaching them that God relates to us not by our works but by faith.

He relates to us through His grace. And He's been pointing out and demonstrating for them some different examples. In chapter 2, we saw the example of the council at Jerusalem. There the church got together and said, Hey, how are we saved? How do we approach God? How do we have right standing with God? And the church council there, with all of the apostles, came to the conclusion that

Oh, it's by faith. It's not by works. It's not by keeping the law or by circumcision or anything of the like. No, it's by faith that we are saved. It's by faith that God relates to us.

Then in chapter 3, as we saw last week, he gave an example to them of a little bit farther back. He's kind of working his way back. He said, here's the counsel. They said it's by faith. Now, remember back a little bit farther, you Galatians, when you received the Spirit and God began to work in your heart and He began to move in your life. How

How did that take place? How did that happen? And of course we learned it wasn't by some obedience to the law or some thing that they had to fulfill or ritual that they had to complete, but it was simply by their faith in what the Word said and what the Bible taught, simply by their faith in what God had done for them that they received the work of the Spirit. Now he'll introduce to us for another example and to further our understanding the idea of covenants.

We don't use that word a lot anymore these days, but the word covenant, what does it mean? Well, basically we've replaced it with the word contract. And we have contracts now, and we understand those pretty clearly, and we deal with them quite frequently. And so Paul introduces this idea of a covenant, of a contract, that we might understand...

That we receive blessings from God, not by our works, but by our faith in Jesus Christ. So Paul starts out and he says, Here's an everyday example from your life, Paul would say. Here's to help you understand, think about for a moment this idea of a covenant. He says, He says,

He points out, if it's, notice, only a man's covenant. Only a man's covenant. Of course, Paul is pointing out and he's saying, listen,

Man's covenants, they're sure, they're steadfast, they don't change. You can't void them, you can't add to them afterwards. How much more? It's only a man's covenant. How much more will God's covenant not change? Man's covenant. Now as Paul is sharing this, it was true that once man made a covenant that it could not be voided or it could not be added to.

Is that true today as well? Well, yes, absolutely it is. Our whole country, our whole system is based on this idea, this principle that you've got to keep your word. You've got to keep the covenants and the contracts that you sign. Now, October of 2006,

Or 2005, I'm sorry. The 2006 models are out. And so maybe you've had your eye on a particular automobile that's really flashy, that's really got your attention, that's something you're really considering. Maybe I should trade in the old clunker, trade in the thing that I've got. It's a couple years old and it's falling apart. Let me trade it in. Oh man, there's this new one out. There's this new thing out that I

I got to get my hands on. You know, maybe it's the new Porsche, the affordable, they call it. Road and Track calls it anyways. $58,000 Cayman S Coupe that goes zero to 60 in 4.8 seconds. And you go, oh, yeah, I've been thinking about that. I've been looking at that and keeping my eye. Ooh, 2006 models are out. And so what do you do if you need to go and purchase a vehicle? Well, you go to the dealer. You go somewhere. You get approved. You apply for some type of credit.

You finance the vehicle. You know what that's called? It's a contract that you're signing there. And you can't...

Picture this. I go, I say, hey, I want this Porsche. I go, I pay for it. I can't afford that, by the way, just so you know. But I go, I say, hey, I'll sign this paper. I'm going to pay you this much a month. And they have in their details there, okay, we're going to give you the car. We're going to charge you this much interest. That's our part, your part. You're going to pay us this much on a monthly basis. Okay, we've signed our contract. Both parties, we've agreed to what we're going to do and what we're going to receive. Now, I can't later...

And go back and just say, you know, I just decided I'm not going to pay for it after all. I'm just, I can't. I've already signed the contract. And so I need to complete it. I need to pay the money back. But...

Conversely, they can't come back and say, you know, interest rates have changed. And so we just decided, you know, we want to charge you more because we would make more money that way. And so we're just going to charge you more. Even though you signed something that said this much, we're going to bump it up to 15 percent and, you know, charge you a little bit more for that. They can't do that. Why not? Well, because it's a man's covenant. Yes, but it cannot be annulled. It cannot be added to because it is a covenant. And that's the whole point of it.

If you're going to build an addition onto your home, contractor comes over, puts on paper. Okay, here's what I'm going to do. Here's the materials I'm going to use. And here's how much it's going to cost me. And you sign the contract agreeing that, okay, this is what you're going to do. These are the materials you're going to use. And this is how much I'm going to pay you. Now, you cannot go back and just change it whenever you want. Okay, I just changed my mind. Okay. No, no, you've signed the contract. It's been confirmed. Now you need to stick to it. Now, it used to be,

that you could do business, you could conduct business simply by a handshake. And you might remember those days. I've been told about them by Dave and some of these other guys. But it used to be that you just would give your word and that's enough. Okay, we'll do this and we'll work it out. Okay, that's good. But the problem was the situation happened. It still happens in some parts. But here in Southern California, no way.

Why? Well, because people do try to annul contracts and words that they confirm and things that they say. They try to add to things and change their mind afterwards. They try to rip people off and

And it's not good. But Paul's point is this. You can't do that. It's a contract. You can't just change. You can't do that. Nobody can do that. And that's what our country is founded upon. Now, that's just man's contracts. And that's Paul's point. It's only a man's contract. It doesn't change. How much more will God's contract, God's covenant, not change? So what is God's covenant? Well, let's read on. Verse 16. Now, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.

He does not say, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to your seed, who is Christ. What's the covenant? Well, Paul makes reference to the promises that were given to Abraham. And we'll look there in a moment. It's found in Genesis chapter 12. We'll go there in a moment. But before we do, I want you to notice something, because this is so important for us. He says...

And then he points out, he makes it very clear for us. He says it's not to seeds as of many people, but to seed as of one person. What does that mean? Well, we'll get to that in a moment. But basically, Paul is saying it's not that all of your descendants this is going to be fulfilled in, although partially that's true, but there's one particular person.

that is going to be blessed, to receive the promises that these things are going to be completed. And this is why it's so important for us. Because as Paul is pointing this out and making a distinction here, we can understand and we can know that we can absolutely, without doubt, trust the Word of God. We can trust it. He says, not to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to your seed. It's what's called plenary inspiration.

What does that mean? It's the full inspiration. Each and every word, each and every detail, everything is inspired by God and put there directly by God for a specific purpose. It wasn't an accident. And so we can trust the tense of a word, past, present, or future. You can trust it's in God's word. It's His word. And He put it that tense for a particular reason. Or plural versus singular. One person or many people...

Even that, every detail about every word is inspired by God. It's by design. It's specifically chosen by God. Now, you guys know me. Sometimes I use the wrong words. I choose the wrong words. I make up words sometimes. And lots of teachers do that. And it's okay. It's fun, actually. You should try it sometime. But I don't have perfect words. In fact, last week, I was speaking about the word aben. I shared that it was a Greek word for daddy or papa. But it's not.

It's an Aramaic word for daddy or papa. It's a Hebrew word for daddy or papa. And thank you for one of the brothers for pointing that out to me. But I use the wrong words. God is not like that.

He's nothing like that. We can count on his word without any doubt. I was listening to a message teaching by Pastor Chuck this last week, and he said something that kind of shocked me and then realized and made me realize, yes, that's true. It has to be true. He says this, if a person tells me they do not believe in Jesus, it is the same as if they told me they do not believe that 2 plus 2 equals 4.

God's Word is so sure, is absolutely correct, without question, without doubt, and it proves that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, is the Savior. And so, Pastor Chuck shares, that's the Word of God. It's not a question, it's not a leap of faith in that I hope it's right. No, no, no. The Bible proves that it is the Word of God. The Bible proves that

That since it is the word of God, we can trust it. The Bible proves that Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for our sins. And the Bible proves that we can only be saved by our faith in him. And so Pastor Chuck shares, hey, you want to disregard the facts and disregard the proof? Then it's just the same as disregarding two plus two is equal to four. The word of God is perfect. Absolutely. We can trust it. It's his word to you and I.

And so Paul says, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. What were these promises that he is referring to? Let's jump back there. You can keep your thumb here, but Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12, it's the first book of the Bible there in the Old Testament. Genesis chapter 12. This is where God calls Abraham. He's named Abraham at the time he

Has his name changed later? God changes his name to Abraham. But Abraham, God calls him, and we find the story here in Genesis chapter 12, starting in verse 1. It says this, Now the Lord had said to Abraham, Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. What are the promises here? What does God speak to Abraham? Three quick things that I'll point out. Number one, he says, I'll make you a great nation. Number two, he says, I'm going to bless you. And then number three, he says, in you, all the families of the earth shall

But then jump down to verse 7 and notice what it says here. Then the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, To your descendants I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him.

Now he goes on, as he calls Abraham out, he goes out, he goes to the land of Canaan, and God appears to him and says, to your descendants, I will give this land. But look at the word descendants for a moment. If you have the New King James Bible or the NIV Bible, and I think the New Living Translation as well shares this, but there's probably an indication there, there's a notation. And if you look in the margins or wherever it has that, it says literally the word is what?

The word is seed. In the Hebrew, it's the word Zerah. It's the word seed. It's singular. It's not plural. Exactly what Paul has been sharing with us in Galatians chapter 3. It reminds me of Genesis chapter 3. You don't have to turn there, but verse 15.

There in the garden, as Adam and Eve had sinned, and God is pronouncing the judgment on the serpent, he prophesies something. It says this in Genesis 3.15, I will put enmity between you, the serpent, and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his head.

The woman's seed, singular, a specific person, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Of course, it's a prophecy pointing to Jesus Christ and the work that he did there on the cross. This was God's promise to Abraham. The Messiah, the one who is to come, the seed, it's coming now through you, Adam, Abraham, and your seed will be the Christ, your seed will be the Messiah who will redeem you.

So Paul says it's seed, singular. It's referring to Jesus Christ. It was God's plan all along to send Jesus even there back in the garden. Now let's jump back to Galatians chapter 3. Going on to verse 17, we'll kind of bring it all together here. It says, Galatians 3.17,

that the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. Here's the deal. He points out the promise to the seed and not to seeds there in Genesis chapter 12. And God gave this promise to Abraham.

He also made a covenant with Abraham, and we find that in Genesis chapter 15. We won't go there, but I would encourage you to read it later.

Because it's there that we find the story as Abraham is there and he's wondering, God, I know and I believe that you want to bless me and you're going to give me many descendants, but how do I know this? And God says, I'll make a covenant with you. And so in those days when you made a covenant, you didn't sign a contract or anything like that. No, what you did was you slaughtered some animals. You cut them and you cut them into pieces.

in half, right in the middle, and you would lay them out with a little separation in between, like right where you cut them in half, and you would meet the other party there in between these animals that you'd cut in half. Kind of bloody, kind of gross, I know, but that's how they did the deal. That's how they made the contract, and it signified this. Look, I'm coming from this side, and you're coming from that side. We meet halfway. We're both agreeing that we're going to fulfill our part of this covenant, our contract that we're making, and

And then that way we'll be assured that it will take place. And the idea is, look, if one of us doesn't fulfill, then we'll be like this cow that we're standing in between that is cut in two. And that was the idea. It's a covenant. It's a sure thing that they would make with one another. So God says, I'm going to make a covenant with you. And so Abraham says, okay, great. And he goes and he cuts some animals in two and he lays them out. And he's waiting for God. He's waiting for God. He falls asleep. And then what happens? Well, then he sees God coming.

passing through the animals in the form of an oven, which we won't go into that whole thing. But he sees God passing through the animals. Now what took place there? Well, Abraham did not meet God halfway there.

He did not take part in that covenant. God passed through completely on his own, which means that the covenant is entirely upon God. Yes, it's just as sure as any other covenant. In fact, more sure because it's God who gave it and made the covenant. But God did the whole thing. He went the whole distance, went the whole length between those animals and said, I'm going to do everything.

There's not some part where you have to meet me halfway. You don't have to do something on your own. The covenant is entirely based on God. And so this covenant that God made with Abraham, Paul's point here in Galatians, it happened way before the law came. That's why he's saying there in verse 17, This I say that the law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.

So he makes this covenant. Hundreds of years later is when the law is introduced. 430 years is the reference that he makes, which was the exact amount of time we know from Exodus 1241 that the children of Israel were in the land of Egypt. They go down, Jacob and his family move down to Egypt. They're there for about 30 years. And the Egyptians put them in slavery for 400 years. They leave the very day to the very day, 430 years after they had gone in.

So it's hundreds of years later, they exit. Of course, Moses is leading them out and he takes them to Mount Sinai where God gives them the law. What's Paul saying? It was hundreds of years later. God had already made the promise to bless Abraham and to bless all nations through his seed, which we know to be Jesus Christ.

He'd already made the promise, and so the law which came later cannot annul it, can't void it out, can't say, you know, God's not saying, well, I just changed my mind, you know, instead of me just blessing you, now you have to approach me through the law, and you have to do this, and that's how you'll be blessed. No, no, no. The law came later. It cannot annul it. It cannot add to it. It's God's law. If man's covenant cannot be altered, how much more?

Will God's covenant not change? He promised an inheritance to Abraham before the law, not based on him keeping the law. He promised that he would be a blessing to all the nations, not...

by the law, but before the law. Not based on Abraham keeping the law. Now last week, Paul used a lot of quotations from the law to prove that the law was not how God relates to man and that's not how we have right standing with God. But this week, Paul is saying, okay, even before that, before the law was this promise, this covenant that God made, and that is how we know we can be blessed.

By our faith in God. Because that's how Abraham was blessed. We're children of Abraham, not children of the law. Verse 18. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. There's a relationship here between law and between promise. They're mutually exclusive.

They cancel each other out like light and darkness. It's either one or the other. If it's of law, then it's not of promise. If it's of promise, then it's not of the law. Think about it for a moment. Think about a gift. Today, someone walks up to you and they say, hey, I want to give you a gift. And they give something valuable to you.

And you say, thank you very much. That's a wonderful blessing. I've been blessed. That's a nice gift. But then next week they come up to you and say, hey, are you ever going to pay me back? I gave you something last week. I mean, when are you going to pay me back? And you and I, we would say, wait a minute. I thought it was a gift. I thought you were giving it to me. Doesn't that mean I don't have to? Is it a gift? Is it a loan? I mean, make up your mind which you want it to be so I can know and know what to do. And I think it's, you know, much of it, our Christmas traditions really have skewed our perspective on gifts.

Have you ever heard anybody say, or I'm sure you've thought to yourself, man, I've got to get them something because I know they're going to get me something. And, you know, I just have that awkward situation. I don't want, I better get them something because now it's more of a business transaction, you know. I've got something I think you want and you've got something you think I want. And so let's get together and conduct business and we'll exchange gifts and we'll have this time.

You know, you can test it this year. Give your gifts in January and see how many people are giving you gifts and see really if they're gifts or not. But how do you receive a gift? Simply by receiving it. Not with some condition where you have to pay this back or anything like that. Paul says he received the promise and the promise is not of the law. They cancel each other out. It's one or the other. It's not both. The inheritance that was promised to Abraham, this promise of blessing was not of the law.

It's of promise. Paul's conclusion as he wraps up this portion, that the law is powerless for receiving the blessing. The law plays no part. The blessing was received, it was promised before the law even existed. Hundreds of years before the law even existed. So now as we look at verses 19 through 25, he'll continue the thought sharing with us, yes, the law is powerless, but it is not pointless. Verse 19 and 20 says this, What purpose then does the law serve?

It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. So if the law is powerless for receiving the blessing,

If the law, as we saw in the last couple of weeks, is powerless for making me in right standing before God, powerless in helping me receive the Holy Spirit, then why have the law? Why does it exist? Why did God give the law to Israel? Paul says, well, it was added because of transgression.

To provide a way for man to have relationship with God until Jesus came. Hebrews spells it out so clearly in Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 4 of chapter 10, he shares with us that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. Never have, never will. They provide a temporary covering.

Until the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for us. All the sacrifices that you see in the law and all that whole system, it all points to Jesus. And once Jesus came, it's no longer necessary. He died once for all. So this law, it's not pointless. It did provide a temporary covering. It fulfilled its role. But it was not the best that God has for us.

He goes on to say that it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. What's he saying? The law was given by angels to Moses, and then Moses acted as a mediator for the people. Exodus chapter 20 verse 19 talks about Moses mediating for the people, standing and delivering the message of God to the people and the message of the response of the people to

Paul is showing the contrast. Look, there's no mediator when the promise was given. We saw that in Genesis 12. It was given directly to Abraham. There in chapter 15 of Genesis, as God makes the covenant, there was no mediator. It was directly there. God given directly to Abraham. As opposed to the law, handed down with a mediator, not direct communication. Not as good. Not what God desires. Verse 21 says,

Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law that could have given life, truly, righteousness would have been by the law. Righteousness would have been by the law. The law doesn't help us receive the blessing. It doesn't help us deal with sin or any of these other things. It's powerless. So now he says, well, so then is it against the promises of God? Is it contrary to the work of God and what God wants to do? No. No.

Paul is not saying that the law is bad. The law is perfect. There's no problem with the law. The problem is that I can't keep the law, and neither can you, and neither can anybody else who's ever lived except for Jesus Christ. The law is perfect, and you and I were not able to live perfect lives. Paul explains this very thoroughly in Romans chapter 7. The law does not...

bring life for us. It does bring life if you can keep it, but it does not bring life for us. Because the moment you break it, then you've broken all of it and are subject to the curse. We saw that last week as we looked at Galatians chapter 3 verse 10. The law, it's not how we receive life. So, are the promises or is the law against the promises of God? No. It was a temporary covering. Now, the central point as I mentioned last week between the law

And faith, grace versus works, is the subject or the person Jesus Christ. Back in chapter 2, verse 21 of Galatians, he says, It's either through works, through the law, or it's through promise and through faith.

It's one or the other. They cancel each other out. So which one is it? Now, the people there who are teaching in the churches of Galatia, this false doctrine, were saying, no, it has to be by the law. The law is great. The law is wonderful. And Paul says, no. And he's been proving it's not by the law. And he asked the question, OK, if it's by the law, then why did Jesus die? Was it in vain? No, absolutely not.

Paul says here, listen, if there had been a law given that could have given life, then righteousness would have been by the law. If there is any way that you and I could just perform something or do some ritual or keep these commandments, then God would say, well, do that and then you can be saved. But there is no law that we are able to keep. There's no law that provides life in that way because we break laws.

the law. It's not possible to keep the law. And if it was possible, then Jesus would not have died. And if you say that it is possible to keep the law, then why did Jesus die? Since Christ died, we know it is not possible to keep the law. And we receive the blessing not by keeping it, but instead by having faith in Him.

Matthew 26 tells us a story. The night before he's to be crucified in the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus is there, he's in agony, he's deeply troubled and he's praying and he says, Lord, if there's any other way, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. If there's any other way that man can have relationship with you, that they can receive this blessing, that they can receive all that you have for them, if there's any other way,

Lord, let this cup pass from me. But there was no other way. Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. He is the only way that we can have eternity with God. He is the only way that we can be blessed. He is the only way that we can receive the Spirit by faith in what He did for us. So the law is powerless. It's not by the law, but it's by faith in what He's done for us. Verse 22,

But the scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. The law does not give life. What does it do? It confines all under sin. That word confine, it means to shut up on all sides completely, to completely enclose or to seal in.

And this is what the law does, is it seals us. We've been sealed in our sinful state. Everywhere we turn, we find ourselves in sin, up against the wall. We're trapped by it. We're not able to free ourselves from this sinful nature. The law has declared all of us to be sinners, and therefore, this is the good news, all of us can receive the promise by faith in Jesus Christ. It's confined us all under sin,

So that we all have the same level or same ability to experience eternity with God. And that is simply by faith. To experience blessings from God. And that is simply by faith.

To experience the work of the Spirit in our lives by faith. It's all about faith. The law does not do this. The law binds us in. It's powerless in keeping us from sin, but it's very powerful in binding us and condemning us. That's what the law does. It points out our faults. In Romans chapter 7, verse 7, Paul says, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, You shall not sin.

I wouldn't have known covetousness, he said. I wouldn't have known that I had a problem with that or that that existed if, unless the law had said, you shall not covet. Makes sense, right? Because what do we normally think about ourselves?

Well, we normally think we're pretty good. I don't usually assume that what I'm doing is wrong. I think I'm okay. But it's when I'm shown the standard that I see how short I truly fall. When I'm shown the standard, here's the law, here's perfection, then I go, oh, I don't measure up to that. But if I don't have that in my perspective, if I'm not looking at that,

Or if I say that there is no standard, then I'm pretty good. You know, I've never killed anybody is usually what people say. And well, okay, if that's the standard, you've never killed anybody, then whoever has never killed anybody goes to heaven. No, that's not the standard. That's not how we approach God. That's not how we have relationship with God. The standard is the law. It's perfection. It's not meant to make us right standing before God, but it's meant to show us that we need a Savior. Think about it this way.

Back in grade school, you turn in some homework and you get it back from the teacher. It has a big red F on the top of it. Now, if you didn't know the standard, you could think, hey, that's pretty good, man. I got it. I got an F. I mean, that's like the sixth letter of the alphabet. That's probably the highest grade you can get. I could very easily, not knowing the standard, mistake that and say, wow, that's pretty far down there. You know, I could have got an A. Oh, man, glad I didn't.

No, then I see the standard and go, okay, that's the worst I can do. I've got it backwards. Now I realize I need some help. And that's what the law is for. It doesn't help us receive the promise. It points us to Jesus Christ, that we receive the promise by faith. Do you want to be blessed? Believe in Jesus Christ. And that's what we need to do. Verse 24 or verse 23. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law.

Kept for the faith, which would afterward be revealed. Until Jesus came, there needed to be some way for man to have relationship with God. So he provided the law. It was a temporary thing just until the promise came. It provided a temporary covering for sin so that we could have relationship with God. That's what the law was for. That's all it was for. It's not how we approach God. It never was.

It's always been by faith. Verse 24, Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Here's Paul's conclusion of this portion. The law being powerless but not pointless. He says, Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ. Now, this word tutor, originally in the Greek it was the slave who conducted the children or the boys from their home to the school.

They would take them back and forth. They would get them to the school. That was their responsibility. They led them there. Later it came also to mean a teacher, an educator. So whether it's geographically or intellectually, a tutor leads you to a specific point, takes you to a specific destination.

That's what tutors do in what we know of today as well. There's a subject that you're struggling with. You need a tutor. What they do is they endeavor to take you to this destination so you have an understanding of this subject or this particular problem. So a tutor will explain a subject in different ways to help a person understand it. But once they get it, there's no longer need for a tutor anymore.

I get it. I understand 2 plus 2 equals 4. So then I also understand 2 plus 3 equals 5. I get the concept. I don't need a tutor for that because I've already been taken there. I've already been tutored in that subject. And this is what the law does for us. The law reveals our need for a Savior. Because I think, I don't need a Savior. I'm pretty good. I've never killed anybody. That religion stuff, I'm really glad it works for you, but I don't need it.

That's what our hearts say. That's our perspective. But the law explains to me over and over again, you need a Savior. In all kinds of different ways, every which way I turn, reminding me, you need a Savior. You need a Savior. Because we cannot keep God's law. And we cannot be accepted in His sight by our good behavior,

Because our good behavior is not good enough. So the law then, what does it do? It takes us by the hand and it leads us to Christ. It shows us we fall short. We need a Savior. We sin. We've broken at least one commandment and that's enough to keep us from eternal life with God. That's enough to keep us from the blessings of God, from relationship with God.

And so we fall short and we find out I can't do it by the law. And it points us to, it leads us to, it takes us to Jesus Christ, our Savior. That's the purpose of the law. If you study the law, you'll find that it points to Jesus. All of the sacrifices, all of the things that are mentioned in the law, Jesus said, hey, those are the things that point to me. They talk about me. It's all about Jesus. You study the law, you'll find out it leads you to Jesus.

You apply the law, try to live by it, try to be regulated by it. You'll find out you fail and it will lead you to Jesus. That's what the law is for. Because there in Jesus, Paul says, we might be justified in faith. We're justified by faith in Jesus Christ. It's there that we're justified. Just as if I'd never sinned. Right standing with God by faith alone.

In Christ. Verse 25. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. So here I am now in Christ. I don't need a tutor. I've got it. I understand my need for a Savior. I believe in Jesus as my Savior. I'm justified by faith. And so I'm not under the law. Now I come to Jesus because I need a Savior. Not because of the law. The law is powerless, but it is not pointless. It points out our faults so that it can point us.

So what does all of this mean to you and I? Simply this, a couple of things I would like to share. You receive blessing from God by believing in Jesus Christ. Simple as that. You receive blessing from God by believing in Jesus Christ. Since we are justified by faith, we have right standing with God by faith.

Now, when we do serve God, when we do the things that the law commands us to do, it is no longer in an effort to try to be pleasing to God. It is no longer in an effort to try to be accepted by God or receive some blessing or salvation. Now, if I am obedient to God,

Now, if I offer my time or serve in some capacity or spend time in the Word of God or in prayer, now I'm simply free to do it as an act of worship. That I'm not doing it saying, God, I want you to bless me, so I have to do this.

But I understand, I've been blessed by God already. In Christ, I believe in Him. And so now everything that I do for Him, I do and I present to Him as an act of worship. Lord, You've been so gracious to me. You've been so good to me. I love You. Here's my life. Take it. Transform it. Do with me whatever You want. Lord, I'm giving this time to You. I want to be used by You. Lord, You've been so gracious, so good to me. I'm free now to give myself to God as an act of worship.

And I want to encourage you this morning. Don't be bound up with guilt trips and condemnation because of the failures that might be revealed in your life. Don't let that become a burden to you.

Because that's not how you receive blessing from God. That's not how you have relationship with God. That has no bearing whatsoever. I want to encourage you this morning to enjoy relationship with God. Approach Him, trusting in what Jesus did at the cross. And by faith, He wipes the slate clean. He takes you in. He gives you His blessings. He gives you His presence. He gives you His Spirit. He blesses you with all the amazing blessings, the spiritual blessings that are in Christ.

And if you're here this morning and you say, I'm okay, you know, I don't need this stuff. Then you need the law. You need to understand, yes, we are all sinned. And one sin, God is right and just in sending us to hell for that one sin because we've broken the law. We've not been perfect. That's why Jesus Christ died. And so if you're here this morning and you say, I'm not worthy, Paul would say, you're right. But you've never been worthy.

Nobody ever has. That's why Jesus died. So come to Jesus. You think you're okay? Listen to what the law says. Understand you need a Savior and come to Jesus Christ. Whatever state you're in this morning, Jesus says, I'm here with my arms open. I want to have a relationship with you. I want to draw close to you. And it's simply by your faith in what I have done that I'm able to bless you and that I'm able to work in your life. Simply by you believing that

not by some other works. You offer them to God and we continue obedience to God because of our worship of Him, wanting to bless Him. This morning, draw close to Jesus Christ. Spend time with Him. He's calling out to you. He says, don't worry about the times where you've fallen short. Don't worry about the times where you've slacked off in your relationship with God. Don't worry about all the times that you've stumbled. Don't worry about the times that you've fell into sin.

Forget about all of that. I paid for all of that at the cross just by faith and have relationship with me. That's what God is calling to us today. I want to encourage you. Come to Jesus. Enjoy relationship with God because of what Jesus has done for us. We're justified by faith. We receive the Spirit by faith and we receive the blessing in Abraham in Christ by faith. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, Your ways are

are astounding to us. As Isaiah says, your ways are not like our ways, God. As the heavens are higher above the earth, are your ways higher than our ways? Lord, we can't even fully comprehend. Why would you love us in that way? Why would you be so gracious towards us that we wouldn't have to earn your blessings or earn a relationship with you, eternity in heaven?

God, we thank you that you don't put the burden on us, but that you took the burden upon yourself and you died on the cross for us. And so God, I ask that you would help us now to draw close to you, to enter into your presence, to have relationship with you, to live our lives in worship of you, simply believing in what you've done for us and receiving that work there on the cross.

Heavenly Father, please forgive us. We do sin. We fall short. Lord, and we confess that to you now. We agree with you. Lord, we need a Savior. So, Lord, I pray that you would strengthen us because we believe in you. Bless us, Lord, because we believe in you and what you've done for us. Lord, fill us with your Spirit because we believe in you. Reveal yourself to us, God, because we believe that you came and that you died on the cross for our sins.

You're so wonderful, God. You're amazing. And we worship you. It's in your name that we pray. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.