Galatians
Sermon #10
Galatians 3:23-29
The Relationship Between the Law
and the Gospel (part 2)
February 22, 2015
Review – Galatians 3:15-22
What is the place of the Law? What is the relationship between the Law and the Gospel?
- The Law doesn’t ______God’s promise.(verses 15-18)
- The Law exposes the ______and the ______of sin. (verses 19-20)
- The Law cannot ______spiritual life, but is can ______to the promise. (verses 21-22)
“Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven us to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus. Not until the law has humbled us even to hell will we turn to the gospel to raise us to heaven.” (The Message of Galatians, John Stott, page 93)
Three Purposes ofthe Law
(The Threefold Use of the Law,by R.C. Sproul)
Purpose #1 - To ______sinners, in view of the divine condemnation that awaits lawbreakers, to the ______.
The first purpose of the law is to be a mirror. On the one hand, the law of God reflects and mirrors the perfect righteousness of God. The law tells us much about who God is. Perhaps more important, the law illumines human sinfulness. Augustine wrote, “The law orders, that we, after attempting to do what is ordered, and so feeling our weakness under the law, may learn to implore the help of grace.” The law highlights our weakness so that we might seek the strength found in Christ. Here the law acts as a severe schoolmaster who drives us to Christ.
Purpose #2 - To ______men and women from the bestial and barbaric depths toward which our fallen wills naturally ______.
A second purpose for the law is the restraint of evil. The law, in and of itself, cannot change human hearts. It can, however, serve to protect the righteous from the unjust. The law allows for a limited measure of justice on this earth, until the last judgment is realized.
Our Personal Experience of Law and Gospel
[23]Now before faith came, we were
[25]But now that faith has come, we are
- The law is like a ______and a harsh ______. (verses 23-24)
“imprisoned”
under a “guardian”
- New life comes through being “______”. (verses 25-29)
no longer under the ______of the law
Romans 8:1-2 [1]There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2]For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
“in Christ”
[25]But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, [26]for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27]For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28]There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29]And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
In Christ we are sons of God. [26]
John 1:12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
We have a Father…
to ______to
Matthew 6:9Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
who ______what we need and ______what we need
Matthew 6:32-33 [32]For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33]But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
who ______us with tender affection
I John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
who ______to let us go our own way
Hebrews 12:7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
In Christ we have a new relationship with ______.
“In Christ” we are one. [28]
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
In Christ we have a new relationship with ______.
“In Christ” we are Abraham’s seed[29]
Romans 8:16-17 [16]The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17]and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 4:13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
I Corinthians 3:21-23 [21]So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, [22]whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, [23]and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
In Christ we have a new relationship with the ______.
“So, conversion, although supernatural in its origin, is natural in it effects. It does not disrupt nature, but fulfills it, for it puts me where I belong, It relates me to God, to man and to history. It enables me to answer the most basic of all human questions, ‘Who am I?’ and to say, ‘In Christ I am a son of God. In Christ I am united to all the redeemed people of God, past, present, and future. In Christ I discover my identity. In Christ I find my feet. In Christ I come home.’” (The Message of Galatians, John Stott, page 102)
Purpose #3 - To ______, ______, and ______justified sinners toward sanctification.
The third purpose of the law is to reveal what is pleasing to God. As born-again children of God, the law enlightens us as to what is pleasing to our Father, whom we seek to serve. The Christian delights in the law as God Himself delights in it. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). This is the highest function of the law, to serve as an instrument for the people of God to give Him honor and glory.
extend the equation: faith salvation obedience
II Timothy 3:16-17 [16]All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17]that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
some aspects
informs
delight, desire, dependence
delight
Psalm 119:48I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
desire
Psalm 119:5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
dependence
Psalm 119:52 When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.
conviction
Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
“We cannot sew with the thread of the gospel if we have not pierced with the needle of the law.” (Puritans)
Prone to Wander, Prayers of Confession
and Celebration
by Barbara R. Duguid and Wayne Duguid Houk
“Dead to Sin” (pages 174-175)
- Call to Confession: Ephesians 2:1-3
[1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
- Prayer of Confession
Heavenly Father,
We admit to you today that we often live as though we were still dead in our trespasses and sins. You have made us alive in Christ and given us your Holy Spirit, yet our slowly maturing souls dwell in sinful bodies, and we continue to gratify the desires of our flesh in countless ways. We eat too much, drink too much, and indulge in sinful sexual fantasy and practice, medicating ourselves to escape reality and entertaining ourselves to distract from pain. We follow the course of the world around us, giving in to pressure from our friends and our circumstances, instead of living with our eyes fixed on our heavenly home. We frantically fill ourselves up with pleasures, using your good gifts to us as a way to avoid our great need for you. Father, forgive us.
Lord, we wish that we were far more holy than we are, you have told us that we are weak and that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. Thank you that all our sanctification is in your hands. You are the author and perfecter of our faith, and though our remaining sin often shocks us, you are never surprised by it. You have promised that you will use it to show us our great need for you. Give us true grief for our sin and sweet repentance, and then draw us to the cross to find cleansing, healing, and great joy in our salvation. There let us see our Lord and King loving us as the fountain of his blood flowed out for the remission of our sin. Let us celebrate with deep delight the unbelievable love of a Creator who would become like us and submit to the horrors of crucifixion to have us for his own.
Let your voice of sovereign grace drown out the voices of shame and accusation that haunt us. In great peace and in great sorrow, may we grow in faith, in obedience, and and worship before you. Help us to love you more and more and to long with confidence and hope for the day of your return. May the radiant goodness of Jesus in our place be all that we need until we see you face to face. In his precious name we pray, amen.
- Assurance of Pardon: Ephesians 2:4-7
[4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
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