This Sunday morning we come to the 14th and final
message in our series, “The Rescue”, a study of the first half of Paul’s letter
to the Galatians. At first blush it may seem strange to stop a series in the
middle of a letter, but when you examine every one of Paul’s letters you find
that they are always divided into two parts; and the order is always CRUCIAL!
Paul always begins with what Jesus Christ has done for the
Christian. In theological parlance this is called “the Indicative”. In every
one of his letters Paul begins by detailing what the Gospel indicates that God
has done, through Christ, for the believer. Another way of putting it is that
the indicative fully indicates our new identity as justified sinners. This is
what Paul does in the first half of his letter to the Galatians. The truth is,
he never moves on from the indicative until he has nailed down the truth of the
Gospel in every possible way.
Once he has well established what Christ has already done
for us, and he’s labored the point that we are spiritually alive and in a vital
relationship with the living God through the finished work of Jesus Christ in
His active and passive obedience, Paul then moves on to “the Imperative”
section of his letter. Another way of describing the second half of Paul’s
letters is to say that they are the “so what” or the “therefores.” In other words, because of our identity in
Christ and our inheritance in Christ, he details how we should then live. What
does it mean to live out what God, in Christ, has put into us? In the case of his
letter to the Galatians, this will be the focus of our next series, “Freedom”.
The “Freedom” series will commence on January 8 with a message entitled
“Adoption” from Galatians 3:26-4:7.
One of the bridges Paul builds between the indicative and
the imperative in Galatians is the use of two words at the end of chapter 3 and
the beginning of chapter 4 – “guardian” (Gal. 3:25) and “adoption” (Gal. 4:5).
We are going to have much to say about both words in our “Freedom” series, but
for now the first word – guardian (or as the NIV poorly translates it - “put in
charge”) is critical to our understanding of Paul’s teaching on the law and the
Christian.
Remember the question he asks in 3:21, “Is the law of God
contrary to the promises of God?” In other words, “What good is the law for the
Christian who’s been saved by grace?” How do the law and the Gospel fit
together?
While many think they don’t, Paul isn’t one of them. In
fact, in Sunday’s text – Galatians 3:19-29, Paul lays out (1) the purpose of
the law for the Christian, (2) the privilege of the law, (3) the passion of the
law, and (4) the pairing of the law. Unlike many commentators, the Apostle Paul
upholds the law as vital in the life of every growing Christian; BUT, in a way
that is entirely different than the way the law was in force prior to a
Christian’s regeneration.
On Sunday we will look at the role of the law prior to our
conversion. Second, the extraordinary gift God has given to every Christian to
walk in step with the law. And finally, the inexorable link between the law of
God and love of God that is on full display at Calvary.
In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the
following:
- What three purposes of the law did Luther teach?
- How can the law be comforting?
- What does Paul mean when he says that “the law was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come…?”
- What does Paul mean in verse 23 when he says “We were held captive under the law…until the coming faith was rewarded.”?
- What does Paul mean in verse 24 when he calls the law, “our guardian until Christ came”?
- Didn’t people in the Old Testament have faith?
- What changes in faith after Christ comes?
- How does Romans 8:1 & 2 inform us?
- Read Exodus 33:17-34:7.
- How does God demonstrate to all the world that He is both the God of love and the God of justice?